Piano Exams
If you have been thinking about doing a piano exam and would like to know more before making a decision, this is a good place to start.
Here you will find out what you need to do for each exam eg. scales, pieces, sight-reading, ear-tests and verbal theory questions.
Everything you need for your exam is laid out in your Grade Book which you can purchase locally from OPUS 2 in Galway or online HERE
More details on each exam can be found in The London College of Music Exam Syllabus
Click on the menu items below for videos of the pieces in each grade
There are 4 components to your Pre-preparatory piano exam:
- Exercises (25 marks) Choose any five exercises from the selection below
- List A pieces (20 marks)
- List B pieces (40 marks)
- Questions on music theory (15 marks) Notes C – G in the Treble Clef and C – F in the Bass Clef to be recognised.
Pieces: For the exam you will need to play a total of 4 pieces. You must choose two pieces from list A and two pieces from list B.
I have included links to all of the exerciess and pieces below to help you make up your mind.
You must play any five of the following eight exercises
Exercise 1: A Tappin'
Exercise 2: Chocolate Smoothie
Exercise 3: Downward Dog
Exercise 4: Mr Badger
Exercise 5: Pardon Me!
Exercise 6: The Trampoline
Exercise 7: Skipping
Exercise 8: Knock Knock (Who's There?)
Choose two pieces from List A
List A: Monkey Goes Bananas
List A: Wintry Wood
List A: Popcorn
List A: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5
List A: Happy Birthday to You
Choose two pieces from List B
List B: Westminster Chimes
List B: Stuck Indoors
List B: Twinkle Twinkle Little Star
List B: The Grand Entrance
List B: On the Magic Carpet
There are 4 components to your Step 1 piano exam:
- Scales and Exercises (25 marks)
- List A pieces (20 marks)
- List B pieces (40 marks)
- Questions on music theory (15 marks)
Exercises: Choose any five exercises from the selection below.
Pieces: For the exam you will need to play a total of 4 pieces. You must choose two pieces from list A and two pieces from list B.
I have included links to all of the exerciess and pieces below to help you make up your mind.
Choose any five exercises from the selection below
Five Finger Scales : C major, G major, A minor
Exercise 1: Flow
Exercise 2: You Got Rhythm
Exercise 3: Larkin' About
Exercise 4: Waltzing Fairy
Exercise 5: Banana Milkshake
Exercise 6: Big Brown Bear
Exercise 7: Running Around
Exercise 8: Ebony Stroll
Choose two pieces from List A
List A: Allegro in C
List A: Exploring Castle Ruins
List A: Out Of This World
List A: Miniature No. 1
List A: The Elephant
List A: Polly Put The Kettle On
Choose two pieces from List B
List B : Study in C For Full and Brilliant Tone
List B: The Jolly Farmer
List B: Kittens Up A Tree
List B: Ketchup
List B: Hickory Dickory Dock
List B: Let It Go
There are 4 components to your Step 2 piano exam:
- Scales and exercises (25 marks)
- List A pieces (20 marks)
- List B pieces (40 marks)
- Questions on music theory (15 marks)
Scales: C, G and D major and A minor (one octave from memory, hands together).
Pieces: For the exam you will need to play a total of 4 pieces. You must choose two pieces from list A and two pieces from list B.
I have included links to all of the exercises and pieces below to help you make up your mind.
Choose any four exercises from the selection below
Exercise 1: Snakes and Ladders
Exercise 2: All Together Now!
Exercise 3: Spiral Staircase
Exercise 4: Playground Pranks
Exercise 5: Feeling a Little Sad
Exercise 6: An Empty Desert
Exercise 7: A Warm Sunny Day
Exercise 8: Bang on the Drum
Choose two pieces from List A
List A: Little Story
List A: Melody in C
List A: Smooth and Crunchy
List A: Ghostly Goings-On
List A: The Wheels on the Bus
List A: The Sorcerer’s Apprentice
Choose two pieces from List B
List B: Secret Passage
List B: M for Moonbeam
List B: Honey Bee Boogie
List B: If You’re Happy And You Know It
List B: Under The Sea
List B: Theme from Jupiter
There are 5 components to your Grade 1 piano exam: Scales (15 marks), performance pieces (60 marks), discussion (7 marks), sight-reading (10 marks), and aural tests (8 marks).
For the performance you will need to play a total of 3 pieces. You must choose one piece from list A, one piece from list B and one piece from list C. I have included a link to all of the pieces below to help you make up your mind.
List A: Johann S. Scholze Dance Song
List A: Charles H. Wilton Andante
List A: Diane Hidy October Song
Alternative options for a List A piece are:
- J. C. F. Bach Schwäbisch [Tanz], Swabian Dance in D Musikalische Nebenstunden BR-JCFB A 60 (Jürgen Knuth IMSLP)
- Anton Diabelli Lesson in C Lesson in C from First Lessons Op. 125 No. 6 (Durand or Peters)
- Dmitri Kabalevsky Jumping Pieces for Children Op. 39 No. 15 (Boosey & Hawkes)
- Wolfgang A. Mozart Allegro in F K 1c (Bärenreiter) Henry Purcell Menuet in A minor Z. 649 (Ritter von Schleyer IMSLP or Dover)
- Dimitri Shostakovich March Children’s Notebook Op. 69 No. 1 (Schirmer)
List B: Elie Siegmeister. Song of the Dark Woods.
