ABRSM Publishing – Pianodao

ABRSM Jazz Piano Solos

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…

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…

ABRSM • Piano Inspiration

Pianodao Music Library

Selected and Reviewed by Andrew Eales
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ABRSM Publishing continue to focus on bringing out superb anthologies for different instruments and levels, widening the scope of developing players’ musical engagement. Their recent publishing successes for piano have included the three jazz collections Nikki Iles and Friends and the superb Pop Performer books which arrived last year.

Now they bring us two new anthologies of solo piano repertoire, curated by concert artist Isata Kanneh-Mason. These are notable collections which, for reasons I will unpack in this review, immediately rise to the top of my pile of recommended piano publications.

The first book is suitable for intermediate players in the Grade 4-6 bracket, the second for more advanced players, Grades 7-8+ (ARSM). Refreshingly, but potentially frustrating for some, the specific grade levels of the individual pieces are not stipulated, even though ABRSM twice suggest on the covers that the pieces can be used as own-choice repertoire in their Performance Grades.

Kanneh-Mason’s selections mix surprise with delight, novelty with familiar favourites, delivering an intoxicating and diverse blend of music that quite simply belongs on the piano of every player working at these levels.

Having already given a rough outline and positive verdict, I will shortly go on to list the musical contents of each book, describe the publications for the benefit of those unable to inspect them in a music store, and attempt to frame these volumes in their broader context…

ABRSM: Pop Performer!

Pianodao Music Library

Selected and Reviewed by Andrew Eales
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There has long been speculation that at some point ABRSM would launch a pop piano syllabus, but they have perhaps sensibly resisted any call to do so.

The wide disparity and significant difference in approach taken by Rockschool Piano and Trinity Rock and Pop Keyboards illustrates the difficulty in creating a syllabus that is both helpful and true to the skills required by keyboard players in the contemporary commercial sphere.

Some forget, too, that the four Royal Schools of Music affiliated to ABRSM don’t offer specialist courses in this field. And then there’s the issue of copyright clearances: ABRSM simply don’t have access to the latest chart material without permission and significant cost.

Happily, ABRSM have now addressed this last hurdle by teaming up with Hal Leonard, the world’s largest sheet music publishers, who represent the rights to an unparalleled catalogue of commercial hits. It is certainly to the board’s credit that they can both recognise their own core strengths and collaborate with so prestigious a partner.

Enter Pop Performer!, two books of solo piano arrangements of contemporary pop standards and chart hits carefully graded for players from Initial to Grade 5 level. These striking publications look like the work of ABRSM, with songs arranged by examiners and looking little different to the pieces in their official exam repertoire books. But with Hal Leonard’s stamp equally evident in the songs, not to mention the inclusion of their online audio Playback+ software, it’s clear that this is an equal and exciting partnership.

Pop Performer! is neither a new syllabus, nor a hint that one is on its way. On the contrary, these are arrangements that can be played for enjoyment by those taking ABRSM’s traditional grades, and the board makes much of the important point that they can be used as ideal fourth pieces for their recorded Performance Grades.

In other words, what we have here is the option to include commercial popular hits, carefully curated, arranged and benchmarked, alongside and within ABRSM’s existing exam offer.

I’ll state upfront that I think this is a brilliant concept, am impressed with the books, and anticipate that they will be the most essential “must-have” purchase for piano teachers and students in this new academic year. So let’s take a much closer look…

Nikki Iles & Friends: Easy to Intermediate

Pianodao Music Library

Selected and Reviewed by Andrew Eales
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Reviewing the first two volumes in the ABRSM series Nikki Iles and Friends when they appeared in April 2021, I concluded:

“I have no hesitation in declaring this series an “epic win” for ABRSM. Don’t hesitate in getting copies!”

Suitable for intermediate to advanced players (UK Grades 4-8), the books have proven popular with players in my studio and elsewhere. You can read my full review here.

Somewhat sneaking under the radar, a third book has now been added to the series. Nikki Iles & Friends: Easy to Intermediate will, I am certain, have huge appeal to players who are less advanced.

The sensibly age-neutral cover matches the designs of the previous two books, but beyond that there are some points of departure worth noting, so let’s take a closer look…

ABRSM Piano Syllabus 2023-24

Pianodao Music Library

Selected and Reviewed by Andrew Eales
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IMPORTANT DISCLAIMER
ABRSM have selected my original composition Fresh Air for inclusion in the Grade 1 Piano Pieces book for 2023-24. I have however written the following review as a fully-independent agent, and as a teacher who has entered students for ABRSM exams for 30 years. Readers will note that my conclusions are entirely consistent with my other writings.

The arrival of a new piano syllabus from ABRSM has become etched in the calendar as a biennial event of important interest for piano teachers here in the UK and in those countries where the board has a significant presence.

Their 2021-22 syllabus was launched at the height of the pandemic in Summer 2020 and met a mixed reaction, its broadly popular repertoire accompanied by a revision to the scales syllabus that divided opinion.

For this new syllabus, ABRSM tell us that they have refreshed the pieces lists to give a greater choice of repertoire than ever before, including “music by a more diverse range of composers”. Of particular interest:

There are now 39 pieces per grade, divided equally between Lists A, B and C.
70% of the 2021 & 2022 repertoire has been retained.
The contents of Piano Exam Pieces books have been fully updated with nine new choices per grade.
A further nine “new” pieces have been added to the ‘other piece’ lists for each grade.

The 2023-4 syllabus is valid both for the “Practical Grades” (ABRSM’s face-to-face exams) and their recently introduced “Performance Grades” (which despite their name remain video recordings, made at the candidate’s leisure and submitted online).

From August 2022, the Performance Grades are available “on demand”, which should in my view add to their popularity. As with the Practical Grades however, those taking Performance Grades 6, 7 or 8 must first have passed ABRSM’s online-only Grade 5 theory exam or accepted alternative.

The 2023-24 syllabus comes into effect on 1 January 2023, and only then can candidates begin to present pieces from the new lists. There is a one year overlap up to 31 December 2023 but all three set pieces must be prepared from the same syllabus.

For Practical Grades, the scales and arpeggios, sight-reading and aural-test requirements remain exactly the same as for the 2021-22 syllabus.

As in previous syllabus reviews, I will consider the new publications, repertoire trends and content, select some of my favourite choices at each grade, and share some initial conclusions… read on to find out more!

ABRSM Piano Star

Pianodao Music Library

Selected and Reviewed by Andrew Eales
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ABRSM’s colourful Piano Star series of books for elementary players has been one of their most popular successes of recent years, and I was happy to be a contributor, my original compositions featuring in all four core music books.

I have previously written independent reviews of two series extras in which I had no involvement, Piano Star Theory and Piano Star Duets, but have yet to introduce the core series.

As with the Mosaic Series, even though I cannot independently review these publications they clearly belong in the Pianodao Music Library. This article will therefore offer a basic series overview, personal insight into the music I contributed, and I hope, enough information for readers to decide whether to take a closer look for themselves…