am i the only one on the planet who cannot do these.especially arpeggios for grade 6, im about to give up hope of passing them. im not exaggerating,i simply cant do them

I agree - I hate arpeggios! My fingers just miss the notes and I can't get it smooth. I can name the notes, just can't play them!!!

ye, i know the notes just cannot play them. myteacher entered me for grade 6 today and i think im going to fail help!

QUOTE (clarinetlover @ Jan 12 2005, 03:27 PM)

am i the only one on the planet who cannot do these.especially arpeggios for grade 6, im about to give up hope of passing them. im not exaggerating,i simply cant do them

Oh COME ON! Stop messing about! You are surely wealthy enough or attractive enough or both to be able to hire/persuade an assistant to do these for you? D'you think your young protegé would manage them? She'd tell the examiner what to write down!

If you can't do it, delegate!!

my wonderful young protege would probably be able to play them perfectly, its just me being rubbish

I really struggled with the arpeggios for grade 6 - until I realised I was trying to play them at double speed. Like everything else, it's a question of starting at snail's pace . . . I think they are slower than the grade 5 ones.
And have you seen the scales in thirds for grade 7? Now there's a nightmare!
Cat

nat: don't panic and think "I can't play any of them".

Stop. Beathe!

Work out exactly what scales you need to play and then work out exactly which ones you can actually manage and which ones need work.

Sort yourself out a rota of practicing the ones you know, and of learning the ones you don't (more than willing to help if you PM me)

Learn the ones you don't slowly at first - reeeeeeeeeeeeeal slow... slow them down until you can play them, even if it's at a snail's pace with your eyes on the fingerings in the scale book. especially for the melodics, learn them hands seperate first and don't try hands together till you really know them. ditto arpeggios. you need to know where you are going with each hand before you can really put them together successfully. and as Catrin says, check the speed you are aiming for - not that you should try to play them at that speed straight away, but check and see your target, it may not be as scary as you assume.

If you learn them systematically you CAN get them fine in time for your exam, I know you can! Don't stress yourself about them, because that will make it worse - if you spend the weeks between now and your exam telling yourself you can't do them, then it could become true. Try not to panic, get organised, and learn them systematically and thoroughly, and you will be fine.

I found arpeggios difficult but my teacher help me on this-like most people I tended to move only my fingers when I played them and not so much of my wrist. To make it easier, you have to move your wrist up and down. So when you play your thumb your wrist should be low and gradually move up when you play your 2nd finger and then move right up when you play your 3rd/4th finger. Then come back down to a low wrist when you play your thumb again repeating the process for how many octaves of arpeggios. When you come down an arpeggio, the wrist is still low on the thumb and high on the 3rd/4th finger.
So when you speed up your wrist does a bobbing up and down motion.
Also don't think about playing arpeggios in 3s think about playing it in 4s.
I hope that helps playing arpeggios.
Sheena

QUOTE (Catrin @ Jan 13 2005, 10:45 AM)

And have you seen the scales in thirds for grade 7? Now there's a nightmare!

Yes, completely and utterly agreed. I couldn't do the fingering so I made it up, my creativity seemed to work.
As for arpeggios go SLOW! You can actually get away with going a fraction slower than it says in the syllabus, unless the examiner has for some reason or another got a metronome handy.

ive completely given up hope on them now, after doing them for an hour on wednesday. and ive even been entered to do it this session...oh dear...ican add grade 6 piano to my list of fails

QUOTE (clarinetlover @ Jan 13 2005, 08:38 PM)

ive completely given up hope on them now, after doing them for an hour on wednesday. and ive even been entered to do it this session...oh dear...ican add grade 6 piano to my list of fails

dont worry just keep practisin slowly. sometimes i find my scales hard stangely i love doin scales

QUOTE

ive completely given up hope on them now, after doing them for an hour on wednesday. and ive even been entered to do it this session...oh dear...ican add grade 6 piano to my list of fails

Yes you can Nat, do what everyone has said: practice them very slowly and build them up with a metronome. Think positively, you are more likely to succeed then I believe in you

thanks nicki, but i really just cant do it

ahwell all i can do is try

YES YOU CAN!
Sorry, that had to be emphasised. How many sclaes do you have to learn? When is the period that your exam would be in. Your teacher wouldn't have entered you if they didn't think you were good enough to pass.

