Let's Debate: Own-choice test selections

Sandy Smith, questions the trend to hoodwink judges by playing own-choice test selections that look good on paper, but which are just too hard for them

As the greatest own-choice test-piece contest in the banding calendar took place at the end of April, and by this I mean the second contesting day at the ‘European’ in Oostende, it is perhaps appropriate to have a look at the topic of selecting an own-choice test-piece and the myriad of considerations that this entails.

My intention is to look firstly at the whys and wherefores of the commissioning policies of the bands that participated at the ‘European’, and then to take a broader look at own-choice

test-piece selection in general.

It could be argued that the standard of playing on the second day of the ‘European’ represents the zenith of current contest playing…

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