Abram piece choice

[Qasd]

Hi

So dd is preparing for her grade three to take at Easter. She has prepared the pieces but the teacher now wants to change her “b” piece to a different one. I see the teachers point in that the new piece plays more to dd strengths, it’s slower and more slurring and is more similar to her “a” piece which she plays well. The current “b” piece is up beat jaunty and requires more tonguing which dd is not as good at.

But does she get any better grade as a result of a more varied repitoire or will the very similar pieces played well be better than the showing a greater range but with a weaker piece? (Dd would rather not introduce a new piece at this stage as she would rather polish the three she has but that is probably more a pragmatic point of not wanting to start a new piece from scratch now than because it’s the best option!)

It does say you should present a balanced programme but we have never had any comments about lack of balance/contrast. But if the teacher is suggesting a different piece, it is ages till Easter which gives plenty time for a new grade 3 piece. Playing only three pieces from now until march/ April when they are already nearly there will get very boring. Maybe she could try the new one for a couple of weeks and see which she likes better? In general the more music you are exposed to, the better for development. She could always go back to the original choice if she is much more keen on it.

I don't think there are any marks for programme choice until diploma level. Each piece is marked individually and there's a fairly detailed markscheme:

gb.abrsm.org/en/exam-support/your-guide-to-abrsm-exams/how-we-mark-exams/

Having a varied programme may make it more fun to play though, and be better for her development long term to learn how to do jaunty rather than stick to what she's already good at. Like horsey says though, that's a long time to keep the same pieces on the boil, trying some alternatives sounds like a great idea from that perspective.

As long as there is one piece from each of list A B and C it doesn't matter which pieces they are and how well balanced they are. Each piece is marked on its own merits. There is nowhere on the mark form for them to give marks for the balance of the programme.

I agree with others. It sounds like the new piece would show off your daughter's strengths better.

I would have her try out the new one and work on it for a few weeks alongside the others and see what she thinks in a month or so's time.

My daughters often learned more than three pieces from the exam lists to give them a choice. I remember one didn't decide between two piano pieces until the last lesson before her exam (though admittedly that was grade 1 so pieces didn't take too long to learn.)