Hi,

One of my students (adult) wants to take his grade 3 this session (using 2005-6 book) but is having trouble with 'Song' List B1. Does anyone have any tips on getting the accuracy required in the jumps in the left hand? We have done them slowly, quickly, from memory and every other conceiveble way I can think of but the minute he puts them with the right hand, they go all heavy and misplaced again.

His other pieces and scales are coming along quite well and aural is okay - sightreading needs work still so it is really mainly this problem. He does like the piece and doesn't want to wait until Easter to take the grade so any tips - I would be most grateful.

Tasha

Hiya One of my pupils did this for the last exam session, and played it really beautifully. She too struggled putting it all together, but persevere! It is worth the effort.

We played sep hands a lot, and practised both sep and tog. The best tactic for this pupil was to virtually memorise the RH part, so she could glance down at her hands to ensure she landed the LH jumps safely. This gave her the confidence she needed to play the LH with the grace it needs. She worked very, very hard to get the LH secure, which paid off - she got 27 and a distinction overall

I suspect your student will be fine - you just need to give it time. He's proved he knows the LH part well, but it is difficult getting the RH with it. Are you using the pedal at all? This helps to give a more legato feel even when jumping.

I would strongly agree with that. I have only allowed my most sensitive musical pupils to play this lovely piece in their examination and it's provided an excellent piece by which to introduce pedal for those who've not used it before.

Do persevere if your pupil likes the piece and can hope to play it well. I think it's quite hard for Grade 3 but is rewarding when it goes well and certainly my own students have scored highly on it most times.

Good luck to your student.

Hi,

Thanks for that. It's nice to know that someone else had a struggle but made it. Yes, he is learning the right hand by heart and we are going to have a couple of separate sessions for this piece. He also is trying to learn some of the trickier chords in the left hand by heart too so he can keep an eye on those in the exam too.

He is using the pedal which I agree is helpful, did your student use it in the con animato section too? we quite like it without to give a contrast but the teaching notes mention using it.

Feeling a little better,
Tasha

We didn't use the pedal in the con animato section. I wanted her to, thinking it sounded nicer, but I sense it was a step too far - the look of concentration on her face for that section was a picture! It did offer a nice contrast, and there were no negative comments regarding it on the results sheet.

Keep going, it does sound lovely once they get it!

I do think it is worth pesevering with! It is a lovely piece. The pedal is useful for making the overall legato qualities of the piece stand out. It will take time, but will definitely be worth it in the end.

Thanks for those comments.

We are going to persevere with the piece bevause he does really like it. Thanks Suxymac for the comments about the con animato section, we are going to go with not using the pedal but will use it for much of the rest of the piece as marked.

We are just going to have to go over and over the chords by the sounds of it as I thought we would, I'm sure he'll get it - he is very determined.

Thanks to all.

Tasha