Okay so I'm doing Grade Seven violin in October. I really want to do well but I doubt I will.
And theres a few things that are annoying me so bad! If anyone has any tips greatly appreciated!

1. SCALES!
I thought I was getting ahead with them, and was finally getting them right. I then had my lesson on wednesday and we played the scales and my teacher said they were out of tune.
They really frustrate me because I know exactly what should be in them but I can't get them in tune!
Does anyone have any tips or anything on getting these scales right?

2. B PIECE.
From the B piece I have chosen the Smetana, Moderato - No1 from the homeland. This piece is really amazing when I have heard it played, but I have real problems with the animato. I have spoke to my teacher and she has given me loads of help but im still struggling. The rest of the piece is okay but I know this part will let me down. Has anyone played this piece before any have any tips with the animato part? It just doesn't sound right and have the right emotion in it.

3. SCHINDLERS
Im playing the schindlers list for my C piece, its so beautiful I love it! The problem is, in my lessons and at home I can get the high notes absolutely fine and usually in tune, and I can get the last two notes fine. However whenever I have performed this piece in public, my tuning goes out the window, i can't get the high notes and i don't quite reach the last two notes. It really spoils it and upsets me because I can normally play it well. I'm worried this will happen in my exam and I don't want it to (obviously!). Do you think its because of nerves or could there be something else?

Thats about it for now, sorry for the moan!!
Any advice would really really be appreciated.
xx

Hey! I'm not a string player, but I think this goes for any instrumentalist who is under a bit of pressure like yourself.

Don't panick! You still have plenty of time! Practice every day, little and often. Try not to take it out on yourself when you make mistakes and find things difficult.
In terms of playing to others, try and get friends/small group of people to listen to you play. It will build your confidence, and you will begin to feel calmer about others being there, which will then improve your playing in the long-run. x x

This is so true and if you are about grade 7 standard with your playing then you should not have any problems in getting people to listen to you as you can play so many things so well (remember, they are not violinists so they don't notice the little mistakes you notice! ). If you are not far from where I live I'll listen to you every day if you like especially Schindler's piece

Thanks for the advice jojo and jennthesaxplayer.
I am just keeping going, i get frustrated when i make mistakes that i don't normally and then i get all confused and mess up the rest.
I'm going to try that and play to some other people. I have the piano accompanyments on disk so i can play them with that.
Thanks!
x



If you heard me playing everyday you would never want to hear the violin especially Schindler's ever again haha!

x

You do get the stage where you feel you'll never get any better, and you're not good enough. But you've still got a good couple of months to go, so it would be bad if you were playing perfectly now!!! If you were playing perfectly now, you would be well past your sell-by date by the time you do your exam! I'm sure you're making good progress, and if you keep practising, and playing in front of whoever sits still long enough, you'll be fine by the autumn.

Don't get yourself in a tizz, and try and relax about it. (Easy to say, isn't it?!) Play some other stuff too, to give yourself a break.

That even happens to the best of players. Professional soloists (with a one or two exceptions of course!), often hit plateaus with a work and need to work longer on something to get it right.... sometimes for months, sometimes years, until they are happy with it.

At the end of the day, the tougher the music gets, the longer it takes to perfect it. The better your playing gets, the more insecure you can become about the niggly things that go wrong. If you weren't neurotic before becoming a musician, you will be by the time you've been playing at an advanced level for a few years.

The truth is, a non-musician will not notice half the mistakes a musician makes - therefore, learn to convincingly bluff your way through the mistakes. If they are a musician they will understand your problems and fears, or should do! even if they don't play a string instrument.

Take heart and just keep plugging away. At least you know where the short comings are in your playing - which is a real bonus, because otherwise you'd not think you had anything to practice at all!

Troublesome phrases or bars should be removed from their context and practiced (repeated) ad nauseum until you can't play them incorrectly, before putting them back into context and playing into it. It may seem boring and it will probably sound boring to anyone who has to listen to you doing it, but believe me, it WILL pay off in the long run.

