Is anyone hoping to take Grade 6 this Spring with the new syllabus? Looking particularly at A1, B1 and C1 !!

I think that these pieces give a really varied programme but some are quite long and will require lots of concentration!

I have almost finished learning B1 (Beethoven) which I love and C2 (Oscar Peterson). Actually I love all the pieces I have heard on this syllabus - which is just as well as I probably won't take the exam for ages as I don't have the theory.

P. S. Have I missed something? Are you doing exams in reverse order?!

Good spot. Actually I am with Teoani on this one. I took my own Grade 6 about 25 years ago!

It is my son who is taking it this session!

I am taking the exam this summer... haven't yet decided on any pieces, but am thinking of A2 (Mozart), B2 (Chopin) and C2 (Oscar Peterson). However, I'm not sure if I can make the jazz one go fast enough - having heard recordings of other pieces played by the composer he would probably have played it twice as fast as suggested! So I might do C3, the Satie.

The last line of B1, the Beethoven, is taking up a lot of practice time at the moment - it is proving to be quite tricky.

Heehee, I took and failed my Grade 6 about 15 years ago... Then I took and failed my Grade 7 and 8 again 14 years ago... haha...

This Friday will be my Grade 6 exam. Yes, B1's final bars are the ones that I often get very anxious about and make mistakes. It's like a sudden change of mood, and is supposed to sound very delicate, yet firm and clear. Can't be too loud, can't be too soft. Reputed to be the most difficult part of this piece, and is not written by the master himself.

But of course, my most unstable piece is still A5... Ah, may the Almighty bless that my fingers don't slip when playing those staccato chords!!!

My plans for my Grade 6 next year (2010) are Scarlatti (almost ready already), Beethoven (a lovely piece, almost ready, too) and the Jazz Exercise for List C (which I've only listened to).
As exercises, I am also planning to fo some ABRSM Studies for the Grade and also to start doing the Prelude by Glière (as an alternative for List B) and Satie's Gnossienne, part of which I've already done.

Dear Teoani,

My son keeps saying that if Beethoven had written the last page himself he would not have finished it like that! He only likes fast pieces therefore even getting him to practise this is trying.

Waiting patiently for exam date notification to arrive.

Good Luck, Good Luck and even more Good Luck for this Friday!!!!!

I think I've got the last line under control but I am stuck on ONE BAR on the second line of the third page - why can't I play it? I always stumble here. I'm beginning to think I will have to choose another piece to avoid that bar

Which exactly is the bar you're stuck in, Tortellini?

Is it bar 28, particularly the last 3 triplets?

Good Luck tomorrow Teoani

I will be rooting for you.

ET

Yes!

Good luck on Friday Teoani!

Thank you for the good luck, eldatom and Tortellini! I'm still working hard on my A5 piece now. I must remember for all pieces not to go too fast, and particularly to slow down for sight-reading. This evening I will practice my aural tests again. I really want to pass this, and hope to achieve merit if possible.

Tortellini, for the last three triplets in B1's bar 28, is the stretch too large to play the notes accurately i.e. in terms of pitch and tempo? I had that problem. I always played the wrong notes, or missed them totally. Then I decided to play the RH's first/lowest note of each triplet using the LH. That means the LH plays C & E, B & D and A & C. The RH only plays the 2nd and 3rd notes in each triplet. Hence the stretch is eliminated. I showed it to my teacher, and she thinks it sounds acceptable, so that's what the examiner will hear. I hope the examiner will not hear a marked difference. I don't know who has such a large hand to be able to play this large stretch smoothly!

If you want to try the same approach, don't forget that the C, B and A on the LH are to be held longer than the top E, D and C (supposed to be played by the RH, but now moved down to the LH), and the original LH notes are to sound louder than the original RH notes. This coordination requires a fair bit of practice.

Another approach I have taught of is pedalling and playing staccato on RH, though it was less of a success for me in this bar. I was not very good at pedalling.

Great advise Teoani - thanks for taking the time to explain.
I will definitely try your idea as I really don't think I am going to be able to master it without changing approach.

Hope it will be of help!

Don't forget to check with your teacher if this approach suits you. It can be very tough to change back once you get used to it.

I should have thought splitting the semiquavers of the triplets between both hands would require lots of smoothness in the passage. Maybe you'd be better off isolating the RH triplets and focusing on them with greater attention, possibly practising with note-doubling in pairs (E A - E A - A E - A E - D F - D F - F D - F D, etc., if I'm not wrong), using different rhythms, extra slowly concentrating on the sensations of the stretch, etc. rather than playing one semiquaver with the LH and the others with the RH. Very perceptive ears might feel the tiny break unless you're great at smoothness.