List B: Chee-Hwa Tan My Shadow
List B: Friedrich Baumfelder Das Kind ist müde
Alternative options for a List B piece are:
- Yvonne Adair Thumbelina Sketches from Hans Andersen (OUP)
- Aleksandr Goedicke A Sad Song Sixty Simple Pieces Op. 36 No. 9 (Peters)
- Martha Mier A Story from Long Ago Romantic Sketches Book I (Alfred)
- Feliks Rybicki The Stream I Begin to Play Op. 20 No. 21 (PWM)
- Erik Satie At Play with a Hoop More Classics to Moderns Book 1 (Yorktown)
- Béla Bartók Children at Play Piano Anthology Grades 1 & 2 (LCM)
- William Boyce March Piano Anthology Grades 1 & 2 (LCM)
- Aleksandr Grechanínov Fairy Tale Piano Anthology Grades 1 & 2 (LCM)
- Eduard Horák Cuckoo Piano Anthology Grades 1 & 2 (LCM)
- William Lloyd Webber A Waltz for Springtime Piano Anthology Grades 1 & 2 (LCM)
- John Rowcroft Rhapsody Piano Anthology Grades 1 & 2 (LCM)
- Audrey Sheard Rocking Song Piano Anthology Grades 1 & 2 (LCM)
- Traditional arr. Wild Morning Has Broken Piano Anthology Grades 1 & 2 (LCM)
List C: Anne Crosby Gaudet Boogie Woogie Bear
List C: Elias Davidsson Yerevan Mourns
List C: Louise Garrow Tricky Traffic
Alternative options for a List C piece are:
- Bruce Berr Fiesta March Imaginations in Style (Hal Leonard)
- Melody Bober Sneaky Sam Grand Piano Solos Book 2, (Alfred)
- Christopher Fisher Chromatic Rag Piano Safari Level 3, (Alfred)
- Carol Klose Ghosts of a Sunken Pirate Ship Coral Reef Suite (Hal Leonard)
- Mancini arr. Matz The Pink Panther (Alfred)
- Pam Wedgwood Minnie Mouse Hits Town Up-Grade! 0-1 (PWM)
- Louise Chamberlain Baby Bossa Nova Piano Anthology Grades 1 & 2 (LCM)
- Brian Chapple Copycat Piano Anthology Grades 1 & 2 (LCM)
- John Guilfoyle Ticking Away Piano Anthology Grades 1 & 2 (LCM)
- Anthony Hedges Pony Ride Piano Anthology Grades 1 & 2 (LCM)
- Pauline Hall Cheerful Cha-cha-cha Piano Anthology Grades 1 & 2 (LCM)
- Pam Wedgwood Pluto Piano Anthology Grades 1 & 2 (LCM)
- Pam Wedgwood Saturday Shuffle Piano Anthology Grades 1 & 2 (LCM)
There are 5 components to your Grade 2 piano exam: Scales (15 marks), performance pieces (60 marks), discussion (7 marks), sight-reading (10 marks), and aural tests (8 marks).
For the performance you will need to play a total of 3 pieces. You must choose one piece from list A, one piece from list B and one piece from list C. I have included a link to all of the pieces below to help you make up your mind.
List A: J. S. Bach Minuet in C minor
List A: Mélanie Bonis La Puce
List A: Joseph Haydn Scherzo (3rd mvt.)
