Hello everyone.

I still haven't quite got over passing Grade 7 before Christmas and am trying to keep up with my daughter, in a companionable sort of way, having started with her 12 years ago. We've chosen different pieces so as not to drive each other, or our teacher, insane.

I've only taken the exams as my most wonderful teacher said it would be good for me, but it's agony to perform. Fingers go to jelly but the Examiner was so friendly and understanding. And made helpful, intuitive comments about 'next time'. It involves a lot of meticulous practice and attention to pulse and continuity - and I'm up for it.

So apart from making a start on those scales and arpeggios (how long do people spend on them each day?) I'm slowly embarking on the Bach Praeludium BWV 881/1. It's going to be a lifelong companion, regardless of whether I take the exam or not. Such a joy and worth all the care in the world. Anyone else tackling this piece? I'd be glad of a travelling companion!

Hello Meavy and welcome to the Forums.

I'm afraid I'm not in the market for grade 8 piano, I stalled after grade 5. But if you look at Viva Piano you'll find a number of people up for it.

In the mean time, have a look also at the Adult Learners' forum you'll find lots of us swapping battle tales of exams and lessons and everything else.

And if you fancy a chat about anything at all, the Cafe's the place for it

I'm not sure whether I'll take the exam, but am learning several of the pieces at the moment. The ones I've worked on most from the A section are the Bach Partita No 2 in C minor BWV 826 and the Handel Fugue No 6 in C Minor . Maybe I just like the key of C minor?

I've played through your Bach one too, but am not sure I'd do justice to the fugue; the prelude is fun though.

Have you looked at the B pieces yet? I'm not at all sure which to do yet, but funnily enough the Mozart Sonata in C minor K457 is the one which most appeals! Do you think it would matter if I chose pieces in the same key for both the A and B sections?

Hi Meavy,

I'm just starting out on the road to Grade 8 having passed my Grade 7 in December. I think i've settled on the A and B pieces now - The Bach P&F and Mendelssohn Sonata, but the C list is very open just because there are so many cool options. I'm thinking of doing The Man I Love, but it could just as easily be the Chopin Prelude, or Fats Waller. It's a great list!

I'm not sure when i'll be ready to take it though because i've just found a new teacher and we're going through loads of technique that my old one didn't teach me. Maybe it will be in December, but it could be next year.

Good luck with the pieces and welcome to the forum!
Dave.

welcome!

Thanks Dave. I'm just getting the hang of what to do on the Forums and thanks everyone for the welcome. I'm going to lurk a bit in the Viva Piano as was helpfully suggested and maybe try a latte in the cafe.
The Bach will keep me busy for a long time. The Fugue is dead scary and there's a page turn. I asked my musical brother what to do at that point and he said at this Grade you should know it by heart, so no prob. No way can I remember all those notes, leave alone perform it under exam conditons.

I shouldn't think the key matters too much Dave, in the Mozart but I'm not an expert. I imagine there's bags of modulation going on in all these pieces and the most important thing is to choose a piece you can play over and over again, for yourself and not just the exam.

Yes, my teacher is a stickler for technique and can hear things I can't even begin to detect. So I'll try to bash on with the Hanon. Does anyone else find Hanon helpful?

No need for that - simply photocopy the extra page and stick it on the end

Book 2 No 12 - it is not that bad. It yields to consistent daily practice. But if complex counterpoint is not your thing there is less of it in the Cimarosa sonata and the Scarlatti K446

But it is one of those pieces that is far more difficult to play well than you'd ever imagine when you first sight read your way through it. Nor is the Beethoven option at all easy to play really well. The Clementi and Haydn are more straightforward.

No, but it would be nice if they were separated by a piece in a related key

Agreed it is a great list. In fact the whole syllabus is great. Almost worth taking Grade 8 for a second time! I think "The man I love" is by far the easiest to play of the 3 pieces you mention. But my personal favourite is the Piazolla "Retrato de Alfredo Gobbi"

All this is very helpful. It's fantastic not feeling isolated after all these years in the piano wilderness with just me, my teacher and the examiner every couple of years.

I'm definitely going to look at the Haydn as my daughter is doing the Clementi and hearing Alfred Brendel play Mozart Sonata in C minor K457 makes the Bach fugue seem very manageable, given the daily practice.

And then I'll be getting the Gershwin as Becky's doing the Fats Waller. Thanks again for the tips.

