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Handel (arr. Bullard) - Fireworks Minuet (from Music for the Royal Fireworks, HWV 351)
ABRSM Grade 1 – A1
Preview (please log-in or subscribe to see full video) Resources & links This piece is available for individual purchase as a digital download here or in print as part of the Piano Exam Pieces 2025 & 2026 Grade 1 publication here. You can listen to a recording of this piece and others from this grade on Spotify using this link. ... Read >>
J. S. Bach - Invention No. 14 in B flat, BWV 785
ABRSM Grade 6 – A1
Preview (please log-in or subscribe to see full video) Resources & links This piece is available for individual purchase as a digital download here or in print as part of the Piano Exam Pieces 2025 & 2026 Grade 6 publication here. Open domain editions are also available here. You can listen to a recording of this piece and others from this grade on Spotify using this link. ... Read >>
L. Köhler - Melody in F, Op. 190 No. 27
ABRSM Grade 1 – A3
Resources & links This piece is available for individual purchase as a digital download here or in print as part of the Piano Exam Pieces 2025 & 2026 Grade 1 publication here. You can listen to a recording of this piece and others from this grade on Spotify using this link. ... Read >>
JS Bach - Prelude and Fugue in B-Flat Major, BWV 866
ABRSM Grade 8 - A1
This prelude and fugue from Book 1 of The Well-Tempered Clavier is one of the few entry level works from Bach’s timeless masterpiece, the lively fugue more approachable than many of the others because the notes lie relatively comfortably under the hands. In three voices, there are three motives (subject, countersubject and the motive that first appears in the soprano voice in bar 9). These themes then join together in different combinations (a compositional device known as triple counterpoint). The Prelude is in toccata style, made up of passages in broken chord figuration, solid chords, and scale-like passages. Depending on... Read >>
Chopin - Sostenuto in E flat
ABRSM Grade 5 – B1
Chopin's Sostenuto in E flat or Waltz in E flat was discovered as recently as 1941, by the Director of the Paris Conservatoire, Dr. Jacques Chailley. There are precious few works of Chopin that are suitable for the intermediate level pianist, so Grade V candidates will be extremely happy to... Read >>
Bartók - Pentatonic Tune (No. 29 from For Children, Vol. 1)
ABRSM Grade 4 – C1
Bartók’s For Children is a large collection of folksong arrangements written between 1908 and 1910, revised in 1943. Pentatonic Tune is based on Hungarian folk tunes, the term “pentatonic” referring to the five-note scale so often found in folk music. The first tune appears starkly, in unison between the hands in different registers of the piano, sometimes fragmented. We find two arrangements of the second tune, both featuring the melodic line in the left hand with a chordal accompaniment in the right hand. Preview (please log-in or subscribe to see full video)... Read >>
Handel - Sonatina in G, HWV 582
ABRSM Grade 3 – A1
Handel's Sonatina in G is part of a new series on the ABRSM syllabus designed for youngsters, or elementary players. This series of articles provides a step-by-step (or phrase-by-phrase) approach to learning the piece thoroughly and securely, building a solid foundation for performance in an exam, or if you are... Read >>
Stanford - Lullaby (No.5 from Six Sketches)
ABRSM Grade 2 – B2
The gentle rocking motion that is established in the dotted crotchets at the very start continues throughout this piece, with simple melodic phrases that lead the music smoothly into some related keys. Lullaby offers the player the opportunity to develop quality of tone and phrasing in soft dynamics, p and pp. Preview (please log-in or subscribe to see full video) Resources & links This piece is available for digital download individually from the ABRSM shop here or in print as part of the Piano Exam... Read >>
Pilling - Philomela
ABRSM Grade 5 – B3
There is a plaintive, lamenting quality in Dorothy Pilling’s Philomela. The legendary character of Philomela was changed by magic into a nightingale, expressed by the singing line in the RH of this piece. Notice the phrase structure in the supporting LH, the many two-bar phrases require a little stress at the beginning of the first bar with no accent on the first beat of the second bar. Other features to savour include hemiolas (shifts in rhythmic emphasis) and the ravishing harmonies that were influenced by the composer’s love of Debussy’s music. Preview... Read >>