Alternative options for a List A piece are:
- Jeremiah Clarke Trumpet Minuet in C A Choice Collection of Ayres (Les Éditions Outremontaises IMSLP)
- Louis-Claude Daquin Gavotte en Rondeau Les Plaisirs de la Chasse, Suite de la Réjoussance (PWM)
- Georg F. Handel Impertinence Bourée in G minor HWV 494 (Bärenreiter)
- Wolfgang A. Mozart Minuet in D K 94 (Bärenreiter)
- Henry Purcell Air in D minor Z 676 (PWM)
- Maria Szymanowska Mazurka in C Piano Literature Book 2 (Faber)
List B: Flor Peeters Chagrin d’Enfant, Childhood Sorrows
List B: Robert Schumann Soldatenmarsch, (Soldier’s March)
List B: Pam Wedgwood Summer Song
Alternative options for a List B piece are:
- Anne Crosby Gaudet To Fly like an Eagle (Music Discoveries)
- Norman Dello Joio Little Sister Suite for the Young (Hal Leonard)
- Aleksandr Grechanínov Cradle Song Children’s Book Op. 98 No. 9 (Schott)
- Michael Jordansky Lullaby Classics to Moderns Book 2, Yorktown (Music Press)
- Nicolai Podgornov The Little Flower Graded Pieces Vol. 1 (Universal)
- Arthur Somervell Plaintive Waltz Holiday Pictures (free-scores.com)
- Béla Bartók Dance With Me Piano Anthology Grades 1 & 2 (LCM)
- Hermann Berens Puppet Waltz Piano Anthology Grades 1 & 2 (LCM)
- Pauline Hall The Princess and the Spinning-wheel Piano Anthology Grades 1 & 2 (LCM)
- Aleksandr Grechanínov Farewell Piano Anthology Grades 1 & 2 (LCM)
- Peter Wild Conversation Piece Piano Anthology Grades 1 & 2 (LCM)
- Simone Plé The Shepherd’s Song Piano Anthology Grades 1 & 2 (LCM)
- Audrey Sheard Playtime Piano Anthology Grades 1 & 2 (LCM)
- Kevin Wooding Sweet Dreams Piano Anthology Grades 1 & 2 (LCM)
List C: Nikki Iles The Cheshire Cat
List C: Wynn-Anne Rossi Zingaro Dance
List C: Vera Mohrs Das Würstchen
Alternative options for a List C piece are:
- June Armstrong Seaweed Sea World (Pianissimo Publishing)
- Martha Mier Sneaky Business Jazz, Rags & Blues Book 1 (Alfred)
- Vincent Persichetti Fanfare Little Piano Book Op. 60 No. 8 (Presser)
- Arlen arr. Matz Over the Rainbow (Alfred)
- Elie Siegmeister Street Games American Kaleidoscope (Alfred)
- Sarah Watts Swing City Cool and Easy (Kevin Mayhew)
- Brian Chapple In the Pink Piano Anthology Grades 1 & 2 (LCM)
- Kenneth Gange Sarah’s Song Piano Anthology Grades 1 & 2 (LCM)
- Nicholas J. Grace Cats at Play Piano Anthology Grades 1 & 2 (LCM)
- P. Hall & P. Drayton Playful Plesiosaurs Piano Anthology Grades 1 & 2 (LCM)
- Pauline Hall Rattlesnake Rag Piano Anthology Grades 1 & 2 (LCM)
- Christopher Norton Space Walk Piano Anthology Grades 1 & 2 (LCM)
- Mátyás Seiber Tango II (Habanera) Piano Anthology Grades 1 & 2 (LCM)
There are 5 components to your Grade 3 piano exam: Scales (15 marks), performance pieces (60 marks), discussion (7 marks), sight-reading (10 marks), and aural tests (8 marks).
For the performance you will need to play a total of 3 pieces. You must choose one piece from list A, one piece from list B and one piece from list C. I have included a link to all of the pieces below to help you make up your mind.
List A: Friedrich Burgmüller La Gracieuse
List A: Ahmet A. Saygun Playful Kitten
List A: Georg P. Telemann Très Vite
Alternative options for a List A piece are:
- Glenda Austin Going Baroque (Willis Music)
- C. P. E. Bach March in D Anna Magdalena Bach Notebook BWV App 122 (Jürgen Knuth IMSLP)
- Charles Dieupart Passepied Suite No. 2 in D (PWM)
- Aleksandr Goedicke Sonatina Music Through Time (Book 3) (OUP)
- Hugo Reinhold Arietta Miniatures Op. 39 No. 15 (Schirmer)
- Teresa Richert Sniffing Around The Puppy Inventions (Red Leaf Pianoworks)
List B:Yoshinao Nakada The Song of Twilight
List B: Carl Reinecke Canzonetta
List B: Edmund Parlow Fallende Blätter
Alternative options for a List B piece are:
- Béla Bartók Round Dance For Children Vol. I Sz 42 No. 17 (Boosey & Hawkes)
- Joanne Bender When the Rain Comes Creatures Great and Small (Red Leaf Pianoworks) Aleksandr Grechanínov Returning Home Grandfather’s Album Op. 119 No. 16 (Schott) 21
- Aram Khachaturian Ivan Sings [Andantino] Pictures of Childhood (Boosey & Hawkes)
