Which exam piece do you really enjoy playing and why?

Give the grade and full title of the piece.

I am on grade 2 and I really like playing Un Gros Chagrin by Sandre. When my piano teacher first played it to me it sounded like something that would be played at a funeral, but afterwards I grew to like it. I also like the jazz piece Herbie Funky by Vincent Huet.

They're all nice pieces but those are my favourites.

Let's further our discussions to Diploma examinations!

The repertoire for my DipABRSM is

J.S. Bach Prelude and Fugue no. 5 Bk II
Mozart Sonata in Bb, K. 570
Schubert Impromptu in Gb, D899/4
Debussy La plus que lente

Yes but you didn't say why you chose those pieces...

My favourite piano exam piece has got to be "Strawberry Flip" from the last grade 2 syllabus. It was really fun to play and it certainly made exam practice more enjoyable!

hey everyone

im on grade 4 clarinet and i love Burgmuller - Ballade.

When i first heard it, i thought it was a really cheesy song which i didnt like, but i really like playing it now!)

See ya!

Becky

Hi,

Im kate and im doing my grade 8 piano soon. I absolutley love one of the pieces im doing. 'Waltz in E minor' by Chopin. Its just the most wonderful piece.

I chose Bach Prelude and Fugue in D Bk II as it started my recital with a fast/lively piece.
For Mozart Sonata in Bb K.570, I like its simplicity and technical ease.

Hi I am David,
I like to hear the songs
Moonlight Sonata by
Beetoven and Sonata in
C by Wolfgang Amadeos
Mozart.What music do you like
to hear or play?THANKS!
Wonder what you like,
David.

Ooo...I liked Strawberry Flip as well! As for Mozart's Sonata K570, I think it's VERY difficult. OK...Difficult...not VERY. It's very rewarding when you can play it well though.

I really like Allegro Moderato by Schubert. It's B2 of the Grade 8 syllabus. The melody is lyrical can I love the way it builds up to the climax near the middle.

Hm...other pieces include Tango, C2 (I think) of the Grade 6 syllabus...Rondo by...Can't remember. THat's A1 of the 2002-2003 Grade 5 syllabus. It's got a really catchy melody. Really like the part where the hands have to cross...hahaha...

QUOTE (pianist64 @ Nov 10 2003, 02:05 PM)

Hi, Im kate and im doing my grade 8 piano soon. I absolutley love one of the pieces im doing. 'Waltz in E minor' by Chopin. Its just the most wonderful piece.

ah yes I'm playing that too - lovely piece - especially love playing the low bass line in the middle section very loudly! The coda is great fun to bash out too

i like Shostakovich
i'm a revisionist (subscribing to Solomon Volkov; probably doesn't mean anything to you...)

well, From the grade 5 (Flute) 2002-2003 lists i loved playing the Hornpipe by someone Macdowell and grade 6 Teleman sonata in c is great fun and the prelude from suite antique by john rutter is so gorgeous i really enjoyed playing all of these pieces

From the grade 8 list 4 2004-2005 i like the bach partita and the sonata by york bowen

Barrios Mangoré--El Sueño de la Muñequita (The Sleep of the Little Doll) or Villancico de Navidad (Christmas Carol).

Guitar grade 7 list B this year

El Sueno has quite a bouncy feel to it being in 3|4 time, the latter is in 6|8 and the piece seems to have a very smooth 'gliding' feel to it...

I prefer one or the other depending on mood really... I would play 'the Doll' if i'm feeling a bit cheeky and like a bit of showing off with the touch harmonics.... "Villancico.." however, is more melodic and pleasant (major key) with a nice surprise when you get into some interesting, but somewhat generic, key-changes before a repeat...

Both have natural harmonics a-plenty which makes it very "special" and "out of the (exam) ordinary" to play and listen to.

there... I'll shut up now...

For grade 6, I like the Tango by Albeniz, you feel like you want to swing along the music.

For grade 8, I like the following:
Sonata in A by Schubert, a very lyrical piece.
Sacro-Monte by Turina, loves the rhythm :lol:
Waltz in E minor by Chopin, a lovely melody.

