What Was The Grade of You Practical Pieces at AS Level Music?

For AS it was all ensemble and I'd say it was about grade 5 level. I got 88/90 :smile:

.

Reply 3

MikeyB!

5

I did two pieces for main recital. One from Grade 8 (actually from the book 2005-6 Sonata in D by Scarlatti) and one which is apparantly Grade 7 standard: Chopin's posthumous nocturne in C#Minor.

Then my 2nd performance (I was on OCR) was a composition I wrote about Grade 5 standard (or maybe less....)

Reply 4

crankycaz

2

I stupidly used my grade 8 pieces and now I'm doing A2 and am having to re-learn some of my grade 7 pieces for the recital.

Reply 5

OP

I was going to do a piece from the Grade 5 Syllabus for my gcse solo, but teacher wouldnt let me as she said that the examiner most likely works for ABRSM and she/he would no exactly where to catch you out... But im doing a grade 6 piece that was on the syllabus a few yearrs ago :rolleyes:

Reply 6

mikeski

I was going to do a piece from the Grade 5 Syllabus for my gcse solo, but teacher wouldnt let me as she said that the examiner most likely works for ABRSM and she/he would no exactly where to catch you out... But im doing a grade 6 piece that was on the syllabus a few yearrs ago :rolleyes:

They're not looking to catch you out, just because a piece isn't on the syllabus doesn't mean the examiner won't have any idea about them. A couple of pupils I teach have recorded and will be recording grade 4 and 5 clarinet pieces for their GCSE Solo and they are pieces on the syllabus. They're not going to lose marks for it at all.

Reply 7

fatboy06

1

Did Britten Elegy for Solo Viola for the exam, got some bizarely low mark although I got 28/30 on it for my Grade 8...can't remember what I did for perf through the course.

Reply 8

OP

sexysax

They're not looking to catch you out, just because a piece isn't on the syllabus doesn't mean the examiner won't have any idea about them. A couple of pupils I teach have recorded and will be recording grade 4 and 5 clarinet pieces for their GCSE Solo and they are pieces on the syllabus. They're not going to lose marks for it at all.

Im not saying that they will lose marks, Im saying that they will have heard the pieces so many times and will know where people make errors the most; they will be more familiar with the pieces. For example, if there is a hard passage in a piece you took from the syllabus and you wanted to alter it, then the examiner would know... if you took a piece that was not well known then the examiner may be less familiar with it and you could more/less alter all you want.

Reply 9

The examiners are going to be well rounded musicians and have knowledge of tons of pieces, not just ones on the syllabus. They'll have the music and hear mistakes in hard passages whether the piece performed is on the syllabus or not. It's up to the student as a performer to not make those mistakes in the hard passages.

Reply 10

OP

Im not doubting how musical they are... They dont have the music infront of the with CCEA... And I didnt mention mistakes, I said if one was to alter a passage to make it more playable or something...

Reply 11

If you were to alter a passage in any piece, I'd place a good bet on them knowing what you've done. I mentioned their musicality because it's relevant. They're musical, and will have a lot of experience, therefore will have encountered so many pieces that it doesn't matter if they are on a syllabus or not, they'll still be familiar with the piece.

For example if you did that Chopin Prelude in B minor for a solo, no it's not on the syllabus now, but it is such a popular piece, a lot of examiners will know it.

Reply 12

OP

I know they will know the Chopin piece and at the time of picking my solo piece I didnt have a clue it was popular as I hadn't heard it before. Its too late to learn a new piece now as I have tons of exams and I already have the Prelude perfected.

They might not be familiar with the piece someone plays for their practical as Im sure no examiner has heard every piece :rolleyes:

Reply 13

I'm not saying they know every piece :rolleyes:

but they will know a great deal of them.

What I'm saying is that really there is no decent reason not to do a piece that is on an exam syllabus. If you altered a passage to make it easier, then you should not be playing that piece, because that's not what the composer intended. If you alter a passage for a musical reason, for example changing the dynamics or something, and it worked musically, then even if the examiner knew the piece so so well, it would probably be ok, because overall the performance worked musically.

Most examiners are decent and whether they know the piece inside out or not, doesn't really make a difference in my opinion. Even if they are not familiar with the piece in question, they can still find out about it and hear professional recordings of it if they so wished. Also, they are musicians at the end of the day, and whether they know the piece of not, they'll probably have a good indication if you've changed something important.

Reply 14

OP

I see what you mean.. but im just going by what I was told by my music teacher...

ah well what can ya do, pieces are picked and learnt so no point goin on about it :rolleyes:

Reply 15