- Igor Stravinsky Larghetto Les Cinq Doigts W 49 No. 4 (Chester)
- Hugo Reinhold Silhouette Miniatures Op. 39 No. 12 (Schirmer)
- Béla Bartók Jest Piano Anthology Grades 3 & 4 (LCM)
- Béla Bartók No. 11 from ‘For Children’ Piano Anthology Grades 3 & 4 (LCM)
- Walter Carroll The Elfin Harp Piano Anthology Grades 3 & 4 (LCM)
- Walter Carroll Zephyr Piano Anthology Grades 3 & 4 (LCM)
- José Ferrer Sérénade Espagnole Piano Anthology Grades 3 & 4 (LCM)
- Cornelius Gurlitt Impromptu Piano Anthology Grades 3 & 4 (LCM)
- James Hook Rondo Piano Anthology Grades 3 & 4 (LCM)
- Trad. Czech arr. Eben Too Bad for You, I Love Another Piano Anthology Grades 3 & 4 (LCM)
- Pam Wedgwood Masquerade Piano Anthology Grades 3 & 4 (LCM)
- Peter Wild Sentimental Waltz Piano Anthology Grades 3 & 4 (LCM)
List C: Tan Dun Eternal Vow
List C: Eugénie Rocherolle Easy Walkin’ Blues
List C: Sonny Chua Dog Hungry
Alternative options for a List C piece are:
- Brian Chapple Blues Lazy Days (Chester)
- Margaret Goldston Sparkling Brook The Virtuosic Performer Book 1 (Alfred)
- Naoko Ikeda Aoi (Japanese Festival) Miyabi Five Japanese Impressions (Willis / Hal Leonard)
- Pál Kadosa Hommage a Bartók 55 Small Piano Pieces (UMP)
- Elvina Pearce Jubilation Diversions (Alfred)
- Errollyn Wallen Pizza with Kristin Fingerprints (PWM)
- Carol Barratt Rip, Rag, Panic! Piano Anthology Grades 3 & 4 (LCM)
- Brian Chapple Tango Piano Anthology Grades 3 & 4 (LCM)
- Brian Chapple Spanish Tummy Piano Anthology Grades 3 & 4 (LCM)
- William Christopherson Highland Fling Piano Anthology Grades 3 & 4 (LCM)
- Gerard Hengeveld Cha-cha-cha Piano Anthology Grades 3 & 4 (LCM)
- Michael Rose Nimble as Ninepence Piano Anthology Grades 3 & 4 (LCM)
- Mátyás Seiber Cake Walk Piano Anthology Grades 3 & 4 (LCM)
- Mátyás Seiber Jazz-Etudiette Piano Anthology Grades 3 & 4 (LCM)
- Michel Jacques Sticky Toffee Piano Anthology Grades 3 & 4 (LCM)
- Pam Wedgwood The Blarney Stone Piano Anthology Grades 3 & 4 (LCM)
- Martyn Williams Prelude Piano Anthology Grades 3 & 4 (LCM)
There are 5 components to your Grade 4 piano exam: Scales (15 marks), performance pieces (60 marks), discussion (7 marks), sight-reading (10 marks), and aural tests (8 marks).
For the performance you will need to play a total of 3 pieces. You must choose one piece from list A, one piece from list B and one piece from list C. I have included a link to all of the pieces below to help you make up your mind.
List A: J. C. F. Bach Polonaise in F
List A: Louis Köhler Chromatic Polka
List A: Edvard Grieg Elfin Dance
Alternative options for a List A piece are:
- J. S. Bach Minuet (5th mvt.) French Suite No 2 in C minor BWV 813 (Bärenreiter / Henle)
- Muzio Clementi Allegretto (1st mvt.) Sonata in G Op. 36 No. 2 (Henle)
- Georg F. Handel Sonatina in B flat HWV 585 (Bärenreiter)
- Joseph Haydn Allegro (1st mvt.) Sonata [Divertimento] in G Hob XVI 8 (Henle)
- Nikolai Myaskovsky Elegiac Mood [Fugue in C minor]
- Four Easy Polyphonic Pieces Op. 43 No. 2 (Wise Music Classical)
- Gertrud Willert-Orff Nos. 22 and 23 Little Piano Pieces (Schott)
List B: Samuil Maykapar Clouds
List B: Catherine Rollin Prelude in D flat
List B: Robert Schumann Kleiner Morgenwanderer
Alternative options for a List B piece are:
- Béla Bartók Der Stämpfer Romanian Folk Dances Sz 56 No. 3 (Universal)
- Amy Beach Secrets Children’s Carnival Op. 25 No. 5 (Alfred)
- Cécile Chaminade Idyll Album for the Young Op. 126 No. 1 (Enoch or Rebecca Long ISMLP)
- Simone Plé Devant l’icône Les Joies et les Rêves (Lemoine)
- Jean Sibelius Valsette Pensées lyriques Op. 40 No. 1 (Breitkopf & Härtel)
- Pyotr Tchaikovsky Mazurka Children’s Album (à la Schumann) Op. 39 No. 10 (Peters)
- Johann Burgmüller Ballade Piano Anthology Grades 3 & 4 (LCM)
- Johann Burgmüller Barcarolle Piano Anthology Grades 3 & 4 (LCM)
- Delibes (arr. Turner) Pizzicato Polka Piano Anthology Grades 3 & 4 (LCM)
- Edward Elgar Sonatina Piano Anthology Grades 3 & 4 (LCM)
- Dmitri Kabalevsky A Sad Story Piano Anthology Grades 3 & 4 (LCM)
