gabadal wynema dictionary
Saurabh Cloudas
As ever, I hope my review will explain the most important changes, give readers a first impression of the new publications, and offer some general thoughts on the repertoire selections and direction of travel.
I am going to start by stating that this is a radical update, a riot of invention, but of course that also makes it rather controversial. Questions about whether it offers a comparable and valid educational route are inevitable.
I have confirmed with the board that this means the entire contents of the 2021 Piano Standard and Extended Edition books (pieces and exercises) will remain valid for use in exams and available indefinitely alongside the new 2023 books, including the pieces carried over from the 2018 syllabus.
Trinity plan to continue extending the syllabus repertoire lists by publishing additional digital downloads, graded books, anthologies, and including recommended pieces from external publications. They suggest this will offer a more accessible approach for teachers and students who do not want to be forced to buy new books every couple of years.
For those that purchase the new 2023 syllabus publications however, they are immediately valid for use in assessment. And in common with other boards, Trinity allow candidates to take their exams in a variety of ways, in-person or digitally.
For the purposes of this review I am looking at the Extended Edition books, although in addition to physical copies of these, Trinity kindly provided digital copies of the Standard Editions for review purposes.
The presentation of the books can honestly be described as gorgeous. Not only so, but straight out the box, these are substantial books that will provide a lasting and superb resource for teachers and players. With brilliant cover artwork by Rod Steele, soft card covers, and with subtle colour coding that matches the 2021 syllabus publications, the books make an immediate and strikingly positive impression.
Within, they are printed on luxury cream paper, have a clean presentation, well-spaced and beautifully engraved notation. An appropriate level of fingering is included throughout all the books, and in the pieces I played during the initial review phase this all proved effective.
A significant concern is quickly apparent however. Across all eight grades, copious editorial dynamics and articulations have been added to the baroque and classical works. This is a very disappointing step backwards from the excellent 2021 syllabus books where, in the higher grades, Trinity rightly sought to reproduce the original scores as faithfully as possible.
These professional recordings, remember, are only available with the Extended Edition. They are generally excellent, well recorded, and add considerably to the value. Bearing in mind that a large proportion of the music in this syllabus will be unknown to teachers, I must recommend them as an essential resource.
Looking at the Extended Editions from Initial to Grade 8, we are confronted with 189 pieces, suitable for all levels, and with an unprecedented stylistic range. When the publications arrived I felt like a giddy child in a sweet shop; teachers may feel similarly overwhelmed.
A word about benchmarking. Given that so much of this material has never appeared in any exam board offering before, this must have been an even greater challenge than usual. My overall feeling is that, while benchmarking is a notoriously inexact science, Trinity have broadly got it right here, albeit with some variance and minor inconsistencies within most grades.
A substantial quantity of the included repertoire in these publications was not originally composed for the piano. We could certainly pause right here, and have a lengthy debate. Surely there is no shortage of stunning original music composed for the piano?
Questions about whether or not it is imperative to serve up a selection of such arrangements in order to enthuse our students will always be accompanied by concerns about whether those arrangements convey the essence of the original music, while still fulfilling their remit as benchmarked, assessable solo piano transcriptions.
One of my students was amused to see Ajeeb Dastan Hai Yeh from Bollywood classic Dil Anna Our Preet Para in the Grade 5 book, and explained how much it would mean for her parents if she were to learn it. When I sight-read it for her, she was enthusiastically impressed with the arrangement. High praise, and I equally enjoyed playing it.
Piano enthusiasts may well find this sidelining of core composers perplexing, and I suspect very few music lovers would sympathise with any suggestion that, having featured on the syllabus in 2021, such great names of the piano repertoire need not appear at all in the core 2023 publications that so many teachers and students will focus and rely on.
In recent years I have reviewed and considered hundreds of piano publications, and yet there are many, many composers in these selections whose names I have literally never come across before. Trinity have seemingly opted to commission and source as much fresh repertoire as possible, and from composers whose reputation has yet to be established.
