Well done. I remember this took me ages to get to grips with.

I have just started chromatics hands together. How I wish there was a floods of tears smiley

Lois

Not liking the sound of these scales.

I am having a nightmare with E minor at the moment.

Is that for grade 2? Yes I have ignored the minor scales on the grade 2 book, am going to tackle last! I am still struggling with E major contrary (I keep accidentally pressing the wrong keys) and am normally ok with scales.

Oh well gotta keep at it!

Hi, yes its a Grade 2 minor scale.

I am doing the harmonic versions, at least they are same notes going both ways, but there is just something about it that doesn't click.

I think it's something to do with the E and the D sharp being next to each other, it just doesn't fall under the fingers with them being next to each other, if you see what I mean.

My E major contrary isn't too bad now, but it did take a while and I am not completely confident with it yet. But as you say we will just keep at it.

I can do that now, look back at what Gedall 40 said about it.
Bev

Well I'm booked in for Grade 3 practical and Theory now! Theory Nov, Practical Dec!

I'll actually start practising properly now I have a deadline...

Had my second lesson tonight, and teacher is already saying that Grade 1 is setting my sights a little low. I may therefore consider grade 2 in the New Year, when I will also be entering grade 6 theory.

I can't imagine what it must be like for your teacher to say you are setting your sights too LOW! I'm very envious!

PatC

I wouldn't be, I'm being nudged towards playing some really quite tricky stuff and it can be hard (but admittedly rewarding) work. I'm currently trying to speed up a piece I'm working on without allowing my fingers to trip over themselves or become tied in knots!

I've turned up with new pieces quite a few times and have been told that they are too easy! I certainly didn't think so at the time!

As per the thread in parents, never offer information, as if your teacher has an inkling that you might be capable of doing something trickier, they will give you a hard time and push you into it

I've just discovered chromatic scales - aren't they lovely to play

And broken chords as well... I'm spoilt for choice now

Have you tried chromatics HT yet? Amazingly, it's nowhere near as hard as I thought it would be!

I love scales.

Hello!

Thought I'd join in on this thread - I have Grade 2 coming up in December and I've spent quite enough time talking clarinet on the woodwind forum, so thought it was time I joined you pianists for a change! My piano exams are with Trinity Guildhall and I'm getting the impression that the scale requirements vary a little between boards. I've got to do Bb and D major, two octaves, G and B minor, two octaves and a chromatic scale in similar motion (both hands) and starting on Bb, two octaves. Just wondered if this is pretty much the same as ABRSM or whether there are any differences? Surprisingly (or not, I don't know) I haven't found the chromatic scales too bad!

hi clarijo!

It's very difficult choosing between piano and clarinet isn't it

I can't remember what the AB scales are for each grade and I can't do a link at the moment cos I'm on my iPhone but the syllabus is online under Exams if you want to have a look. I'm pretty secure on the scales for all the keysigs up to E Major and most of the minors, but only HS at the moment. I'm not planning to do any exam at the moment so I've just been doing them for fun and I don't feel any desire to do SM yet - I'm waiting till my teacher tells me I'm ready

What I don't understand about the AB exam scales is why they only give you a few easy ones up to G3 and then you suddenly meet an avalanche at G4/5. Even though I like scales, there does seem to be an awful lot once you get to the intermediate grades

Do you like doing arpeggios? I think they come in at G2 with AB. I've started doing them but I don'tmuch enjoy piano arps. I quite like some of them on clarinet though

Hi Skylark!

I had to do arpeggios for grade one - it was F and G major and D and E minor, hands separately and just one octave but I have to do Bb and D major and G and B minor, two octaves for grade 2 - thankfully still hands separately!

I will download the ABRSM syllabus and have a proper look but I wonder if TG eases us into scales etc a little more gently? I had to do C major and A minor, one octave and hands separately for the Initial, which seems ridiculously easy now! Must say, I think the TG Initial exam is very good - gets you used to performing in front of an examiner (three pieces, exercises, scales and your choice of two supporting tests from Aural, Sight Reading, Improvisation and Musical Knowledge). I think it is somewhere between the Prep Test and Grade 1 with ABRSM. I still quake in my boots before exams though - much worse as an adult than I ever was as a child!

I will say that I haven't found doing scales hands together for grade 2 as difficult as it sounded at first. It's just the usual thing of getting the finger patterns in your head and working out where the fingers land together, if you see what I mean!

I can do one octave with no problem but I find two octaves very awkward, and particularly coming down, I keep putting my fingers on the wrong keys. This will be my next challenge!




I've started working my way through the scales HT and CM. I'm not doing it by grade as I'm not taking exams just yet so I'm doing all the sharps first, major and minor, and then I'll do the flats. I've done C and G Major so far, and A minor, and it's quite fun once you get into it


Look forward to meeting you in York in a couple of weeks time, clarijo!

Hi Skylark!

Look forward to meeting you too! Just seen on your Leeds thread that you are playing Misty on clari at the moment and guess what - so am I!! Sure we'll have a lot to talk about!

