Abrsm 2025 & 2026<br />Grade 3 Piano Exam<br />Category C 1<br />Song Name / Song Piece Allegretto<br />Composer Béla Bartók<br />Recommended tempo is for this piece is 126bpm, but although that is the printed metronome mark, students might prefer a slower tempo, such as 108bpm, as mentioned at the bottom of the page, in the footnotes of the Grade 3 (2025 & 2026) exam book. The tempo played in this video is based on 117 bpm, which seemed a good speed to play it at.<br />The main challenge is remembering to play all of the notes which are marked with the little horizontal dash above or below the note-heads: tenuto. (You must give the note it’s absolute FULL value) It is very easy to not do this and end up playing some of those notes staccato by mistake - even I didn’t manage to play them as well as I would have liked - so the importance of good, audible contrast between the staccato notes and those marked tentuto notes cannot be underestimated. Slow practise is vital to achieve this detail.<br />Dynamics are straightforward, but watch out for the rit. (slowing down) at bar 25 - with a slight pause between bars 26 and 27. The final two bars are played a tempo (original tempo).<br />#ABRSM #Piano #ABRSMsyllabus #Pianolearning #PianoSolo #BélaBartók