- Genari Karganov Grandfather is Dancing Piano Anthology Grades 3 & 4 (LCM)
- Nicholas J. Grace Scottish Seafarer Piano Anthology Grades 3 & 4 (LCM)
- William Lloyd Webber Sentimental Waltz Piano Anthology Grades 3 & 4 (LCM)
- John Rowcroft Tongue-Twister Piano Anthology Grades 3 & 4 (LCM)
- Colin Taylor A Beach Picnic Piano Anthology Grades 3 & 4 (LCM)
List C: Florence B. Price The Goblin and the Mosquito
List C: Halim El-Dabh Shall
List C: Phillip Keveren Way Cool
Alternative options for a List C piece are:
- Brian Chapple Walking the Dog On The Cool Side (Chester)
- Gerard Hengeveld Blues Melodie en Rhythme (Broekmans & van Poppel)
- Robert Muczynski Fables Op. 21 No. 3 (Schirmer)
- Beverly Porter Jitterbug Lady Bug and Friends (Red Leaf Pianoworks)
- Judith Weir To Judith from Judith (Chester)
- Arika Yuyama Kaki-no-Tane Confections, a Piano Sweet (Ze-non, www.panamusica.co.jp)
- Martyn Williams A Little Dance Piano Anthology Grades 3 & 4 (LCM)
- Brian Chapple Lazy Days Piano Anthology Grades 3 & 4 (LCM)
- Brian Chapple Tea with Aunt Maud Piano Anthology Grades 3 & 4 (LCM)
- Mike Cornick Two-Part Invention Piano Anthology Grades 3 & 4 (LCM)
- Gerard Hengeveld Argentijnse Tango Piano Anthology Grades 3 & 4 (LCM)
- Michel Jacques Jelly Baby Jazz Piano Anthology Grades 3 & 4 (LCM)
- Roy Stratford Warm Up Piano Anthology Grades 3 & 4 (LCM)
There are 5 components to your Grade 5 piano exam: Scales (15 marks), performance pieces (60 marks), discussion (7 marks), sight-reading (10 marks), and aural tests (8 marks).
For the performance you will need to play a total of 3 pieces. You must choose one piece from list A, one piece from list B and one piece from list C. I have included a link to all of the pieces below to help you make up your mind.
List A: Elisabetta De Gambarini Gigue [Lesson] in G Op. 2 No. 11
List A: Friedrich Kuhlau Allegro from Sonatina in C Op. 20 No. 1
List A: György Ligeti All’ungherese
Alternative options for a List A piece are:
- Jiří Antonín Benda Sonatina No. 6 in D minor (MAB, Bärenreiter)
- Anna ‘di Venezia’ Bon Allegro non molto (1st mvt.) Sonata in B flat Op. 2 No. 2 (Stefano Paparozzi IMSLP)
- Johann P. Kirnberger Les Carillons (Les Éditions Outremontaises IMSLP)
- Jean-Philippe Rameau La Joyeuse [Rondeau] Pièces de Clavecin (Bärenreiter)
- Domenico Scarlatti Sonata in D minor K. 9 L. 413 (Heugel IMSLP)
- Dmitry Shostakovich Polka Dances of the Dolls (Boosey & Hawkes)
List B: Sophie-Carmen EckhardtGramatté “P”: Poissarde
List B: Aleksandr Scriabin Prelude in E minor Op. 11 No. 4
List B: Franz Schubert Waltz in B minor D 145, Op. 18 No. 6
Alternative options for a List B piece are:
- Gareth Balch What to Do When it Rains EPTA Teachers’ Choice Piano Collection 2 (PWM)
- Fryderyk Chopin Prelude in E minor Op. 28 No. 4 (Henle or Peters)
- Heinrich Hofmann Elegie Op. 77 No. 2 (Carl Rühle IMSLP)
- Anatoly Lyadov Prelude in D minor Op. 40 No. 3 (Peters or Masters Music Publications IMSLP)
- Darius Milhaud Modéré Romances sans paroles Op. 129 No. 1 (Salabert)
- Teresa Tagliapietro-Carreño Petite Berceuse in B flat Trois morceaux (Urbánek IMSLP)
- Mike Cornick Pensive Rag Piano Anthology Grades 5 & 6 (LCM)
- Heinrich Hofmann Am Abend Piano Anthology Grades 5 & 6 (LCM)
- Alison Hounsome Drifting Piano Anthology Grades 5 & 6 (LCM)
- Herbert Howells A Sailor Tune Piano Anthology Grades 5 & 6 (LCM)
- John McCabe Champagne Waltz Piano Anthology Grades 5 & 6 (LCM)
- Dmitri Kabalevsky Dance Piano Anthology Grades 5 & 6 (LCM)
- Sergei Prokofiev Promenade Piano Anthology Grades 5 & 6 (LCM)
- Robert Schumann Wiegenliedchen Piano Anthology Grades 5 & 6 (LCM)
- Igor Stravinsky Allegro Piano Anthology Grades 5 & 6 (LCM)
- Martyn Williams Compound Frolics Piano Anthology Grades 5 & 6 (LCM)
List C: MacCunn arr. Moores Sutherland’s Law Theme
List C: Saman Shahi Chaar-Mezrab
List C: Kevin Olson Time Traveler
Alternative options for a List C piece are:
- Béla Bartók Harmonics Mikrokosmos Book 4 Sz. 107 No. 102 (Boosey)
- Ernest Bloch Joyous March Enfantines B 49 No 5 (Fischer)
