ABRSM and Trinity – Sight Reading Piano Tips
Best sight-reading tips for Grades 1-8
In this post, Hampstead Piano Academy will be breaking down the ABRSM and Trinity College sight reading piano tests and offer a complete guide to successfully pass any exam from Grade 1 to 8.
Each article provides an exploration of the exercises included in the official sight reading specimen books from each board of examination. Furthermore, they analyze the tempo, character, keys, hands position, dynamics, time signatures, note values, articulation and structure.
For a personalized coaching and further advice on the field, please sign up for one of our sight reading intensive courses.
ABRSM Grade 1 Sight Reading Guide
Tempo and Character
In ABRSM Sight Reading Grade 1 the speed is marked with 4 different types or terms.
- Italian terms: Andante, Moderato and Allegretto. Set the metronome at 73-77 for Andante, 86-97 for Moderato and 98-109 for Allegretto.
- Dance terms: Fanfare, Dancing, Dance, Rocking, Waltz.
- Moods: Gently, Sadly, Lively, Delicately, Grandly, Happily.
- Other: March, Smoothly, Slowly.
For dance terms, moods and other words, it is difficult to set a metronome mark as it is quite subjective to determine how slow Sadly could be or if Dancing is quicker than Dance.
Anyway, use your common sense and play quicker when you see terms like Lively or Happily; slower when the exercises say Gently or more rhythmically when a March.
Keys
In ABRSM specimen Sight Reading Grade 1 book, the key signatures you will find are C Major, F Major, G Major, A minor and D minor.
Practice your C, F and G Major scales but also A and D minor natural, melodic and harmonic.
No natural sign will appear in Grade 1 so, if you find a sharp on the key signature, please do not move your finger away from it.
C Major and its relative A minor
There will not be any sharps or flats in the key signature.
However, in the A minor exercises you will find F# or G# (or even both) as accidentals.
F Major and its relative D minor
There will be a B flat in the key signature for the exercises in F Major / D minor.
Some C# notes might appear as an accidentals when sight reading in D minor.
G Major
These are the exercises with an F# in the key signature.
Hands Position
Your hands will be placed in 5-finger positions.
In other words, five consecutive keys, one for each finger.
Good news: Hands will never play simultaneously!
However, this does not mean that the lowest note will always be the same!
Follow the starting fingering ABRSM suggests and you will find all the notes under your fingertips.
Practice all possible positions for each key.
The 55 exercises in ABRSM Sight Reading Grade 1 book will be classified in five groups:
- Group I: Exercises in C Major.
- Group II: Exercises in G Major.
- Group III: Exercises in F Major.
- Group IV: Exercises in A minor.
- Group V: Exercises in D minor
The keyboard range is made of nearly 3 octaves in ABRSM Sight Reading Grade 1
Group I: C Major
Exercises 1, 9, 21, 26, 33, 42 and 48.
Group II: G Major
Exercises 5, 12, 20, 29, 32, 37, 44 and 51.
Group III: F Major
On exercises 2, 7, 10, 14, 16, 23, 30, 34, 40 and 55.
Group IV: A minor
The accidentals in the A minor may be stressful to sight read, but remember that they come from the minor scales.
Exercises 3, 6, 8, 13, 17, 25, 27, 31, 36, 37, 39, 46, 49, 52 and 54.
All G# in the book (except for exercises 13 and 53) will resolve to A. And all F# will be followed by a G#.
Group V: D minor
The C# accidental comes from the D minor harmonic scale and it is always followed by D (except in exercise 53)
Luckily, there are not many exercises including C#.
Exercises 4, 11, 19, 22, 24, 28, 35, 38, 41, 45, 50 and 53.
Accidentals apply to all notes of the same pitch within the same bar.
The exercises in A minor and D minor are more difficult and perhaps more likely to appear in the exam.
Reinforce those keys when you practice.
Dynamics
The exercises will have opposite dynamics such as piano/forte, mezzopiano/mezzoforte and crescendo/diminuendo.
Remember to read them as well as the notes.
Time Signatures and Note Values
In ABRSM Sight reading Grade 1 the time signatures could be 2/4, 3/4 and 4/4.
Therefore, the note values that will fit would be quavers, crochets, minims, dotted minims, semibreves and their equivalent rests.
All exercises have at least two quavers. Make sure they are rhythmically correct.
