Hi! So far I have been trying out the Vivace: Sonata In G Minor Op 3 No 7, 4th mvt by Veracini and the Preludio by Corelli.
Might use the former for the exam. And for the B section, Hindu Song is alright although my teacher favours the Neapolitan Song from Swan Lake.
As for the C, my teacher suggests the Bink's Waltz by Joplin, but I have problems with really fast pieces. So I thought of doing the alternative C5 piece, Yesterday by John Lennon and Paul McCartney (Am surprised this is an exam piece, but very pleased!). Any suggestions on how to improve on speed?
And what pieces are you doing? What do you think of the selection this year? I do really like the Scottish Brawl from this year's syllabus though.

Hi

I have just picked up the grade 4 book last week.. i have attempted all but three of them... if i were to do the exam soon i would chose A2 Rondeau B3 Neapolitan Song and C2 Spring Song.

I'm not too keen on the Hindu Song...

And the Scottish Brawl from the 2004 book i also really liked... i think the new selection of pieces are actually quite good! Challenging but I think there's a better selection than the 2004 book.

joy

Hi again

Just been plaing the violin grade 4 pieces again.... i'm in love with the Rondeau i think its by Purcell....you must try it. It's suprisiingly not that hard either. I might invest in the Grade 5 book soon and give them a shot too!

Let me know how you get on!

joy

Hee hee if I do that, I'll get the one without the piano score, cos I can borrow THAT from my friend who's already playing the Grade 5 pieces.
I dunno my teacher asked me to do the Vivace in second position for the part after the repeat sign we spent the whole half an hour practicing that yesterday. I think the pieces are VERY challenging. But I do like the Vivace a lot now.

The Golden wedding from this year's pieces is nice too. But I might try the Spring Song instead of the Bink's Waltz (the latter was my teacher's suggestion).

Hi, as a new teacher,i've been trying out all the grade 4 pieces, thinking what to choose for my students.For list A, Preludio has 2nd position, which i find quite challeging for students, I myself like Rondeau (though there are certain parts to be careful for cross strings), as for Vivace, as one of you mentioned about 2nd position after repeat sign, now i realize it, true, if not it is not easy to do cross strings from high G to middile G, so might consider letting them play Rondeau.

2nd piece, tricky time signature changes i would say, Hindu Song is the one i would suggest for them. Neapollitan Song, well, there are 2 double stops at the end!

3rd piece, Drunkard's Song, appoggiaturas is the one i fear...Spring Song, i find it not very easy to do the down bow and down bow again. Binks' Waltz seems ok, but how to practice the staccato (i think they should be done on the string, any suggestions from others?)

Since i am quite a new teacher, please help me if you have any suggestions! Above is just my opinion

Hi Happygirl! Thanks for the Exam Pieces Walkthrough! Very useful I might try out the Rondeau to see how I like it. Although I have been skivving off practice quite a lot this week because I'm busy preparing students for a concert on the 24th. We're have a piano and yamaha electric organ duet as well as other piano performances.

Yes neapollitan song is pretty fast too, and it's got to be smooth. But some people just don't like the sound of the Hindu Song, so you might not be able to get them to play it! LoL..

As a piano teacher, all I can say is, play it by ear. Listen to students and what they have to say to get a general idea of what interests them. And sometimes you have got to be prepared to be a bit "crazy" like them to communicate "in their language" so to speak. Dialogue with parents is also good to get an idea of what your students are like at home.

Oh btw, I think I need help from you on staccato. I'm a bit better now, but still not every note comes out crisp and "un-scratched" or even. Any suggestions or arm technique I should practice on for this? I've been playing the violin for 2 years.

My teacher wanted me to learn all songs...then pick out the 3 best ones...