Has anybody had problems finding the alternative pieces for exams? I dunno if it's being in South East Asia that's the problem, but I find that from Grades 1-5 chances are I'd only be able to find ONE alternative piece from each grade available in either my collection or the music stores.

The pieces for higher grades are more common, except for the C-section, which again are quite rare.

I've got a few alternative pieces, and when I've needed them , I have never had trouble finding them. Maybe it is your location- I don't know

Hi. Can you download them from the internet? What is the position if one of us in the UK scanned them and emailed them to you? Probably highly illegal, but might help you whilst you wait for them to arrive via snail mail? Or even bought them for you, scanned them etc and then sent them to you snail mail. I would be happy to help.

Steve

Yes, maybe you could order them online. I couldn't recommend any sites in your area though.

I always have a copy of the relevant 'more romantic pieces...' book, so that usually has a few in. I was a little miffed at having to buy the entire collection of Mendelsohn's 'songs withoiut words' just to play one of them, but it was worth it!
I've never found a piece I couldn't get hold of, yet.
Internet is probably best for you if your local music shop isn't good at ordering stuff in.

Even though I live in the south-east and have several music shops within reach, it's quite rare to find - in stock - anything other than the Associated Board alternative books.

Eg I can usually find Romantic sketchbooks and similar, but I have never seen some of the other publishers' books which are listed.

I'm sure they are available on the internet, but I would sometimes like to look at the piece and other contents and assess whether the book is worth getting.

I was slightly miffed at having to buy Christopher Norton's concert collection to get a copy of Lavenders kind of Blue (grade 6) because the (smaller I believe) book listed by the AB is not now produced.

Just out of interest, what was that one 'song without words'?

I (have to) order off the internet - both the ABRSM books and any alternative pieces. However, I later discovered that the local agent actually had a little stock available, though mostly for piano.

I've used (thinks...) Musicsender several times, and a few others. Have never had any problems with security of orders or speed of delivery. Places which stock exam material prominently, such as Musicsender, seem to stock most of the alternatives too.

Actually, pianists (and violinists) have it easy on this one - at least there's a book of pieces published! If you email the AB they are as helpful as they can be in providing as much detail about the piece as possible, so even if you can't find the edition listed in the syllabus you might be able to find an edition from elsewhere.

I was trying to find a harpsichord piece by Byrd on list A which was only listed as being number 12 out of a certain out-of-print book. The response I received from the AB was perhaps the best customer service I'd ever had! They stated where the book on the syllabus sourced the piece from (a book that was in print ) and also described the piece in great detail (e.g. detailing a 4-3 suspension over the bass in bar 2 ) should I be able to find it from elsewhere.

I'm quite fortunate in that there are a couple of reasonably stocked music shops in Glasgow, and when I'm at home, Banks in York is only an hour or so away. Failing that, I've never had any problem buying music over the internet.

The 'Duetto' - on the grade 8 syllabus 03-04. I think it was op36 number 6, but that would be my memory performing, and that just doesn't happen!!

But I'm sure you find it useful now, being able to find ANY Christopher Norton's piece if they come up as alternatives. But yes, I guess I'll do just that order from the internet. Yes, the Romantic Sketchbook (available at my music centre too) and my old copy of Short and More Romantic pieces were really useful for the one or two alternatives... thanks to my own determination to pick alternative pieces during my OWN exams, well.. I have to thank my teacher for that, she got me started on my first alternative piece for Grade 3.
But I just gave up looking for the rest, for my students as they weren't available here. And yes, I DO like to browse through the book before buying it. What if I'd only liked ONE of the pieces?? Or didn't like them at all?

Thanks for your offer, oh noble Steve! But I was just asking in passing. I don't really need the alternatives right at this moment. Only by August will all my students finish their music exams for this year.

I have never quite understood this system. Given that you must play from an original copy I would FAR rather that every piece option was in the exam grade book, exactly as the CD, even if that meant the book cost more. I hate having to buy another whole book just to be able to select one alternative piece. Why is it like this?

Well - possibly- although the book has 23 pieces, which I suppose is not bad value, but none of the others ring bells at the moment, and I don't know how likely it is that others will appear in the lists.

Apparently piano and violin teachers are comparatively fortunate in this area, since other instruments don't have books of pieces produced specially for the exam and all have to be purchased separately. But like musicmanNZ I do sometimes mind having to buy a large book just to obtain one piece, and I always find myself weighing up whether it's worth it. In the past it has sometimes been useful, in that it's introduced me to a previously unknown book which has then proved popular. But in some cases the book remains as a kind of "white elephant" and I don't make use of other things in it. I'm still undecided about the Christopher Norton concert collection in fact, but time will tell. I guess you win some and lose some !

Hehehe.. I remember I bought Oliver Messian's Preludes as an alternative piece and only did ONE for my exam. Fortunately my teacher wanted it, so I sold it to her. I must say I don't relish the other pieces. I played the Plainte Calme (I hope I've spelled it correctly) for the exam and it's the only one I didn't mind.

La Colombe - the first prelude - is a real gem!! Plus the second one - Chante d'extase dans une paysage triste. I also bought the Vingt Regards and only did one of the pieces which was incredibly beautiful, but I haven't taught myself any since as I found them such hard work, first sorting out all the notes, and then adding the speed, detail and interpretation! It's not a harmonic/musical language I'm particularly at home with. I suppose generally being a pretty good sight-reader helps me with learning pieces - but I can't sight-read Messiaen....

It is quite an expensive album, but "Lavenders kind of Blue" is a very good piece to be able to play!

You get a CD with this collection of Christopher Norton playing the piece, and also a version with backing instrumentation.

However I don't believe on this occasion that Mr Norton has seen all the potential of his own composition. Very strange performances. Also odd to be so metronomic when the instruction at the top is "Rubato".

If you could somehow swap the Norton CD for the ABRSM Grade V CD from ABRSM - you would be winning. (You will get to hear Joanna MacGregor's magnificent performance that way)

George

Mind you composers are not always the best performers of their own music! I once heard a dreadful rendition of the Rachmaninov C minor piano concerto on the radio, and spent the entire time cringing and slating it only to be told by the announcer at the end that it was Rachmaninov himself!!!

I don't blame you! Not something I'd want to work through if I'm short on time either. Lucky the one I did was slow, so it's much easier to sight-read, however, the examiner said it sounded hardly ever"calme'