Inspire archive

Throughout December, we will be sharing good news stories in the form of an advent calendar. These stories are a mixture of discounts, resources, free training, or celebratory films from our partners. We hope you enjoy them!

We are delighted to share with you our third Global High Scorers’ Concert on 14 November.

Shania shares her top tips for beginner musicians. ABRSM helps young musicians like Shania through a fund to support their music making, in partnership with the National Youth Arts Trust (NYAT).

Chelsea Carmichael, Artistic Director of the Jazz Messengers, reflects on collaborative leadership, making jazz relevant for the younger generation.

Tania Davis, violinist in the Bond Quartet, performs Allegro by Veracini. This is a Grade 8 piece from our 2020-2023 Violin syllabus.

This exciting new competition has been created by the Commonwealth Resounds charity to encourage young people around the world to compose a short piece of music in response to the coronavirus pandemic.

To celebrate the recent publication of our Core Classics books we’ve put together a short quiz on our piano pieces. Can you guess the piece from the first bar of music?

In this article Dr Mignon van Vreden, a lecturer in Music Education at South Africa’s North-West University, explores the interaction between music, play, learning and creativity.

Tracy has always loved music but wasn't too serious about it until her late 20s. She toured America, Australia and Europe with Bandit Queen. She really misses playing live and always feels healthier and happier when she is playing music.

Writing new music is as important and interesting as playing a musical instrument or singing. However, many young people around the world don’t know how to start writing music.

In the next instalment of The RPS Conversation, RPS Chief Executive James Murphy, introduces four people who have each done remarkable musical deeds in lockdown.

The new Percussion syllabus is here and I’d like to introduce you to what it has to offer...

Today marks the last instalment of ‘free piece of the day’ and we hope you’ve enjoyed the pieces we’ve shared. Don’t worry if you’ve missed some of our pieces, you can browse and download any of them on our online library until the end of the year.

Composer Cheryl Frances-Hoad highlights the delight and responsibility involved in writing music for learners. Cheryl’s music is featured in our Piano syllabus.

Performed by Rob Burton (alto saxophone) & Konya Kanneh-Mason (piano), both students at the Royal Academy of Music, Faure’s Après un rêve is a Grade 5 piece from our 2018-2021 Saxophone syllabus.

Performed by ABRSM examiner Gary Ryan, this arrangement of Take Five is from the ABRSM Guitar syllabus (from 2019) and features in the Guitar Exam Pieces book at Grade 5.

Join the Making Music team tomorrow at 7pm for their latest concert broadcast on their YouTube channel.

We help young musicians like Irobosa through a fund to support their music making, in partnership with the National Youth Arts Trust (NYAT).

Start your personalised journey and learn key guitar skills step by step. Sign up today and try it out for free, then pay just £8.99 a month.

The Commonwealth Resounds, an organisation sponsored by ABRSM, created the Commonwealth Composition Challenge in March 2020.

Over the coming weeks, the Royal Philharmonic Society will be sharing stories of other significant occasions when music has shone a light in the dark. 

To celebrate the launch of our Piano syllabus for 2021 & 2022, we are thrilled to share this video of Konya Kanneh-Mason performing one of the brilliant new pieces from Grade 4.

This piece is ‘funky’ in its syncopated rhythmic phrasing and ‘leaps’ around with quick octave changes.

We help young musicians like Shania through a fund to support their music making, in partnership with the National Youth Arts Trust (NYAT).

Guy Johnston (cello) and Tom Poster (piano) perform Tchaikovsky’s Douce Rêverie. This is a Grade 4 piece from our 2020-2023 Cello syllabus.

Congratulations from all of us at ABRSM to the performers taking part in this very special High Scorers’ Concert.  

This beautiful piece performed by Gary Ryan, features in the ABRSM Guitar syllabus from 2019 at Grade 8.

From watching our social media feeds, it feels like so many musicians are finding ways to connect with each other by performing in virtual ensembles.