Performing

A Guide to the ABRSM Syllabus (2023 - 2024)

This series provides a detailed guide to the ABRSM piano examination syllabus for 2023 - 2024, including video walk-throughs with practice suggestions, tips on style and interpretation and other ideas for a selection of pieces (from initial to Grade 8).

New Pieces

The following are the works that we have featured so far from the main lists for the new syllabus:

• Initial Grade A1: Chwatal – Little Playmates
• Initial Grade A2: Trad. (arr. Önaç) - What shall we do with the drunken sailor?
• Initial Grade A3: H. Wohlfahrt (arr. Jones) - Patterns (No. 10 from Kinder-Klavierschule)
• Initial Grade B3: Naomi Yandell - Secret Footpath
• Initial Grade C1: Peter Gritton - Haunted House
• Initial Grade C3: Diane Hidy - Jinx (from Mean Little Monsters)
• Grade 1 A1: Diabelli: Allegretto in C (No. 3 from Die ersten 12 Lectionen, Op. 125)
• Grade 1 A2: M. Helyer - Dragonflies (from The Greenwood Tree)
• Grade 1 A3: A. Reinagle - Minuet in C (No. 10 from 24 Short and Easy Pieces, Op. 1)
• Grade 1 B1: Andrew Eales - Fresh Air
• Grade 1 B2: F. Price - A Morning Sunbeam (No. 3 from Three Sketches for Little Pianists)
• Grade 1 B3: Head - The Quiet Wood
• Grade 1 C1: Shruthi Rajasekar - Virginia Hall
• Grade 1 C3: Caroline Tyler - Little Whale Explores the Calm Sea
• Grade 2 A1: Beethoven (arr. Czerny) - Écossaise in G, WoO 23
• Grade 2 A2: J. L. Dussek Gavotte in F
• Grade 2 B2: Stanford – Lullaby (No.5 from Six Sketches)
• Grade 2 B3: Trad. Chinese (arr. Yip): Kangding Love Song
• Grade 2 C3: Kristina Arakelyan - Daydream
• Grade 3 A1: Anon. - Minuet in G, BWV Anh. II 116
• Grade 3 A2: Clementi - Vivace (3rd movt from Sonatina in C, Op. 36 No. 1)
• Grade 3 B1: Nancy Litten - The Sad Ghost
• Grade 3 B2: Loeschhorn – Study in F (No. 25 from 48 Etüden in fortschreitender Ordnung, Op. 65)
• Grade 3 C3: Joplin (arr. Önaç) - The Entertainer
• Grade 4 A1: Pescetti – Presto (3rd mvt from Sonata No. 6 in C minor)
• Grade 4 A2: Farrenc - Mouvement de valse (No. 15 from 25 études faciles, Op. 50)
• Grade 4 A3: Handel - Allegro in F, HWV 488
• Grade 4 B2: Chaminade - Idylle (No. 1 from Album des enfants, deuxième série, Op. 126)
• Grade 4 B3: Tchaikovsky - La nouvelle poupée (No. 6 from Album pour enfants, Op. 39)
• Grade 4 C1: Bartók - Pentatonic Tune (No. 29 from For Children, Vol. 1)
• Grade 4 C3: F. Price - Ticklin’ Toes
• Grade 5 A1: Cimarosa - Allegro (3rd movt from Sonata in C minor, C.68)
• Grade 5 A2: Haydn – Minuet and Trio (2nd mvt from Sonata in D, Hob. XVI:4)
• Grade 5 A4: J.S. Bach - Invention No. 8 in F, BWV 779
• Grade 5 A5: Beethoven - Bagatelle in G minor, Op. 119 No. 1
• Grade 5 A10: Mozart - Theme, Var. 1 and Var. 5 (from 12 Variations on "Ah vous dirai-je, maman", K. 265)
• Grade 5 B1: H. Hofmann - Minnelied (No. 7 from Stimmungsbilder, Op. 88)
• Grade 5 B10: Schumann - Von fremden Ländern und Menschen (No. 1 from Kinderscenen, Op. 15)
• Grade 5 B3: Pilling - Philomela
• Grade 5 C3: David Önaç - A Distant Star in the Stillness
• Grade 6 A1: S. Heller - Prelude in C# minor (No. 10 from 24 Preludes, Op. 81)
• Grade 6 A3: Kuhlau - Allegro (1st mvt from Sonatina in C, Op. 20 No. 1)
• Grade 6 A6: J.F.F. Burgmüller - Velocity, Op. 109 No. 10
• Grade 6 A10: D. Scarlatti - Sonata in A, Kp. 208, L. 238
• Grade 6 B2: Granados - Vals poético (No. 6 from Valses poéticos)
• Grade 6 B3: Mendelssohn - Venetianisches Gondellied (No. 6 from Lieder ohne Worte, Op. 19b)
• Grade 6 B9: Howells - There Was a Most Beautiful Lady (No.3 from Country Pageant)
• Grade 6 B13: Schumann - Einsame Blumen (No. 3 from Waldscenen, Op. 82)
• Grade 6 C10: Prokofiev - Cortège de sauterelles (No. 7 from Musiques d’enfants, Op. 65)
• Grade 7 A1: Haydn - Allegro moderato (1st mvt from Sonata in B minor, Hob. XVI:32)
• Grade 7 A3: Martínez - Tempo di minuetto (3rd mvt from Sonata in A)
• Grade 7 A6: Kuhlau - Allegro con spirito (1st movt from Sonatina in A, Op. 60 No. 2)
• Grade 7 B1: Chopin - Mazurka in A Minor, Op. 68 No. 2
• Grade 7 B3: Moszkowski - Calme du soir (No. 2 from 10 petits morceaux, Op. 94)
• Grade 8 A1: J. S. Bach - Prelude and Fugue in B-Flat Major, BWV 866
• Grade 8 A2: Mozart - Allegro (1st movt from Sonata in F, K. 332)
• Grade 8 B1: S. Coleridge-Taylor - Impromptu in B minor (No. 2 from Two Impromptus)
• Grade 8 B3: Tchaikovsky - Juin: Barcarolle (No. 6 from Les saisons, Op. 37b)
• Grade 8 B9: Schubert - Impromptu in A-Flat Major (No. 2 from Four Impromptus, Op. 142, D. 935)
• Grade 8 B12: Beethoven - Adagio cantabile (2nd movt from Sonata in C minor ‘Pathétique’, Op. 13)
• Grade 8 C2: Debussy - Arabesque No. 2 (from Deux arabesques, L. 66)

Other Pieces

The following works from the new syllabus are also featured in videos created for previous or other examination board syllabuses:

• Initial Grade A7 (Trinity 2021 - 2023): Reinagle - Allegretto (No. 9 from 24 Short and Easy Pieces, Op. 1)
• Grade 1 A3 (Trinity 2021 - 2023): Reinagle - Minuet (No. 10 from 24 Short and Easy Pieces, Op. 1)

Preparing for an Examination

• Scales & Arpeggios
• Sight-Reading
• Aural Tests
• Practising a Performance & Performance Psychology

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Existing resources for the Trinity and previous ABRSM syllabuses can be viewed here.

The syllabus upon which these Practising the Piano Online Academy materials are based is © by The Associated Board of the Royal Schools of Music and is reproduced by permission of the copyright owner. The Practising the Piano Online Academy is not an ABRSM product and is not endorsed by ABRSM.