What are you playing?

[m_gigena]

That sounds like an excellent program. Have you chosen the Chopin Mazurka yet?

My teacher suggested one I didn't like very much. So I'm reconsidering it. (The same happened with Albeniz's Op. 165. I was supposed to study it during holidays, but I just skipped it).

[orbital]

Just finished Scarlatti K086 B minor sonata. I had learnt this one but not well enough I guess that I had to relearn the whole thing.

Currently Bach E minor partita: Toccata (the 1st part only, of course  ). Even though it will not be a complete piece, it is very good finger exercise.

[MishaK]

I am currently playing:

Beethoven Sonata No.5 Op.10 in C minor

Brahms Sonata No.3 Op.5 in F, 2nd movement only

Brahms Ballades Op.10 Nos. 1 & 4

Debussy Selections from Preludes Book I: Danseuses de Delphes, Voiles, la Cathédrale engloutie

Mozart Sonata K330 in C



Occasionally, I revive older pieces I have played before, such as:

Beethoven Sonatas No.15 "Pastoral" and No.30

The rest of Debussy's Preludes Book I

Mussorgsky's Pictures at an Exhibition.

[zamyrabyrd]

The best time for me to practice is between lessons at the school when students don't show up.
Recently I picked the last piano Sonata by Schubert from their library and sort of made it a project.
It's amazing that there is so much DETAIL that after all these years I missed, never REALLY studied it but heard it a lot and played it through many times.
And of course, there are the ultimate performers like Clara Haskil and Schnabel that are hard acts to follow. Recently, Perahia I believe recorded the last sonatas of Schubert.
Oh well...
ZB

[Guido]

Shostakovich Cello Concerto no.1. To remember Slava.

[Symphonien]

The following four I recently played on Saturday for my Grade 8 AMEB examination:

Bach - Prelude and Fugue No. 1 in C Major (WTC Book 1)
Beethoven - Sonata No. 11 Op. 22 Allegro con brio
Chopin - Nocturne Op. 72 No. 1
Debussy - Danseuses de Delphes (Preludes Book 1)

I got a B+. Memory was fine but I was a little nervous and didn't produce the cleanest of articulation, particularly in the Beethoven...

Currently, I haven't yet decided what to really concentrate on working on. I've been fooling around with a few random pieces like the rest of that Beethoven sonata as well as his Op. 53 first movement, a couple Chopin etudes, a couple more Debussy preludes, various Scarlatti sonatas, Rachmaninov's prelude Op. 23 No. 5 and am looking through my book of Scriabin to select a prelude or etude. This of course is way too much to learn at the same time, so I'm trying to plan my practice at the moment.

As for bassoon, I'm currently working on the prelude from Bach's 1st cello suite in G major and am also looking to buy some more sheet music on the internet. Quite disappointing really, how little music stores have for bassoon, at least where I live. I was quite surprised when I went to one store that had half a shelf full of oboe music but only two basic method books for bassoon. I wouldn't think there would be so many times more oboists than bassoonists!

[Maciek]

It seems you're right. I just checked my "local" internet store and they only have something like 3 scores for solo bassoon and 1 (one!) for two bassoons (a Mozart sonata). They do have about 20 or so for bassoon and piano though...

[Joe_Campbell]

Man so many pianists and yet no one has advice for me in gr5? What are you holding back?

[Maciek]

Hey, watch who you're calling a pianist!

[lukeottevanger]

Man so many pianists and yet no one has advice for me in gr5? What are you holding back?

I will say that the Grade 5 pieces this year are a particularly nice (that is to say - easy!) selection - at least, there are some among them that are really pretty straightforward if you want a relatively easy ride. Concentration on playing stylistically is important at all grades; but I'd say Grade 5 is the one where it starts to count particularly, and there's lots of opportunity to do so as usual with these pieces.

[m_gigena]

I will say that the Grade 5 pieces this year are a particularly nice (that is to say - easy!) selection - at least, there are some among them that are really pretty straightforward if you want a relatively easy ride. Concentration on playing stylistically is important at all grades; but I'd say Grade 5 is the one where it starts to count particularly, and there's lots of opportunity to do so as usual with these pieces.

What type of works do you play in Grade 5?

[karlhenning]

Tonight I start rehearsing The Shepherd on the Rock with one of the sopranos in our choir.

[lukeottevanger]

Same as at all ABRSM Grades, except Grade 8 which is slightly different. That is to say, one Baroque/Classical piece, one Romantic piece, and one Modern/Jazz piece, all marked out of 30 (there are also scales, sight reading and aural tests, marked out of 21, 21 and 18 respectively). There is a choice of 6 pieces for each of these three sections, so you can usually mix and match quite nicely.

Edit - sorry, that was obviously replying to Manuel. Karl, who is playing the shepherd, and who the rock?

[Joe_Campbell]

Same as at all ABRSM Grades, except Grade 8 which is slightly different. That is to say, one Baroque/Classical piece, one Romantic piece, and one Modern/Jazz piece, all marked out of 30 (there are also scales, sight reading and aural tests, marked out of 21, 21 and 18 respectively). There is a choice of 6 pieces for each of these three sections, so you can usually mix and match quite nicely.