Back on topic again, I did look at the the ABRSM syllabus and there are some quite significant differences with scale requirements, which is interesting. I posted earlier that my scales for Grade 2 were two octaves, hands separately but it's actually hands together! think I've nailed D Major and G Minor now but still need to work on the left hand on Bb Major and still haven't mastered B Minor!

I've also just bought some books from the 'Easy' Piano Collection series, which have made me realise what a long way I still have to go...

Look forward to meeting you in York!

Oh yes!! I'd love to hear someone else's interpretation of Misty - I play it with a very swung rhythm which sounds totally unlike a recording I've got of it, but it's the way I like to play it We'll have to compare notes




You and me both! But we'll get there, bit by bit!

I'll join in this thread too

I started piano on 1st July, grade one exam booked in first week of Dec, but I'm working on grade 2 and 3 level pieces now. My teacher says he only wants me to do the grade one exam so I can get a feel for what they are like for later grades. I'm working on a few pieces from Final Fantasy 7 and the Tchaikovsky gold easy piano collection book. All very nice

I chose L'autunno, Unfinished Symphony and African Dance for my grade pieces. And, sadly enough, I quite like the aural section of the exam LOL!

I'm also starting the violin now, and starting music degree with the Open University this February

I love baroc music, and romantic. Actually strike that, I pretty much like all music, except jazz (sorry jazz people!)

Hi aesir22!

I'm not learning grade pieces so I don't know those but best of luck with your exam

Baroque music and jazz seem to be mutually exclusive - people seem to either like one or the other and I'm the other way round to you because I like jazz but not baroque Although I'm only keen on one type of jazz which is the New Orleans sound and style of playing

Several people on the forum have done an OU degree - I'm sure there's a support thread about it and there'll be lots of people to help if you've got any queries

Howdy

I have spoken to some who have done OU courses, got loads of good advice, and also spoken to quite a few who are starting the same time as me I think this forum might become a good support web for us all! And the summer school is apparently really great (and only down the road )

I like both - and I think they both appeal to people who are quite maths-orientated (though that doesn't describe me!).

I like both too, and actually I love maths too, lol

....I didn't think it was physically possible to love maths I love biology though

Me too - in fact they are two of my favourite types of music - not so sure about the maths, though...

I'm practising a duet to be played with my teacher - one hand each. I've been practising it with a metronome at home, to represent the discipline of playing with my teacher. Even though I can play the rhythms correctly - with or without the metronome - the relentness of the metronome really throws me. It's probably akin to the pressure of an exam situation, so good practice at working under pressure if nothing else!

Hi skylark

I know what you mean about the metronome. I've been practicising with it a lot lately. After a while I just drift off and lose the plot; it's a few bars later before I realise I'm no longer in time. Very soon the ticking is going to keep me awake at night. When I drift off, it's definetly time to take a break.

On the plus side, the metronome is great for identifying weak points. I use it for this, and where I fail to keep up I stop and then work through this section at a slower pace. I also consider that I can't really play a piece until I can do it at the directed tempo. Good discipline.

CLICK click click click
CLICK click click click
CLICK click click click
CLICK click click click
CLICK click click click

Aaaaaaaaaaaaarrrrrrrrrrgggggggggggghhhhhhhhhhhhh!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I just find the ticking of the metronome to be something akin to incessant nagging... the noise keeps picking away at me and then everything snowballs and I lose concentration! It's something I should try using more often - at the moment I just use it at a very slow tempo for rhythmically tricky passages.

I think my metronome is faulty, it speeds up on the tricky parts!!!

I've gone off my metronome I've got a traditional mechanical one because I'd had two digital ones and couldn't hear the tick on either of them. But I've started being conscious of the "ting" on the mechanical one reverberating, so I still hear the echo when it's virtually on the 2nd beat. I've probably become more conscious of it since speeding up. It's become a bit distracting now

Is anyone else here learning Trudging from the G1 syllabus? I've learnt several of the pieces out of the G1 book but I find parts of Trudging impossible. The structure is ABABA, and I can play A with no problem, but I can't get a handle on the B section - the notes are all over the place, same with the fingering, the accidentals seem to be haphazard, and I can't get to grips with it at all. I thought T.Rex, which is one of the other C-section pieces, was relatively easy so why am I finding Trudging such a problem

I remember going over trudging and finding it tricky, it's because of the jumps (duh!)

I also didn't like the way the changes didn't sound melodically correct to my ear (seems to be the same with you)

davidmackay played it superbly at the 2nd grand gathering, though

Yes you're right - the B section of the piece actually makes me cringe, like with chalk on a blackboard, and one or two of the jumps make my stomach jump as well




Much respect to davidmackay! I'm only persevering with it because I want to be able to play all the pieces in the G1 book (and Bluemerang when I can get the book). Perhaps David will drop in here and give me some tips on how he did it!

I like Trudging !

Not many of my Grade 1 pupils have chosen it coz, yes, it's a bit 'weird' (and it's difficult if you've got little, baby hands so I tend to guide my younger ones away).

