Instrument Players - Come and chat (Part II)

[CoteDAzur]

Previous thread is here.

We filled one thread, so here’s another

I haven't done any scales at all and couldn't tell you what any of them are except C Major

I do play Gavotte & 6 Doubles pretty much every day, though, which has quite a few scales in it (although I couldn't tell you which ones they are).

I'm done with Rameau's Les Trois Mains as well as Handel's Chaconne, so now I've started from the same suite as the Courante (which I filmed & posted on this thread back in November). It's not fast but still incredibly hard to play on the piano because left hand's fingers need to span and hold over an octave on several occasions.

Haven't posted for a while - I've been busy practicing for my grade 4 piano exam, which is a week on Wednesday. The pieces are getting more secure, scales improving. Anyone else doing an exam this session?

Good luck with your exam. I already did my control intra-cycle about a month ago. We had 5 weeks to prepare for our chosen pieces.

Good luck Fluke - I'm sure it will go well!
Really need to get stuck into practice properly - I'm going to make myself a practice plan and try to stick to it!

I wonder if I should get some piece up to performance standard ...

But I've chosen a Haydn sonata - the next thing to do is to decide whether to print a free copy or buy a nice edition.

Meanwhile I might have a go at this Rachmaninoff

Me Fluke. I'm crazy so yup somewhat busy with that. Good luck! There are some lovely pieces set for g4 as I remember from a year ago, which have you chosen?
Exams are luckily spread out, clarinet first,
What's a 'control intra-cycle' Cote?
Go for it Never, the Rachmaninoff is very impressive, looks very difficult, but not as as a lot of his stuff.

Thanks everyone for your good wishes for my exam.

Broken I'm doing the Krebs, Ninettes Musette and The Penguin. I can play them all ok but get v nervous in exams and get in a bit of a tangle! Hope your exam goes well too.

I have abandoned Rachmaninoff for Haydn...

Two piano lessons this week - normal one and rescheduled one. Resorting to memorising the hard bits now - at the moment all my pieces sound like a series of blocks rather than lovely smooth transitions!
(On the upside, I can play scales with my eyes shut, though not sure that's ever going to get extra marks in an exam!)

Extra marks for playing eyes shut and bonus points playing .

Never now that would be something in an abrsm exam!

Nice pieces Fluke, I did Ninette's musette too, the Haydn and Uzbuna. Hope it went well.
at playing eyes shut and upside down in an exam, imagine the examiner's comments, 'somewhat unconventional approach to seating position, however these were mainly accurate and fluent'...

Well my nerves got the better of me on the exam - I found to a complete halt in my first piece when I was about half way through, and tested. Got a little lecture doing the examiner about the idea being to just very on... Second piece went well I think, but I lost the plot on the third and missed out maybe 6 bars in the middle. Scales, sight reading and aural were all good I think. So I guess the outcome depends on how badly they penalise me for the catastrophes in the two pieces.

...just CARRY on...

That first sentence makes no sense at all, predictive texting! I ground to a complete halt, and restarted...

Fluke don't worry about the restart - I think it's quite common for people to start again. I reckon you've done fine! Well done on nailing the scales!
It really is an intimidating situation isn't it? I can stand up and give a presentation to a room full of people but a music exam is a whole other bag of nerves.

Thanks Loose, I got my results... And I got a merit! Very pleased, considering how badly I thought I had played. I'm getting to grips with a lovely piece of Elgar now - the Slow Air from the Charterhouse Suite. It is very beautiful.

Well done Fluke!

Not Elgar, Vaughan Williams... I played Elgars piano last week (wow!) so I have Elgar on the brain...

Fluke well done! That's a brilliant result!

Well done fluke!

Just started learning Gershwin's 'Summertime'. Perfect weather for it! What is the squiggle called in this pic?

Arpeggiated chord?

Thanks Never