Reviews: ABRSM violin and viola syllabuses from 2024

ABRSM always puts a great deal of effort into the selection of pieces for its exam syllabuses, while needing to comply with very specific criteria centring on duration, technical challenge, diversity of composers and so forth. The books represent a selection of the pieces available at each level, and can be a useful purchase, particularly for students in regions of the world where printed music is harder to come by. As usual, their string consultants have come up with selections that cover a broad palate of styles and tastes.

Here, the violin and viola collections have six pieces in common; two in each of the sections A, B and C. This eases study in larger groups in which violins and violas are taught together, and perhaps facilitates more students taking an exam at the end of the period of study. The selection has a child-centred feel to it, through titles such as Happy Hippo Hop, but could be enjoyed equally by older learners. Each piece has been picked with specific technical aims in mind, and there’s a wide range of musical styles, from the nice arrangement of ‘Autumn’ from The Four Seasons (arr. Blackwell) to traditional English, Welsh and French folk tunes (including The Old Woman and the Pedlar, arr. Bullard) and an upbeat Crunch Time by Nancy Litten. All the pieces make use of the first-finger pattern; some can be kept to one string if the fourth finger is used, and others make use of simple string crossings.