I like all my exam pieces this year! I'm in Grade 8 Piano, I like Bach's Sarabande and Rondeaux (the Rondeaux is just too much fun to play!!) and Schubert's Allegro Moderato. I just like the way the piece sounds... I like playing it too... and like acyng, I like Sacro-Monte.. I like the rhythm too.

Im doin grade 5 clarinet and I love the piece called summer from The Victorian Kitchen Garden by Paul Reade(dunno if u know it!!!)Its really easy and a really sweet melody line!!!!!

Hi - i'm on grade 8 piano, and my fav piece is the Mendesshon Song Without Words - it is soooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo lovely !! It is in the alternative pieces book - Grade 8 Piano Anthology. I also love the Beethoven Sonata in F minor ! it is fantastic !! The Scarlatti fugue is also nice, but i love the others better !!
A few other people said how they love the Chopin E minor waltz - I agree - it's really nice !!
love piano_ellie
xxx

I enjoyed Barrios Mangoré--El Sueño de la Muñequita (The Sleep of the Little Doll) too but have you played the villa-lobos prellude no 4? That is my one of my favourite guitar pieces at the moment and that's also in the old trinity grade 7 sylabus.

As for what kind of piano music do i like, i'd say anything by Rachmaninov even though its too hard to play. He is a piano god, i love him!

Anyone else agree?

hi there everyone! I'm Pau-Lynn from Malaysia! I'm currently re-taking my DipABRSM again and the one SONG that i love most at the moment (unrelated to my exam songs though ) has got to be Debussy's Clair De Lune-Lovely. When i watched I Capture the Castle they too were playing Deb's song on the movie and it was just fantastic!! Favourite exam piece for Dip is debussy's ..can't remember the title though(it's in french) but will get back to you guys all. I find Chopin's Fantasie Impromptu quite challenging yet niceto play too! The harder the song is the more i feel like practising! Don't u all agree with me on that? And weird thing is, i tend to play more mistakes on easy pieces than difficult pieces! I guess i'm a little weird.

I agree strawberry flip from grade 2 was the best piece eva n it got me interested in jazz music.

forget all this classical stuff, if it's Jazz then I like it!

i'm studying grade 5 cornet and my favourite piece is Canon Dance because its lively and you need to play it quite quickly so it's a challenge.

[QUOTE] Im doin grade 5 clarinet and I love the piece called summer from The Victorian Kitchen Garden by Paul Reade(dunno if u know it!!!)Its really easy and a really sweet melody line!!!!!

Hey
I'm also playin that piece for my gr 5! We'll breeze thru the exam if we're playin that!! My brother is playin the 1st mvt for his gr 6 and it is really nice, (but hard, u have to get to top F )

My favourite exam peice from grade 4 flute, at the moment is

When Tomarrow Comes by Steve Pogson from The Way to rock

I like it because it is totally different from my other peices.

Mousey

I'm doing my grade 8 piano at the moment and I really like the Serabande and Rondeaux, I also quite like Allegro:sonanta in F by Beethoven. I totally love the Waltz in E minor by Chopin but my piano teacher says I have to do a modern piece in one of the sections but I really dont like any of the modern ones in this grade!! It's so unfair! I'm doing Berceuse by Blumenfeld as my modern piece but I dont like it cos I find it quite boring!

I really dont see why it's necessary to play pieces from different periods, cant people just play the pieces that they actually like?!

Does anyone else feel the same way or is it just me?

Trisha

J.S.Bach 6 cello suite, I'm very like it. although I havn't cello, but I used viola play that. but it really difficult to play. who have experience about playing this pieces?

My favourites are:

Flute:
'Nimble Flute' from Fifty For Flute, book 1. It's a lovely piece- it's a really haunting sound when you play it.

Violin:
'Lullaby' by Brahms
'Salut d'Amour' by Elgar.

I'm doing my Grade 8 piano at the moment and I really like Sarabande and Rondeaux by J.S. Bach and Berceuse by Blumenfeld. But The Sonata in F (first movement) by Beethoven is just AMAZING!!!! I love that piece, it has really fast and loud bits as well as really gentle and beautiful ones!! It's just SOOOOOOOOO good! Such a great piece!!

