Abrsm 2025 & 2026
Grade 3 Piano Exam
Category C 1
Song Name / Song Piece Allegretto
Composer Béla Bartók
Recommended tempo is for this piece is 126bpm, but although that is the printed metronome mark, students might prefer a slower tempo, such as 108bpm, as mentioned at the bottom of the page, in the footnotes of the Grade 3 (2025 & 2026) exam book. The tempo played in this video is based on 117 bpm, which seemed a good speed to play it at.
The main challenge is remembering to play all of the notes which are marked with the little horizontal dash above or below the note-heads: tenuto. (You must give the note it’s absolute FULL value) It is very easy to not do this and end up playing some of those notes staccato by mistake - even I didn’t manage to play them as well as I would have liked - so the importance of good, audible contrast between the staccato notes and those marked tentuto notes cannot be underestimated. Slow practise is vital to achieve this detail.
Dynamics are straightforward, but watch out for the rit. (slowing down) at bar 25 - with a slight pause between bars 26 and 27. The final two bars are played a tempo (original tempo).
#ABRSM #Piano #ABRSMsyllabus #Pianolearning #PianoSolo #BélaBartók
Grade 3 Piano Exam
Category C 1
Song Name / Song Piece Allegretto
Composer Béla Bartók
Recommended tempo is for this piece is 126bpm, but although that is the printed metronome mark, students might prefer a slower tempo, such as 108bpm, as mentioned at the bottom of the page, in the footnotes of the Grade 3 (2025 & 2026) exam book. The tempo played in this video is based on 117 bpm, which seemed a good speed to play it at.
The main challenge is remembering to play all of the notes which are marked with the little horizontal dash above or below the note-heads: tenuto. (You must give the note it’s absolute FULL value) It is very easy to not do this and end up playing some of those notes staccato by mistake - even I didn’t manage to play them as well as I would have liked - so the importance of good, audible contrast between the staccato notes and those marked tentuto notes cannot be underestimated. Slow practise is vital to achieve this detail.
Dynamics are straightforward, but watch out for the rit. (slowing down) at bar 25 - with a slight pause between bars 26 and 27. The final two bars are played a tempo (original tempo).
#ABRSM #Piano #ABRSMsyllabus #Pianolearning #PianoSolo #BélaBartók
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MusicTranscript
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