This reminds me of something I read recently that I think musicians forget - that practising isn't just playing and therefore doesn't always sound pleasant! Apparently Birgitt Nilssen (Spelling? I forget!) had a policeman visit her before a performance - she was warming up - he thought an elephant had stepped on someone's toe - so don't feel that each time you practise it has to sound like a concert - sometime you'll take only a few notes and practise them like mad. It make be horrible to listen to, but it's done so that your performance won't be

I think I am too negative a lot, I always am and my teachers tell me off a lot for it! My art teacher once threw my art book in the bin (he retrieved it later) because I said it was "rubbish"!
I am keeping away at it and I always begin the schindlers by playing those last two bars with the last two notes.

Thank you for the advice everyone!
It is really helping and its given me so much support!
Thanks!!!!! =D
x

I think it's a bit of a rut one can find oneself in - Once you feel negatively about something, the feeling seems to spread to other parts of your life as well.
I had to do the same with one of my pieces for my Higher music performance exam - just playing the same few notes a couple of times each time I picked up my violin, and it wasn't long before I, and my teacher, noticed a significant improvement.

Try to keep focussing on the good parts of what you're doing, and the 'worse' parts will fall into place in time. I doubt half the musicians out there would carry on playing if they were perfect from the moment they started to play.

Good luck! x

Yes, I know what you mean! I have trouble doing the grade 5 czardas even though I'm supposed to be grade 7 now. I am purposely working on these. Am pushing myself to do fast fingerwork pieces because I don't want to go to pieces in my next exam. Maybe I should just work on the bar of semiquavers where I have the most problems for these few days. One thing I like though, I seem to have gotten the previous few bars fairly quickly.

Fingers are all sore for now (not very encouraging for practice) and I lost a piece of skin on my forefinger somehow and that makes it a bit ouchy.

Arpeggios are somewhat better after a week of practice intonation-wise, but not as fast and smooth as I would like. Gotta keep plugging at it.

Recently one of the music centre students got 141 for her Grade 6 violin and her sister got 133 for Grade 5 violin... which kind of makes me want to dig a hole and bury myself. And she got a distinction for Grade 8 piano last year, and was in the Electone competition AND a violin competition for the whole country.. she's still in secondary school by the way! Oh my, I'll never match that kind of talent. Not even if I practice everyday for 4 hours... I doubt she has time to practice 4 hours a day on one instrument though, yet she does well. Amazing!

When are you aiming to do grade seven?

I'm glad someone else has trouble haha!
My appeggios are rubbish along with the rest of my scales. I don't know why scales are always my hang up on the violin! On flute they are one of my strengths!!

Wow that girl sounds amazing, I have never gotten a distinction. I have been close but never quite there. I would like one in grade seven or at least a merit.
"she's still in secondary school by the way!" I'm still in secondary school! Some people must just have magical talent haha!

Thanks for the support everyone!
x

There is nothing amazing or magical about others apparently brilliant performances or abilities. We all have to face the fact that we are naturally better at some things than others - hence why your scales may seem pants on the violin, but very good on the flute. A natural flair goes a long way but it does still take a lot of hard work and if the best and the fastest of learners were to rest on their laurels they'd soon find the tortoises catching them up, possibly overtaking!

Attitude to practice is just as important as practice itself. What and how you practice is even more important. Just playing through things is not practice. Think quality. It is not necessary to play every single note of the work every time you practice. Time is better spent on the bits you are struggling with. Conquer those entirely and your overall playing will sound a lot better.

I know, but by the time she's out of school, she might be having a dip in two instruments and Grade 4 (also something like DipABRSM) on the electone, plus maybe winning a first prize in my country's violin and electone competitions... how many people at age 17 would have achieved that much? A dip in one instrument is more common. For her competition piece, her teacher told me that by the first week, she had played every note correctly only with minor interpretation issues and with the book in front of her. By the second week, she had it ALL memorised perfectly. oh my.

Well, I'm not doing arpeggios in every key if that's what you mean. I'm doing arpeggio studies which includes a few keys if you take them apart. And it's doing wonders for my shifting (and ego by sounding like I'm playing something really impressive, haha! ) and dominant sevenths too. Well at least I can get my fingers around the strings better these days.