- Sofia Gubaidulina Sleigh with Little Bells Musical Toys No. 11 (Boosey & Hawkes)
- Lowell Liebermann The Little Baby Rhino Album for the Young Op. 43 No. 17 (Presser)
- Lola Perrin The Arrival Piano Suite VIII (lolaperrinsheetmusic.com)
- Eric Thiman Flood Time Water Pieces No. 5 (Prowse)
- Michael Ball Easy Music Piano Anthology Grades 5 & 6 (LCM)
- Brian Chapple Blues Piano Anthology Grades 5 & 6 (LCM)
- Brian Chapple Come Dancing Piano Anthology Grades 5 & 6 (LCM)
- Brian Chapple On the Cool Side Piano Anthology Grades 5 & 6 (LCM)
- Brian Chapple Washtub Rag Piano Anthology Grades 5 & 6 (LCM)
- Art Draper Cheesecake Walk Piano Anthology Grades 5 & 6 (LCM)
- John Guilfoyle Downstream Piano Anthology Grades 5 & 6 (LCM)
- Marian Ingoldsby Rumba Piano Anthology Grades 5 & 6 (LCM)
- Jennifer Linn La Poupée de Marcella Piano Anthology Grades 5 & 6 (LCM)
- Martha Mier Taking it Easy Piano Anthology Grades 5 & 6 (LCM)
- Christopher Norton Young at Heart Piano Anthology Grades 5 & 6 (LCM)
- Feliks Rybicki The Owlglass Piano Anthology Grades 5 & 6 (LCM)
There are 5 components to your Grade 6 piano exam: Scales (15 marks), performance pieces (60 marks), discussion (7 marks), sight-reading (10 marks), and aural tests (8 marks).
For the performance you will need to play a total of 3 pieces. You must choose one piece from list A, one piece from list B and one piece from list C. I have included a link to all of the pieces below to help you make up your mind.
List A 1: J. S. Bach Invention No. 14 in B flat BWV 785
List A 2: Jan L. Dussek Rondo from Sonatina in F Op. 19 No. 3
List A 3: Alexander Tcherepnin Bagatelle Op. 5 No. 9
Alternative options for a List A piece are:
- John Alcock Almand from Suite No. 4 in D minor (free-scores.com)
- Thomas Arne Presto (1st mvt.) Sonata No. 7 in A (Faber)
- Thomas Chilcot Jigg Suite No. 3 in B flat (Heugel)
- Felix Mendelssohn Allegro assai in G minor from Kinderstücke Op. 72 No. 5 (Henle)
- Jean-Baptiste Loeillet Corant (3rd mvt.) Lesson No. 1 in E minor (Patrick Roose IMSLP)
- Melanie Spanswick Dancing Through the Daffodils No Words Necessary (Schott)
List B 1: Fryderyk Chopin Mazurka in C Op. 67 No. 3
List B: Modest Mussorgsky Une Larme
List B: Toru Takemitsu Clouds
Alternative options for a List B piece are:
- Agathe Backer Grøndahl Spanish Small Fantasy Pieces Op. 55 No. 5 (Sigerland IMSLP)
- Bohuslav Martinů Columbine Dances Puppets Book 1 H 137 (Bärenreiter)
- Mai Fukasawa And It Dropped and Became a Jewel (tipamusic.com)
- Sergey Prokofiev Valse Music for Children Op. 65 No. 6 (Boosey & Hawkes)
- R. Nathaniel Dett The Deserted Cabin Magnolia Suite Part I (Summy IMSLP)
- Pyotr Tchaikovsky Baba Yaga Children’s Album (à la Schumann) Op. 39 No. 20 (Peters)
- Isaac Albéniz Capricho Catalán Piano Anthology Grades 5 & 6 (LCM)
- Richard R. Bennett Saturday’s Child Piano Anthology Grades 5 & 6 (LCM)
- Max Bruch Klavierstück Piano Anthology Grades 5 & 6 (LCM)
- Reinhold Glière Mazurka Piano Anthology Grades 5 & 6 (LCM)
- Edvard Grieg Volkslied Piano Anthology Grades 5 & 6 (LCM)
- Dmitri Kabalevsky Variations XI, XII and Coda Piano Anthology Grades 5 & 6 (LCM)
- Jules Massenet Mélodie Piano Anthology Grades 5 & 6 (LCM)
- Henryk Pachulski Prelude Piano Anthology Grades 5 & 6 (LCM)
- František Dušek Sonata in F Piano Anthology Grades 5 & 6 (LCM)
- Sergei Prokofiev Cortège de Sauterelles Piano Anthology Grades 5 & 6 (LCM)
- Nicolas Slonimsky Modinha Russo-Brasileira Piano Anthology Grades 5 & 6 (LCM)
- Trad. Irish Air (arr. Cornick) Londonderry Air Piano Anthology Grades 5 & 6 (LCM)
- Robert Schumann Fantasie-Dance Piano Anthology Grades 5 & 6 (LCM)
List C: André Previn Like Blue
List C: Gabriel Grovlez Le Pastour
List C: Lennox Berkeley Allegro from Five Short Pieces
Alternative options for a List C piece are:
- Chinese trad. (arr. Zhang) Jingpo Shan Ge (People’s Music Publishing House)
- Christine Donkin A Kitten’s Agenda Imprints No. 5 (leadingnote.com)
- Ernst Krenek Glass Figures Twelve Short Pieces Written in the Twelve-Tone Technique Op. 83 No. 8 (Schirmer)
