Give some comments how to play. Expression, feelings, touching, anything.

A6 D. Scarlatti Sonata in E, Kp. 46 (L. 25). No. 8 from Scarlatti, 60 Sonatas, Vol. 1 (Schirmer/Music Sales)

B3 Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart (1756-91) Allegro: first movement from Sonata in F, K. 332


Anyone know or play this?

C6 Aaron Copland (1900-90) Jazzy: No. 3 from Three Moods

Copland: let go completely, especially when practising. Go crazy on the 'jazziness' of the piece - don't try to play it as though it were a classical piece. You can always tone it down, but you need to really exaggerate Copland at first to get the right 'feel'. (haven't played this particular piece but I know Copland's stuff quite well).

Mozart: don't overplay, or try to fiddle about with it too much. It's supposed to be light, airy, and fun. I'm playing this piece at the moment: the speed it says is maybe okay for performance, but if it doesn't sound 'right' for Mozart, try speeding it up. Pay attention to the phrasing marks: Mozart wrote them, and it'll help if you do them. It looks easy but it's harder than you think. My hands are too small to do the octaves in the quavers against triplets section, so I have to blag it. Not fun.

Scarlatti - Aargh. I feel your pain. Scarlatti is really technical, and it's really hard to put any expression into it. I try not to fight it - play it technically, and it tends to come out better. Go light on the semiquavers in the beginning, it's supposed to sound easy (so my teacher tells me - eep!).

Good luck in your exam (I assume you're doing the exam rather than just playing the pieces). Hope this is helpful.

Mozart - phrasing!! And try not to play it with rubato, even in the tuneful sections. Make sure all the notes are even and the left hand not too loud
Good luck with your exam!

Umm... I can't help you out too much with the B and C section, apart from to say that the Section B piece is all about keeping a steady tempo and being in control of the piece, whilst the Secition C piece is all about interpretation, liveliness and rhythm. But I did the A section one for my Grade 8 exam.

The positive points I got were:
• Good attention to stylistic detail
• Rapid passagework managed well
• Good sense of line

The negative points I got were:
• The odd stumble
• The confidence required for this piece needed a little more communication.

Thus, as a summary for the Scarlatti Sonata in E Piece (with other tips):
• Play it in the style of that of the days it was composed, i.e. in a detached manner like a harpsichord.
• But don't forget about dynamics, as it is a piano exam and not a harpsichord exam!
• Strive for technical perfection - obvious one this one really: the less mistakes you make, the better your mark
• Keep a good sense of line - phrasing, slurs and fingering are key
• Be confident - the confidence wll come across in your playing, and will help you out through the difficult bits like the downward right hand arpeggio
• Give the piece character - it makes it much more interesting, and will up your marks for interpretation
• Be consistent - i.e. in the repeat sections (of parts on the first two pages in the second two pages), make sure you play parts in the same way as you played them the first time so they can relate back.
• Attention to detail - make sure you don't ignore any rests, minims, and hold on to some notes too long!
• Note the tempo, and check with a metronome, for it may be faster than you think. But remember that security in playing comes before speed.
• May be a personal idea rather than anything else, but I would advise a light touch on the keyboard so that you can get through the difficult sections, and it is quite a 'light' piece too. I think if you play it too heavily, then it 'drags' on...

Good Luck!


~Wobby~

How about the histories behind of the songs being composed? Maybe they help me too in the interpretation, rather than in direct words.

Thank you all. They definitely help me a lot.

I don't know so much about the histories of A and B - but aren't Sonatas meant to be songs of religious praise? So they are intended to be bright and cheerful I guess. I think B was composed in Venice or Munich, but I can't tell you much else...

As for Piece C, I think that it was composed by Copland to impress a composer so that he could become her student...? And he thought that it would make people 'sit up and take notice'. So it really should be all about 'showing off' and exuberance.

~Wobby~

It may indeed, why not try doing some research yourself on this matter, google would be a good place to start. Find out generally about the composers as well as just the specific pieces. The best way to learn to play in the right style, using appropriate expression, is to listen to a wide range of music and get a feeling for the styles of the different times. I'm sure you must have picked up a lot of the ability to do this on your journey to grade 8 anyway.