And I agree, I'm rubbish with scales on the violin whereas on the piano, you name any key, I can rattle them off straightaway. Of course in the lower grades, violin scales were still ok enough for me to earn a 19, but not anymore However I take consolation in the fact that my violin slurs weren't too bad.

Well, even if I were to practice only the bits I'm really bad at for 4 hours a day, I doubt I'll get as far as that girl.

Amanda that is very true! Honest words



WOW. Oo if i could memorise a piece after two months i'd be impressed!! Wow, that has to be amazing. By the time I'm seventeen I plan to have grade eight violin. Thats my goal! I have two years to reach it haha! Diploma's etc wow! Maybe later in life haha.

Scales are just frustrating, when you know you can do them but can't. I havn't even tried slurring them yet. Arghh! I'm never going to be ready haha!!! Keep smiling ey?

I think if I practised all day every day I'd never be as good as that girl, but I suppose we shouldn't compare ourselves to those who have achieved more, we should compare ourselves to our former selves to see how far we've come shouldn't we? Oo i feel all wise and grown up!
=p
x

Ah, yes, we should. And try not to see that you take one year to memorise what that special person can do in a week. It was the electone competition piece, by the way, she did a piece from Mozart's Marriage of Figaro. And it sounded as good as the whole orchestra.

But it's ok, I'm pretty happy with my achievements. I began learning the violin when my fellow piano teacher colleague had just passed her Grade 1. Now I'm in Grade 7 and she is still in Grade 5. I know that her new teacher has her learning Grade 3 pieces though. I know, bad of me, but it's a comforting thought.

Ok i have now memorised my G major and it's ok most of the time, so time to do the harmonic minor. I think it took longer than a week to stabilize!

I am also pretty happy with my achievements. I mean i could have done better, could have worked harder as a child, but then i wouldn't have done all the other stuff that i do (and i do a rediculous amount of other stuff! I don't have a night free!) Haha just keep that thought in your head all the time haha!

Well done with G major. I think i can do that.
Its the melodic minors that confuse me. I have always done harmonics and since i missed grade 5 and 6 have never had to tackle them. Now they baffle me!
x

Oh that's a challenge indeed when you miss Grade 6. But then I keep relying on my ear to play harmonic and melodic, and keep messing up the fingering, and when it's in the exam room... I panic because I can't remember the finger patterns, there are like 5 or 6 different patterns for every string going up and 2 to go down, so it seems like 5 scales to remember. Worse when it's melodic.

I love this thread, we can moan to our heart's content.

Hahaa I know. An old moan is good for anyone!

Yeah well I did grade four, and then grade 5 theory took ages cos I didn't really take to theory much (though now I love it and want to retake my exam) so that took ages, so i was planning to do grade 6 but then it would use a whole year as what i had learned before had gone "out of date". So we decided to do grade 7. ARGGHHH!!!
I think I make up the fingerings every time I play. I usually go up into 3rd position on the A string but I sometimes forget and go up on the E string instead.
When are you planning on taking your grade seven?

x

Double stopped scales!! WHY?!

Oh yeah! I should probably work on that too. Double stop scales.. *hastily checks syllabus*
Well we do not have much of a choice, we only have 2 exam sessions next year, either in April (newly installed), or the one from June-August. And I don't think I'll have achieved my target by the time we have to register for the exam (in December- early January). But I have ordered the exam pieces nonetheless. We'll see how it goes.

Why.. probably because a lot of music have double stopped 3rds, 6ths or octaves in them at higher levels?

Anyhow, think how far advance we are, not to be going up with our 4th finger on the E string all the way

I think they pay people, to sit down and think
"how can we make scales even worse?"
hmmmm. I KNOW LETS PUT DOUBLE STOPPED SCALES IN!

Gahh. Lol.

Why oh why am I doing it in october? Oh dear oh dear.
hahaa
i do believe i will be lucky just to pass!

ha
x

That's where the board comes in

Well I'm sure you'll do fine if your teacher allows you to take it in October

Haha fingers crossed.

i just properly mastered G major. One down
x

G major in 1 hour? Wow.. I took a week
Gotta work on that octave double stop G major tomorrow though.
If I get my scales tiptop, I suppose I shouldn't worry.