- Elissa Milne Blackberry Jam Getting to Grade Five (Hal Leonard)
- Federico Mompou Secreto Impresiones íntimas No. 8 (Union Musical Ediciones or Salabert)
- Yann Tiersen Comptine d’un autre été L’après-midi from Amélie (Hal Leonard)
- Nicholas J. Grace Traffic “Jam” Piano Anthology Grades 5 & 6 (LCM)
- Jennifer Linn Un Phare dans le Brouillard Piano Anthology Grades 5 & 6 (LCM)
- Joplin (arr. Turner) Elite Syncopations Piano Anthology Grades 5 & 6 (LCM)
- Christopher Norton Prelude VI Piano Anthology Grades 5 & 6 (LCM)
- Emerson Peters Small Hours Piano Anthology Grades 5 & 6 (LCM)
There are 5 components to your Grade 7 piano exam: Scales (15 marks), performance pieces (60 marks), discussion (7 marks), sight-reading (10 marks), and aural tests (8 marks).
For the performance you will need to play a total of 3 pieces. You must choose one piece from list A, one piece from list B and one piece from list C. I have included a link to all of the pieces below to help you make up your mind.
List A 1: Modesta Bor Fuga No. 1
List A 2: Joseph Haydn Moderato from Sonata in B flat Hob. XVI/2
List A 3: Dmitry Kabalevsky Presto from Sonatina in C Op. 13 No. 1
Alternative options for a List A piece are:
- Marianna D’auenbrugger Rondo (3rd mvt.) Sonata in E flat (Artaria IMSLP)
- Georg F. Handel Allemand Suite No. 3 in D minor HWV 428 (Bärenreiter)
- Fanny Hensel [Mendelssohn] Praeludio Klavierbuch in E minor (Breitkopf & Härtel)
- Wolfgang A. Mozart Presto (3rd mvt.) Sonata in F K 280 (Bärenreiter or Henle)
- Pietro D. Paradies Presto [Toccata] (2nd mvt.) Sonata No. 10 in D (Schott)
- Domenico Scarlatti Sonata in A K. 182 L. 139 (Heugel IMSLP)
List B 1: Halfdan Kjerulf Wiegenlied
List B 2: Dora Pejačević Lilies
List B 3: William Baines Water-Pearls
Alternative options for a List B piece are:
- Mel Bonis Au Crépescule Op. 111 (Hamelle IMSLP)
- Samuel Coleridge-Taylor Andante in A flat Three-Fours Valse-Suite Op. 71 No. 2 (Schirmer or Augener IMSLP)
- Leoš Janáček A Blown-Away Leaf On an Overgrown Path JW VIII 17 No. 2 (Bärenreiter) 30 Philip Lane Solitude Piano Lollipops (Goodmusic)
- Franz Liszt Nos. 1 or 2 Five Piano Pieces S 192 (Neue Liszt-Ausgabe IMSLP)
- Karol Szymanowski Andante ma non troppo Preludes Op. 1 No. 8 (Universal Edition)
- Béla Bartók Merry Andrew Piano Anthology Grades 7 & 8 (LCM)
- Frédéric Chopin Prelude No. 26 in A flat Piano Anthology Grades 7 & 8 (LCM)
- Claude Debussy Rêverie Piano Anthology Grades 7 & 8 (LCM)
- John Ireland Holy Boy Piano Anthology Grades 7 & 8 (LCM)
- Howard Ferguson Bagatelle No. 2 in F sharp Minor Piano Anthology Grades 7 & 8 (LCM)
- Gabriel Grovlez Petites Litanies de Jésus Piano Anthology Grades 7 & 8 (LCM)
- Alexander Ilynsky Berceuse Piano Anthology Grades 7 & 8 (LCM)
- Max Reger Versönung Piano Anthology Grades 7 & 8 (LCM)
List C: George Gershwin ’S Wonderful from Funny Face
List C: Richard Lambert Ostinato Download
List C: Dmitry Shostakovich Prelude in E flat minor Op. 34 No. 14
Alternative options for a List C piece are:
- Hans Werner Henze Ballade from Six Pieces for Young Pianists Pollicino No. 1 (Schott)
- Zenobia Powell Perry Blaize Piano Potpourri No. 6 (jeanniegaylepool.com)
- Priaux Rainier Barbaric Dance Klaviermusik von Komponistinnen (Schott)
- Scott Joplin Magnetic Rag (Schirmer or Dover)
- Christopher Norton Shiba Mo Eastern Preludes Collection No. 13 (Boosey & Hawkes)
- Carl Vine Spartacus Red Blues No. 4 (PWM)
- Aaron Copland No. 3 from ‘Four Piano Blues’ Piano Anthology Grades 7 & 8 (LCM)
- Jenny Gould Stamp! Piano Anthology Grades 7 & 8 (LCM)
- Jennifer Linn Le Chat et le Moucheron Piano Anthology Grades 7 & 8 (LCM)
- Christopher Norton A Steady Hand Piano Anthology Grades 7 & 8 (LCM)
- Peter Warlock Folksong Prelude No. 2 Piano Anthology Grades 7 & 8 (LCM)
- Christopher Norton Prelude II Piano Anthology Grades 7 & 8 (LCM)
There are 5 components to your Grade 8 piano exam: Scales (15 marks), performance pieces (60 marks), discussion (7 marks), sight-reading (10 marks), and aural tests (8 marks).
