ABRSM piano sight-reading
Grade 1 sight-reading: three new keys and a rest to count
Four to six bars, one hand at a time, in C, G or F major, or A or D minor, in 4/4, 3/4 or 2/4. Any five-finger position now, not only the one on the key note. Half a minute to look, then play. Worth 21 of 150.
Checked against the ABRSM 2025-26 syllabus · last reviewed 3 September 2026 · 6 min read
Grade 1 sight-reading parameters
Checked by us against the 2025-26 syllabus
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What changed
Since Initial Grade
Grade 1 adds eleven things to the Initial Grade row if you count the way the table does: one time signature, three keys, a looser hand position and six lines of other features. Every one of them is a reading problem rather than a playing problem (page 16).
Two new majors, G and F, each with one thing in the key signature. That means the first time a candidate has to look at the start of the line, see a sharp or a flat, and carry it through four bars without being reminded. A minor arrives too, with nothing in the signature and, from this grade, "occasional accidentals (within minor keys only)". In practice that means the raised seventh, G♯ in A minor, C♯ in D minor, and sometimes the raised sixth on the way up. It is not a trap. It is the syllabus telling you which minor you are in.
3/4 arrives, which brings the dotted minim, a note that lasts a whole bar. Groups of four quavers join the pairs. Two new rests: the minim rest (two beats of nothing) and the crotchet rest (one beat, and the one children fumble). The whole-bar rest carries over from Initial Grade. Slurs and accents, mf and mp, and hairpins for crescendo and diminuendo. So there are now four dynamic levels to tell apart and a way of moving between them.
The hand position changes in a small way with a big consequence. Initial Grade parks the hand on the key note. Grade 1 says "any 5-finger position". The hand still does not move during the test, but it may start anywhere. Which means you cannot assume the thumb is on the tonic. You have to read the first note and put the hand there.
Why it is hard: the amount to check in the half minute has doubled. Key signature, time signature, where the hand starts, where the rests are, and whether there is an accidental waiting in bar three. In our experience, Grade 1 candidates who lose marks usually lose them on the rest or the sharp: playing F where the signature said F♯, or crotchet-resting for no time at all. Both are "note values" and "key" on page 60, and both are avoidable in the half minute.
Everything from Initial Grade still applies. New at Grade 1:
- Length
- unchanged
- Time signatures
- new: 3 / 4
- Keys
- new: G major
- new: F major
- new: A minor
- Hands
- Hands separately, each in a five-finger position from the key note up to the fifthnowAny five-finger position
- Other features
- new: the odd accidental, in minor keys only
- new: dotted minims; quavers in groups of four
- new: minim and crotchet rests
- new: slurs and accents
- new: dynamics mf and mp
- new: crescendo and diminuendo hairpins
The drill plan
A week that fits a life
Grade 1 is a checklist grade. The plan trains the checklist until it runs on its own.
The half minute, in this order. Key signature (say it: "one sharp, so every F is F♯"). Time signature (3/4 means the dotted minim fills a bar). First note of the hand; put the fingers there. Scan for rests and accidentals and put a fingertip on each one. Ten seconds. The remaining twenty can go on trying out the trickiest bar, which page 15 allows.
Monday, Wednesday, Friday: key signature and first note. Deal yourself a few notes below in G major, F major, A minor and D minor. The dealer keeps to a five-finger hand from the key note at this grade; the exam may park the hand anywhere, so with every line you practise, read the first note rather than assuming the thumb is on the tonic. When a G♯ turns up in A minor, that is the "occasional accidental" doing its job. Five minutes, then one unseen Initial Grade line, one hand, played once, no stopping.
Tuesday, Thursday: rests and rhythm. On the piano lid. Tap four bars of 3/4 with a dotted minim in bar two and a crotchet rest in bar three. Count out loud in practice (the specification is silent on counting aloud in the exam). Then four bars of 4/4 with a minim rest in bar three: two beats of nothing, counted, hand still. Then a group of four quavers, "one-and-two-and", even, not rushed.
Weekend: dynamics. One short unseen line with all four dynamic levels and a hairpin. Play it once, exaggerating the differences: f, mf, mp and p should be four different sounds. Then stop.
What to ignore. Hands together (Grade 2). Ties (Grade 2). Any note outside the five under the hand (Grade 3). Chords (Grade 3). Accidentals in major keys: the table restricts them to minor keys at this grade. The internet will suggest tempo work; the table prints no tempo marks, so an unhurried steady speed is the target, and the Merit descriptor, "adequate tempo, usually steady pulse", agrees.
Deal me a note
What a Grade 1 test can ask of your eyes
The staff below deals notes inside this grade's keys, key signature shown. Press the letter, or click it.
This checks the letter. MidiSlayer checks the note you actually played, in time.
Traps
Where Grade 1 candidates lose marks
- Playing F for F♯. G major's one sharp is the most-missed note in Grade 1 sight-reading. Say the key signature out loud in the half minute and touch every F on the page.
- Crotchet-resting for no time. The crotchet rest is new. It is one beat of silence. Counted, not skipped.
- Assuming the thumb is on the tonic. That was Initial Grade. Grade 1 is "any 5-finger position". Read the first note; put the hand there.
- Treating the accidental as a misprint. G♯ in A minor is the syllabus, not an error on the page. Play it.
- Flat dynamics. mf, mp and hairpins are on the table. "Musical detail realised" is the Distinction line on page 60; four audible levels is what it means at Grade 1.
The honest bit
What MidiSlayer does for Grade 1, and what it does not
At Grade 1, MidiSlayer's Graded Reading deals single notes in C, G and F majors and A and D minors, across a range a little wider than an octave, key signature on the staff, the raised seventh appearing in the minors as the table allows, and missed notes coming back more often within a session. The five-finger hand is the rule for the dealer on this page, not the app. It is a note drill, not an exam simulator; line reading with rests and hairpins lives in Practice with real pieces. Graded Reading is part of the full app, one payment, yours to keep. The free version includes Note Flashcards, the Learn course and the daily game. Download it free.
Free to start. One payment for everything, yours to keep.
Questions
Asked about Grade 1
C, G and F majors, A and D minors (page 16). G, F and A minor are new; C major and D minor carry over from Initial Grade because the parameters are cumulative.
No. The Grade 1 hand-position cell says "any 5-finger position" and the hands-separately rule from Initial Grade still applies. Hands together starts at Grade 2.
The length cell is blank at Grade 1, meaning it inherits Initial Grade's four bars in 4/4 or six in 2/4. 3/4 arrives at Grade 1 with no separate length printed. Expect four to six bars.
Yes, "occasional accidentals (within minor keys only)". In practice that is the raised seventh: G♯ in A minor, C♯ in D minor. Major-key tests at Grade 1 have none.
Half a minute (page 15), and you may try any or all of it on the piano in that time.
Five to ten minutes, most days, from a few months out. Two on key signatures and first notes, two on rests, and one unseen line played once. It does not cram; the habit is what the examiner hears.
3/4 time; G and F majors and A minor; any five-finger position; minor-key accidentals; dotted minims and groups of four quavers; minim and crotchet rests; slurs, accents, mf, mp and hairpins. The diff on this page marks every one.
MidiSlayer is independent of ABRSM and not endorsed by it. ABRSM is a trade mark of The Associated Board of the Royal Schools of Music, used here to identify the exams these pages describe. Exam facts are taken from the ABRSM Piano Syllabus 2025 & 2026 (© ABRSM), quoted briefly with acknowledgement and otherwise stated in our own words.