I've just started looking at some of the 2007-8 Grade 8 exam pieces. I've decided on my B piece to be B3, the Allegro from Sonata in F. I'm having trouble choosing the other pieces though.... for the A piece I've looked at all 3 in the book, but because my hands are so small I've been having difficulty in all of them. For the Bach Fugue (A1) the fingering etc stretches my hands too much; the octave leaps in the Mendelssohn (A2) is a definite no-no and the huge LH chords in the Scarlatti (A3) is proving to be difficult too. What can I do? Can anyone suggest me a nice A piece from the alternative list, that is managable for a small hand? I can reach an octave in both hands, but not any more, and I can't do really fast octave leaps (I can just about manage slow ones). I hate having small fingers

In the meantime if anyone has a recommendation for a C piece that will be appreciated as well. Perhaps something slightly slower so that it can be a contrast to the B Allegro.

Thanks.

Well for the C piece have a look at the Grieg Nocturne. Notes arent too difficult, but you have to be able to count/play 3 beats in one hand against two in the other. Some players have no problems with this, others find it difficult
The A piece is a problem, but I dont know the Soler or the second Bach piece mentioned. Certainly dont do the Shostakovitch, you havent a chance at the fugue with small hands.

Oh no?

I agree about the Grieg, it's not too much a difficult piece either. Even I can manage it

Plus, as an added bonus, It's Grieg <3 <3 <3 <3!!!!

My Grade 8 girl can only just get an octave but we are managing the Bach

That's quite a Grieg thing you've got going there man

From list A have a look at the Soler piece - it is lovely and no big stretches - though lots of crossing over of hands

I was trying to work out what <3 was - but I think he means .........

Yes <3 is the sign for a love heart, used by a lot of teenagers, mostly one that are often called Emos

Glossary for the benefit of crumblies: he means those to whom the adjective "emo" is pejoratively applied, not those who were christened "Emos".

Glad to have been of service.

Oi! What are you suggesting?? I'm neither a teenager nor an "emo"
And also, I used those lovehearts before the emo phenomenon coz I thought they were "cute"

haha

Why not have a look at the other scarlatti piece on list A?
I've got small hands and was annoyed at not being able to do the one in the book, but I got the sonata in E and love it!
For the C list I chose the grieg at first, but then decided to have a stab at the gershwin. I'm managing ok surprisingly and only have to miss out a few notes....... I'm not sure yet which I'll be doing for the exam.

For List C, Grieg would pretty much be a good idea - nice and simple, no particularly hard stretches. Maybe Chopin would be a nice contrast too, and it's not too fast until the end. But it depends on if you're hands are sufficiently large enough to do an octave. But you can always use the pedal to your advantage! One that I would probably not advise is the Ravel piece, as I think it requires quite a lot of large stretches that are necessary to maintain the melody.

List A, I would advise the Soler piece or the Scarlatti alternative list piece (that's the one I'm doing!) - both quite cool pieces, no particularly hard stretches. But the second section of the Scarlatti's Sonata in E might prove a little bit trickier with small hands in maintaining the melody, but Piano gurl says she can cope with it having small hands, so I'm sure it's all right!

~Wobby~

don't count on my opinion though- I have got small hands, but I have a fairly normal handspan (can stretch an octave comfortably) I just have very short fingrs. And quite a small palm. I don't know what a medium handspan has to do with having small hands....but still . I manage

Does anybody know what the average handspan is by the way? I can stretch about a 9th and maybe a 10th with a bit of difficulty.

~Wobby~

I'm doing the soler sonata-some lovely chords!,the clementi sonata and poulenc toccata.The poulenc is quite difficult with the large stretches, not advisable for small hands.

Hi

I too have just started to look through the grade 8 pieces, and cannot decide on the C list piece - have heard the Gershwin and really like that, has anybody else had a look at that at all and what are their thoughts

I bought the 2007-08 Grade 8 book yesterday, had a look through and in ten minutes had decided! I think I'll do the Bach prelude and fugue, Mozart piece and jazzy.
Alex

I don't know; I can do an octave and a 9th with difficulty. I have small hands but long fingers...

i can do a 9th (with difficulty)
the gershwin is absolutely fantastic. Its probably the best (but hardest) piece I have played so far on the piano. It just seemed to click with me....

and i like the sound of the soler so Im going to have a stab at that. I've kind of gone of the scarlatti.

There's a lot of choice in the syllabus really, I think the hardest is choosing which C piece to do for no other reason than that there are so many good ones!

The Grieg piece is actually gorgeous if anyone wants emailed a recording of it (not by me I may add lol!) send me a message.

Thing is PurePianist is needing more help choosing A and B pieces than C pieces by the sound of it.

Sorry... nothing to do with G8! My daughter (9yrs old last wk) and me (doing a poor shadowing job) will do G5 this June slot.

Despite her being almost as tall as me (I'm only 5ft!) so we have span problems just about every grade and have opted for various unsuccessful solutions in the past, from dropping the notes altogether or picking them up with the other hand... but (sorry to be such a dunse!) never thought of using the pedal to carry the 1st over while you leap to the other like a broken chord.

Clever!

There are a few things you can practice every day to help your span (but don't push it!)

Try doing chromatic scales in octaves (legato as you can) using 1 and 5 for white notes and 1 and 4 for black notes. Practice this a few times every day and gradually it will become easier,

I've noticed my hand span is often almost the same as other players with bigger hands then mine (mine are pretty small) because you know, if you can get a 10th you're pretty much set (for most things I mean). My tenths aren't exactly comfortable, but I'm sure in years to come they will be, they're certainly more comfortable that they were when I first attempted them I can tell you.

Thanks for the replies everybody (and sorry for not replying for so long). I still haven't really settled down yet. To be honest I don't really like the C piece selection in the book (even though there's 6 of them); has anybody tried the alternative C pieces? What are they like?

I think I've settled on the B piece as the Mozart sonata in F. I still haven't decided the A piece though... again I'm not too fond of the ones in the book!

I envy people who can reach a 9th

I can reach a 9th with my left hand, but only an octave with my right hand

Have a look at the Albeniz piece that's in Keyboard Anthology Book 5 (Pink series -third?). No stretchiness problems in that.

My reach is around an octave in my left hand, and slightly less in my right - I can only play in octaves on the edge of the keys. I'm playing Shostakovich, Mozart in F and Albeniz for Grade 8.

Have you had a look at the Brahms?? I'm doing it and it's lovely, don't think there are too many big stretches in it either off the top of my head - will have a look when I'm back home (staying at a friends atm)

I can reach a 12th and in general any piece by Grieg is worth doing.