My son is due to take his Grade 5 violin this summer and we don't know which pieces to select. First of all, is there any intrinsic difference between the pieces in lists A, B and C? Secondly, I guess it would be sensible to choose pieces that show off different styles and techniques, and to pick pieces he likes, but are there any other guidelines? Are there any obvious sets of 3, in the current syllabus, or any pieces that are virtuoso pieces it would be chicken to avoid? We'd be grateful for any advice. Thanks!

Why don't you buy the Grade 5 book with the CD and get him to listen to each piece? I ask my students to do this and to write a description of each piece and to give it a mark out of 10. Then we work on their favourites from each A/B/C section, always learning more than 1 piece from each, we make a decision later on about which they will actually do in the exam so that we have a nice balance of pieces.

I think he's got to choose the ones he likes really.

My daughter is very adamant about what she will and won't play and often ends up discarding her first choices in favour of completely different pieces nearer to the exam. For that reason she learns all of them usually including many from the alternative lists except any she has taken an instant dislike to.

Then nearer to the exam she tends to do the ones she is not bored with.

I would let him choose the ones that he likes the look of to start with, but be guided by his teacher too. My 10yo daughter tends to find favourites very quickly but plays most of the others too (including the alternative options) and makes a final decision a month or so ahead of the exam. Think she does it to keep her accompanist (me!) on her toes! She loved the A1 Gossec Tambourin to start with but this probably has to go pretty quickly to get top marks and it had a couple of tricky at speed sections, so she will probably go for the A2 Vivaldi Allemanda as it suits her style better. For the B list the Rieding Andante Sostenuto is lovely if your son is happy playing in higher positions, she's torn between that and the Granados Andaluza (talk about a contrast!). For the C list the Richard Rodney Bennet Buskin' is really good fun to play and a big showoff piece to finish with, don't be put off by the 4th position section from bar 22, she has decided to play it in 1st as it's so much easier and the sound difference is hardly noticeable. She played the Rieding and the Bennett for her NCO audition last year as they are really contrasting pieces. Have fun choosing - there are some really good pieces!

We get the CDs so my daughter can choose the pieces she likes the best, or we have a look on you-tube for some performances. For her grade 5 which she did a few months ago, her choices were A1 Tambourin (v tricky at the end with those quick bow movements) but nice and jolly, Andaluza by Granados from the B set, which is an absolutely wonderful very emotional piece with lots of long notes to keep hold of. For set C, she chose one not in the book, Cossack Dance by Kraemer. This really is lovely, lots of tricky chords, but really fun to play and very dramatic. The Andaluza and Cossack Dance she has kept up with and still plays them quite often for pleasure - they are interesting enough to keep going as repertoire pieces.. Now she's heading for grade 7 she can actually play 'em properly too!

I agree with this bit, to play them 'properly' you do have to be grade 7 or higher I think, if not you are taking the 'wrong' exam

for my exam in 2 days time I will play:
Giga A5
Andaluza B2
Dance of The Snowmen C4

as for: listen to the CD and decide what you like...you don't have to buy the Cd and I will personally never buy them again as they are played by TOP PRO violinists and at a standard that a grade 5 player will never be able to achieve, indeed I feel so 'inadequate' when I know I cannot play it as fast as they do! and often the pieces are played too fast in the cds!
Get your teacher to play them for you, he/she will play them in the way that will be right for your level and will get you good marks.
also: I absolutely HATED Andaluza when I first heard it, I disliked it so much it made me 'heave' (sorry but it was that bad for me) then my teacher asked me to sight read it 2 or 3 months ago and said: you can play this next week! and he decided it was a good one for me to do. Funny enough, I did not dislike it anymore, with practicing I've grown to like it!!

WOW, I wish your son good luck. I can speak from experience with this exact syllabus. I was VERY disappointed with my marks for this exam. I got 115/150, and I have never had below distinction on all the exams I've done on all my other instruments. I guess it was because I was 13 at the time and I didn't really concentrate much, as teenagers don't. I played:

Dance of the Snowmen (C4)
Sicillienne (I think that's how it's spelt) (B3)
and A1 in the book, I have forgotten what it's called.

I got 23, 23, and 24 for the pieces.

17/21 for scales and arppegios.
14/21 for Sight Reading LOL fail
14/18 for Aural Tests

Anyway, yeah, I really wish I had tried a lot harder! All I know is, my other grades have been a lot better that's for sure! I wish your son luck.

Thanks so much for all your replies (and sorry for the typo in the heading - as you've guessed, it should say 'violin'). I've really enjoyed hearing people's experiences of playing the various pieces.

Personally, I've heard people say you should choose Gossec Tambourin from list A and Kraemer Cossack Dance from list C because they are 'showcase' pieces but my son did not want to, hence my question about whether that was shirking and whether it would affect his chances of doing well. He plays beautifully so he needs to achieve the best he can for his pieces as I'm seriously doubtful about his sightreading skills!

For the time being he has selected Mozart Bagatelle, Ireland Cavatina and Blake Dance of the Snowmen. The Ireland is quite tricky and his teacher has pointed out that it requires a level of maturity which we shall have to see whether he has, as an 8 year old. It's beautiful though. Of the 3, I am least happy with his choice of the Snowmen's Dance - I think he has chosen this because he already knows it (played it in a concert at Christmas) but I am not convinced it shows off his strengths, also not sure it will be fresh enough as he has known it so long. It's an interesting business - as you can tell, it's our first time!

Any further advice or experiences welcome, and thanks for all your good wishes.

My child did Giga, Andaluza and Cossack Dance. Cossack dance was fabulous. It was played for every school concert that year, and generally a good piece to have under your belt. It was nice to have a piece that raised a cheer in the audience every time it was played.

However, you say he doesn't like the Kraemer - I would try and choose pieces he likes, because he will probably have to work on them for quite a long time.

And we've changed our minds again....... now opting for the C1 Cavatina (beautiful!) instead of Buskin' (bored witless with Buskin') and I can see further changes possible! I think that the accompanist (me!) had just better learn all the parts well in case of more decision changes! On a positive, all these pieces are so good - spoilt for choice!

My daughter did the Ireland Cavatina and although it seemed easy initially, it never really got good enough and even now she still can't quite get the Cavatina to sound quite right. I think it is deceptive. Markswise she scored one point less ie. 26 instead of 27 for the other two pieces (A2 and C3) and in fact always scores one point less when she chooses a piece from the alternative list which is very strange.

An update: I started this thread some 3-4 months ago when I was just embarking on helping my son prepare for his grade 5 violin. I was really grateful for the feedback I received then because it was our first time doing such a thing, and what a process it's been! Sorry if I sound like I've been taking the exam myself, but it feels like that because my son's only 8 and quite an immature 8 at that. Anyway, I thought it might be of interest to those who helped me, and those who are just setting off on this road if I told you what he eventually played and how he got on. He stuck with his original choices and his marks were as follows:

Mozart Bagatelle: 28
Ireland Cavatina: 28
Blake Dance of the Snowmen: 27.

He was praised for his phrasing and expression. Areas for improvement were intonation and occasional loss of tone.

I can thoroughly recommend all 3 pieces - especially the Mozart which is short and relatively simple! It's a good sign that he still enjoys playing them, especially the Ireland which is very expressive. So good luck to anyone else preparing for G5 on the violin!