The repertoire covers a variety of genres and styles from baroque and classical to swing, contemporary, jazz and modern. Alongside established favourites, it includes over 80 newly commissioned pieces by leading percussion composers, enabling learners to immerse themselves in contemporary, idiomatic and vibrant music as part of their exam experience.
The new syllabus offers more flexibility than ever before and learners can focus on a single subject – Snare Drum, Timpani or Tuned Percussion exams – or they can perform across all three subjects in the Percussion (Combined) exam. There are also opportunities to play pieces accompanied by both piano and percussion across all subjects, as well as pieces for multi-percussion.
ABRSM's team of expert consultants are passionate about offering music that teachers will want to teach, and learners will want to learn and play. Ali Bowen-Davies, deputy head of learning and qualifications, said:
‘We're really excited to share our new Percussion syllabus. We wanted to generate something that was new, fresh and engaging. When we first began the redevelopment process, we found that as well as some fantastic existing works, we had an opportunity to create new repertoire that would showcase the different instruments, styles and techniques that are part of the modern percussionist's experience from the early stages. Early on in the process we made the decision to commission new pieces as a valuable addition to a percussionist's repertoire.
All the pieces in the syllabus have been through a robust selection process, and we're confident the music will resonate with teachers and learners worldwide. For us, this is more than just a renewed syllabus, this is our offering to the world of Percussion.”
To accompany the syllabus ABRSM has published a suite of supporting books to help learners prepare for their exams. These books cover the four percussion subjects – Snare Drum, Timpani, Tuned Percussion and Percussion (Combined) – and include:
- Percussion Exam Pieces & Studies books, featuring 15 pieces per book for Grades 1 to 5
- Principal Percussion book, featuring nine pieces for Grades 6-8
- Percussion Scales & Arpeggios books for Grade 1-5 and 6-8, for Tuned Percussion.
- Percussion Studies book for Grades 6-8, for Timpani and Snare Drum.
- Percussion Sight-Reading books for Grades 1-5 and 6-8, covering all subjects.
Percussion syllabus from January 2020 – what you need to know
The syllabus will be published 7 November 2019 and exams are available from January 2020. ABRSM has introduced a new structure for their Percussion exams to offer more flexibility for candidates.
Candidates will now have the choice of four percussion exam options:
- Snare Drum
- Timpani
- Tuned Percussion
- Percussion (Combined) – candidates perform on instruments for all three subjects
If a candidate chooses a single subject exam (in Snare Drum, Timpani or Tuned Percussion) they will play all three pieces from the repertoire list for the one subject. If they choose the Percussion (Combined) exam option, they will play one piece from each of the three subject lists.
For more information about ABRSM's new percussion syllabus, visit www.abrsm.org/percussion