Waheyyy, Well its probably not in tune haha!
I want my scales up to scratch, reallygood so i don't need to worry.
But I doubt that will happen.
ha
x

I found double stops a breeze next to the diminished sevenths of doom. I know how they sound, just can't play 'em, is all.

And as for that girl ... well ... does she have a life? (I'm not bitter, honest).

Hahaa, the double stops eights are okay. But the sixths are a nightmare, i forget what im starting on
hmmfff i think all scales are just silly i like the way they sound when in tune, but otherwise tsch!

A bit of bitterness hehe! Good for the soul! x

I like the sixths - they make sense to me because when I'm playing with my ceilidh band, we seem to somehow play a sixth at the end. I think. Anyway, I like the sound of them . It's the octave ones I find really hard, I think my hands must be quite small!

Oh I can't do the sixths!
The eights are okay because I know its just an octave, but when you go into positions in sixths, i always go to high! Ahh scales scales scales!
x

Hi,

Guess this is my first post in few years

Yup, scales indeed need a lot of practice. I spent 30mins everyday on my scales, 30 mins on my pieces everyday for my Grade 7 ( since I skipped Grades 1-6) after 6 years of learning violin. Imagine all the three octave scales I had to learn. Oh my...to think back, I didn't know how I manage to do that. I knew I spent the first 1-2 months grabbing for the notes, listening to each one of the notes, then after that to make it smooth going. Since piano is my first instrument, I imagine making my violin scales 'sound' like piano scales, with no gaps anywhere, even through shifting. When I have time, I wouldn't let myself go off practice at times unless my practice time exceeded 2 hours (in which my fingers and arms were hurting terribly without me knowing) or my practice just don't let to anywhere for that particular day. To my surprise, I scored almost full marks for my scales! So, you've just got to like scales

As for pieces, when I started to learn my grade7 pieces, I was thinking that my playing should 'sound' like the playings in a recital. That has been my target while I prepare for my exam pieces.

On the exam day, I told myself, yay! I'm going to 'perform' my lovely pieces

Practice sessions are not meant to be perfect all the time. In fact for me, it was never perfect. I only find myself satisfied with my playing on the morning just before my grade 8 exam. You still have time to learn. Don't be in a rush to practice through things. Take things slowly, targeting few scales at a time until you are satisfied.

Yup, actually all the scales help you through with difficult shifting, pieces next time. Only now I realized that:) Including all the 3rd, 6sth and octaves.

Wow, Violin-Ann, you are still learning scales JUST AFTER exam? good! Never heard of any student doing that before. Well, it is better to prepare early than to make last minute preparation. How about going into grade 7 scales? You have indeed make up your mind to excel in violin huh? good good! Sure your teacher will be happy with that

From,
Happygirl

I would differ slightly from what some of you here have said and would like to ask the original poster a question: if you've still got some of your old comments sheets from previous grade exams, did they say anything about intonation back then? If not, then just keep practising your scales the way you are, and never forget to alter an out-of-tune note to an in-tune note as quickly as possible and as soon as you notice it's out of tune. Anything rather than stay on the out-of-tune note, anyway, so the examiner knows what you actually mean!

If previous exam comments sheets mention intonation, or if your teacher often has to correct you on your intonation, then simply practising the scales over and over again may not make a lot of difference and it's the way you're hearing the notes that needs to be looked at.

There are some very good studies that can really help with this - the Rode Etudes, especially the ones in sharp keys, are particularly good because they get you to really listen harder, and can actually help correct shaky intonation. Definitely worth a try and they're not expensive.

Hope that helps.

Hi I'm back. I think I should have no problems with the 6ths, my hands are small too, and I didn't have much problem with them originally, (except in the exam room, haha! )
It's the stretching the little finger in 1st positions that gets my goat. And sometimes I stretch and 'leave' my thumb behind and I have a strained thumb after practice. I keep forgetting to relax as well.