In the final analysis, I must admit that as a musical adventurer and repertoire collector, I am excited by the multiplicity of new treasures in these publications. But as a teacher, I have concerns about a lack of balance here. I wonder how many (or perhaps how few) of these pieces will ultimately land well with teachers and learners, and earn a lasting place in our affections.
There is certainly much to commend in their 2023 piano syllabus, and their idea of a cumulative ongoing resource is a genuinely interesting one that holds much promise, particularly if the board can find a way to require a more balanced mix of music at the assessment stage.
However, it seems to me that in their next syllabus update, whenever that comes, Trinity will need to prioritise reintroducing the timeless masterpieces and essential pedagogic repertoire of the piano. Only then, in my view, will their ambitious learning resource develop into one which truly meets the needs of aspiring pianists. And I believe that their syllabus publications and assessment requirements simply must reflect that balance, too.
I hope that you have found this review helpful and informative. Please subscribe to Pianodao below, and consider joining the Music Club, where you can access significant discounts on these and other publications, and join others in exploring the wonders of the piano repertoire.
The inclusion of performance notes is particularly welcome and these give additional context and practical hints for teaching and performing each piece. I felt that the quality of the books had also improved, particularly the interior paper, something which I have always disliked in previous Trinity publications. I hope their other publications will follow this trend.
Overall, the difficulty level of pieces broadly matches the grade, although with such a huge selection of pieces, this was clearly a challenge. The result is that whilst pieces are broadly of similar difficulty levels, there can be huge variation at an individual grade. I felt this was particularly the case at Grade 4. Some of the Grade 5 pieces, whilst not necessarily hard, were quite long. This is something both teachers and candidates will need to bear in mind when devising a balanced programme. I have long felt that Initial Grade is very close to Grade 1, and this year is no exception. On balance, I still find that LCM Step 1 and Step 2 provide a more accessible route to Grade 1.
Only ever done ABRSM. Lots of people say Trinity is easier. Piano teacher says they are not easier, just different.
I don't think it matters, specially the low grades are there to aim for something. Your DD has done exceptionally well, I have never heard of a 100% score for practical exams. Just enjoy it and don't worry about which board it was.
The syllabi are different for each board so would suggest she picks whichever pieces she enjoys mist for Gr 4 and go with that.
That's brilliant, well done!
I use ABRSM almost entirely although I've had kids do Trinity Gd 6+ sometimes if they are slow at their theory work. I think Trinity is a bit easier but who cares, it's still an amazing g result.
ABRSM has historically been the more academic and the more classical performance focused of the two. Trinity is a more modern exam with less emphasis on theory and more emphasis on creative musicianship. For most students in most instruments it is regarded as a little more forgiving.
Nobody cares! Different not easier. Mine did both, partly to avoid G5 theory. When they get to uni/conservatoire, no-one is interested ... or even if they don't ... which board they did, just how they play. But I do understand how this question arises ... it's the same with GCSE/A level exam boards.
I find the marking more consistent in Trinity than ABRSM - I think the fact that they split the marking of their pieces really helps this, as sometimes with ABRSM my students feel like they have been dinged massively for something an examiner personally disliked - a Grade 4 in November (face to face exam) was given 21/30 for a piece due to the speed she played at - which was the speed marked by the composer! All the comments were related to the speed, which the examiner felt was too slow. In Trinity fluency & accuracy, technical facility and Communication & interpretation are the three areas marked, with the scores for each added together to achieve the final mark for each piece.
With ABRSM you can complain if you feel the marking is unreasonable, but you will be offered a free retake at best. Trinity however make an audio recording of all their exams all of their exams, and therefore they can be more rigorous about holding their examiners to account about their marking.
Shufflestep ..."In Trinity fluency & accuracy, technical facility and Communication & interpretation are the three areas marked, with the scores for each added together to achieve the final mark for each piece." ... totally agree, felt there was more credit for musicality rather than box ticking. And one of mine got his G8 result on the same day with Trinity which was lovely, and the fixers seem to take an immense amount of care putting the day together whereas we have had very mixed experiences with ABRSM.
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