I'm working towards Grade 8 and I'm playing the waltz in E minor by Chopin. I agree it's a really good piece of music but I find it sooooooo hard to play! I'm also learning drum kit and my drum teacher is introducing me into not just pop rhythms but also jazz, latin american. So jazz is also starting to grow on me. stuff in the pop chats is good as well

Yep Im a confessed Strawberry Flip fan as well!!!!!

I love Faure's Sicilienne (Gr 5 Flute 2003-03) and the Bach Siciliano (Grade 6 2002-03)

Has anyone played the Poulenc Sonata for either Grade 7 or 8 flute? Ive heard it and really liked the sound of it. Im about to choose my grade 7 pieces soon - Is it as fun to play as it is to listen to?

Also I agree with Holgate = JAZZ IS FAB!!!!!!!!

Anyone got any jazzy flute pieces they want to recommend to me?????

Thanks Anna

I am doing Grade 7 Piano.
I like A2, Fantasia by Handel.
It is quite like A1 in Grade 6, and I like polyphonic pieces.

I also like A1, Grade 8(2001-2003).
My sister played it last year.
It is long but it is very enjoyable.
I got the recording, it is NICE!
I just love harpsichord music too.

I'm doing grade 8 too and also doing sarabande and rondeaux by Bach....i don't REALLY like that one, not sure why everyone loves it. I'm doing schuberts allegro moderato and chopin waltz as well. The chopin waltz is really nice but there's this bit that is so difficult to get right! Schubert's a nice piece too but a bit repetitive.

I'm taking grade 4 violin and I have chosen (A1) Scottish Brawl as I like the different it starts of light and airy, then in the middle the notes are on the G string as if weight is being carried then it seems to be reflective. (B2) Ballet music Schubert I can imagine a ballet dancer doing her dance. C2 Moderato Martinu I don't know why I like this one but it is a pleasure to play and I do like the difference in the tempo from 5/4 to 3/4.

I'm taking Grade 5 flute on 16th march and my favourite piece is Entrée des jeunes Nubiennes (A5 from the 2002-2003 syllabus) as it builds up to the grand finalle at the end

Anna I have a Jazz Flute Book called Jazzed up too for flute. Its really good the first 2 pieces are good the rest are good but really hard 2 play!!

I liked the 'Nocturne' by Chopin from the Piano 2001-02 syllabus- especially the middle section- although it was not easy to learn.

I also love 'Ce qu'a vu le vent d'ouest' by Debussy, which is on the piano LRSM syllabus- i just think it's such an amazing (incredibly tricky) piece, as it captures the fury of the wind- the beginning especially, reminds me of those days where the wind is really strong and you can hear it making this 'moaning' sound.

I'm planning on doing my grade 8 guitar next year (never sat any guitar exams before - only started playing guitar on 9/11, easy date to remember! - so shall need to get grade 5 theory out of the way first )

anyway for my A piece i've got bach's gavotte en rondeau from lute suite bwv 1006a (i found the A piece quite hard to choose. i tend to find baroque stuff a bit vapid but this piece i do like). for my B piece i have capricho arabe by tarrega - great piece! so atmospheric. for my C piece i have villa-lobos' etude 11, which is quite unsettling but has a haunting feel to it and looks like it'll be fun to play.

piano ellie do you mean the appassionata sonata (i think beethoven wrote a couple of sonatas in f minor)? it's one of my favourite pieces, it's so dramatic. the people playing the chopin waltz, i've not heard it but you guys might like his barcarolle (op 60), which isn't so well known as a lot of his other stuff but is extremely beautiful.

and guitarfreak, if you like barrios check out Una Limosnita Por El Amor De Dios (aka Una Limosna Por El Amor De Dios or even El Ultimo Tremolo). it's one of the best pieces in the guitar repertoire, i'd say, and once you've learnt tremolo it's a piece of cake. have you heard Un Sueno En La Floresta and Julia Florida? sueno is a pretty difficult tremolo piece (not got round to learning it yet but it's on my list!) and julia florida is another really lyrical and beautiful piece i'm learning at the moment - not too difficult at all, although it doesn't work without a whole load of feeling put into it!

oh and that was my first post! hi!

stephen