AMEB Grade 4 List C - Bartok's Mikrokosmos

Bela Bartok's Mikrokosmos is a large set of piano pieces which range, in order, from very easy to very hard. The pieces have lots of interesting harmonies and rhythms influenced by the music of Eastern Europe.

You can read an excellent in-depth, but not-too-long article about why Bartok wrote the pieces here.

Here's links to some tunes from Mikrokosmos you can play for a Grade 4 exam:

• Bartok - Mikrokosmos no. 87 - Variations
• Bartok - Mikrokosmos no. 90 - In Russian Style
• Bartok - Mikrokosmos no. 94 - Once Upon a Time
• Bartok - Mikrokosmos no. 96 - Jolts
• Bartok - Mikrokosmos no. 100 - In Folksong Style (just the first one in this video)
• Bartok - Mikrokosmos no. 108 - Wrestling

Picture from http://www.last.fm/music/B%C3%A9la+Bart%C3%B3k/+images/58911017

Vivace - J C Bach

A very, very brief, but very, very fun piece of music written by one of the many talented sons of J S Bach.

The title means 'lively', and the piece sure is!

Vivace - J C Bach

 

AMEB Grade 4 List A - lots to choose from

List A in Grade 4 is an interesting one. There are studies and there are Baroque pieces (music written between approx. 1600-1750). This means there's a huge range of style to choose from. The studies are in green, and the Baroque tunes are in blue. Below are just some of the tunes you could possibly learn:

AMEB Series 15

• Hyde - Melody for the Left Hand
• Kabalevsky - Dance
• Maykapar - At the Blacksmith
• Scarlatti - Sonata 

AMEB Series 16

• J S Bach - Praeludium (played by great Bach pianist Angela Hewitt)
• Farrenc - Etude
• Pascal - Grand Ball for the Little King
• Telemann - Easy Fugue

Other randoms you can choose from:

• J S Bach - Invention no. 1 in C Major (played by Angela Hewitt)
• J S Bach - Invention no. 4 in D Minor (also played by Angela Hewitt)
• Heller - Study Op 46 No. 1
• Heller - Study Op 46 No. 3
• Heller - Study Op 46 No. 7
• Heller - Study Op 46 No. 11
• Burgmuller - The Return Op 100 No. 23
• Burgmuller - The Swallow Op 100 No. 24

And one played by me :-)

Burgmuller - Harmony of the Angels Op 100 No. 21

 

ANZCA Grade 2 Rock/Pop - Two Part Intention

Click on the link to a VERY cool tune from the early grades.

• Kerin Bailey - Two Part Intention

Left hand sight reading practice

 

Here are some music sheets to get you more used to the challenges of left hand sight reading. This would be good for people playing Grade 5 music and above. Left hand sight reading is lots about knowing what types of chords to expect in a piece in any given key. So, work out the key signature first, work out what the names of chords 1, 4 and 5 are, and then check out what rhythms appear in the piece. Then it's time to have a go.


The first sheet has notation that looks a bit small, so maybe try a different one first.

I'll put up exercise no. 2 as soon as I can.

Left hand practice no. 1

Left hand practice no. 3

Image found on http://letsrunlikewater.tumblr.com/post/32336560310

ANZCA Modern Grade 4 Blues - Bouncin' Blues

For a blues piece, this is pretty peppy. It uses a lot of grace notes, which is pretty common for a blues tune, but it's not in standard 12 bar blues form.

Bouncin' Blues - Shaun Jones

 

ANZCA Modern Grade 4 Jazz - Friday Groove

This piece actually contains some finger snaps in the music, but because I recorded this directly from digital piano to the computer, I left those out. They happen at the start and the end. If you're good at snapping with your right hand, then this piece could be for you. I'm terrible at it.

Friday Groove - Robert Keane

Image courtesy of MR LIGHTMAN / FreeDigitalPhotos.net