Selected and Reviewed by Andrew Eales
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When ABRSM announced their Jazz Piano syllabus Grades 1-5 back in 1998, and published a raft of outstanding books and recordings to support it, I was at the front of the queue for copies, and one of the many who rejoiced at the arrival of such a superb resource.
Here, at last, was a well-thought out, superbly paced approach for introducing swing, blues, Latin and modern jazz styles, all with integrated improvisations, relevant scales, aural, and technical development.
In the years since, while I’ve not used the actual exams, many of my students have enjoyed the excellent music, learning core jazz skills from the course materials. I have still enjoyed playing and teaching the accessible jazzy pieces and arrangements available elsewhere, but these ABRSM books have been a mainstay for teaching jazz “properly”.
An update of the lower grades, and continuation into the higher ones, has long been requested. In the meantime ABRSM have released three music books in their Nikki Iles & Friends series (reviewed here).
Now, more than a quarter of a century after their first five grades appeared, they have published a syllabus specification for new, video assessed Jazz ‘Performance Grades’ 6-8, together with a Jazz Piano Solo Pieces Grades 6-8 book including five pieces from each Grade level. Let’s take a look…
The ABRSM Syllabus
An undoubted strength of the original ABRSM Jazz Piano ‘Practical Grades’ 1-5, their support tests introduced pentatonic, modal, and blues scales, along with jazz-based aural tests and quick studies. The repertoire books included three contrasting lists of pieces, offering a balanced mix of Blues, Standards, and Contemporary styles, which gave the syllabus a solid foundation and sense of coherence.
Video-based ‘Performance Grade’ assessments now exist for Grades 1-5 too, which require no support tests, but it must be hoped that those who take these assessments continue to benefit from the broader educational learning and progress previously expected.
In the case of Grades 6-8, ABRSM are only offering ‘Performance Grades’ at this time, so it is left to educators to work out for ourselves what the underpinning jazz theory, technical skills, and anticipated musical development might include. For some this might prove more than a little daunting, and I think it fair to suggest that these higher grades are aimed primarily towards the specialist jazz sector.
Meanwhile, four pieces (here consistently called ‘Tunes’ with a capital ‘T’) are required, drawn from three lists (at least one piece must be selected from each), focusing in turn on technical agility, expressive playing, and character/show tunes.
As with the standard ‘Performance Grades’, marks are also awarded for the performance as a whole, and the syllabus documentation offers detailed insight into how marks are awarded.
Interestingly, the prerequisite for taking any of these grades is to have the usual classical theory or Practical Musicianship Grade 5, or the in-person Practical Grade 5 in a solo Jazz instrument. No reason is given for omitting the Jazz Performance Grade 5 from this list, so we’ll perhaps have to draw our own conclusions.
The List A and B pieces set for Jazz Piano Performance Grades 6-8 are listed in the syllabus and predominantly drawn from The Real Book series, so the jazz pianist will be playing from a lead sheet with chord symbols only, not a piano realisation. The expectation is that the player will play the main melody as written (called the ‘Head’) followed by an improvisation around the chords pattern.
An added twist is that the pieces from Lists A and B must all be accompanied by a bespoke backing track provided freely by ABRSM on their website, or else by a live rhythm section (following tight guidelines provided).
List C, meanwhile, includes five pieces per grade to select from. These are performed solo, and the fifteen List C pieces in total are presented in the single Grade 6-8 Jazz Piano Solo Pieces book that I will turn to next. Full demonstration recordings of these are also freely available from the board, and can be streamed on all the usual popular services.
Above I have simply provided the skeleton information, so I recommend that if you are interested in the ‘Performance Grade’ Exams you now download and read the full syllabus specification with care.
Jazz Piano Solo Pieces
As explained above, the fifteen pieces included in ABRSM’s new Jazz Piano Solo Pieces Grades 6-8 (from 2026) publication offer the complete choice for List C pieces across those three grades, making this a required purchase for those taking the ‘Performance Grades’ at these levels. And they are:
Grade 6:
• I wish I knew how it would feel (Billy Taylor/Dick Dallas)
• Georgia on my mind (Hoagy Carmichael/Stuart Gorrell)
• Lakeshore Drive (Andrea Vicari)
• Corta-jaca (Gaúcho) (Chiquinha Gonzaga)
• Amálie (Robert Mitchell)
Grade 7
• Abide with me (Trad. are Churchill)
• Fly me to the moon (Bart Howard)
• Tilt that woolly hat (Julian Joseph)
• Lower East Side (Nikki Iles)
• Oh, Lady be good (George and Ira Gershwin)
Grade 8
• Kickin’ off (Jason Rebello)
• Go with the flow (Zoe Rahman)
• A nightingale sang in Berkeley Square (Manning Sherwin)
• Fim da Noite (Sam Watts)
• The Wayfarer (Gwilym Simcock)
While this is a commendably, stylistically diverse range of repertoire, commissioned and edited once again by Nikki Iles, users and fans of ABRSM’s previous jazz offerings may feel a sense of déjà vu: the majority of these tunes (nine of the fifteen) previously appeared in the Nikki Iles And Friends series.
In their previous incarnations however, they were fully scored out piano solos, while here they have been adapted to include sections where the syllabus requires improvisation. Those familiar with the Grade 1-5 books will know the drill: a simple LH vamp is offered, together with RH guide notes, but the player is at liberty to ignore both provided they follow the chord progression.
While it might be useful to learn the full versions from the Nikki Iles and Friends books, don’t be tempted to lift ideas from there for an improvised section, as the syllabus version in the new book are typically longer and incorporate more advanced chord substitutions.
The other six pieces follow the same format, mixing fully scored ‘Head’ sections with improvisation around the bare bones provided. They include some lovely new arrangements of Georgia on my mind, Corta-jaca, and Oh, Lady be good, as well as brand new tunes composed specially by Robert Mitchell, Gwilym Simcock, and Sam Watts.
In all, this adds up to a collections which progressively builds on the learning of the ABRSM Jazz Piano Grade 1-5 books, comfortably equals them in excellence and inspiration, and has value that extends a very long way beyond exam use.
The publication itself also lives up to ABRSM Publishing’s gold standards, with a classy soft cover matching the board’s jazz branding, superb engraving within, all presented on soft cream paper.
Closing Thoughts
When I first skimmed through the ABRSM Jazz Piano Solo Pieces book and syllabus, I somewhat feared that they had chosen the easiest and least costly pathway for extending their jazz offering. Any mild pangs of disappointment soon evaporated as I dug into the syllabus, and their newly published anthology.
As a syllabus, I think this builds very logically and intelligently on what went before, albeit without the helpful structure offered by the support test materials in the earlier grades.
As for the repertoire collection, Jazz Piano Solo Pieces is a genuinely useful and superbly put together resource, which I have no doubt will provide inspiration and enjoyment to advancing jazz pianists everywhere.
As an addition to ABRSM’s existing jazz piano resources, these 2026 additions provide the sense of completion that has been lacking for so long. Rejoice!
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