After some discussion with my teacher, I'm about to start the journey to Grade 3, we are presently looking at which pieces to play.
I was wondering if there is anyone else doing grade 3 or has done it this year and which pieces they have chosen, also how are you finding them.

I think my pupil did A1, B2, C3 - I always struggle to remember without the music in front of me...
C3 is ace but actually quite tricky to do it justice

Just want to wish you good luck with it.
I did G3 a couple of years ago, with different pieces I would think.
I actually got a merit too!

After G3 I stopped saying that I was learning the piano, and started to say that I can play a bit.


A

This is REALLY strange as I think 'Ice Cream Van' is brilliant and easy for grade 3
I loved it the minute I heard it, I could picture in my head these hilarious comic figures of children running after the ice cream van which was desperately trying to RUN AWAY from them!
I think C3 is the hardest piece in the C section anyway, I love it and will tackle it soon


Hi!
I am hoping to sit grade 3 in march 08, we'll see how it 'pans out'
I am learning A3 'Allegretto', B1 'Chant de la Creuse', B3 'Die Wandhur' (my favourite in the book), C1 'Round Dance' and C2 'Ice Cream Van'.
Next on the list which I want to learn is B2 'Waldvoglein' and C3 'Bonny Bobby Bluetoe' (which is my second favorite in book)
So far the one which to me 'seems' more difficult is C3 although I have not tackled it yet so wouldn't necessarily know. Easiest perhaps C2, my teacher told me B3 'Die Wandhur' is supposed to be 'quite difficult' but I am finding it not that difficult, I just have to get it to be a little more smooth and speed it up a little bit.

I guess different people will find different pieces difficult depending on how we learn?
Have you decided which ones to learn first?
How are you doing with scales/arpeggios etc?
Jo

I had two pupils do grade 3 last term. I think that the choice of pieces for G3 is rather poor compared to G4 where there seem to me to be some good ones. Nevertheless, our choices for G3 were A3 (Turk), B5 (Maikapar) although I quite liked B1 the pupils didn't. and C1 (Bartok) for which one of them scored 29/30.

I have one (adult ) pupil preparing for grade 3, and we are doing
Scarlatti (A2), Wanduhr and Round Dance C1).

A younger pupil has just got the book and started A2 - her favourite is possible Waldvoglein.

Generally I like the pieces, but my feeling is that A1 is difficult for the grade - especially the first two lines.
B5 (Maikapar) is lovely but in the key of F sharp minor - not actually a grade 3 key - a minor (oh dear - unintended) technicality maybe, but one that some might find off-putting, and a key that is quite likely to be unfamiliar.

Susie - I like B1 too - and I find the Bartok is popular.

Some of my pupils have done the Mozart (A5 I think?) and much enjoyed it. They are divided on the B and C pieces but C2 doesn't seem to hold any appeal for them.

Hi! I did my grade 3 in July there.

A2 - Scarlatti, what a lovely piece of music.

B5 - Maikapar - cheeky, fun.

C4 - Butler - evening bells, reminded me of listening to bell ringers in Essex of all places. Evocative, autumnal, a fantastic piace. Took me bloomin months to learn it!

Have fun!

Personally, I found that the previous session (06/07 was it?) had nicer pieces generally and now I am plodding through them as a means of consolidating my playing standard. (Never mind all the other pieces that I want to play that I'm working towards)

Good luck

I'm doing G3 in this coming session hopefully.

I've just about finished learning Bonny Bobby Blue Toe (C3), and Woldvoglein (B2), and previously finished Round Dance (C1).

I think Round Dance is perhaps the easiest of the pieces (though I find them all pretty difficult). And Bonny Bobby is definately the hardest; I really struggled to get the timing of that one, eventually resorting to copying the CD a bit to get the feel of it. For more timing practice I did Woldvoglein - I always try to tackle the harder ones if I can; since I'm doing these exams to improve, not just for the sake of it!

I'm also getting started on one of the alternative A pieces; the Menuet by Handel. In Grade 2, from the same book on the previous page I did the Air, but messed it up a bit due to nerves - it was my first ever exam piece; so it's a challenge for me to try to do better this time; and I love playing this style of music.

I'm tempted to try the Scarlatti next, and maybe Chant de La Cruse. Chant looks somewhat easier to me, but my teacher says it is quite tricky to play legatto, so it might make a nice change.

That's an interesting train of thought bflat, to select the hardest pieces to improve rather than just get through the exam.

My pupil loves Bonny Bobby Bluetoe at the minute. What really helped with that one was playing the original "Bobby Shaftoe" in the same key, and then she could pick out the melody in the exam version more easily.

I like the Franck piece as well - I generally like most things by this composer so it was nice to come across it

I decided to start doing exams after a few years of lessons, but without too much real progress. I found that they encouraged me to learn and in the last 6 months I have come on a great deal. I see them as a way to encourage me and give me an increasingly hard challenge. I don't actually mind too much if I fail, or do badly; though of course it's nice to do well; what's important to me is that when I sit down at the exam, I know a lot more piano than I did the last time - that's the whole point to me. A friend recently told me that every time he visits my house, I sound better than I did the last time.

I just keep thinking that there's a beethoven Sonata at grade 6, etc. and if I do one grade a year I'll be ready to play it in 3 years time. And that's a great feeling...