I know the sound of diminished 7ths, so if I practice them enough, they're fine.

That girl.. well, as far as I know, she has friends (admittedly also musical ones, she recorded a piano trio with one of them and her sister), she is friendly when I meet her and has no hang-ups or anything like that. But I really admire her dad, for the sake of his daughter's talent he went to a far-away place to work so that he can earn more. The mom stays back with the girls. So undoubtedly the girls work hard too in order not to disappoint dad.
Anyway, what do you consider someone who has no life? How much time can they spend on their instruments before they are considered to have 'no life'? There's just no way to put a limit on that. I'm sure concert pianists have not much of a life either. They have to make some dedication to their art in order to do well. I doubt that they can be concert pianists if they went out with friends like 3 times a week, bar-crawled till 2am twice a week and so on... Have you read Lang Lang's story? His dad moved with him to the city while mom stayed back to work. Dad tirelessly carried him (when he was smaller) and cycled with him at the back (and he was not a light child) to and from school, even during winter. And that dedication and his own dedication to work hard at his piano has brought him where he is. Well, I'm sure they are not totally friendless and stuff, but if you read Maxim's story, you'll find that his mom had to persuade him to practice too instead of going out to play ball with his friends.

And no happygirl, you have not been away for years, but your last post was around september last year
Alas, I don't know if my teacher will be happy this week, because I don't think I have made much progress. Ok I just realised I DID do G major and G harmonic minor in grade 5 before. What a dope I am! No wonder G harmonic minor seemed vaguely familiar to me. Unfortunately the G major was totally gone, hence needing more than a week to get it right. Stupid me. *bangs head on wall* Oh yes, and G major and minors ARE grade 7 scales.
Excel? I doubt that I'll really excel, but in order to just pass all my grades, I need a lot of work. Hopefully before I'm 40

Problem is violinia, for people over here, it's so difficult to get good violin books. I had to buy like 200+ worth of books in my currency the last time (and I also pooled with a friend), got a friend in the UK to receive them (free postage for those in the UK) and got her to send them to me by normal post (I had to pay her for postage, still cheaper than if musicroom sent them to me direct) and then I had to wait like 3 months for everything to arrive. Ugh.. all they have over here is Strictly Strings, and Herbert Kinsey and Suzuki studies. So we mainly live on that for the first 5 grades of our lives.

Ahhhh Schindler's List! That's only like my favourite violin solo in the world ever! It's pieces of music like that which make me wish I could play the violin. You're so fortunate! Just go for it! Loads of vibrato! Dynamic contrasts so huge they could poke your eye out! I love the really butch low notes. They're my favourites ('cellist/singer here).

My strategy is to try to forget that the examiner is in the room. It takes some practice, but I managed it for the first time at a recital recently. It really does help, and it gives you this massive great big high. For practice, try twisting your Head of Music Department's arm until you can get him/her to give you a solo slot in a concert, or (if you can bear it) playing something for a few friends or family. Schindler's List always goes down a treat!

Just remember... as infuriating as silly little mistakes are, the odd mistake doesn't matter. The examiner doesn't mark you down for every single mistake. I often find myself discouraged by silly mistakes, and it's always counter-productive. Damaged self-confidence resulting from silly mistakes often do more damage than the mistakes themselves. Attitude is everything, and self-persuasion is a very powerful thing: if you can go in there feeling great about yourself, it'll really show positive results in your music-making. When you wake up on the morning of the exam, make yourself a big hot chocolate with cream and a flake; put on your favourite bra/knickers/socks, and wear something that makes you feel good about yourself. You might know from experience, but in case you don't, then I'll say it now: don't wear anything uncomfortable, or that restricts movement, or anything that might come undone or fall off. I've done that before and seriously regretted it. They were sparkly, red high heels and they nearly killed me.

I think that a big problem about exams is that people are timid about 'getting into it' in front of the examiner. I think it's important to give a visual performance too! It's always awe-inspiring to watch, and the thing to remember is that the examiner is only human, and wants to give you as high a mark as possible. If you can give a good all-round performance then you might just persuade him/her to tip a potential merit over the edge into a distinction.