[quote name='Mad Tom' date='Feb 11 2009, 11:26 AM' post='790852']
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funnily enough the Mozart Sonata in C minor K457 is the one which most appeals!
[/quote]
But it is one of those pieces that is far more difficult to play well than you'd ever imagine when you first sight read your way through it. Nor is the Beethoven option at all easy to play really well. The Clementi and Haydn are more straightforward.
[quote]
[/quote]
Hmmm - don't really like the Haydn and I always feel Clementi sounds more like an exercise than a real piece. Having listened to a few people on Youtube playing the Mozart, though, I take your point, and might have to settle for Clementi if I decide to do the exam. I do so like Mozart, but came a bit of a cropper 25 years ago playing the 2nd movement of K284 (Sonata in D) for grade 6, so would be wary at grade 8.

The second Beethoven piece (Sonata in E) might be a possibility if I could ever get my fingers round the LH semiquaver arpeggios on page 3 - so difficult to get smooth and even. Still, if I spent 6 months working on them?... It would be fun trying, but I think I'll have a go at the Mozart first.

Hello meavy!

Welcome to the forum

I'm light years away from playing a serious piece, having only started piano a few months ago so I can't be your travelling companion I'm afraid. I do like playing scales though, although I don't have as many as you to practise!

Look forward to seeing you around

I'm doing grade 8 this summer too!

The pieces I've chosen are:

Piece A - Hindemith: Interludium and Fuga Secunda (absolutely beautiful I think! - not so when I play it, but I'll get there!)

Piece B - Beethoven: 3rd Mov't sonata in C minor (really easy to learn and memorise ... then comes the headache of Beethoven's meticulous and super-precise articulation)

Piece C - at the moment I've got Liszt's Consolation in Db, but I really like the Fats Waller piece and the Retratro de Alfredo Gobbi, so I might change my mind soon.

How's everyone getting on?

Thanks Cadence. My aim is to take the exam in summer 2010. I reckon I need the time to get my technique up to scratch. I was glad to buy the Gerschwin I love my man in my local music shop today. Lots of notes there. But I'm in no rush.

Not sure about how the Haydn. Great performance on the official CD but the earth didn't move like it does with me for the Bach Prelude and Fugue F minor.

But two pieces are enough to be going on with, plus THOSE scales and arpeggios and a smidgen of Hanon for the trills to come when the ornaments need to be added

I'm not a fan of Copland or Ireland, so I can't say I'd choose either of those out of all the beautiful pieces in the C list.

The good thing about the Liszt is that the notes are incredibly easy to learn in a short space of time, so you can concentrate on the the beautiful shades of tone and your quality of sound. The whole piece is also so light and airy, which is in such contrast to the Hindemith and the Beethoven.

I think it's a good choice of programme because all 3 pieces are so different, but with subtle similarites that tie them together well.

When are you planning on doing your grade 8?

I'm hoping to do it in the autumn. I'm playing Cimarosa, Haydn and Brahms. I'm very restricted in what I can play because my stretch, particularly in the RH, is very small. I also have very little time to practise because of a full teaching schedule and a commitment to accompanying my pupils' exams up to Grade 3 level. The repertoire has been chosen (with the exception of the Haydn, which I would have chosen anyway) with these restrictions in mind.

Can I ask if there is a particular reason that your stretch is very small? Is it just because you have small hands or do you have difficulty in stretching? I only ask (and I hope you don't think I'm being rude!) because I have quite small hands, but they are still a lot bigger than my piano teachers - she has tiny hands! - but she can stretch comfortably 10 notes! She is constantly saying when I can't reach jumps and stretches that if she can do it, why can't I, because my hands are so much bigger than hers!

It's really frustrating, because I know my hands are bigger, but I just don't have the stretch (or I'm just not as good a player as her, which is also true!) But as I'm interested in yoga, I have been doing the exercises in a new book about "piano-yoga" and it is really helpful. The whole thing is basically the principle of yoga and movement applied to piano playing and I'm only on the first level and I can reach bigger jumps already. Plus I've really found that I can play better from reading things from the book. So I thought I would suggest it to you, because I was doing piano-yoga this morning and then I saw your post so nI had it on my mind. My teacher was saying that everyone can make their hand stretch like hers, they just need to know how to practice and now I think I might believe her! (don't tell her though!)

This is the website: www.piano-yoga.com
Or I did a search for "piano and yoga" and it gave me the same thing.

I have a much smaller stretch between fingers 4 and 5 in my RH than I do in my LH. To play an octave on the white keys I have to use the edges of the keys, and some 4-note chords that lie within an octave are impossible for me (eg ACFA).

Thanks for the link; I'll check it out.

Thanks for the piano yoga link. My main problem in the longer pieces is keeping up concentration. I was good at this when I was a student, but motherhood has wrecked my attention span, although I'm now excellent at multiskilling.

When I'm playing a longer piece, it goes along swimmingly for a bit and then out of nowhere I ask myself what I've planned for the next meal, for example. I then make mistakes. It's very frustrating.

Maybe when child number 2 goes to Uni in 18 months time, I'll regain some tranquility up top?