Can anyone recommend any collections of studies or pieces suitable for someone who has just completed grade 7 and is not ready to embark on grade 8 pieces yet, for violin.

Thanks for any suggestions

Twiddle

Movements from sonatas by Handel and Telemann. Slow movement of the Bach violin concerto in A minor. If you want to look at 19th century works, try Schubert and for 20th century you could try anything from Fritz Kreisler compositions and arrangement to Arvo Part. Depends on your personal tastes really, but do try to look at music which does at least challenge and further develop your technique, otherwise your playing will stagnate - and all advanced players have been through that situation at some point!

Kreutzer studies should have formed part of your study from about grade 6 onwards. Could also start looking at Mazas studies.

Discuss it with your teacher if you are still uncertain.

Many thanks AmandaL - its for my son, who plays in quite a lot of groups and orchestras but has never really done anything in lessons with his teacher other than his grade pieces, and he wants some materials to work on at home. Your help is much appreciated

Twiddle

Bear in mind the teacher may wish to suggest some fingering - especially for the Bach. Has your son not done much work on technique? It really disappoints me if students are taken through the grade system without detailed attention to mastering technique, properly. Leaves an awful lot of gaps in the framework that underpins the ability to play more difficult works.

Hi again AmandaL

He's done technique as it comes up in doing his pieces, but the last obvious technique work I remember was when he was first learning to shift in and out of position when we had an additional book of studies and exercises. He has been with this teacher since he began as a small child, and I think he should probably move on and I know she has often in the past moved pupils over to other teachers but to be honest I think she does not want to let him go. I know without more details this might sound unlikely but I do think its plausible. The easiest is just to hang on for grade 8 and then move him......but I'm not sure this is really in his interests as I just have this very strong feeling its more than time to move...

Thanks
Twiddle

Your son's teacher may be very good in most respects but I find it a bit odd that he/she hasn't done anything with your son except grade pieces. If your son has plouhed steadily through the grades, this means he could reach grade 8 having only really studied 24 pieces - which is the worst thing that can happen in a grade-led approach.

It's great that he's playing other repertoire outside lessons but that's not the same as really studying repertoire. Also, why are you, the parent, having to cast around for ideas for your son when this is part of the teacher's job? It makes me wonder whether the teacher remembers that there is any other repertoire! Apart from anything else, in this department the teacher seems to be showing a distinct lack of imagination. At this level (and indeed at any level) he should be playing a varied repertoire and be looking at all sorts of studies too.

My current grade 6-level student is playing her repertoire plus a continually changing diet of Mazas studies, some Baroque she loves, a Kreisler piece, some jazz and some bluegrass. She's currently off on a bluegrass week! She'd get very bored if I only gve her grade pieces...

Violinia

Intrada by Moffat. Mozart Violin and Piano Sonatas. There seem to be a good number of concerti around this level - Vivaldi, Bach for starters. Maybe even a bit of Mozart, within reason, although this is more musically challenging. Oh yeah, and Czardas

Kreutzer studies maybe? Otherwise Mazas is a good idea.

And grade 7 is a good time to get into some decent orchestras too. That opens up whole new areas of playing and repertoire.

I'm not really adding much here buyi'm in the same position and i'm doing lots of Mazas and Kreutzer, some Sevcik (which is very useful, but a little boring), Intrada by Moffat and Czardas by Monti are my main things at the moment (i'm cutting down because of gcse's coming up)

I've also got a load of old grade 7 books which i found in shops for really cheap and i'm having a look through them as well.

Many thanks to everyone for their replies and suggestions for repertoire. And especially for the thoughts on the underlying dilemma, concerning the difficulty of decided when to move on to a new teacher without upsetting the old teacher! I am still chewing this one over, but in the meantime have a much better sense of what I should expect in terms of repertoire and studies

Twiddle