You mentioned the last two notes of Schindler's List... The two really high ones?

Have you listened to the recording of Itzhak Perlman playing it? It was written with him in mind, so should be worth something..!

Have you noticed how slowly he plays it? Have you also noticed the slide that he puts in for the last two notes?

The last pupil of mine who did this piece had the same problem as you, but when she allowed herself to take loads of time (looking confident of course) and introduce a bit of a slide up to the note, she was suddenly fine.

The hardest part was giving herself permission to make life easier for herself this way, and to convince herself that it was a musically appropriate thing to do and not just a 'cheat'!

Good luck!

K.

Hello, not many of my comment sheets say much about intonation, i'm usually in tune in pieces etc and ive always been told my intonation is good. It's just the scales that really are bad!!
I will have a look at those study books also as any help is welcomed!
Thanks
x




I love the piece as well!
Lots of good advice there thanks!
I'm going to attempt pretending the examiner isn't in the room. I find when I pretend no-ones listening I often play better, as I feel like i'm proving to myself that I can play it well. You are your own worst critic i think so pretending to play to yourself gives you a real push and a vibe afterwards when you have played it well!

Right from now on GOOD ATTITUDE haha.
I've never thought about "getting dressed for an exam". I might try it, favourite clothes etcc, would probably make me play better. Oo interesting! Unfortunately I'm not a fan of hot chocolate (not a fan of choc in general) but i'm sure orange juice and crunchy nut would do the job just as well hah!

I do go very shy in exams. I like to get in to a piece, the bending of the knees etcc but in an exam I often stay very still, not allowing me to get into the piece which is a shame i guess.
I going to try and be more relaxed in this exam...new motto: the examiner wants me to do well!
Haha
Thank you so much for your advice, there is a lot of really helpful tips there!
x



Yes I was talking about the last two really high notes.
I have Itzhak Pearlman playing it, as well as on the ABRSM cd. I've also watched schindlers list a lot and i know the emotion of the piece.
I will try practising the slide and listening to the piece really carefully to hear the slide.
!
Thanks!x

Oh yes, do dance a bit in the exam, it really does help with expression. If the examiner is 'not there' then you can do it I'm sure. At times I find I need to swing out a bit to get the tone I want.

I've got round to smiling more too during the exam because a friend watching me play said, 'good grief, you look so serious when playing!' so maybe ask someone who'll give you a constructive comment to watch you play.

Oh and I remember two years ago, the general advice was to eat a banana before the exam, as it has calming properties. I've not tried it, but apparently a few people swear by it.

Haaa, I will waltz around the exam room!! I've never known whether its a good thing or not to "get into" the music as such, but I guess it is.
I often do big gestures with the bow or head movements when trying to get the right expression into the piece. haha.

I will try and smile, except maybe not in schindlers list!

Ohh banana's. Hmm again, not fond. I'm the fussiest eater you will find! There are trays of banana's outside our gcse exam rooms so that everyone grabs one if they want one before they go in. I saw a boy take about ten in once haha! Its supposed to stimulate the brain though. I'm not sure quite how this works though, because my food teacher told me it takes an hour or so for the banana to be properly digested and all its "bits" be sent out to the different parts of the body i.e the brain.
Hmmfff odd.


x

Problem is violinia, for people over here, it's so difficult to get good violin books. I had to buy like 200+ worth of books in my currency the last time (and I also pooled with a friend), got a friend in the UK to receive them (free postage for those in the UK) and got her to send them to me by normal post (I had to pay her for postage, still cheaper than if musicroom sent them to me direct) and then I had to wait like 3 months for everything to arrive. Ugh.. all they have over here is Strictly Strings, and Herbert Kinsey and Suzuki studies. So we mainly live on that for the first 5 grades of our lives.
[/quote]

Where do you live? If you don't mind me asking?
x

Dunno! I remember people saying bananas were calming for nerves though in the forums 2 years back.

