I noticed that the thread asking about the Grade 2 piece "Wonderful Tonight" drifted slightly into more general discussion about some of the new pieces, and wondered if it might be interesting to have a thread about what we think/enjoy/dislike/find challenging about the new syllabus.

We've had the pieces, and revised sight-reading and scales, for around six months now, had some time to look at them, and started teaching some of them. How have other folk found them? What has been the response from pupils?

So far I've just used the Grade 2 and 3 books - this'll change over the course of the year to include 1, 4 and 5, as it stands at the moment I probably won't have anyone reach Grade 7/8 before the next syllabus. Grade 6 perhaps.

I'm not terribly excited by the Grade 2 pieces, I must admit, but the Grade 3 book is great fun, and has gone down very well, particularly Top Cat (which is a great example of how an arrangement can measure up to original pieces) and Quajira. I asked a couple of pupils to get the book just because of how much I knew they'd enjoy those two pieces, and there are others in the book that we've worked through as repertoire. (Study in F(?) is a very attractive little piece).


What have other people found? High points...or low points...

The first student of mine to use the new syllabus is doing Grade 1 and we love the pieces it the book!

The "Never Vex A Tyrannosaurus Rex" is fantastic and for an 8 year old is a great introduction to music and imagery - he couldn't believe that piano music could do this! We have had great fun inventing scenarios to go with the piece, and it really entices him to play around dynamics to pretend the dinosaur is coming to chomp our heads off! The concept is really great.

We're also doing the minuet in the A list and "Kummer" in the B list, which is beautiful - a bit difficult in the beginnig as the harmony when the left hand joins I think will sound foreign for children who aren't yet used to many different types of music, but we're still working on it and comparing it to earlier syllabuses, its more expressive than many of the pieces that were in before.




I have to agree with you here - I was a little disappointed with the Grade 2 pieces after having experienced the grade 1 ones, but the Rondo in the A list is a lovely piece to play and is quite lively. For young kids I think its a good performance piece actually if you work on it.

My son's doing G5 pieces Giga, the Bach Andante and In the Groove, and I really like all of them, particularly the Bach. His favourite is In the Groove, which passed the 'sort of thing that could be played on the piano in the school hall at lunchtime and people would think was really cool' test. He's opted out of taking his exam this term and, so that he's not playing the same pieces until the summer, he's started learning Staccato Beans, which at the moment sounds a complete mess! I also love the Shumann Of Foreign Lands and People, which I played years ago.

I don't know how these pieces are rated by teachers, but they make for very good listening at home

My daughter is trying to sort her G5 Piano before the closing date of the special visit (another week or two. She's currently playing Staccato Beans (coming on). The Schumann and Giga, don't know if they will pass muster with her teacher but she's definately going for it Two lessons before D day....

I'd agree with that. Much more musical and manageable.


I should probably qualify what I said earlier - "Top Cat (which is a great example of how an arrangement can ought to measure up to original pieces)". I really quite dislike the others arrangements - the one from Coppelia, for example, just annoys me. I wouldn't refuse to teach one if a pupil took a real shine to it, but I really hope no-one does.





(Except 'Top Cat'...)

I agree Tyrannosaurus is great - most of the ones who've looked at grade 1 have started with this one and have taken to it.

Song of Erin is moderately straightforward and seems generally popular.

I am having difficulty finding good group A pieces at grade 2 - none of them seem to appeal very much to pupils so far. I agree Mazurka is a disappointing. The new sight reading tests however are very welcome and much more approachable.

So far, so good.

I am pleased with the Board's selection of pieces. Generally I think the variety is much more extensive than before and teachers/students can put together a very pleasing program for their exam.

Several of my pupils have opted for the 'freerer' list C pieces in Grades 5 and 6, as it allows them a greater amount of self expression. Lots of imagery and story settings in lessons to compliment the earlier grade titles , and my grade 8s are loving the challenges (though not so keen on the scales ).

General thoughts:

Don't really like the 'Pop Classic' arrangements either although 2 girls love the Mazurka (G2) and one boy is insisting on the Vivaldi (G1). (Been there and done it with Eric Clapton - fine for adults maybe but that's it).

Love the Grade 3 selection. The Chinese C piece is utterly gorgeous, Quajira and Top Cat too. Bs are nice too (although all the pupils hated the Elephant).

Quite like Grade 2 but not too enamoured with Grade 1 - Early One Morning is a riduiculous arangement and the 2 other B pieces are very mournful. (Already stated my love of the G2 C tango).

And what's with grade 4 B pieces ? Instant reactions from all pupils was: is that it ? Is there nothing else? (Luckily the Schumann other choice is a fair bet for most players).

Generally, nice to see some notionally African, Chinese and Latin American music in the C selections, not just the standard 'jazz' fare and plinky-plonky pieces.

Don't really understand the scale changes - why would anyone play A major arpeggio only with the hands together and E major only with the hands apart (Grade 3) ? I'm going to carry on getting them all to do everything.

Alltold, some good, some bad, as always - the major change I see is in the sudden acceptance of classical arrangements - must be because lots of people like them which is fair enough but, as grade music is 'compulsory' I rather like pushing the boundaries a bit in grade music and keeping the 'safe' jazz and Ode to Joy choices for in between times when I let them choose their own a bit more.

Yes, the Schumann is a very good choice and a lovely piece that they can play for pleasure and performances outside of the exams as well if they so wished.

"In The Groove" is proving to be very popular - more than just the 'wannabe' jazz that I've seen before on some of the syllabuses, although still not quite varied enough I don't think. I like it though and a couple of my students have told me that it's what they play when family and friends ask them to pull something out!