YOU CAN! WE BELIEVE IN YOU! YOU CAN! WE BELIEVE IN YOU! YOU CAN! WE BELIEVE IN YOU! YOU CAN! WE BELIEVE IN YOU! YOU CAN! WE BELIEVE IN YOU! YOU CAN! WE BELIEVE IN YOU! YOU CAN! WE BELIEVE IN YOU! YOU CAN! WE BELIEVE IN YOU! YOU CAN! WE BELIEVE IN YOU! :YOU CAN! WE BELIEVE IN YOU! YOU CAN! WE BELIEVE IN YOU! YOU CAN! WE BELIEVE IN YOU! YOU CAN! WE BELIEVE IN YOU! YOU CAN! WE BELIEVE IN YOU! YOU CAN! WE BELIEVE IN YOU! YOU CAN! WE BELIEVE IN YOU! YOU CAN! WE BELIEVE IN YOU! YOU CAN! WE BELIEVE IN YOU! YOU CAN! WE BELIEVE IN YOU! YOU CAN! WE BELIEVE IN YOU! YOU CAN! WE BELIEVE IN YOU!

Seriously: you can, get organised, get practicing, and DON'T keep telling yourself you can't!!! Work out how many scales you are struggling with, and learn each one systematically... I KNOW you can do this!

(can you believe there is a limit to the number of smilies you can use in a post! how mean!)

I can't do it either :'( i try but i can't

i hate them soo much

but i end up not playing it

what are the chances of the examiner saying them ?

Around 100% I think.

QUOTE (sbhoa @ Jan 14 2005, 12:25 PM)

Around 100% I think.

heehee lol!

sarah- ones i cant do? lets see...............all of them!!

theres a limit?!?!
disgraceful!

I would be willing to help you if you wanted to improve on your scales

QUOTE (clarinetlover @ Jan 14 2005, 03:58 PM)

sarah- ones i cant do? lets see...............all of them!!

awwww come on.... I bet you can!

seriously - MORE than willing to help you work out some sort of system to manage them - nothing worse than seeing a huge long list of scales and feeling you don't even know where to start

Actually Natalie there are certain ones that you struggle with, remember? I wrote them on a bit of paper for you and told you just to practice those ones over the weekend. You know the notes and the fingering, they just need to be played over and over and over and over again - its the only way I am afraid! It can even be therapeutic!

QUOTE (sally @ Jan 14 2005, 08:37 PM)

Actually Natalie there are certain ones that you struggle with, remember? I wrote them on a bit of paper for you and told you just to practice those ones over the weekend. It can even be therapeutic!

ya ya i remember

therapeutic?????????? are u on something!

QUOTE (sarah-flute @ Jan 14 2005, 06:20 PM)

seriously - MORE than willing to help you work out some sort of system to manage them - nothing worse than seeing a huge long list of scales and feeling you don't even know where to start

ok someone help me!!

nat, going to PM you k?

yes thaaaankyou!!!

How about thinking of them as little tunes/pieces of music? Does that help at all?

Yes, for Guildhall you learn a scale study and the major, minor (both types), arpeggios, diminished 7ths, dominant 7ths and chromatic become a little piece. Then there are some other scales you ahve to learn and they are in different rhythms - for example I have to play blues scales! They make the scales more interesting.

I have also PMed you.

QUOTE (nicki_flute @ Jan 15 2005, 07:41 AM)

Yes, for Guildhall you learn a scale study and the major, minor (both types), arpeggios, diminished 7ths, dominant 7ths and chromatic become a little piece. Then there are some other scales you ahve to learn and they are in different rhythms - for example I have to play blues scales! They make the scales more interesting.

What sort of standard are these at? - the scale studies. Where could I find them? I like scales, to a point, but I adore blues!

thanks for the PM's people!