Ahh.. then try to shed a tear or two for schindlers

I live in Malaysia. It must be great to be able to walk into a music store to get Rode Etudes! I had to order my Sevcik and Wolfahrt from the UK. Now I'm beginning to wonder if I should make another purchase and what to buy for my Grade 7. What did your teacher teach you to get you to Grade 7? I need some ideas.

Oh and the banana should be digested and useful in a 3 hour theory exam!

Errr well I was working towards grade six doing the pieces set for that exam and then we decided we were just going to go for grade seven instead. So really I have been doing exam pieces which I know many would think is a bad way and "shouldn't be used to teach". But although having mostly done exam pieces i have played tempo di menuetto and the bach double violin concerto as well which have been beneficial.


Ooo malaysia very exotic
x

Ok more or less the same for my Grade 5 to Grade 6, but I got in a few studies and Vivaldi's concerto in A minor 1st movement in between, all played quite badly then. Ooh bach double violin concerto! If you can do that, yes you are definitely grade 7 standard!

Err.. not too exotic for violin players, but it's ok. At least for piano players we can go up to the capital to get more err.. exotic books. Still, there's an option to go over to Singapore to buy them, but they're mid-range. Only the exchange rate is twice ours.

Hahaa. Bach double violin concerto isn't too hard! Its only around grade 6 standard, i learnt it for two reasons: one i wanted too and two because its the audition piece for the youth orchestra round here, which i have been putting off auditioning for for about two years hehe!!


x

Ooh, but I'm sure you got in then. Well, I'll have a go and see. Have only seen it and promptly gave up on it last year.

I'm in the UK, in the West Country. OK if you can't get new books, practise double stoppings in thirds in a few different keys, like for example:

G major, starting on B on the G string and open D (so you're starting in the first inversion)
Bb major, starting on Bb on the G string and open D
C major, starting on C on the G string and E on the D string
A major, starting on C# on the G string and E on the D string ( first inversion again)

Then you could try the same keys but the minors instead. Listen really hard till there are no 'beats' (weird vibrations) and that way you'll be playing beautifully in tune. It's a really good way to work on intonation.

But I'm sure you'll be fine - eat some bananas like everyone's saying, and remember the examiner wants to have a good time - he's really not there to pick your playing apart!

Good luck.

Ok I'll try. Hope I can remember them all.
It's weird you have to listen for the beats when you tune your violin, but want to avoid them for the double stops.
Anyway, I think my ear is ok for 3rds and 6ths, it's getting my fingers round them that will a problem.

Hang on a minute, it's the same with both tuning the violin (open strings together) and double stops - you're in tune when there are no beats.

Too right, it's the fingering that's the harderst thing with double stops!

When i say "putting it off"..well I still am. I'm too nervous and i doubt i will get in. The director/conductor person is chasing me up on it though now!
haha.
x

Argghh!
Just had my lesson. Did scales all lesson, which I really needed. I'm ever so slowly conquering them! But I still can't do half of them.
Oh will I ever get to grade 7?
x

Ahh ok.. I must have gotten 'beats' mixed up with something else. There is a certain kind of vibration an interval of a 5th has that other intervals don't, and I listen for that normally.

I tried the Bb major in 3rds thing. I can't seem to stretch my fingers for D on G string and F on E string, it's terrible!

Oh I also wanted to ask, in your earlier post you mentioned the kinds of things a violin teacher has to watch out for... what are pigeon toes?

Oh relax Maddielou, I'm sure you'll get to Grade 7. I remember I still couldn't remember every note of the scales for the exam. I'm positive I've failed it. But sometimes it's like that. And I think violin scales are the hardest for any instrument where every octave is a different finger pattern.

Too true violin ann!
I think we need could all do with slightly longer and more flexible fingers!!

What are pigeon toes? :s

Haa I stress too much, sorry!
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It's ok we'll get through
Well the ideal hand is long fingers, but fleshy fingertips. Of course when you are in higher postions, fleshy fingertips might be a bit annoying because you have to squeeze them all together, or let go of some fingers. But vibrato is great when you have so much flesh to stabilize your finger on the fingerboard!

Violinia mentioned pigeon toes when talking about students with bad technique that she has seen. So I wanted to ask her what that is.