I have just recorded a demonstration playlist for the updated ABRSM Grade 1 syllabus for 2015-2016 which is valid from January 2015.
The sheet music for the pieces can be purchased here
I have just recorded a demonstration playlist for the updated ABRSM Grade 1 syllabus for 2015-2016 which is valid from January 2015.
The sheet music for the pieces can be purchased here
(Updated Dec 2013)
ABRSM Grade 1 Exam – The vital statistics: The current entry fee (2014) is £36.25. The next exam period is 3rd March- 5th April 2014 and the closing date for entry to these exams will be 24th January 2014. Alongside the playlist of demonstration videos for the current Grade 1 pieces, I have added some slow demo videos of some of the pieces which my students have specifically requested to help with their studies.
The next in my vodcast series on piano exams. In this video, watch Amelia sit her Grade 1 piano exam. This time, not one of my videos, ABRSM have staged an example of a Grade 1 piano exam which is a great way to give candidates an idea of what it is like to sit the exam. If only Stanley Palace, the venue used for the Chester exams was able to offer a wonderful grand piano as in this video! At least you can expect the same professional, supportive attitude from any of the ABRSM examiners, though the papers on their desk might not always be quite so beautifully aligned.
2012 is nearly over and it’s a chance to look back over the year and take stock of what has been achieved. I don’t think I’ve ever organised so many piano concerts in one year before.
Over the past 12 months, there have been 16 concerts for my students to perform in around Chester. 36 of my students have taken exams including 19 prep tests and 2 theory exams.
The themes this year have been Sea Idylls, Creatures Great and Small, and Going Places.
Whilst the major project for the spring term featured a composition in a set format to run alongside a video I produced, the other terms featured collaborative video projects in which many of my students took part.
The review video clip below features excerpts from some of the concerts which have taken place over the year.
Some students have performed in as many as five concerts over the course of the year and their teachers in school have commented on how nice it is to see the progress they have made from concert to concert.
The concerts at All Saint’s enabled another £300 bursary to be sent to Kampala Music School in June. The bursary is now providing piano lessons for Justus, a 22 year old university student.
It is with great pleasure that I can announce the new ABRSM Piano Syllabus for 2013-2014. The pieces can be used in exams from January 2013 until Easter 2015. I have produced a playlist of demonstration videos of the Grade 1 Pieces so far and intend to produce more as time permits…
My favourite selection I think would have to be A3 – Das Ballett, B3 – In a boat and C2- March though I am also fond of the C3 Chatanooga ChooChoo piece and have been since I first heard it played from a cassette tape in my youth! Only time will tell as to which pieces prove most popular with my students.
It was fun recording the pieces this morning and I couldn’t resist putting an out-take on the facebook page from when Geoffles decided to jump in on the action!
The banner above links to “The Geoffles Daily“, a daily photoblog of my kitten Geoffrey following his antics since he came to live with us on April 13th. The daily photos from the photoblog automatically syndicate to a facebook page and an evernote folder!

Appropriately, the concert series this term will follow an animal theme with the title “Creatures Great and Small”. The school concerts will showcase the talents of my piano pupils within each school with a range of solos, duets and own compositions and each will culminate with this term’s multimedia collaboration project in which a number of students have taken part along with members of the Chester Music Society Youth Choir.
Parents of the children involved are cordially invited to attend the concert in schools and everybody is invited to the final concert in the series taking place at All Saint’s which will again be supporting a Kampala Music School piano bursary with audience tickets priced at £3/adult and £1/child.
St. Oswald’s, Mollington – Friday 15th June at 9:15am
St. Werburgh’s Primary – Monday 18th June at 9:10am
Saighton School – Friday 22nd June at 9:10am
Upton Heath Primary – Monday 25th June at 9am
All Saint’s Church – Saturday 30th June at 11am
A concert preview video below features excerpts from the Spring Concert Series earlier this year.