Articulation
Legato, Staccato and Accents.
An accent (>) is an extra stress applied to a certain note.
Make sure you know how to technically make a good difference between accent and staccato.
Assume legato when no articulation has been specified.
Structure
In this level, all exercises written in 2/4 will be 6 bars-long.
The exercises in 3/4 and 4/4 will be 4-bars long.
The structure will also be compound by the phrasing: quite sophisticated in some exercises and really simple in others.
Looking at it before starting will help the music flow.
ABRSM Grade 2 Sight Reading Guide
Tempo and Character
In addition to the terms shown in ABRSM Grade 1, these are the new ones found in ABRSM Grade 2.
Please check the ABRSM Grade 1 section of this post for metronome marks and other terms.
- Italian terms: Moderato espressivo and espressivo (expressively, taking slight liberties to convey the mood of the piece)
- Dance terms: Minuet and tempo di Minuetto. These are baroque dances written in 3/4. Make sure your three beats are recognizable.
- Moods: Expressively
- Other: Grandly, lullaby, flowing, gently rocking.
Keys
Apart from the Grade 1 keys (C Major, F Major, G Major, A minor and D minor), the new ones for ABRSM Sight Reading Grade 2 are D Major, E minor and G minor.
Practice all scales of these keys including all minor modes. Remember the number of flats/sharps each new key has.
Grade 2 introduces the natural sign.
You will find E natural in two of the G minor exercises (23 and 41). Bear in mind this accidental comes from the G minor melodic scale.
D Major
Its key signature has two sharps: F# and C#.
E minor
E minor is the relative minor of G Major and therefore it has F# in the key signature.
In some E minor exercises, D# will appear as an accidental (37, 49 and 55).
G minor
Bb and Eb are the key signature of G minor.
E natural is a common accidental although F# can also be seen on exercises 38 and 41.
Hands Position
In ABRSM sight reading Grade 2 hands will still be placed in 5-finger positions.
However, hands will play simultaneously!
Here is a classification of the 55 exercises in ABRSM Sight Reading Grade 2 book according to their keys:
- Group I: C Major.
- Group II: G Major.
- Group III: F Major.
- Group IV: A minor.
- Group V: D minor.
- Group VI: D Major.
- Group VII: E minor.
- Group VIII: G minor.
The ABRSM Sight Reading Grade 2 keyboard range comprises 3 octaves.
Group I: C Major
Exercises 1, 3, 12, 22, 30, 36 and 46.
Group II: G Major
Exercises 5, 16, 25, 26, 31, 32, 40, 44 and 52.
Group III: F Major
Exercises 2, 7, 10, 20, 33, 42, 48 and 54.
Group IV: A minor
Exercises 6, 17, 39 and 47.
Group V: D minor
Exercises 4, 11, 24, 27, 43, 50 and 51.
Group VI: D Major
Exercises 9, 15, 18, 28, 35, 45 and 53.
Group VII: E minor
Exercises 13, 21, 37, 49 and 55.
Group VIII: G minor
Exercises 8, 14, 19, 23, 29, 34, 38 and 41.
Any accidental affects to all notes of the same pitch within a bar.
Exercises in D Major and G minor are challeging and would be a typical exam choice.
Dynamics
The only new dynamic in ABRSM Sight Reading Grade 2 is pianissimo (pp). Make enough difference between pp and p.
As in Grade 1, piano/forte, mezzopiano/mezzoforte and crescendo/diminuendo will also be found.
Time Signatures and Note Values
The time signatures are still 2/4, 3/4 and 4/4.
The note values are single/paired quavers, crochets, dotted crochets, minims, dotted minims, semibreves and their corresponding rests.
Ties are introduced in this grade. They join two notes of the same pitch between two bars.
Articulation
More detailed legato lines, staccato and accents.
Emphasize the notes with accents (>)
Structure
Same as in grade 1. The exercises in 2/4 will have six bars and the ones in 3/4 and 4/4 will have four bars.
Look at the melodic or rhythmical patterns that might be repeated half way through.
Trinity Grade Initial Sight Reading Guide
Tempo
At Trinity College Initial Sight Reading, the speed required is just Moderato.
At metronome mark, Moderato could be anywhere between 86 and 97 per crochet beat.
That would be your tempo to sight read.
