Help - Search - Members - Calendar
Full Version: Grade 6 Viola
Forums > Viva Network > Viva Strings
nutter
I've just taken my grade 5 and my teacher and I are looking at pieces on the grade 6 syllabus. i just wondered has anyone got any advice on them and what ones to consider?
Thanks!
Jess smile.gif
hannah
hi jess - how did your exam go?

viola grade 6:

list A: i only know the handel and vivaldi. the handel is very nice, although the allegro will take lots of slow practice as its rather tricky. i found the vivaldi rather boring though.
list B: the mendelssohn has a wonderful melody, but is also rather hard as its mostly in 2/3/4 position. if you havent already got it though, chester music is a good book to get. i seem to remember the dvorak as being quite pretty too, although i may be thinking of a different piece.
List C: i only know the ferguson, but i can reccomend it. its a very characteristic piece, which when played well is likely to get lots of marks.
good luck with your grade 6!

i have my grade 8 piano a week today! i just a lesson on the piano which i will be taking my exam on, which is helpful smile.gif
nutter
hi exam went well (i think!) pieces and scales were good but my mind went blank when he said F minor and slurring it got me even more confused! sight reading was better than i thought it would be aural tests were ok so hopefully ive passed! thanks 4 the advice! good luck on ur piano exam-wot u playing?
smile.gif
JLambert
Hi Hannah!

Nice to see someone else taking Grade 8 piano this exam session. What pieces are you playing? I'm doing A1 Sarabande and Rondeaux by JS Bach, B1 Allegro from Sonata in F minor by Beethoven and C7 Intermezzo in Bb by Brahms.

I am quite confident with my pieces, and the scales and arpeggios (despite there being over 150 of them!). The sight-reading will depend on the day! However, I am rubbish at the aural! The hardest part is naming the 4 chords that end the phrase in test 8A. What techniques have you used here?

Would like to know how you are finding the preparation!

Jack.
hannah
hi jack

im playing handel - fugue in Gm, the beethoven Fm and Chopin waltz in Em. im feeling quite confident despite the fact that it's less than a week away. scales arent too bad, ive jsut got to remember to use the right technique in staccato. LH staccato on its own i find hard too. arpeggios are difficult as i have small hands. im just hoping i dont get any Ebm or F#! i feel as though im gonna fall off the black notes with those ones. sightreading should be ok, based on the ones in the book. i get a lot of sightreading practice so i dont feel its too much of a problem. i think its really important to convey the character of the piece rather than play all the right notes.
aural is probably my weakest area as i havent had a lot of practice. im fine with cadences, and most of the modulation and naming chords, as there are only so many things it can be. test d all depends on the day, and whether i can really listen carefully and give sensible answers. the worst part is the singing part, as im easily put off by the higher part when singing from the score. it took me ages just to hear the bass line in test a, let alone sing it back. i also find it difficult to memorise it, it seems so long! but hopefully i can make up for it in other areas.


good luck with your exam! what date is it?
carys
Hi jess, good luck with your G6 pieces. I really want to do my Grade 4 before the end of the year. Your Grade 5 exam experience has inspired me.

Which syllabus for G6 will you be using? Is the new one out yet? I think the Viola pieces will be staying the same, but I'm not sure.
BachViolin
um yes, where were we? Grade 6 viola? So-

Handel seems the best option. Well, Gluck is a good composer, but I don't know the piece. List B, Faure is quite famous and lyrical, as is the Mendelssohn. As for list C, I am a stravinsky fan, so that's where I would go!

Well done for doing grade 8 piano everyone, it is brave of you. When I did it I was very nervous and had some hard scales, but my pieces were perhaps the best I've every played them. Aural is not too bad really, the exercises in the books are harder than the tests on the day. I seem to remember having a syncopated rythym in the bass line, but it was long ago! Don't worry about it, I thought I had failed, but didn't (smile.gif distinction!). Just keep calm and pray not to get F# major or Eb minor arpeggios sad.gif
nutter
QUOTE (carys @ Jul 2 2004, 10:53 PM)
Hi jess, good luck with your G6 pieces. I really want to do my Grade 4 before the end of the year. Your Grade 5 exam experience has inspired me.

Which syllabus for G6 will you be using? Is the new one out yet? I think the Viola pieces will be staying the same, but I'm not sure.



i hope the syllabus stays the same or im stuffed! Don't know what syllabus I'll b using yet when is it changing? ive just got a book by Philip Bass for the List C piece its a Foxtrot it looks really good! If the syllabus gets changed and thats not on it...
smile.gif
carys
QUOTE (nutter @ Jul 3 2004, 05:56 PM)
i hope the syllabus stays the same or im stuffed! Don't know what syllabus I'll b using yet when is it changing? ive just got a book by Philip Bass for the List C piece its a Foxtrot it looks really good! If the syllabus gets changed and thats not on it...
smile.gif

I think the new syllabus for strings is being published in August, but I don't think the Viola pieces are changing this time though. We'd better check when it comes out!
isabelsmells
I haven't found anywhere that says the syllabus will be changing, and I've changed my mind again about what grade I'm going to do, grade 5 viola at Christmas! I'm really loving Landscape with Rumba!
carys
QUOTE (isabelsmells @ Jul 3 2004, 10:25 PM)
I haven't found anywhere that says the syllabus will be changing, and I've changed my mind again about what grade I'm going to do, grade 5 viola at Christmas! I'm really loving Landscape with Rumba!

I've got 'Landscape with Rumba' so I'll give it a go - looks really hard, but then I'm working towards Grade 4 at the mo. (The 'bow behind the bridge' bit! How did you find that?)

I really want to play Schubert's 'Ballet music from Rosamunde' when I get to do G5, as I love it - I played it in orchestra once.
isabelsmells
Landscape with Rumba isn't too hard, I actually found it kinda easy. Its easier than it looks. The bow behind the bridge bit is evil though, I thought my ears were gonna fall off!
This is a "lo-fi" version of our main content. To view the full version with more information, formatting and images, please click here.