I didn't like "Song of Erin" at all! In the Grade 2 A pieces, I quite like the Rondo, especially for those who are good as expression as I think that once they know it well, it has a lot of scope to play around with and a couple of my students chose it straightaway.



*sorry, I've had to edit parts out of this post - if it is a problem for anyone, you can PM me*



I too love this tango! (Although none of my students want to play it!)

The "Early One Morning" is awful, I agree. And I know what you mean about the mournful nature of the B pieces - I'm doing "Kummer" with my Grade 1 and although we both like it and it's a lovely piece, it is very difficult to explain the concept of grief to an 8 year old, and not a task I particularly relish at that age, especially when he is such a vivacious boy! I actually felt quite uncomfortable when faced with this problem - grief to him (as described by me) is now the feeling of sadness he feels when his older brother breaks up his favourite Lego construction (!)

I have pupils already working towards ALL the grades in the new syllabus with the exception of Grade 4, which I have never used before and am still no more convinced by (it remains my view that most students working for 4 can actually jump to 5 if they wait one more term).

SO... general thoughts:

Scales/technical requirements: considering the bold fanfare, the changes are slight indeed, so much so that it rather appears more like a marketing exercise, and perhaps an attempt to boost sales for the ABRSM scale books. Most of the changes are in my view either pointless tinkering (reinstating root position arpeggios at Grade 7) or in some cases, misguided (removing arpeggios at grade 1).

The one change I do like is the replacement of B minor with G minor at Grade 2, which I think is a sensible move.

Sight Reading

A fantastic improvement all round. Thank you ABRSM

Repertoire: Arrangements

I like the principal of including arrangement, but am not enamoured with many of the specific arrangements included. Top Cat is great as others have said. Personally I quite like the Vivaldi too, perhaps in part because I'm not very fond of the two alternatives in the book. I like L'Elephant as well. Mazurka from Coppelia is a horrid choice - the original is an annoying thrash-athon anyway, and on the piano it just sounds dreadful. And Wonderful Tonight is unsuitable at Grade 2, where consideration really should be given to younger players with small hands when selecting pieces that mum and dad will want their child to learn. Bad choice.

More specifics by grade:

Grade 1: Early One Morning is far too difficult, and so ironic that it largely consists of the arpeggios removed from the syllabus. A Song of Erin is lovely though, and really encourages expressive phrasing and playing. Never Vex a T Rex doesn't nearly live up to its title in my view - not exciting musically. I note that others here like it, but I prefer both alternatives.

Grade 2: Like A2, but thought A3 rather odd. Definitely like the First Snowdrop a lot, and it's popular with students. Mozzie is good from List C.

Grade 3: A1, B2, B3, C1 and C2 have all proved popular with my students at this level.

Grade 5: all my pupils at this level (about half a dozen) like the Haydn from list A best. Grieg's Norwegian Air is also popular. I like the Schumann piece too, but a lot of players seem to find the three-part figuration hard. I teach it as good practice, but suspect the Grieg will be used more in the exam room. In the Groove is great - possibly a little on the easy side though?

Grade 6: I'm not hugely impressed with this selection. From List A I have a student working on the Clementi from the alternative pieces, which is a nice piece to play and fits well under the fingers. The Satie on List C is also an obvious choice, although some will enjoy the Oscar Peterson, and its good to see more serious jazz creeping in more.

Grade 7: Again not particularly inspiring, but the Haydn (A2) is a grower, and I have a couple of students enjoying that piece at present. The Chopin Mazurka from the List B alternatives is a very good choice. List C is great all through - the three pieces in the repertoire book are all winners, as is the alternative Janacek piece - well worth exploring.

Gread 8: There's so much choice at Grade 8 that it would be hard not to find something good. As often happens though I am again reaching for the Alternative pieces. List A: the Bach Partita (A5) and on List B the Mozart selections (B7 & 8) are appealing. I clearly remember playing Liszt's Db Consolation for GRADE 7 back in the day... interesting to see it now on a Grade 8 list. A truly beautiful piece which anyone at this level should play anyway, so great to have it as a Grade 8 option

Just my thoughts, and I'll probably change my mind as the two years develop - I usually do!

Yes, I think Early one Morning is definitely one of the harder ones for the grade, and I'm not expecting many pupils to manage it at this level. I do have one boy who chose it, and who worked hard on it over the Christmas holidays, and much to my surprise came at the start of term having made a really good start on it.

This is a teenage student who'd had a rather mixed term last term - so seems to have relished the challenge.

I seem to be a lone voice against the sight-reading changes...
I like the improved musicality, but now there seems to be a HUGE gulf between grade 2 sight-reading and grade 3. I have often had pupils struggle with that jump in the past, but now the grade 1 and 2 versions are simpler, the jump is even more difficult.

I know what you mean. I'm really pleased that the Grade 2 has been changed so that it's now for both hands but stays in the same postion, as I always felt there was too big a gap between Grades 1 and 2. But, of course, this has made an even bigger gap bewteen 2 and 3!

I think you're right there - certainly my son had that one under his belt far sooner than the others (though there's always room for improvement...) and I think that was a mixture of it being the one he found easiest to get to grips with and the one he played the most from the beginning. As he's not doing his exam until the summer now, it's In the Groove that he's had to stop playing first (to pick up again before the exam) so that he doesn't play it to death over the next few months.

If a piece is generally considered to be easier than the others in a syllabus, does the marking of that piece become tougher to compensate?





Good luck