Exams/Trinity/Trinity · Grade 5
Set pieces and reviews
Trinity College London Grade 5 piano runs on the 2023+ syllabus, in force for 2024–26 exams. The repertoire is a single list with no List A/B/C split; candidates choose three pieces (one of which may be a free-choice piece or own composition that fits the level). The list itself is the property of Trinity College London; references on this page are factual citations of each composition.
Exam pieces — editorial reviews
C major · 100 bpm
Invention No. 1 in C major, BWV 772
Johann Sebastian Bach
Bach's *Two-Part Inventions, BWV 772–786* are foundational keyboard pedagogy.
Read review →
G major · 132 bpm
Sonatina in G, Anh. 5 No. 1 — first movement
attrib. Ludwig van Beethoven
The two *Sonatinas in G and F, WoO Anh.
Read review →
E major · 60 bpm
Consolation No. 1 in E major, S. 172
Franz Liszt
Liszt's *Consolations* (1849) are six short lyrical pieces that stand apart from his bravura virtuoso writing.
Read review →
E minor · 60 bpm
Prelude in E minor, Op. 28 No. 4
Frédéric Chopin
Chopin's *Op.
Read review →
B♭ major · 100 bpm
Song of the Old Grandfather (No. 19 from Children's Album, Op. 39)
Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky
Tchaikovsky composed his *Children's Album, Op.
Read review →
E major · 76 bpm
Arabesque No. 1 in E major, L. 66
Claude Debussy
Debussy wrote his two *Arabesques* in 1888–91, before the mature Impressionist piano cycles, and the E-major first Arabesque is one of his most-played piano pieces.
Read review →
C · 120 bpm
For Children, vol. 1, No. 36
Béla Bartók
Bartók's *For Children* (1908–09, revised 1945) ends with a sequence of pieces that reach toward genuine recital repertoire — folk-derived melodies set with the harmonic and rhythmic complexity of Bartók's mature voice.
Read review →
C major · 96 bpm
The Entertainer (arr. for solo piano)
Scott Joplin (arr. various)
Scott Joplin published *The Entertainer* in 1902, and the piece — re-popularised by its use in the 1973 film *The Sting* — is one of the most-played examples of the classic ragtime style.
Read review →
E♭ major · 130 bpm
Clocks (Coldplay)
Guy Berryman, Jonny Buckland, Will Champion & Chris Martin (arr. various)
Coldplay released *Clocks* on their second album *A Rush of Blood to the Head* (2002), and the piece won the Grammy for Record of the Year in 2004.
Read review →
Other set pieces
The remaining pieces on the official Trinity Grade 5 repertoire list. Editorial reviews for these are in preparation; for now, the full scores and notes appear in the official syllabus book.
- Two-Part Invention No. 4 in D minor, BWV 775Johann Sebastian Bach
- Romanian Folk Dance No. 1 (Stick Dance)Béla Bartók
- La Tarentelle (No. 20 from Op. 100)Friedrich Burgmüller
- Sérénade, Op. 29Cécile Chaminade
- Waltz in A minor, B. 150 (Posth.)Frédéric Chopin
- Sonatina in D, Op. 36 No. 6 — AllegroMuzio Clementi
- Sonatina in F, Op. 168 No. 1 — Andante cantabileAnton Diabelli
- Le OndeLudovico Einaudi
- Scherzo (from Op. 101)Cornelius Gurlitt
- Sonata in G, Hob. XVI:8 — AllegroJoseph Haydn
- Study in A minor, Op. 47 No. 5Stephen Heller
- Venetian Boat Song, Op. 19 No. 6Felix Mendelssohn
- Stomp (from Microjazz)Christopher Norton
- Sonata in D minor, K. 32Domenico Scarlatti
- Knight Rupert (from Op. 68)Robert Schumann
- Polka (from Op. 39)Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky
- Blues in Two (from Jazzin' About)Pam Wedgwood
Syllabus sections
- Scales
- Sight-reading
- Aural
- Theory
- Practice planplaceholder
External reading