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Mel Bonis - Douce amis (from Album pour les tout-petits, Op. 103)

ABRSM Grade 3 – B2

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 3 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 >>

Bartók - The Highway Robber (from For Children, Sz. 42)

This descriptive piece contains three different settings of the same folk tune, each with its own unique harmonisations, dynamic levels and articulations. The prevailing drum rhythm in the left hand punctuates these. Preview (please log-in or subscribe to see full video) Resources & links Click here to purchase sheet music form the Trinity College online store (external link). Click here to view open domain editions for these works (external link). Click here to view the... Read >>

Schumann - Einsame Blumen (No. 3 from Waldscenen, Op. 82)

ABRSM Grade 6 – B13

Waldszenen (Forest Scenes), Op. 82, is a set of nine short pieces written by Robert Schumann in 1849. Einsame Blumen (Lonely Flowers) is a piece of extreme delicacy and beauty, requiring the performer to paint a picture in sound from the imagination. The right hand is constructed from two voices as though in dialogue, with quite extreme dissonances that only work at a soft dynamic level with careful voicing by the pianist. The quaver rests in the left hand accompaniment imply a light touch, but are not necessarily to be taken as literal silences; in her edition, Clara Schumann suggests... Read >>

Bartók - Teasing Song (No.18 from For Children, Vol. 2)

ABRSM Grade 4 – C1

A folk melody, presented in different keys, is passed from left hand to right and back again - with an off-beat chordal accompaniment in the other hand. The mood is light, with plenty of touches of humour. The player will need to attend to varieties of touch, articulation and dynamics. Resources & links Piano Exam Pieces 2021 & 2021, Grade 4 is available from the ABRSM online shop here. The syllabus upon which these Practising the Piano Online Academy materials are based is © by... Read >>

JS Bach - Invention No.12 in A Major, BWV 783

The Two-Part Inventions of Bach were written for his son, Wilhelm Friedemann, and are as much models of compositional technique as they are studies for the equal development of both hands at the keyboard. We find two main ideas – a rhythmical, percussive motive juxtaposed with a spinning motive in semiquavers. Preview (please log-in or subscribe to see full video) Resources & links Click here to purchase sheet music from the Trinity College online store (external link). ... Read >>

Diane Hidy - Jinx (from Mean Little Monsters)

ABRSM Initial Grade – C3

This piece explores a wide range of the keyboard, moving from the bass register in the introduction to the high treble by the time we reach the coda (the four-note motive highlighting the sinister interval of the tritone, or augmented 4th). In the main part of the piece, the left hand stays in one spot while the right hand bounces above and then below, providing an excellent opportunity for the beginner to develop coordination between the hands. Preview (please log-in or subscribe to see full video) ... Read >>

C. Nielsen - Spilleværket (No. 6 from Humoreske-Bagateller, Op. 11)

ABRSM Grade 6 – 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 6 publication here. Open domain editions are also available here. You can listen to a recording of this piece and others from... Read >>

Chaminade - Idylle (No. 1 from Album des enfants, deuxième série, Op. 126)

ABRSM Grade 4 - B2

Cecile Chaminade composed around 200 piano works that have become popular because they are manageable by intermediate-level pianists. This picturesque, contented piece paints a pastoral scene in which the melodic line is exclusively in the right hand, the left hand accompanying with broken chord patterns. We achieve the singing style not only by projecting the melody over the accompaniment, but also by shaping the line by phrasing, breathing, and intonation (taking a tiny bit of time over larger intervals). Preview (please log-in or subscribe to see full video) ... Read >>

F. Price - Ticklin’ Toes

ABRSM Grade 4 – C3

Florence Price’s catchy Ticklin’ Toes is based on African-American dances, its syncopated rhythms and off-beat accompaniment patterns creating a lively, playful mood. Despite the editor’s caveat that players might prefer a slower tempo to the given crotchet = 138, a fast tempo is required to bring the music fully to life. A foolproof recipe for success in controlling fast tempos is an initial bout of very slow practice, ensuring complete accuracy in notes, rhythms and fingerings, followed by short bursts of the music at ever-faster tempos punctuated by deliberate stops or pauses. This might involve practising beat by beat to... Read >>