Edit - sorry, that was obviously replying to Manuel. Karl, who is playing the shepherd, and who the rock?

Is ABSM similar to RCM? We have 10 grades, then ARCTs. The music selection is similar, with some baroque/classical, some romantic, and some modern/jazz. I wonder if the difficulty is comparable.

[lukeottevanger]

Is ABSM similar to RCM? We have 10 grades, then ARCTs. The music selection is similar, with some baroque/classical, some romantic, and some modern/jazz. I wonder if the difficulty is comparable.

Ah, sorry. ABRSM (associated Board of the Royal School of Music) is the daddy of them all, exam-wise, and is used all over the world, though obviously based in Britain. There are other boards here - Guildhall, Trinity - but for yer basic piano exam there's no point in doing anything other than ABRSM, which is what most UK players have been brought up on for decades (my grandmother remembered having John Ireland as examiner for her ABRSM Grade 5; my own pupils had Kevin Bowyer a year or so ago).

There are 8 standard Grades (marked out of 150 - 100 for a pass, 120 for a 'Merit', 130 for a 'Distinction') plus at the low end a preparatory test and at the top end various advanced diplomas, of which the final one (the FRSM) features, at its hardest end, pieces like the Boulez First Sonata, Gaspard de la nuit etc.

The 8 Grades, as I said, ask you to choose three pieces, one Baroque/Classical, one Romantic, one Modern. Grade 8 is slightly different in that the first piece is specifically contrapuntal, to test your clarity and general part-playing skills (therefore not necessarily Baroque), and the second is a Sonata, to test sense of structure etc., I suppose (therefore not necessarily Classical or Romantic). If you're so inclined - as I was - you can play all 20th century for your Grade 8, then: mine was a Prelude and Fugue from Ludus Tonalis (Hindemith), the Janacek Sonata and a Rachmaninov Prelude.

I think it's fair to say that pieces are getting easier as time goes on. I'm almost sure that pieces which were set for Grade 1 a few decades back are now being set for Grade 2, though don't quote me on it because I can't remember which pieces I'm talking about. At the same time, it is often said that Grade 8 used to be sufficient to get you into a Music College; now it's pretty common and not such an acheivement as it once was, though still laudable of course - you need more if you want to take your music performance in a more professional direction.

[The Mad Hatter]

I'm currently playing...far too much music.

Bach: Prelude and Fugue in A minor from the first book of the 48
Brahms: Rhapsody in G minor Op. 79 No. 2
Beethoven: 32 Variations in C minor

And some piano duo/duet stuff:
Reich: Piano Phase
Me: Etude for two pianos
Glass: In Again Out Again for two pianos
Schubert: Fantasie in F minor for piano four hands
Shostakovich: Concertino for two pianos

And song accompaniments:
Schubert: Erlkönig and Die Harpenspieler
Schumann: Ich Grolle Nicht
Clara Schumann: Gehimes Flustern hier und dort
Vaughan-Williams: Youth and Love
Shostakovich: Song of Poverty from Jewish Folk Songs
Stradella: Pieta Signore

(fortunately, with the exception of the Schubert and Shostakovich, most of the songs are fairly straightforward)

[Black Knight]

Hey, good luck to you! Do let us know how it goes!

It went great! The only fault I did was suddenly forgeting what to play, so I kind of randomised through two or three bars, but I don't think anyone who didn't know the piece noticed. Otherwise, I played just as I felt that I should have played. 

Brahms: Rhapsody in G minor Op. 79 No. 2

I'm playing that too! Do you have any favourite recordings? I only have Pogorelich and I'm not to fond of his interpretation...

[Maciek]

Well, as I've mentioned many times before, I'm completely chaotic with what I'm playing. I play badly and don't have time for practice (I only sit at the piano every other day and never have more than an hour). So instead of learning to play anything at least half-decently I'm always skipping around repertoire. Here's what I've been going through lately:

Debussy Children's Corner - what a surprise! This wasn't much of a problem for me once but now, oh boy, do I suck! Either I wasn't doing as well as I remember or I'm really getting worse and worse at playing...
Cimarosa various Sonatas - fun and easy
Taneyev Andantino Semplice, Prelude in F Major, Theme and Variations - enjoyable stuff, reminds me of Rachmaninov and Paderewski (a sort of mix of the two)
Bach 4 Duettos (BWV 802-805) - I'm normally quite religious about Bach's keyboard music but, frankly, these are a bit boring...

Cheers,
Maciek

[The Mad Hatter]

I'm playing that too! Do you have any favourite recordings? I only have Pogorelich and I'm not to fond of his interpretation...

I have Emanuel Ax and Martha Argerich. I think the Argerich is a bit more exciting, from her debut recital, but neither are really...don't know how to phrase this properly...perfect for me.

[m_gigena]

I have Emanuel Ax and Martha Argerich. I think the Argerich is a bit more exciting, from her debut recital, but neither are really...don't know how to phrase this properly...perfect for me.

If you have any questions about Brahms, you should always refer to Julius Katchen.