Educational Resources – Page 2

Edition Peters Piano Anthologies

Selected and Reviewed by Andrew Eales
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Following the launch of ABRSM’s 2023-24 syllabus, Edition Peters built on the success of their regular Grade 8 Piano Anthology series by issuing anthologies for Grades 5, 6, 7, and 8. At the time, I noted:

“Whatever one thinks of graded exams, there’s no denying that the ABRSM piano syllabus offers a stunning and helpfully progressive view of the rich and varied piano repertoire. And if their own publications open too small a window through which those wondrous joys might be discovered, the widescreen presentation Edition Peters offer with these anthologies must surely be welcomed with the broadest of smiles.”

With the advent of the 2025-26 ABRSM syllabus, which I have reviewed in depth here, Edition Peters (now under the roof of Faber Music) have returned with a new set of anthologies to supplement the latest syllabus.

It should be noted that there is a one-year overlap of syllabi, meaning that the older anthologies will (alongside ABRSM’s own piano exam piece books for 2023-24) remain valid until December 2025.

But what of the new anthologies? Here as always is my first in-depth look at them, including a detailed comparison between the ABRSM and Edition Peters books. For those on a budget, which is the better purchase, and why? Let’s find out…

There’s Even More to Playing the Piano

Educational Resources

Selected and Reviewed by Andrew Eales
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Reviewing David Hall’s superb music theory primer There’s More to Playing the Piano back in 2021, I noted that most theory publications are structured around the specific (and not always particularly useful) grade exam requirements, and suggested that:

“For those who simply want to understand notation and written music in a way that’s useful and relevant to today’s piano players, the market has long been wide open. Finally we can welcome a simple textbook which is clear, concise, and of practical benefit. “

That book has subsequently proved hugely useful to the various learners I have recommended it to, and I continue to receive messages of thanks from other teachers who discovered it through this site.

How brilliant, then, to tell you about Hall’s follow-up publication, There’s Even More to Playing the Piano, which is billed as:

“An introduction to advanced music theory with practical keyboard activities and video links for each topic”.

Rediscovering Piano Time

Educational Resources

Selected and Reviewed by Andrew Eales
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There are several reasons why I rarely review children’s method books. An important one is that I have found my views about a new method resource can change considerably after spending a year or two using it.

Time and again, though, I have found myself returning to Pauline Hall’s Piano Time, a series which has remained popular with my students and delivered positive results for nearly three decades. Children using this series with me have enjoyed learning and practising, developed confident reading skills, healthy playing technique, nascent creativity, and imaginative engagement.

There are shortcomings with any method book, of course, and it’s important for all teachers to recognise the weaknesses in their chosen series. Only then can we deliver effective teaching and identify necessary supplementary materials. For more advice, read my article The Problem with Method Books, which explores the issue in depth.

In the meantime, Oxford University Press have just published fully updated Third Editions of the three core books in the Piano Time series, along with an unexpectedly useful book of accompaniments. With brand new illustrations throughout, a host of fresh new pieces, freely downloadable audio, and gentle tweaks to further facilitate smooth progression, this is a very significant update, so there’s never been a better time to rediscover Piano Time.

Having used the series for so long, I feel appropriately qualified to unpack the revision for existing users, and encourage potential newcomers to have a look at this landmark best-seller afresh.

Ben Andrew’s Piano Scale Books

Educational Resources

Selected and Reviewed by Andrew Eales
Find out more: About Pianodao Reviews

The name Ben Andrew will ring a bell with many, due not least to the inclusion of his beautiful piece Snowflakes in The Joy of Graded Piano grade one book (find out more), as well as his Grade 5 theory workbooks from Hal Leonard.

Ben Andrew’s latest is a set of three scale books for players at Grades 1 to 3 levels. Yes, you read that correctly: scales books.

But stick with me, because these surprisingly affordable but gorgeously presented full-colour books offer a complementary approach that may well help elementary learners over the initial hump of learning basic scales, and might just make scales and arpeggios practice more enjoyable for all…

ABRSM Prep Test 2025

Educational Resources

Selected and Reviewed by Andrew Eales
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In addition to launching their 2025-26 Piano Exam Syllabus reviewed here, ABRSM have surprised us with an update to their Prep Test content, with a new book to replace their previous (2016) one.

Historically, this was their only Pre-Grade 1 option, which gave future grade exam candidates the opportunity to visit the exam room and play for an examiner in a more friendly, less formal context, and without an assessed pass/fail outcome. But with the introduction of ABRSM’s Initial Grade and video-based assessments, teachers may have wondered whether the Prep Test would be quietly forgotten.

From 2025, the Prep Test retains its existing format in full, and remains exclusively a live music examination, with happy, human connection at its heart.

But in the age of “Performance Grades” and digital diplomas, this first visit to the exam room could now prove to be a learner’s only ever visit. And with the Initial Grade now sharing the Pre-Grade 1 space, we need to consider where the Prep Test now fits in the educational landscape…

ABRSM Piano Syllabus 2025-26

Educational Resources

Selected and Reviewed by Andrew Eales
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Whether or not one takes or teaches the ABRSM grade exams, the biennial release of the board’s new syllabus publications remains an important event in the piano education calendar.

Every two years, their new suite of graded books both offers a barometer of current repertoire trends, and acts as an important influencer for the music that will be played and performed over the next few years. Like them or not, these pieces will regularly appear in concerts, festivals, practice rooms, online, and will be much-discussed by teachers, the subject of many questions and opinions.

The popular interest in this syllabus is always evidenced by the tens of thousands who read my reviews of them on Pianodao. In recent years, I have praised ABRSM for breathing fresh life into their music selections, and in my experience the 2023-24 publications reviewed here have proven especially popular with players.

The new 2025-26 books have now arrived, the updated syllabus coming into effect from January 2025 (for those taking exams, the previous syllabus will also remain valid for a one-year overlap period).

So how will they compare, and can they live up to the very high musical bar ABRSM have been setting in their recent repertoire selections? As usual, I will try to answer that question with sufficient detail and depth, but without getting bogged down in prescriptive pedagogic material about which pieces to pick or how to play them…

Trinity Piano Syllabus 2023

Educational Resources

Selected and Reviewed by Andrew Eales
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The summer months routinely bring a whole new set of piano syllabus publications from one of the major exam boards, and this year it is Trinity College London’s turn.

As ever, I hope my review will explain the most important changes, give readers a first impression of the new publications, and offer some general thoughts on the repertoire selections and direction of travel.

I am going to start by stating that this is a radical update, a riot of invention, but of course that also makes it rather controversial. Questions about whether it offers a comparable and valid educational route are inevitable.

I hope in this review to point towards some answers, based on my perspective as a jobbing piano teacher. So hold on to your hat, and let’s get started!…

Penelope Roskell • Essential Piano Technique

Educational Resources

Selected and Reviewed by Andrew Eales
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Few aspects of piano playing seem to divide opinion on forums as much as healthy technique: what it is, how, and when to teach it. Happily, anyone who is looking for clear, authoritative answers to these questions can find them aplenty in the milestone (and mammoth) book The Complete Pianist, which I reviewed here when it appeared in 2020.

The author of that award-winning book is the concert pianist and teacher Penelope Roskell, a world-leader in the field of injury-free piano playing, and piano adviser to the British Association for Performing Arts Medicine.

Having so plainly and comprehensively shown us what an essential, healthy piano technique looks like in her previous book, Roskell is now back with an attractively presented series of three books aimed at younger beginners and their teachers. Her new Essential Piano Technique books are certainly unlike any previous children’s piano series I have encountered…