ABRSM Piano FRSM Materials

Where to Get Music (online & music shops):

There is a lot of sheet music on Amazon but availbility is far from unlimited. IMSLP is a good starting point for explorations of older editions but it is always good to buy the music you play which you willl spend a lot of time with.

🎹 Chimes Music

🎹 Boosey & Hawkes

🎹 Presto Music

🎹 Stretta Music

🎹 Music Room

🎹 Sheet Music at Foyles

🎹 Sheet Music Plus

“For the virtuoso, musical works are in fact nothing but tragic and moving materializations of his emotions; he is called upon to make them speak, weep, sing and sigh, to recreate them in accordance with his own consciousness. In this way he, like the composer, is a creator, for he must have within himself those passions that he wishes to bring so intensely to life.”
Franz Liszt

"Do not aim for mere dexterity, or the so-called 'bravura'. Try to recreate the spirit intended by the composer, nothing more; anything else is a caricature. All mechanical brilliance fades over time; technical skill is of value only when it serves a higher purpose."
Robert Schumann

"Men such as Sauer, Rachmaninov, d’Albert, Paderewski, Godowsky, Bachaus, Rosenthal, Pauer, Joseffy, Stojowski, Scharwenka, Gabrilowitsch, Hofmann, Bauer, Lhevinne, to say nothing of the ladies, Bloomfield-Zeisler, Carreño, Goodson, et al.,many of whom are intellectual giants. Most all are exceedingly regular in their habits, and at least two are strong temperance advocates. Intellectually, pianists of this class represent a very remarkable kind of mentality. One is impressed with the surprising quickness with which their brains operate even in ordinary conversation. Speaking in alien languages, they find comparatively little difficulty in expressing themselves with rapidity and fluency. Very few great singers ever acquire a similar ease. These pianists are wonderfully well read, many being acquainted with the liter-
ature of three or more tongues in the original. Indeed, it is not unusual to find them skipping through several languages during ordinary conversation without realizing that they are performing linguistic feats that would put the average college graduate to shame. They are familiar with art, science, politics, manufactures, even in their most recent developments."
James Francis Cooke Great Pianists on Piano Playing

"The artist’s life is wrapped up in making his readings of master works more significant, more eloquent, more beautiful. He is interested in everything that contributes to his artistry, whether it be literature, science, history, art or the technic of his own interpretative development. He penetrates the various mystic problems which surround piano playing by the infallible process of persistent study and reflection. The psychical phase of his work interests him immensely, particularly the phenomena of personal attraction—often called magnetism."
James Francis Cooke Great Pianists on Piano Playing (1917)

Technique:

👉 Chopin, Frederic Etudes Op. 10

👉 Chopin, Frederic Etudes Op. 25

👉 Debussy Etudes

👉 Ligeti, György Études pour piano, premier livre

👉 Ligeti, György Études pour piano, deuxième livre

👉 Ligeti, György Études pour piano, troisième livre

👉 Liszt, Franz Etudes d'exécution transcendante

👉 Rachmaninoff, Sergei Etudes-tableaux, Op.33

👉 Rachmaninoff, Sergei Etudes-tableaux, Op. 39

👉 Scriabin 12 Etudes Op. 8

👉 Scriabin 8 Etudes Op. 42

FRSM Piano - Prepare, Learn & Expand Repertoire

[PAGE CURRENTLY IN THE MAKING - VISIT AGAIN SOON - TO BE FINISHED BY THE END OF THIS MONTH]

📖 "Through diligent study and perseverance you will rise ever higher."
Robert Schumann

📖 "Take it for granted from the beginning that everything is possible on the piano, even when it seems impossible to you, or really is so.
Ferruccio Busoni, in Letter to Woltersdorf, 1898

Check out the official materials provided on the ABRSM website:

👉 ABRSM Diplomas - Music Performance

👉 ABRSM Diplomas - Music Teaching

📖 “To the young man or woman who would learn ‘The Secret of Public Appearance’ I would say:
1. Look deeply into your natural qualifications. Use every morsel of judgment you possess to endeavor to determine whether you are talented or simply ‘clever’ at music. Court the advice of unbiased professional musicians and meditate upon the difficulties leading to a successful career, and do not decide to add one more musician to the world until you are confident of your suitability for the work. Remember that this moment of decision is a very important time and that you may be upon the threshold of a dangerous mistake. Remember that there are thousands of successful and happy teachers for one successful virtuoso.
2. After you have determined to undertake the career of the concert performer let nothing stand in the way of study, except the consideration of your health. Success with a broken-down body and a shattered mind is a worthless conquest. Remember that if you wish a permanent position you must be thoroughly trained in all branches of your art.
3. Avoid charlatanism and the kind of advertisement that will bring you notoriety at the sacrifice of your self-respect and the respect of your best friends. Remember that real worth is, after all, the thing that brings enduring fame.
4. Study the public. Seek to find out what pleases it, but never lower the standards of your art. Read the best literature. Study pictures. Travel. Broaden your mind. Acquire general culture.
5. Be careful of your stage deportment. Endeavor to do nothing at the keyboard that will emphasize any personal eccentricity. Always be sincere and true to your own nature, but within these limits try to make a pleasing impression.
6. Always be your own severest critic. Be not easily satisfied with yourself. Hitch your wagon to a star. Let your standard of perfection be the very highest. Always strive to reach that standard. Never play in public a piece that you have not thoroughly mastered. There is nothing more valuable than public confidence. Once secured, it is the greatest asset an artist can possess.
Fanny Bloomfield-Zeisler in James Francis Cooke's Great Pianists on Piano Playing (1907)