The ten levels
What each level looks like.
Every four-bar passage in the corpus is scored on how hard its notation is to read cold and banded into ten levels — a single line at 1, one hand at 2, both hands from 4, dense and independent by 10. The grade anchors are ranges, not equivalences: our passages are shorter and in easier keys than an exam test.
Or skip the quiz — read a passage now →
-
Level 1 · treble clef
A treble-clef line, four bars, no accidentals — stepwise, in a five-finger position.
Engraving an example…
≈ ABRSM Initial · ≈ RCM Prep–1 sight-reading
-
Level 2 · treble clef
Treble clef only; dotted rhythms and the first accidentals.
Engraving an example…
≈ ABRSM Grade 1 · ≈ RCM 1 sight-reading
-
Level 3 · one hand, then both
One hand, then the first passages with both hands; ledger lines and small leaps begin.
Engraving an example…
≈ ABRSM Grades 1–2 · ≈ RCM 1–2 sight-reading
-
Level 4 · both hands
Both hands; off-beat entries and wider ledger lines.
Engraving an example…
≈ ABRSM Grade 2 · ≈ RCM 2–3 sight-reading
-
Level 5 · both hands
Compound metre and the first syncopation; more accidentals.
Engraving an example…
≈ ABRSM Grades 2–3 · ≈ RCM 3–4 sight-reading
-
Level 6 · both hands
Two-note textures in a hand; wider leaps.
Engraving an example…
≈ ABRSM Grades 3–4 · ≈ RCM 4–5 sight-reading
-
Level 7 · both hands
Denser textures; more happens per beat.
Engraving an example…
≈ ABRSM Grades 4–5 · ≈ RCM 5–6 sight-reading
-
Level 8 · both hands
The hands start doing different things at once; dense passages.
Engraving an example…
≈ ABRSM Grades 5–6 · ≈ RCM 6–8 sight-reading
-
Level 9 · both hands
Chromatic writing; the hands independent most of the time.
Engraving an example…
≈ ABRSM Grades 6–7 · ≈ RCM 7–9 sight-reading
-
Level 10 · both hands
Tuplets, full independence, the densest textures in the corpus.
Engraving an example…
≈ ABRSM Grades 7–8 · ≈ RCM 9–10 sight-reading
The level control on the reader moves one step at a time; pass a few in a row and it offers the next one.