Dear All,

Is it possible to get quieter in Bar 21 ??

How is it possible to get smooth legato in Bar 36 with that fingering for the RH semi-quavers ??

Back to Buccaneering!!

Hmm, I think you have a point. I hope I did ok during the exam. Will let you know if the examiner comes back with any comments on that bar. I did not pursue the stretch method, because it hurt my hand and wrist.



B1's bar 21? Yes you can get quieter, if your crescendo in bar 20 is sufficient, and you still maintain at mf when you are at the start of bar 21. I tend to play softly, so I am asked to imagine mp instead of p in the middle of bar 21

In bar 36, try some pedalling? I only pedalled 2 semiquavers to smooth them out, so it was a short and quick pedalling, and the only one point I needed to pedal in the piece.

Have fun with C1! I think it was my best piece during the exam. I missed only a few notes, and manage to nail the final jump on the pair of Bs! I always missed them during practice. Isn't it a terrific piece?

Dear Teoani,

Well done on your exam!! I'm sure the examiner liked your programme especially with the change from the calm Adagio to those fighting Bucaneers!!

I agree with the pedal being used during that Bar 36 will get son to give it a go!

I'll be doing my Grade 6 exam in the summer. I've chosen the Sonata in D minor (A3), Molto Tranquillo Semplice (B3) and Jazz Exercise No.2 (C2).

I did originally choose the Courante (A2), but I found I wasn't making as much progress on that piece as the other two, so I changed it, and it has turned out to be a good decision in the end.

Car Expert

So, car expert ... how do you go about articualting the Scarlatti piece? Do you stick to staccato - or slightly staccato - all along or do you combine staccato-legato, etc. The ABRSM CD offers a version where the staccato is sort of softened by some legato (mostly slurring the first two quavers in the three-quaver groups and detaching the 3rd). Do you do that, too?
I'm planning to choose the Jazz exercise, too. Is it engaging?

I'm going for the detaching of the 3rd notes of the three-quaver groups route. That's what I feel sounds best IMO.

As for the Jazz piece, I felt I got into it quite quickly. You do have to be aware of some of the note lengths in certain places (particularly on page 1 and the last two lines on page 2) which might catch you out. For example, in bar 4, I found it tempting at first to ignore the minim tied onto the quaver, and in bar 8, it's tempting to sustain the second quaver in the bass clef for longer than it actually says! Getting the rhythm right on page 2 (first three lines) took quite a while though but it's all sorted now.

I play it swung, like it is on the CD. Although I played it like that in one of my lessons and my teacher was not convinced that it was correct even after listening to the CD. Therefore she phoned up the AB and they confirmed it's fine to play it like that.

Car Expert

I love this piece too! I have just started learning it - although my version is "poco tranquillo" at the moment

So far I am doing:
A5 Clementi - can play it but have to speed it up a LOT
B1 Beethoven - getting there if I can just master that tricky bar
B3 Steinhammer - just started
C2 Peterson - can play it but again, too slow

I would really also like to learn the Scarlatti, Mozart and Satie.

I think the pieces on the current programme are just beautiful - I might be on Grade 6 for a very long time

I agree that this year's syllabus is much better than normal.

Having heard all of the pieces on the CD, I like them all, but especially the Scarlatti (quite difficult to play though) - and C1 (The Buccaneer) is great - but I keep missing the notes!

I think that the ABRSM have made a really good selection of Grade 6 pieces this session. Son wants to learn the Satie and Stenhammar after exam having previously played the Solfegietto.

I've just listened to the recent Podcast on how they make their selections which was really interesting and informative.

I think the Grade 6 2009-2010 syllabus is really excellent!
I'm gradually falling in love with most pieces and, as rarely happens, I'm preparing two for List B: the Adagio by Beethoven (a little gem in his production) and Glière's Prelude which I fell in love almost instantly but discarded as too difficult. However, in about 5 days, I was able to learn the first and a half pages from memory and I now have to speed them up, perfect the fluency, make it sound as the water-colour backdrop that the Teaching Notes suggest, etc., etc.. Anyway, having achieved so much in such a short time is great, considering I'm taking Grade 6 in June 2010, which gives me plenty of time to polish up this, the Scarlatti, where dexterity and neatness of sound are all-important and Beethoven's Adagio, where expression is foremost.
For List C I'd love to play Satie's Gnossienne, but for "therapeutic" reasons (I need to become more familiar with modern style) I'll choose the Jazz Exercise, which doesn't drive me crazy but which I like quite a lot.

Dear All,

Just a quick note to say that son took his Grade 6 exam on March 27 and achieved a distinction.

