I have a pupil studying for grade 5 singing and am abit stumped for the unaccompanied traditional song. I know the time limit is 3 minutes but that doesn't really narrow it down much! I would appreciate any ideas so that I can match one to her voice.

Thanks in advance

I did "Jock O' Hazeldean" For my Grade 8 - it's good fun with a sad start but a bit of a punch line at the end. I'm sure it would be fine for Grade 5. Another favourite is "Waly Waly" though I get the impression that might come up quite often - maybe better to give the examiner something a bit different.

I sang "Amazing Grace". Went down OK and I got 20/21 for it.

Cheers

katyjay

I did 'Drink to me only with thine eyes' for grade 4 and 5. Don't know what I got but I scored very highly in general in Grade 5 so I cant have lost too many!

danny boy went really well for me

i can't really remember...but i did get a high mark for that..... sing something short and sweet might be good...

I sang Blackbirds & Thrushes from Cecil Sharps' collection of 100 English Folk Songs, and will be singing Green Bushes from the same book for Grade 6. Has your student got good flexibility, if so then Bedlam might be a good choice.

Thanks for all your replies. We have started looking at Amazing Grace and will see how things go

Amazing Grace is beautiful! Must be good to do a piece which is so beautifully simple. Excuse my ignorance, but what ar eht marking criteria for the unaccompanied song? What are they looking for?

They're basically looking for the same stuff as the accompanied songs - quality of voice, dynamics, intonation, breathing, articulation, communication of the song's message etc.

The challenge of course with the unaccompanied song is that there's nowhere to hide - you don't have a piano to obscure any slips, and it's up to you to keep in tune. But it gives you scope to demonstrate more of your voice - genuine pianissimos are a lot easier when you're not in competition with your accompanist !

Cheers

Katyjay

*nods* OK I gotcha. Bit like the study in woodwind exams! (well, a bit...!)

Amazing Grace can be sung for grade 6 under unaccompanied also, please let me know. Thanx

Yes, you can sing any unaccompanied folk song for any grade. It's a completely free choice.

Cheers

Katyjay

QUOTE (possom @ May 2 2005, 04:02 PM)

I have a pupil studying for grade 5 singing and am abit stumped for the unaccompanied traditional song. I know the time limit is 3 minutes but that doesn't really narrow it down much! I would appreciate any ideas so that I can match one to her voice. Thanks in advance

I well remember "Turtle Dove" in Grade VIII.

My teacher advised that the key to a folk song is not to "over sing" or "over dramatise" this item. This is quite an intimate part of your exam.
We did not work THAT hard on the unaccompanied song (compared with the other repertoire) but it went very well.

Personally, I would not choose Amazing Grace. Simply too commonly performed. If I was doing exam again, I might look harder - find a folk song that I could make my own.

Cecil Sharp alone dug out hundreds from England. As a random thought, can you not choose a folk song from your area of your country. That in itself would be a worthwhile learning exercise from a variety of perspectives. If I was to sit the exam again I would pick an early New Zealand folk song such as "Bright Fine Gold" - our choir is doing a programme of NZ folk songs and this is my favourite.

QUOTE (possom @ May 2 2005, 04:02 PM)

I have a pupil studying for grade 5 singing and am abit stumped for the unaccompanied traditional song. I know the time limit is 3 minutes but that doesn't really narrow it down much! I would appreciate any ideas so that I can match one to her voice. Thanks in advance

Sorry - I also meant to add one thing..

Matching a folk song to a voice should be a piece of cake, because folk songs by definition are sung by everyone. Unaccompanied songs can easily be switched to a good centrlal key. This is not the opportunity to demonstrate extremes of range!

The only limitation I can think of is that some songs are intended for a woman, some for a man. There would still be millions of options if you thought that was important. Remember though that Joan Baez put out a successful cover version of "The Night They Drove Old Dixie Down".

Hi Katyjay,
A big thank you for your information regarding Amazing Grace, it is really Amazing.
Samson

QUOTE (Amber @ May 6 2005, 07:47 PM)

I sang Blackbirds & Thrushes from Cecil Sharps' collection of 100 English Folk Songs, and will be singing Green Bushes from the same book for Grade 6. Has your student got good flexibility, if so then Bedlam might be a good choice.

I'd go for something like this rather than Amazing Grace or Danny Boy.
Showing some imagination.

What is Amazing Grace? I well remember the hit version of Judy Collins (largely uanaccompanied) Then the Royal Scots Dragoons Pipe Band scoring with it as well.

Nowadays it hovers between being a hymn or a Scottish item (thanks to the Pipe Band I suppose). Until the hit versions were recorded, it was neither as far as I knew. I have heard it so often at weddings and funerals that I was thinking that it is the only hymn some people know!

I would definitely recommend that you find something new that will liven an otherwise pretty repetitive life of the examiner.

George

You have a point, but bear in mind that examiners have repetitive lives (ask any of the piano teachers on the forum about Creepy Crawly in the 2003 syllabus Grade 1 list C ...)

Actually, the words of Amazing Grace were written as a prayer of praise by John Henry Newton who was the vicar of Olney, and the tune it was matched with is an American folk melody. The pairing of the two was intended to be used as a hymn.

But as far as I was concerned for my Grade 5 exam, it's something that can be sung without accompaniment, has a reasonable range and allows one to demonstrate good technique - e.g. pianissimo singing. It suited me, and if the examiner had heard it already - tough, it's my exam.

BUT, and this is a point for Samson to bear in mind, I chose it with my voice and my skills in mind. What's right for me has no guarantee of being right for you, Samson.

For Grade 8 I sang The Ash Grove in Welsh. Also went down OK.

Wow, I do like The Ash Grove, but I imagine it was wonderful in Welsh!

Does it HAVE to be some sort of folk song then, or just unaccompanied? I am wondering what the actual specifics are. Speaking of NZ tunes... would Hine e Hine or Po Kare kare ana (I've probably spelt both wrong!) but usable for this section. I think both are beautiful, especially the second not that it makes a lot of difference at the moment as I can't afford lessons, but hey, one day!

QUOTE (sarah-flute @ May 26 2005, 02:51 PM)

Wow, I do like The Ash Grove, but I imagine it was wonderful in Welsh! Does it HAVE to be some sort of folk song then, or just unaccompanied? I am wondering what the actual specifics are. Speaking of NZ tunes... would Hine e Hine or Po Kare kare ana (I've probably spelt both wrong!) but usable for this section. I think both are beautiful, especially the second not that it makes a lot of difference at the moment as I can't afford lessons, but hey, one day!

I had never considered Maori popular songs like these as "Traditional Songs", as required for Grade V.

For example "Pokarekare Ana" is attributed to Paraire Tomoana - he lived not far from us where I was brought up - in Hastings (NZ).

Truly traditional songs would not involve the diatonic scale as far as I know. Songs like those you mention date colonial times and some quite recently.