I have two pupils who are very keen and they worked so hard over the summer that their grade 3 pieces are pretty much ready now. The exam won't be for two months! I haven't had this situation before, and I would like your views on whether to:

a) Leave the pieces completely and work on something new until say four weeks before the exam

or

Keep hearing the pieces each week and try to get them absolutely perfect at the risk of getting fed up with them.

I know this is a good opportunity to do something, but I'm just not sure what!

I'd do the first one. Or perhaps lots of quick study type pieces to help the sightreading mark?

Liz

I AM NOT A TEACHER so please forgive me for posting! But as an adult student, I have been in that situation before in the earlier grades. There is always a tendency to go completely off the boil if you slog away at the pieces too long and I have found, still do, that a complete rest from the pieces does wonders and restores a freshness and immediacy to the expression and dynamics.

So I would go along with the idea of doing lots of studies and short pieces, aural, scales and sightreading because they are easy marks to pick up in the exam, if worked on and perfected. And surely what a lovely situation to be in when you can then do some enjoyable aural with the student and explore all sorts of different periods and musical styles knowing that you have the time when usually aural can so easily get squeezed out! Also, if their pieces are so good already, has it been at the expense of regular sight reading and scale practice?

I knew a teacher of a friend who would forbid the pupil to start on the next grade pieces until she was sure that the scales for that grade were well on the way as she knew that the pupil would get so stuck into the pieces that they would practise nothing else!!

But you teachers will have been there before, and as a student, I would love to hear your views as to how you all tackle this one.

Yes - in many ways this is a lovely problem to have - I'm sure we have all lost count of the times it's been the other way round !! .......

I would broadly agree, do lots of other things - with one small caution. When pieces have been ready too early in the past, and I have left them on one side for a few weeks, I've sometimes found that odd things can happen to them in the interval, and things that were correct can slip. It's probably worth hearing them occasionally, though I can't say I've found an ideal formula for this.

Have you considered letting them learn another exam piece or two ?- if there is something else that appeals to them.

Maggie

How about doing each of the 3 pieces for 2 weeks each? I've done this sometimes, if there were bits and bobs to deal with, - or to get to a deeper level of expression without tiring out the pieces by doing them all, all the time. If you decide to give them a complete break, it's important to timetable into your own diary WHEN they should restore them to full standard, otherwise they can be "off the boil performances" for the exam that have not quite got there again. Perhaps 2 or 3 weeks before the earliest possible exam, tell the pupil NOW that you'd like a full concert of the 3 pieces at that lesson, and remind them a couple of weeks before.

When this happens to my pupils I ask that they perform the three 3 times during the week. If they feel a piece slipping then they must try and practise those sections. In the meantime how about giving them a piece, say about grade 1 standard and asking them to perfect it for the following week. Pupils usually love this. I explain I am after a finished performance with beautiful expression and the correct tempo. I don't play it through to them beforehand. I like it to be totally their work. I find this really makes them think!
It is always difficult to time the preparation exactly so I am sure you will experience this senario quite often.

QUOTE

how about giving them a piece, say about grade 1 standard and asking them to perfect it for the following week. Pupils usually love this. I explain I am after a finished performance with beautiful expression and the correct tempo. I don't play it through to them beforehand. I like it to be totally their work. I find this really makes them think!

This is a great idea, and you can make it even more fun if you present it as a "Secret Assignment" : instructions in a sealed envelope, to be opened only when the pupil is at home. (You need to know exactly which page of which book to do this!)

It takes a little bit of work ahead of time, but pupils love having something which is "just for me".

Maggie

Yes, great idea!

This has happened to me on a number of occasions.The first time was on grade 4.I got the pieces in october practised hard and had everything ready by January but the exam was in May.I got another book of pieces(these had nothing to do with exams).Some of them were above the grade standard I was at,some of them werent.Myself and my teacher piecked a few pieces from the book that I might like and started working on those.We did this until the beginning of April then concentrated on exam stuff once again.Maybe you could get a book of pieces or arrangements of songs your pupil might like and have him/her learn some maybe as a reward for their hard work or something?

What about teaching them something completely different, like some jazz?

Violinia

Wow what an incredible list of ideas!

I like the idea of just concentrating on one of their pieces at a time, as I would worry if I let all of them go.

One of them is very good at sight-reading but doesn't use her ears and the other one is the opposite, so I could work on these with the secret grade 1 piece assignment and some improvisation.

I also forgot about duets which I have used in the past very successfully as a way of combining sight-reading and listening.

What would you use as studies at this level? They both have technical problems with the scales- one sticks her thumb out sideways all the time so it is very slow to turn under, and the other one tends to turn her thumb completely round when doing arpeggios - it has to be seen to be believed!