For the performance you will need to play a total of 3 pieces. You must choose one piece from list A, one piece from list B and one piece from list C. I have included a link to all of the pieces below to help you make up your mind.
List A 1: Alwyn. Prelude and Fugue formed on Indian Scale
List A 2: Beethoven. Allegro Sonata in F Op.10 No. 2 Movement 1
List A 3: Scarlatti. Sonata in C Minor K.84 L.10
List A 4: Sibelius. Allegro Moderato Sonatina Op.67 No. 1 Movement 3
Alternative options for a List A piece are:
- C. P. E. Bach Allegro assai (1st mvt.) Sonata in F minor H 173 Wq 57 No. 6 (Packard Humanities Institute or Farrenc IMSLP)
- J. S. Bach Fantasia (1st mvt.) Partita No. 3 in A minor BWV 827 (Bärenreiter or Henle)
- Trygve Madsen Prelude and Fugue in C Op. 101 No. 1 (Norsk Musicforglag)
- Wolfgang A. Mozart Allegro (1st mvt.) Sonata in B flat K 333 (Bärenreiter or Henle)
- Clara Schumann (Wieck) Prelude and Fugue in D minor Op. 16 No. 3 (Bärenreiter)
List B 1: Chaminade. Arabesque No. 1 in G minor Op. 61
List B 2: Rorem. Barcarolle No. 1
List B 3: Rachmininov. Melodie Op. 3 No. 3
List B 4: Bowen. Prelude in Eb Op. 102 No. 7
Alternative options for a List B piece are:
- Johannes Brahms Capriccio in B minor or Intermezzo in A minor Op. 76 Nos. 2, 7 (Henle)
- Betty Jackson King Spring Intermezzo Black Women Composers: A Century of Piano Music (Hildegard)
- Anatoly Lyadov Prelude in D flat major Op. 10 No. 1 (Muzgiz IMSLP)
- Nikolay Medtner Arabesque in B minor An Idyll Op. 7 No. 1 (Simrock)
- Maurice Ravel Menuet from Le Tombeau de Couperin M 68 (Peters)
- Béla Bartók Dance in Bulgarian Rhythm No. 3 Piano Anthology Grades 7 & 8 (LCM)
- Béla Bartók Suite Op. 14 (1st mvt.) Piano Anthology Grades 7 & 8 (LCM)
- Frédéric Chopin Nouvelle Etude No. 3 in A flat Piano Anthology Grades 7 & 8 (LCM)
- Lennox Berkeley Prelude No. 5 Piano Anthology Grades 7 & 8 (LCM)
- Enrique Granados Andaluza Piano Anthology Grades 7 & 8 (LCM)
- Sergie Rachmaninov Prelude No. 12 Piano Anthology Grades 7 & 8 (LCM)
- Maurice Ravel Menuet Piano Anthology Grades 7 & 8 (LCM)
- Florent Schmitt Valse Viennoise Piano Anthology Grades 7 & 8 (LCM)
List C 1: Elena Kats-Chernin Alexander Rag
List C 2: Frances-Hoad. Bar(tik)tok Homages No 7
List C 3: Shchedrin. Humoresque
List C 4: Turina. Sacro-Monte Op. 55. No. 5
List C 5: Eleanor Alberga If the Silver Bird Could Speak
List C 6: Aaron Copland Jazzy from Three Moods No. 3
List C 7: Constant Lambert Elegiac Blues
List C 8: Erwin Schulhoff Tango from Five Jazz Studies No. 4
List C 9: Zimmer. arr. Radnich. Pirates of the Caribbean
List C 10: Claude Debussy Minstrels
List C 11: Arnold arr. York Scottish Dance No. 3
List C 12: Chris Barnett Ode to a Princess
Alternative options for a List C piece are:
- Ernest J. Moeran Burlesque Piano Anthology Grades 7 & 8 (LCM)
- Christopher Norton Sturdy Build Piano Anthology Grades 7 & 8 (LCM)
- Francis Poulenc Novelette No. 3 in E Minor Piano Anthology Grades 7 & 8 (LCM)