Many thanks for all your tips and help when needed!!

How are you going with your pieces for the summer Juan Carlos, Tortellini, MadBassoonist and Car Expert?

Congratulations to your son.

Yahoo! Another Grade 6 distinction! Hi-Five!

Congratulations to your son, that's a great result!

I'm not taking Grade 6 this summer (or probably this year) as I don't yet have Grade 5 theory Also I think it will do me good to consolidate what I know rather than pressing on.

I've given up on the Scarlatti, although I really like it, it has proven too difficult technically. I will probably be doing A2 - Courante - if I can get it more legato!

I was originally planning to do the Moderato by Chopin for list B, but after learning the Beethoven Adagio I now can't decide: (a) which I play the best, and (b) which one I like more! Since I can play them both fairly well and they just need polishing (quite a lot !), I'll probably leave it quite late to choose which one, as I have in previous grades. Also, my teacher sometimes gets annoyed with me because as soon as I have the book, I go through and play all of the pieces, to decide which ones I like. In this case I like all of them, so I have been teaching them all to myself (except the Couperin which I have discarded as impossible)!

For list C I am definitely doing the Peterson Jazz Exercise. However, again, I have learnt them all, and I especially love playing The Buccaneer really loudly in the mornings!

Sorry for a long post

Nick.

Well done to your son

Pieces are going well at the moment. There are a couple of sections which need tidying up in the Sonata and Stenhammar pieces, but otherwise they're pretty much there. I'll be taking the exam in the summer.I pretty much did the opposite

Car Expert

Dear All,

Thanks for all your kind words.

To those who have their Grade 6 this summer keep up the practise.

Son is just happy to have some new pieces to play now including the three Bs, Beethoven, Bach and Bartok!

Hi Car Expert - can I ask you a favour? What fingering do you use for the first bar of the Stenhammar (r hand)? I disagree with my teacher who has suggested something that seems a bit strange to me and wanted another person's input - thanks!

Use finger 5 for the G and finger 3 for the E. Then use fingers 2 and 4 for the D and F chord (whilst holding on to the G with finger 5 of course), then 1, 3 and 5 for the next chord and fingers 1 and 2 for the B and D. I've found that fingering to be the best and most comfortable way for me.

Was that what your teacher suggested, or was it different?

Car Expert

Thanks! That is the way I was doing it but he has suggested (and I can't remember the reasoning) that I do the first G and E with 3 and 5 but then change to 2 and 4 when it is repeated - which makes it a bit clunky!

My Scarlatti is quite good and sounds quite expressive and fluent, though I have to speed it up a little. The trill in the 2nd bar and the demi-semiquaver run in the last line (1st page) prevent me from playing it as indicated and I achieve something like dotted crotchet = 60 instead of the 72 suggested.

My Beethoven is also progressing, though this innocent-looking Adagio is giving me some trouble (last page mainly). Some of the triplets require great precision (b. 28) and it's difficult to get the right notes in the first place and when these are achieved, to obtain the fluency and smoothness this piece requires.

As for List C ... I tried starting the Peterson piece some weeks ago but found it a little dull and, as often happens to me with List C, haven't fallen in love with any of the other titles ... I like Satie quite a lot and this Gnossienne, too, so I may end up trying this one ... but I have more than one year ahead and plenty of time to think it over.

Yes, I agree, I've just tried that and it doesn't really make sense...I'm in the same position as you, and my teacher said that instead of reducing the tempo, condense the trill in bar 2, so to speak. So instead of playing four demisemiquavers for each quaver, play two semiquavers instead. Not sure whether I agree with that or not, but it'll take a bit of getting used to...

Car Expert

So instead of playing four demisemiquavers for each quaver, play two semiquavers instead. Not sure whether I agree with that or not, but it'll take a bit of getting used to...
Car Expert[/quote]

I did something like that for a piece in Grade 4 last year (Air by Hook) and instead of playing a tril with 4 notes in one I did as the teaching notes suggested and played a triplet (not two notes as you say). Apparently there is quite a lot of freedom as to how ornaments should be realised and I suppose the choice depends on the pianist's taste and dexterity. I can play the trill as indicated but when it comes to closing it (the G F G F - G F E F E with 3 2 3 2 3 2 1 2 1, the strong beats in bold type) my finger 2 sort of 'hesitates' on the F (probably due to the sudden change of direction in the trill), and interrupts the smooth flow of the trill which otherwise comes quite well. Do give me some feedback as I'd love to solve this tricky tiny bit.

