Advanced

Grades 9 and 10

The Advanced level challenges and rewards students with repertoire by the greatest composers of the piano literature. This considerable accomplishment celebrates dedication and commitment to excellence. Advanced Level study also prepares students for future musical studies, toward the Music Development Program’s Associate diplomas in Performance or Pedagogy and the Licentiate diploma in Performance, and/or at a post-secondary institution.

  • Repertoire at this level brings new musical demands for the hand, ear, and mind: complex textures, delicate balances, and subtle articulations, as well as complex harmonies and forms
  • Three- and four-part contrapuntal textures, contrasting movements of Classical sonatas, and more technically and interpretively demanding Romantic and Contemporary character pieces form the basis for developing artistry
  • The theoretical co-requisites for this level encourage students to integrate their repertoire into a larger musical context
  • Musicianship skills provide a foundation for active music making in both solo and ensemble repertoire
  • Students who begin teaching at this level may wish to prepare for the Elementary Piano Pedagogy Certificate, the first level of the Music Development Program’s Associate diploma in Pedagogy (pp. 106-116, Piano Syllabus)

Sample Programs

Level 9

Repertoire:

Bach, Johann Sebastian

Prelude and Fugue in C Minor, BWV 847

Mozart, Wolfgang Amadeus

Fantasia in D minor, K 397 (385g)

Grieg, Edvard

Notturno, op. 54, no. 4

Debussy, Claude

La fille aux cheveux de lin, Préludes 1, no. 8

Etudes:

Czerny, Carl

Study in C Major, op. 553, no. 1

Ibert, Jacques

La promenade en traîneau

 

Level 10

Repertoire:

Bach, Johann Sebastian

Prelude and Fugue in E flat Major, BWV 876

Mozart, Wolfgang Amadeus

Sonata in F Major, K332, 1st and 2nd movements

Liszt, Franz

Liebestraum no. 3

Ravel, Maurice

Prélude, Le tombeau de Couperin

Copland, Aaron

The Cat and the Mouse (Scherzo humoristique)

Etudes:

Chopin, Frédéric

Étude in A flat Major

Rachmaninoff, Sergei

Étude-tableaux, op. 33, no. 8

Technical skills

  • Scales, chords, and arpeggios introduced in earlier levels are reinforced in all major and minor keys
  • Variations on scale patterns and the introduction of additional exercises present new challenges to students
  • Tempos increase to reflect the demands of the repertoire

 

Musicianship skills

Musicianship is essential for fostering creativity in students. Advanced level students integrate the sense of melodic, rhythmic, and harmonic awareness developed at earlier levels into the aural reproduction of contrapuntal textures, further enhancing their improvisational and compositional abilities.

Aural skills

  • Aural skills are nurtured through the practice of clapping back rhythmic patterns (rhythmic clapback) and playing or singing short melodic patterns (melodic playback)
  • Contrapuntal textures are introduced to the melodic playback as students are required to replicate one of the two voices
  • Students are also asked to identify triads and tonic four-note chords, including dominant and diminished sevenths, in root position and inversions

Reading skills

  • Reading skills involve clapping rhythmic passages of up to six measures in length in simple and compound time signatures, and playing extended excerpts in any time signature and any major or minor key

View the complete syllabus requirements for Level 9
View the complete syllabus requirements for Level 10

 

Required Theory Assessments

The Comprehensive Achievement Certificate is awarded to recognize students who have completed both the practical (performance) and theory assessments for the specific level.

  • Students who have completed the Level 9 Practical (Performance) Assessment, as well as Basic Harmony AND History 1 will earn a Comprehensive Achievement Certificate for Level 9
  • Students who have completed the Level 10 Practical (Performance) Assessment, Intermediate Harmony, and History 2 will earn a Comprehensive Achievement Certificate for Level 10

Basic Harmony

Basic Harmony introduces:

  • The basic functions and interactions of chords
  • Aspects of voice leading
  • Compositional structure and form

View the complete syllabus requirements for Basic Harmony (pp. 22-23)

History 1

History I provides students with an overview of the broad landscape of music developments from the 17th century forward. Close-ups of selected composers and works invite students into a life-long exploration of how music fits and functions in individual and community life.

View the complete syllabus requirements for History 1: (pp. 31-15)

Intermediate Harmony

Intermediate Harmony builds upon the chords and techniques of Basic Harmony, with the addition of:

  • Figured bass
  • A broader range of chords and harmonic sequences
  • Modulation to closely related keys
  • Analysis of rondo and sonata forms

View the complete syllabus requirements for Intermediate Harmony (pp. 23-24)

History 2

History 2 provides a survey of music from the Middle Ages and Renaissance, forming a background for a more intensive study of the Baroque and Classical periods.

View the complete syllabus requirements for History 2 (pp. 36-39)