Piano Levels or Grades - is there a standard criteria ?

[pianoplunker]

I see alot of posts on here that refer to Grades or Levels. Example: "That piece is certainly a level 7 work".  Or " I just finished Grade 1, now what do I do ?"    I remember learning Eckstein Piano level 1, 2, 3, 4, 5 and there were other publishers that had their levels too.  Is there a standard that is referred to for what defines a piano level?  I understand that Level 10 is probably more involved than Level 1 but is this the type of thing where I can call it level 10 and you call it level 1 ? How is it determined ?  Speed ? Length ?  Flats or sharps ?     

[ajspiano]

It's based on both the musical difficulty and technical difficulty.

Tempo may sometimes be a factor, but really ther are slow pieces that are difficult and faster ones that are much easier.. Likewise there are horrendously difficult pieces in c major (no. Of sharps not a factor)

Think more like..  "how difficult is it to coordinate the hands, are they doing similar things or are they vastly different?" - "do you have to traverse large distances over the keys quickly or can your hands basically stay in the one place?" - "do you have to play multiple melodies or counter melodies and balance them dynamically?" - "complicated rhythms or is everything onthe beat?"

[cjp_piano]

There are many different systems that have graded repertoire: ABRSM, RCM, TAP and others. Look them up for more info =)