I also had some trouble with the ornaments in the Scarlatti (part of the reason I decided not to do that one). It wasn't the run at the end of the first page that worried me, but it was the trills in bars 2 and 12, and the repeated ones in bars 16-18, etc. The hard bit I found was having the trill in the middle of the texture (with another note on the top, held down) and having to bring out that top note and make the trill light and soft.

Now I'm doing the Mozart there's only the one trill to worry about, and although it's in the LH, the whole piece is slower and it's not too noticeable if I pull around this tempo from time to time - like when I need to get the trill right!

I did the Air by Hook for grade 4 too, in summer 2007! Funnily enough I couldn't remember that there had been a trill until I got out the music and played it through. I suppose I didn't have much recollection of it because I hadn't had any trouble with it! Last year I didn't look at the Teaching Notes, but this year my teacher photocopied them for me.

Perhaps this could have a new thread - but do your teachers always let you see the teaching notes?

I just thought I'd resurrect this old thread to say that I have the date and time for my Grade 6 exam - 16th July at 11.36a.m. Does anyone else have theirs? and good luck to everyone else taking it this session!

Nick

Mine's on the 17th July at 12:15.

Good luck to those going Grade 6 this session

Car Expert

I have a pupil taking G6 on 9th July and a few others preparing for it maybe later this year. I agree that there are some excellent pieces here. My choice for A would be the magical Mozart but it's hard for boys and girls to get under the skin of it. My pupil has gone for the Scarlatti and found it difficult - I wish now I had suggested to him that he did A4, the CPE Bach Solfeggietto which is so much easier.

He is doing the lovely, lush, late romantic Stenhammar (B3) which would be my choice too. I like the Chopin but find the Beethoven less interesting. (Sorry Ludwig)

His C piece is the 'Buccaneer', maybe because his teacher played it in a school music competition many years ago at which the adjudicator was Mr Arnold himself! His teacher would probably have chosen the Oscar Peterson 'Jazz Exercise' - the gem of the entire collection here IMHO. I am no doubt in a minority, but as time goes on I find these popular Satie pieces (C3) just boring. There is however a super little Poulenc piece 'Staccato' (C4) that needs little more than a grade 5 technique to play. Great fun though and well worth looking out.

Anyone for grade 7? Think I shall start a thread on the grade 7 pieces now as I had one pupil who took it at Easter, two pupils taking it on 21st July (special visit) and another two who have started working on it.

I have a pupil wanting to do grade 7. The only piece she originally liked out of the nine in the book is the J C F Bach A1.

I'm sure we will both enjoy the Bach. We had started the Mendelssohn hoping to get at least one other under way first rather than starting with the favourite.

We have explored the alternative Wagner (B6) briefly, which I rather liked, but I think my pupil was discouraged by the fact that it looks difficult on the page, and she has chosen to persevere with the Mendelssohn, which, quite honestly, I don't think either of us is enjoying much.

Group C ? we'll possibly end up with the McGregor but the jury is out at the moment.

My exam's tomorrow - had my exam time changed from 12:15 to 11:05 for whatever reason...

How did yours go, madbassonist?

Car Expert

Dear Car Expert,

Good luck with your exam today!

Really well, thanks! The examiner was really friendly and funny, and I didn't majorly mess up anything. Just the LH trill in the Mozart, which is impossible and the end of the sight singing. Speaking of which, the examiner let me have ten seconds to go through that, and hearing me sing said 'Oh you're a mezzo, shall I put it down a bit?' which was very nice of him.

Now I just have to be patient and wait for the results!

Good luck for today!

Thanks

The exam went reasonably well in the end. The examiner was pretty nice, although the piano wasn't as good as the one in my local exam centre where I took my grade 5 exam. With the pieces, there were a couple of stumbles in the Sonata probably due to nerves, but the Tranquillo and Jazz pieces were played really well. The scales were pretty much as I expected - a few mistakes but otherwise fine, and the sight-reading was good barring one wrong note which I did correct immediately.

As for the aurals - they went as I expected (i.e. not very well)

Hope the results arrive swiftly...

Car Expert

The 14 year old grade 6 pupil I mentioned a few weeks ago, Alexander, took his exam on 11th July and was awarded a merit despite playing niether the Stenhammar nor the Malcolm Arnold pieces as well as he has done over the previous weeks. However, the Scarlatti went better than I dared hope and the examiner awarded him 25 marks for it.

Alex is also a saxophone player, and he took grade 7 on Tuesday 21st. I accompanied him and can vouch for the fact his pieces went really well so here's hoping for a distinction. Has anyone else accompanied the Ulrich Schlultheiss 'Witch Hunt' from the grade 7 syllabus? It's fast and furious but enormous fun once you've got your fingers round it. The examiner had not heard it before and was obviously impressed.