Keys
At this Initial level, the only key you will find will be C Major.
This means, you will play on white keys only.
No sharps or flats added; no black keys to be played.
Hands Position
What does Trinity College mean when they say that in their Initial sight reading the notes laid out in a 5-fingers position?
Very easy.
This is a basic position where each of your fingers will be placed on one consecutive key.
This way, when they say “a five-fingers position in the key of C Major”.
This is the most helpful tip on Trinity sight reading Initial level.
If we are able to keep our hands in that position, we will find all the notes just under our fingertips.
Exercises 1 to 28 in Sound at Sight will follow this rule. So, always remember to keep your 5-fingers position in C Major.
Tip: you would not find any A or B notes in this position in any of the exercises.
Dynamics
You will only see f or p in the exercises.
Make sure there is an obvious difference between loud and quiet.
Time Signatures and Note Values
The only time signature you will be asked to sight read is 2/4.
Therefore, the note values that will fit in each bar will be crochets (1 beat) and minims (2 beats)
At Trinity Initial level hands would never be playing simultaneously.
So you will also see the two-beats minim rest for the hand that does not play.
Tip: you would not find any quavers in any of the exercises.
Articulation
What does articulation mean in music?
Articulation determines how a note should be played.
Trinity Initial sight reading will only ask you to play legato.
In other words, smooth and connected, linking the notes without making gaps in the sound.
In the Sound at Sight Initial book, legato slurs will struture musical phrases in 4 bars.
Structure
All Initial grade exercises will have a length of 8 bars, divided into 2 sections of 4 bars, one for each hand.
Be clever and predict a change of hands half-way through the exercise when you sight read.
Trinity Grade 1 Sight Reading Guide
Tempo
At Trinity College Sight reading Grade 1 the speed required is still Moderato.
You can keep your metronome between 86-97 crochet beats.
Keys
Apart from the C Major you already practiced in the Initial level, Grade 1 will include the keys of G Major and A minor.
In this level, we have classified the exercises in three groups:
- Group I: Exercises in C Major.
- Group II: Exercises in G Major.
- Group III: Exercises in A minor.
But attention!
This will not always mean that your hands will be placed with G or A as the lowest note.
Trinity College tells you that your hands will still be laid out in a 5-finger position.
But what they don’t tell you is that these five-finger position could now start on any note.
Tip: Find all possible 5-finger positions starting from each of the 7 notes of the scale.
In Trinity Sight Reading Grade 1, the keyboard register encompasses more than 2 octaves.
Hands Position
Exercises in C Major
2-Sailing, 7-Riding, 8-Positive thinking, 11-Little dance, 18-Strolling, 22-Clock, 25-Tunelet and 26-Piggy back.
Reminder: you are unlikely to find any sharps/flats in this position.
Exercises in G Major
In some of the following exercises you will not have both hands on the same position
Check where your F# is before starting.
1-Link up, 3-Cuckoo, 5-Robot March, 9-Floating, 12-Pointing, 14-Small steps, 17-Day out, 19-Cat Walk, 21-Musical moment, 23-Tortoise, 28-Calm reply, 29-No worries and 30-Brief encounter.
Practice your E minor scales as your left hand fifth finger will start on E in several exercises.
Exercises in A minor.
Even though there will be no sharps or flats, the exercises in A minor might be the challenge so please pay extra attention.
4-Monday mood, 6-Lonely, 10-Summer rain, 13-Zero gravity, 15-A short story, 16-A minor march, 20-Jumping, 24-Thought for the day, 27-Mood change, 31-Chaser and 32-Ski slope
The left hand appears in both middle and lower octave.
Group II and III are more likely to appear in a sight reading Trinity College grade 1 exam.
However, you should be prepared and able to play any exercise in your piano lessons.
In this level hands would be playing simultaneously more often.
But don’t get stressed; there will always be one hand playing long notes to allow you more time to read ahead.
Dynamics
Forte, mezzoforte and piano will be the dynamics found throughout Sound at Sight Trinity sight reading grade 1.
Make sure your dynamic range really comes off.
Time Signatures and Note Values
In Trinity sight reading Grade 1 the time signatures are 2/4 and 4/4.
Therefore, the values to deal with are crochets, minims, semibreves and their equivalent rests.
No quavers to come across with.
Articulation
Legato with more sophisticated phrasing.
