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What piano grade is Moonlight Sonata?

On the other hand, in the opinion of The Piano Bubble (What Piano Grade is Beethoven's Moonlight Sonata 1st Movement?), it's a Grade 6 piece.

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TL;DR

The first movement of the Moonlight sonata has not been (publicly) graded by ABRSM, but the consensus puts it around grade 6, with grade 7 as a "maybe". I would err on the side of Grade 6, but if played with exceptional musicality, it would likely be acceptable in a grade 7 exam. I strongly recommend contacting ABRSM (or your local ABRSM coordinator) to ask if that piece is acceptable.

Discussion

Jane Magrath — whose book The Pianist's Guide to Standard Teaching and Performance Literature uses her own grading system — places the Moonlight sonata as Level 10, but that's the entire sonata, including the far more difficult third movement. However, comparing her grades on other ABRSM Grade 7 pieces, the Chopin Mazurka Op. 68, no. 2 she places at Level 9. Likewise, Moszkowski's "Calme du soir" (op. 94, no. 2) she places at level 8–9; Mendelssohn's "Song without Words" (Op. 19, no. 1) at level 9; Schumann's "Kind im Einschlummern" (Op. 15, no. 12) at level 9; and Debussy's "The Little Shepherd (Children's Corner, no. 5) at Level 8. Magrath's grading system is her own and distinct from the ABRSM's system; however, the two bear reasonable consistency with each other. That is, harder pieces get higher grades; easier ones get lower grades; and where there are differences, the tend to be only by one grade level. On the other hand, in the opinion of The Piano Bubble (What Piano Grade is Beethoven’s Moonlight Sonata 1st Movement?), it's a Grade 6 piece. Beethoven’s Moonlight Sonata 1st movement would be approximately grade 6 level if you are only concerned with playing the notes correctly.

However, the author allows that

to do it justice, the technical skill required to play this movement musically makes it diploma standard. Discussion on the ABRSM forum (Moonlight Sonata By Beethoven (what Grade Level?) also suggests the piece would be Grade 6, or even Grade 5. The thread Beethovens "moonlight" Sonata also suggests Grades 5 or 6. On Quora, What grade would the Moonlight Sonata 1st and 2nd movement be? suggests Grade 6 or 7; and What piano grade is Moonlight Sonata? places the first movement at Grade 7 or 8. On PianoWorld, What Grade are these pieces? guesses at Grade 5. PianoForum guesses everything from Grade 5 up to Grade 9.

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Is Moonlight Sonata 1st hard?

The first movement is very easy to play. Even if you have never touched a piano before, you can learn the first movement of the Moonlight Sonata without too much difficulty. Even if you can only practice for a few minutes each day, you can learn the first movement of the Moonlight Sonata in just a couple months.

This course consists of 15 videos that will teach you how to play the first movement of Beethoven's Moonlight Sonata in its entirety. The first movement of the Moonlight Sonata is a great song choice for beginners for the following reasons: The first movement is very easy to play. Even if you have never touched a piano before, you can learn the first movement of the Moonlight Sonata without too much difficulty. Even if you can only practice for a few minutes each day, you can learn the first movement of the Moonlight Sonata in just a couple months. Despite being very basic, the first movement of the Moonlight Sonata is very popular.

This course is broken into 15 videos.

Here are some of the reasons why you would want to choose this course over other courses that teach the same song: There are no prerequisites for this course. This course will teach you how to play the first movement of the Moonlight Sonata even if you have NEVER touched a piano. The video is filmed from directly overhead, making it very easy to see exactly which notes need to be hit. The panning and zooming during the video make it very easy to follow exactly where your fingers need to be placed. The emphasis is on learning to play the song. You will not be overburdened with theory. Ideally, it's best if you learn the song on a piano, but a keyboard can also be used. If you use a keyboard, it will sound best if you have a pedal. At the end of this course, you will be able to play the first movement of the Moonlight Sonata in its entirety. And with some practice, you will be able to play the song flawlessly.

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