01

MPW Grade 1

Foundation Pianist

Meet the keyboard, build a healthy playing shape and make the first confident music.

Technique
  • Balanced bench position
  • Relaxed hand shape
  • Five-finger control in C
Reading
  • Keyboard geography
  • Finger numbers
  • Treble and bass landmark notes
Rhythm
  • Steady beat
  • Quarter, half and whole-note values
  • Simple rhythm echoes
Aural
  • High and low
  • Same and different
  • Echo two- and three-note patterns
Theory
  • Musical alphabet
  • Step and skip
  • Bar line and time signature
Repertoire
  • Three short original pieces with contrasting character
Hymns
  • Play a simple hymn melody with a steady pulse
Improvisation
  • Create a four-beat black-key answer phrase
Performance
  • Perform one memorised and one score-supported piece

Required evidence

Assignments

  1. Keyboard-map photo task
  2. Weekly pulse check
  3. Two short performance videos

Live teaching

Checkpoints

  1. Healthy setup
  2. Steady pulse
  3. Landmark-note recognition
  4. First performance

Ready to progress

Exit competencies

  1. Plays short pieces with a stable pulse
  2. Finds and reads core landmarks
  3. Practises a short mission with guardian support