Levels - How?

[nonfox]

Hi...

I've been wondering about this for a while:
How do you decide what grade sheet music are at?
Some pieces are technically difficult while other pieces is musically defficult.
I've been playing the piano for almost 2 years, and I'm soon about to begin on my first grade 8 piece (Debussy - Preludes Book I - La fille aux cheveux de lin).
If you compare this piece with the 3rd mvt of the Moonlight Sonata (which is at grade 7) I'm able to play the Debussy but not the Moonlight Sonata which of course is much more technically difficult. Even though the Debussy is still at a higher grade than the Moonlight... Why? And How do you decide what grade sheet music are at?

[dnephi]

Probably because of the control of tone required in the Debussy. Don't call it moonlight.  Don't call it arbor.  Call it Op. 27 #2 or Sonata in C-Sharp Minor.  Such ridiculous nicknames hurt my tummy .

[verywellmister]

Is La fille aux cheveux de lin really grade 8?

[canardroti]

I don't think so, Ther'es no way  " la fille au cheveux de lin" is grade 8, it's grade 5.
As far as the  Beethoven sonatas I read that Appasionatta, Waldstein, Tempest are grade 8.
How can that be? Appassionata and the Waldstein are pretty advanced pieces in my opinion.

[pianote]

"grades"...lol 

[nonfox]

Don't call it moonlight. Don't call it arbor. Call it Op. 27 #2 or Sonata in C-Sharp Minor. Such ridiculous nicknames hurt my tummy .

I'm very sorry about that! 

Actually I must have looked at the wrong piece! La fille aux cheveux de lin isn't grade 8.... but 8+ ... Which is kinda ridiculous.... (I looked at PianoStreets archive!)

[verywellmister]

Whoever put those grades up on the PianoStreet Archive doesn't know much or maybe put them up in a hurry.

[nanabush]

I think Canada RCM grading is very accurate until the performers... where they cram anything higher than grade 10 in the same level :S ... Scarbo is the same grade as moonlight sonata, which is same grade as Prokofiev toccata, which is same grade as Cathedrale engloutie....

In Canada, saying a piece is 'performers', or 'arct' isn't saying much, there are some pieces fit for grd 9 in there... but la fille au cheveux de lin is grade 9, which imo is about grd 6-8 in the ABRSM.

[nonfox]

Where can I find a review over the Canada RCM and ABRSM grades???

[bartolomeo_]

The thing about levels is that difficulty is really an individual matter and has to do with how comfortable you are with particular musical forms.  e.g. just because you can play four-voice fugues doesn't mean you can play, say, ragtime or something else with big jumps; the reverse is also true.

If you've played lots of Bach and Beethoven you'll have trouble reading more modern material that uses the full keyboard compass.  If you've never done parallel thirds then that's going to be hard.

And so on.