Tip: Assume legato when articulation has not been specified.
Structure
Exercises written in 2/4 will have 8 bars and exercises in 4/4 will be 4-bars long.
There will be a clear musical feeling of 4+4 or 2+2 bars.
Sometimes they may look long, but understanding how they have been composed would help you get to the end succesfully and without stopping.
Use these divisions to aim for shorter sections of the exercises.
Practicing the phrasing on Sound at Sight Grade 1:
-
- Exercises without specific marks: 6, 12, 17, 20, 22, 23 and 26.
- Exercises in the shape of 2+2 bars: 1, 2, 4, 8, 15, 18, 24 and 25.
- Exercises with slurs bar by bar: 3, 7, 11 and 19.
- Other phrasing: 5, 9, 10, 13, 14, 16, 21, 27, 28, 29, 30, 31 and 32.
Trinity Grade 2 Sight Reading Guide
Tempo
You will still find the Grade 1 tempo Moderato (86-97) in some exercises.
In Grade 2, Trinity College Sight reading includes Allegretto in its tempi.
You can set your metronome anywhere between 98-108 crochet beats.
Keys
The key signatures are still C Major, G Major and A minor.
G# is now included as an accidental in A minor.
G# will lead to A in many occasions, although this is not a rule. Practice your A minor harmonic scale to help you with this position.
The exercises in Grade 2 are divided in three groups:
- Group I: Exercises in C Major.
- Group II: Exercises in G Major.
- Group III: Exercises in A minor.
Group I: C Major.
1, 4, 7, 12, 16, 17, 18, 19, 22, 31 and 36.
Group I: G Major.
2, 6, 9, 11, 15, 21, 23, 24, 26, 28, 29, 32, 33 and 34.
Group I: A minor.
3, 5, 8, 10, 13, 14, 20, 25, 27, 30 and 35.
Dynamics
The dynamic range remains the same as Grade 1.
Forte, mezzoforte and piano.
Time Signatures and Note Values
3/4 is included in Trinity College Grade 2, along with dotted minims and tied values.
Ties will only be applied to notes with the same pitch.
Do not mistake ties for legato slurs.
Hold on the tied notes but do not play again on the second note.
Articulation
Same as in Grade 1: Legato.
Again some phrases are quite simple and some others more interesting.
Structure
There are no exercises written in 2/4 to be found in Trinity Sight Reading Grade 2.
All exercises are 8-bars long and written in 3/4 or 4/4.
Compare the first 4 bars with the last ones to find any similarity or pattern.
FAQ
What is sight reading?
Sight reading is the ability to play a piece of music without prior practice.
Why is sight reading important?
Learning how to play an instrument requires a compilation of intellectual and emotional skills which go beyond just playing some nice pieces.
Being able to sight-read music is probably one of the most important aspects to develop in a student’s education and one of the pillars of our teacher’s philosophy.
Good sight-reading skills help musicians learn new repertoire at a quicker pace, resulting in a great facility to realize details promptly and get pieces ready to be performed in public.
This essential ability enables piano students to do better practice at home and to be less dependent of the teacher. It is also indispensable to explore and discover hundreds of new pieces outside of the lesson time.
Learning how to play an instrument requires a compilation of intellectual and emotional skills which go beyond just playing some nice pieces.
Being able to sight-read music is probably one of the most important aspects to develop in a student’s education and one of the pillars of our teacher’s philosophy.
Good sight-reading skills help musicians learn new repertoire at a quicker pace, resulting in a great facility to realize details promptly and get pieces ready to be performed in public.
This essential ability enables piano students to do better practice at home and to be less dependent of the teacher. It is also indispensable to explore and discover hundreds of new pieces outside of the lesson time.
How to successfully pass the ABRSM or Trinity sight reading test?
From the basic Initial ABRSM or Trinity College Sight Reading tests to the toughest auditions to work in a top orchestra, professional and amateur musicians are often evaluated on their sight reading.
This assessment is always a stressful time for pianists because we read two hands written in different clefs; with various rhythmical, harmonic and melodic elements respectively.
However, approaching the challenge with the correct tips will help candidates keep their nerves and successfully pass the ABRSM and Trinity Sight Reading Tests.
In the articles above, we help piano students from Initial to Grade 8 prepare for this exam and make the most of the 30 seconds they are given beforehand.
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