2. Scherzo in B Flat

I used this piece (the Allegretto and Trio portions of which seem like two pieces) as sight reading exercises. I think these pieces, which sound jovial and robust, are much simpler than the book level. They were perhaps chosen to ease the student into the Fifth Grade Book without trepidation or intimidation. But when I started playing, it was clear that the technique wasn't really pushing my capabilities but lay well within them. So I sight-read a few times. 

These are great melodies though. I rather like Schubert. From Serenade through Valse Sentimentale up to now (and looking forward to his Impromptus), he has never failed to please. Too bad he died so young... ah Schubert and Keats, parallel tragic romantics.

1. Prelude in C Major

Yep, Fifth Grade book has begun (!), but I'm pretty much still straddling both this and the fourth grade, because February 28 has come and I'm still working on Beethoven's Sonata in F Minor!! This Bach piece is, I think, a bit easier than even John Thompson's version of Grade 5--but he always begins each book with an easier piece, I guess to ease the student into the grade. So I'm using this as a sight-reading exercise. Basically this pattern just repeats over and over. This is a song I've always wanted to learn, though. Perhaps I will memorize it one day.