However, one lad of 11 played it superbly and loved it.

Try and get a real sense of 'left, right, left, right', a good rhythm, just like someone stomping through a forest (this is Hungary, after all). I don't think it should be too slow (interestingly, the original version often appears in France translated as 'Trotting' which I think implies something too fast but I agree that it shouldn't drag).

Of course some of the chords are a bit weird but learn to love them ! Think snow and ice and good thick boots....

thanks sol

I love this piece. Managed to score 27 in the exam. I think the problem with it is that learning hands separately, the piece makes no sense. The rhythm ony comes when both hands are playing together. I recall it was pretty painful to begin with. I listened to the cd a few times (despite my teacher telling me to throw it away!) and then tried to get both hands rhythm right for just one bar at a time. I guess the way I learned it was not hands separately as one would ordinarily, but both hands together. Not sure if this is the 'right' way to do it, but you can see that it makes progress a lot slower in the beginning. Of course, after much pain, it did finally 'click'. Unlike all the pieces I've learned so far, where the improvement is broadly linear, there was defintely a big step change with this one. I can't visualise what you mean about the structure - I'll have a look at the score later when I get home.

Bleumerang - I love this piece too!
I bought the book which contains this score after I'd sat my exam. Whilst I was clearly a better pianist at that point than when I first started learning G1, I still think Bleumerang is much easier than all the set pieces. (Especially Trudging and Kummer which I also played for the exam). I picked up Bleumerang straight away, ok not to a polished standard, but recognisable. I think it's similar to Trudging in many ways - rhythm coming through only with both hands.

Ps. I definetly recommend the bleumerang book - there's some cracking stuff in there which you should be able to pick up quite quickly.

I now see what you mean about the B section. Some of the chords are basically atonal. I think if you don't like 12 tone music you are proabably not going to like this. My theory is nowhere so I could be talking out my a***, but chords made up of Db & A, B & G, and A & C are pretty harsh. Anyone know what these chords are called?

I'd listen to the cd, and if you don't like it, don't bother learning it.
Life's too short to learn stuff you don't like.

cheers

David

I like this one too, but have had only one learn it so far.

I think playing hands together makes better 'harmonic ' sense than one handed, despite the rather odd tonal landscape. One hand at a time is much less appealing - learning those (mainly) empty fourths with the RH might be a bit hard going.

Thanks David and maggie. I've been persevering with it and it's beginning to sound a bit more coherent. I find I'm having to look at my hands all the time, whereas I don't think I look at my hands much at all normally, except where there are jumps. This means I'm not looking at the music as I play so I'm having to memorise it. I've got my lesson tomorrow and with a bit more practice in the morning, I think I'll be able to make a reasonable attempt at it, even if it's not quite fluent




Thanks for the visual imagery - it works! I'm now thinking that when I hit a painful chord, that's when I've stubbed my toe or gone over on my ankle

I like trudging too....its weird with exam books; some pieces which you take on progress anything but linearly . This week I've been doing Sophie's Lament from Pianist mag, like Banges Herzelein in the 2007-8 syllabus I thought it wouldn't come but this one just clicked.

Well when I say clicked....Oxfam's for sale £250 piano, not many in today, afforded me a performance opportunity...two slip ups and didn't get to the cadence..but hey! it was ok. And I did pick up A Student's Guide to AS Music (jun05--jan09 for the OCR spec) at only £2.99, for some light reading.

Has anyone played Dvorak's Cavatina from the G1 syllabus? I was listening to it on Youtube and it's rather nice - very gentle, a good antidote to Trudging, although I quite like Trudging now that I can play it and have some fun with it I've ordered the book with Cavatina in, and also the book with Bluemerang in as I've always wanted to play that one.

I havent played Cavatina but agree it's a nice piece, I tend to prefer the alternative pieces. I am sure there is a March as an alternative (possibly an A piece), I really liked that. Have you also listened to Dragonflies? That is a really pretty piece.

I can't find that one on Youtube - I saw your earlier post about it though and I think I'll get it

I can play Dragonflies now (albeit not at the correct tempo) but I'm undecided on one of the fingerings. There's a series of notes starting with Finger 1 on the D above middle C in the left hand...

D - C - B - Bb - A - (rpt D etc)

What would be the best finger to use for the B and Bb... would you tuck F1 under for the B, ie...

1 - 2 - 1 - 2 - 3 (rpt 1 etc)

I'd go for 1-2-3-4-5

I played this one. It's a lovely piece and not too difficult to get to a stage where it sounds nice.

Lois

Ah, I'll try that then, thanks.




I'm going to learn this one next, now that I've got Dragonflies well on the way.

hello, can I join you? had first ever piano lesson today, much less intimidating and more straightforward than i thought...but then it was my first lesson and I think my teacher was probably being kind. I have a bunch of scales to practice and some stuff from fanny waterman...

Am I still allowed in here?

I have some great stuff around G1 you could try, Skyers!