Grades

[Chrysalis]

Can someone give grade levels to the following pieces (just wondering)

Debussy

Clair de Lune
Arabesque 1

Chopin

Nocturne 9.2
Raindrop Prelude

Schubert

Impromptu 142:2
Impromptu 90:2

schumann

arabesle
traumerei

Mendelssohn

Lied ohne Worte 19:1

thanks... oh and where can u check grade levels of pieces instead of asking around on the forum?

[steven]

One link that's usefull

https://pianoforum.net/smf/index.php/topic,5061.0.html

grt
Steven

[Chrysalis]

tnx for the link:P can someone identify the pieces that are not rated in the link (blah;P)

[bernhard]

Debussy

Clair de Lune (grade 7)
Arabesque 1 (grade 8 )

Chopin

Nocturne 9.2 (grade 7)
Raindrop Prelude (grade 7)

Schubert

Impromptu 142:2 (grade 7)
(for this impromptu, have a look here as well:
https://pianoforum.net/smf/index.php/topic,2893.msg25500.html#msg25500)

Impromptu 90:2 (grade 8 )

schumann

arabesle (grade 7)
traumerei (grade 6)

Mendelssohn

Lied ohne Worte 19:1 (grade 8 )

oh and where can u check grade levels of pieces instead of asking around on the forum?

Have a look at these threads:

https://pianoforum.net/smf/index.php/topic,2857.msg25255.html#msg25255
[J. S. Bach WTC – not exactly grades they are all around grade 7/8+, but a list of progressive difficulty – which in my opinion is more useful than grades]

https://pianoforum.net/smf/index.php/topic,2748.msg23723.html#msg23723
(Again not grades, but a progressive difficulty list for all Beethoven’s 32 sonatas)

https://pianoforum.net/smf/index.php/topic,5027.msg47777.html#msg47777
(Grades for some of Brahms pieces)

https://pianoforum.net/smf/index.php/topic,3197.msg28098.html#msg28098
(Grades for all  Chopin’s etudes and nocturnes)

https://pianoforum.net/smf/index.php/topic,2958.msg25879.html#msg25879
(Easiest Chopin pieces - grades 4-5-6)

https://pianoforum.net/smf/index.php/topic,3827.msg34579.html#msg34579
(Grades for all Chopin preludes)

https://pianoforum.net/smf/index.php/topic,3943.msg35797.html#msg35797
(Grades for all Chopin’s waltzes)

https://pianoforum.net/smf/index.php/topic,2412.msg20876.html#msg20876
(Debussy’s pieces in progressive order of difficulty)

https://pianoforum.net/smf/index.php/topic,1314.msg14339.html#msg14339
(Grades for all Grieg’s Lyric pieces)

https://pianoforum.net/smf/index.php/topic,4046.msg36920.html#msg36920
(Grades for all Haydn’s sonatas)

https://pianoforum.net/smf/index.php/topic,3721.msg33399.html#msg33399
(grade 4 – 6 repertory)

https://pianoforum.net/smf/index.php/topic,2911.msg24991.html#msg24991
(grade 7 sonatas)

https://pianoforum.net/smf/index.php/topic,3786.msg34321.html#msg34321
(grade 6 repertory)

https://pianoforum.net/smf/index.php/topic,2339.msg20064.html#msg20064
(Grades for over 100 Scarlatti sonatas).

Best wishes,
Bernhard.

[Chrysalis]

is mendelssohns lied ohne worte really grade 8? i had more trouble playing the middlesection fo schuberts 142:2 (ok now i can it perfectly, not that hard after all but stil:P) but mendelssohn was really no problem :S My teacher approved it was correct

[bernhard]

Grades are completelysubjective and not that important (I pay no attention to them).

I am often shocked at the ABRSM grading of pieces. Last year, for instance they said Brahms waltz op.39 no. 9 was grade 5, the same as Schumann's Fantasie tanz (op. 124 no. 5). I would have graded Brahms at grade 3 and the Schumann at grade 7. Then, back in 1966, Satie's gymnopedie was grade 3, but in 2000 it had been promoted to grade 6!

Besides, there is no great difference (imo) between grade 6 - 7 - 8. Anyone who can play a grade 6 piece can tackle a grade 8 piece.

As for the Schubert and Mendelssohn - they have very different technical and musical requirements, so they may not be comparable at all - I find them both equally difficult (or equally easy) but very different pieces to play. Anyone who can play one of them will be able to tackle the other.

A much better comparison would be between Grieg's Arietta (much easier) and Mendelssohn's, since thery are very similar in structure.

Do not worry too much about grades. They are completely unimportant.

Best wishes,
Bernhard.

[faulty_damper]

Then, back in 1966, Satie's gymnopedie was grade 3, but in 2000 it had been promoted to grade 6!

Could it be that the future of piano playing become so technically demanding that 40 years from now, Chopsticks and Happy Birthday become grade 8?

[JimDunlop]

Recently I've also been looking for an easy way to find out what grade level certain pieces are (not that it matters, right?)

I feel like I'm in that episode of Seinfeld where every time they mention homosexuality, they feel obliged to add: "not that there's anything wrong with that..."  The same way, whenever someone asks the grade level of a piece, we must feel obligated to add a comment about how relative such measures are...

Well, anyway -- I found a solid link -- it gives grade levels to pieces but there's nothing "easy" about finding what you're after...  Nonethelsss, give it a try.

From ABRSM''s actual website, the exam syallabi list many pieces...

https://www.abrsm.org/?page=exams/gradedMusicExams

[buck]

I think the main difference between grade 6,7 & 8 is the level of maturity the student exhibits in playing the same piece of music.  A grade 5 student would play Fur Elise differently from a Grade 3.  Not so much of techniques-wise, but more in the way you bring out the mood and feel of the music.  This, IMO, is a challenge to many students, including myself.