This page provides descriptions
of the Achievement Levels assigned to
some of our collections and individual pieces.
Many of our Key Maps are assigned achievement levels to help students and teachers decide which pieces are appropriate at the time that the music is selected. The pieces are assigned to levels from A thru E. The levels are not strictly defined, but generally are as follows:
LEVEL A - consists of a single melody.
LEVEL B - generally consists of 2-part pieces with the melody in the right hand
and a simple counter melody in the left hand.
LEVEL C - pieces are a bit more difficult than level B, usually in 2 or 3 parts.
LEVEL D - includes pieces at the level of Beethoven "For Elisa" and the first movement of the "Moonlight Sonata" in their full versions, without simplification.
LEVEL-E - pieces are more advanced than level D.
The number of sharps or flats in the key signatures don't affect the levels because on key maps, notes for flats and sharps are as easy to read as the notes for white keys. Some simplified versions of the classics have been arranged, but the simplifications primarily involve reducing the length of the piece and/or of removing some of the notes. The arrangements remain in the original keys.