I recently received a PM asking about various levels of repertoire, ie, what level is this piece at, etc.

An excellent book, which I would encourage all English speaking teachers to have in their collection is The Pianist's Guide to Standard Teaching and Performance Literature by Jane MaGrath (pronounced McGraw).

It is very comprehensive, ranking student teaching and performance pieces by level of difficulty from 1 - 10.

It's published by Alfred, and you should be able to get a copy from one of PW's advertisers.

I find it helpful for locating seldom heard/never heard titles for my students. This takes a lot of the potential boredom out of teaching!

That looks like a great resource. Does it rank based on ABRSM?

No, Jane has simply taken standard teaching repertoire, divided it into musical periods, then listed by composer, and assigned it a level of difficulty, on a scale of 1 to 10. It's 550 pages of repertoire!

The Bach Inventions are 7 - 8; Sinfonias 9 - 10.

Burgmuller Innocence level 4

Brahms Rhapsody Op 79, n. 2, level 10.

Clementi Op 36, n. 1 level 4

Nozart Sonata Facile, K.545 level 7-8

She's quite consistent in assigning levels, so you can then devise a cross reference chart to help you convert to ABRSM, Guild, etc.

Thank you, John! I have been looking for a resource like that. I just bought a paperback new copy, easy to find on line.

That does sound like something useful, thanks

Could you check Clementi Op.36 No.3 and No.6 for me? Thanks!

Thank you, John for this "heads up" =-- I think I have seen this book in my former college library - I will have to get a copy of it.

I don't have the book. I was wondering if it includes an assessment of the Lemoine Etudes Op. 37? Or even better, has any of the teachers here used this set? If so would they share an opinion as to usefulness / degree of difficulty (are they at roughly one level or do they represent a sepctrum?)
Thanks in advance for responding.

It does. She ranks 9 of the etudes. I think this is in my library, but I haven't used it at in at least 20 years that I can recall.

Okay, just this once. I'm not a research librarian!

Clementi Op.36 No.3 - Level 7

Clementi Op.36 No.6 - Level 6

By the way, she usually adds a brief musical description of each work, as a way to guide the teacher in unfamiliar territory.

Thanks John. Have you ever assigned these Etudes? interested in your thoughts.

As for Jane Magrath's book, it is available on Google books in a free preview. The preview is generous and covers many pages but not complete. John can take a research break! Link below.

http://books.google.com/books?id=2i6rycSPbtgC&pg=PT1&dq=pianist%27s+guide+to+standard

Thanks John. I remembered when my son started piano lessons, my wife and I listened the Mozart K545 played by Wang Yuja. I said to my wife that I wish one day our son can play this piece for us. If Clementi Op36 No3 is close to the level of K545, we probably don't need to wait long before it happens.

Thanks for the link to Jane Magrath's book preview

Thanks for fixing it CY

How does it compare to Hinson's "Guide to the Pianist's Repertoire"?

Jim

Hinson's guide is more comprehensive, covering most all non-pedagogical piano music. It doesn't break down levels of difficulty as finely as MaGrath does.

Just to expand a bit, MaGrath focuses on primarily the vast intermediate level, including a lot of music written solely with students in mind, which takes students anywhere from 3 to 10 or more years to cover. For example, Brahms Rhapsody #2 is at the very upper reaches of what most students can hope to accomplish in their high school years; ditto the Bach Italian Concert. But both pieces are lower advanced repertoire.

I have both in my library, and use them frequently.

I have Hinson, courtesy of Opus45 on the beginners forum. He didn't need it and thought that Anthony and I might benefit so he mailed it to me. That's generosity!

Indeed, the McGrath seems geared toward finding the finer shadings in the beginning and intermediate repertoire. When the K545 gets a 7-8, there isn't a lot of room at the top to differentiate the vast advanced repertoire.

Then again, Hinson doesn't try to be all that precise in grading works.

That is a great resource! I will definitely check that out. It is also good for trying to find something in a particular style period that would be suitable for a student at a particular level of playing. There is so much rep out there to learn that I don't want to be limited to the same classical sonatinas or baroque pieces. Thanks!

Indiana University Press has copies of several of their books available online, including "Guide to the Pianist's Repertoire" by Maurice Hinson.

Here is the link:

http://www.iupress.indiana.edu/iol/

You do have to register, but it is free.

There is another repertoire book: "A Practical Guide to Solo Piano Music" by Trevor Barnard and Elizabeth Gutierrez. This book has only four levels which are ranked as:
- Level 1: Intermediate standard - not for beginners, but for those people that are already fairly proficient. (Chopin Marzurka No 6 in A minor, Opus 7 no 2)
- Level 2: Similar to the minimum standard for any first-year university or college student majoring in piano. (Example Debussy Arabesque No 1)
- Level 3: More challengin repertoire within the reach of the dedicated, more talented student; appropriate for upper division piano majors, or graduate level. (Example R Schumann Sonata No 3 in G minor Opus 22)
- Level 4: For virtuoso performers. (Example: Islamey)
This book is just a list of composers, works, levels, and publishers. No description or details.

Rich

That's a very good point; I had the same reaction to the rudimentary yet oft-cited "Level Guidelines" at the Sheet Music Plus website:

http://www.sheetmusicplus.com/help/level-guidelines

Perhaps coincidentally, they, too, assign Level 10 (out of 10 levels) to the Brahms Op. 79 rhapsodies.

Steven

There's also an Intermediate Piano Lit by Kathy Albergo and Reid Alexander. It's not as comprehensive as the other two, but it's also only $20, so it could be just what new teachers might want to start out with.

The Pianist's Guide to Standard Teaching and Performance Literature by Jane MaGrath

thanks for the recommendation. just bought it.