Are you bored of other boards? Then head to ABRSM (Associated Board of the Royal Schools of Music) to check out their exciting new 2027-28 syllabus for Grades Initial to 8. Warwick Thompson is impressed and raring to go.
When I was a stripling, I was a bit on the stuffy side, and something of a purist core-classical zealot. If a piece was composed after about 1910, or a bit too jazzy, then in my book it caused a certain turning-up of the nose, a certain derogatory sniff. The idea of descending to actual pop music – heavens no! – sent positive shivers down my spine.
Please feel free to roll your eyes: I do so myself now.
I was certainly very happy with the Bach, Beethoven and Brahms which formed the backbone of my ABRSM piano exams way back then in the previous millennium. (Or was it actually the millennium before that? It seems so long ago, that I forget.)
Ah, how times change! When the new 2027-28 syllabus for Grades Initial to 8 arrived on my doorstep, the first things I pounced on with a little squeal of joy were ‘Popular’ from the musical Wicked (Grade 5), Enchanted by Taylor Swift (Grade 3), Hans Zimmer’s ‘Day One’ from Interstellar (Initial Grade) and ‘What was I Made For?’ by Billie Eilish from the film Barbie (Grade 1). I loved them. All were presented in fantastic arrangements perfectly tailored to the grade level. And for examinees less stuffy than I was all those years ago, I’m sure they’re going to make a brilliant bridge between pop culture and the classics. Take that, eight-year-old me!
REPERTOIRE FOR ALL
The bedrocks are of course present and correct too. There’s Beethoven at both Grades 1 and 8 (one of the simple German Dances in the former, and the final movement of the ‘Pathétique’ in the latter) and works by Bach, Mozart, Haydn, Mendelssohn and Grieg aplenty. It was great to see Clockwork Doll, one of Shostakovich’s engaging short pieces for children, included at Grade 4.
And in something of a different groove, there are jazz-style pieces at most grade levels as well. I found myself delighted by Gwilym Simcock’s Winterley (Grade 8) and Alexandra Skevington’s Bluesy Boogie Woogie (Grade 3). The latter piece is so good it might even have shaken my own former zealotry, if I’d encountered it as a tot. Huge fun.
There are some new commissions as well. The brilliant Juilliard-trained YouTuber Nahre Sol, whose entertaining and educational channel has 830,000 subscribers, has composed a charming Optimistic Waltz for Grade 3, for example. It even includes some exciting hand-crossing, to get those early pianistic juices properly flowing.
It comes in addition to plenty of other highly accessible contemporary pieces. It turns out that around a third of the items for this syllabus are by living composers, and of those, about half are women. And 44 nationalities of composer are represented, with some folk-song arrangements and spirituals among their works. It’s an impressive set of figures. This means that there will most surely be something to delight and inspire absolutely anyone who is thinking of choosing ABRSM as their exam board.
And along with the varied repertoire, there’s so much more on offer. For the first time ever, all the chosen pieces are accompanied by a plethora of online resources. And, blimey, what resources. The ‘Piano Learning’ page of ABRSM’s website (a QR code in each book links to it directly) now offers a video performance of every single piece, with the camera helpfully placed directly above the player’s hands. There’s also supporting contextual material, with information about the composer and his or her background, and about the history of the piece. In addition, there are helpful tips on performance and interpretation by some renowned teachers, given in the form of written guides and short vlogs.
'It turns out that around a third of items for this syllabus are by living composers, and of those, about half are women'
EXPERT GUIDANCE FROM THE BEST
One such premium-level pedagogue is Ann Martin-Davis. She is a performer and teacher who hit the headlines last year for successfully coaching the remarkable 88-year-old Reverend Ray Eveleigh through his ABRSM Grade 8 exams. She gives a ten-minute introduction to the challenges and pleasures of the Fugue from Ravel’s Le tombeau de Couperin (Grade 8). In her talk, she reveals that her own former teacher played the piece to the composer himself when she was a little girl. So that now makes me and you – dear reader – just two degrees removed from Ravel ourselves. Fancy.
She even gives a technical tip which I’d never encountered before about practising the accents in the fugue subject with a double tap on the note. It’s a game-changer, but you’ll have to watch her video if you want to find out more.
The Fugue itself is performed by the superb Romanian-British pianist Florian Mitrea. It’s worth going to the website alone just to hear his really forensically clear and idiomatically commanding performance. He also gives a melting account of Chopin’s Nocturne in E minor (Op 72 No 1), which is also an option for Grade 8. If that doesn’t inspire potential examinees, then I think nothing would.
Florian and Ann are just two of the many excellent teachers and players who give information and performances for every available piece. In the other offerings, I particularly liked Anthony Williams’ suggestion that the player should actually get up on their feet and dance a waltz, even if alone (there are instructions how to do so) in order to get the feel for Beethoven’s German Dance (Grade 1).
ABRSM has been doing wonderful work since it was founded in 1889, and now reaches more people than ever before. More than 600,000 students take their exams each year, in over 90 countries. And with this latest syllabus, and all the brilliant associated materials online, I feel confident there will be many more satisfied examinees. I almost feel like taking the exams again myself.
