We’re excited to announce the launch of our new Brass syllabuses for use in Practical and Performance Grades from 1 January 2023.

Discover refreshed repertoire for all instruments and grades. From jazz to film, classical to musicals and everything in between, you’ll find music that’s perfect for whole classes, small groups or individuals.

To reflect the different contexts in which people teach and learn - from the worlds of orchestral brass to brass bands - we’ve increased flexibility around accompaniment with the inclusion of duets up to Grade 3 and you’ll find music that lends itself to group teaching, in mixed-instrument ensembles at Grades 1 to 5.  

While we’ve kept many popular pieces from the current syllabus, there are also plenty of new works. In particular, we’ve increased the number of colourful and popular pieces from film, TV and musicals as well as music from composers from traditionally underrepresented groups. 

In response to feedback from teachers and students, we’ve also made some changes to our supporting tests for Practical Grades: 

• Scales and arpeggios are now shared across most instruments to aid group teaching at Grades 1 to 3 
• Sight-reading has been written as short pieces that reflect the music that players would normally sight-read. 
• At Grades 6 to 8, Horn and Trumpet players no longer need to take a separate transposition test. Instead, we have devised brand new tests that incorporate sight-reading and transposition.

And still to come…

Look out for Brass Mix, a series of new repertoire books to support the syllabus, and a new practice app, launching later this year.