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Jazz Piano

About Jazz Piano exams

We offer a range of assessments for jazz piano players, including Performance Grades and Practical Grades at Grades 1 to 5, Performance Assessment and Jazz Ensemble exams.  

Jazz Performance Grades are digital exams and are available worldwide from January 2024.   

Face-to-face Jazz exams (Practical Grades, Performance Assessment and Ensembles) are only available in Australia, India, Ireland, New Zealand, Singapore and the UK.  

Read on to find out more about Jazz Piano exams. 

theory
Jazz Piano – Practical Grades

Australia, India, Ireland, New Zealand, Singapore and the UK only.

Practical Grades are face-to-face exams that focus on all-round musical knowledge and skills, including performance and improvisation. Jazz Piano exams are available at Grades 1 to 5. In the exam you perform three tunes, play scales and arpeggios and take quick study and aural tests.    

Jazz Piano – Performance Grades

Performance Grades for Jazz Piano will be available worldwide from January 2024. 

These are digital exams assessed from a video recording by a specialist examiner. There are no booking periods or exam sessions so you can choose when to book, record and submit your exam. 

Jazz Performance Grades are available at Grades 1 to 5. They have a strong focus on performance, including interpretation and embellishment of material, improvisation, playing with characteristic jazz tonal colour, and sustaining an idiomatic groove in a way that reflects the realities of jazz performance. For the exam you perform a programme of four pieces, all chosen from the syllabus.

As well as reading the qualification specification and syllabus, you should read our Performance Grade guidance which includes important information about recording and submitting your exam video. Follow the link below to find out more.

Downloads

Download PDFs of the qualification specification and syllabus. 

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