Set your piano students up for Grade 1 success.

And give yourself a stress-free exam experience.

Grade 1 Toolkit

Students and parents love to use grade exams as a measure of progression.

But sometimes it can be tricky knowing whether they're ready or not to sit an exam.

You need a way to assess them (that also helps explain your final decision).
Let’s say your student is ready to start their exam journey.

Looking at everything they need to prepare is overwhelming.

You have:

✔️ Pieces
✔️ Exercises
✔️ Technical work

And then you have to help them with:

✔️ A practice routine (and getting their parents onside)
✔️ Mentally preparing for the big day
✔️ Understanding what passing (or not passing) means

If only you had a friendly guide to help you through the process…

This “Grade 1 Toolkit” from The Curious Piano Teachers will help you turn exam panic into actual preparation.

Getting your student ready for an exam is a project.

But it doesn’t have to feel overwhelming.

In this course, Sharon Mark-Teggart and Sally Cathcart will show you how to:
  • Create a preparation timeline so everyone stays on track
  • Establish a Practice Triangle
  • Lay the groundwork for pieces, exercises, and technical work
  • Build momentum
  • Help students fully understand the exam experience

So refreshing and clear – a real boost to my professional development.

— Rachel

Take the course for your students:

Set them up for success

Following an action plan makes everything feel more manageable.

Explain the bigger picture

Help them understand how exams fit into their overall musical journey.

More confident performers

 Encourage your students to be curious and enhance their performance through storytelling.

Take the course for you:

Get parents onside 

Divide the responsibility of practice between you, your student, and their parents.

Enhance your technical work toolkit

Approaches for teaching scales and developing key skills.

Avoid anxiety

Entering students for exams can be stressful. These strategies will help minimise potential pressure.

Who Is This Course For?

✅ New teachers who want to be prepared for grades

✅ Established teachers looking for better ways to prepare their students for exams

✅ Teachers who are tired of being stressed about exams

✅ Musicians who want to level up their technical skills

Learn from the experts –
 Sharon Mark-Teggart and Sally Cathcart

Sharon Mark-Teggart

Sharon Mark-Teggart is the Co-Founder and Director of The Curious Piano Teachers, an organisation that provides a global community of piano teachers with resources that enable them to learn as much as they teach. Sharon has over 20 years experience as a reflective practitioner in music education. She is well-known worldwide as a highly experienced piano pedagogue, contributing extensively to literature and resources. A visionary entrepreneur in the world of music education, Sharon founded evoco in 2012 (Northern Ireland’s Music Education Organisation, specialising in piano teacher training) before pioneering the concept of professional development for piano teachers via an online membership site with her Co-Founding partner at The Curious Piano Teachers, Dr Sally Cathcart.

Sharon also specialises in creating and delivering courses for piano teachers with hundreds of piano teachers successfully gaining accredited piano teaching diplomas since 2012 through her bespoke coaching programmes. Sharon lives close to the beautiful Mourne Mountains in County Down, Northern Ireland, with her husband Philip, their 6 year-old son Reuel and baby girl Damaris who was born in December 2022.
Sally Cathcart

Sally Cathcart, Ph.D. and Churchill Fellow, has many years of teaching experience both as a piano teacher and as a classroom music teacher. She runs a small teaching studio and teaching the piano continues to be her greatest joy. She is co-founder and Director of The Curious Piano Teachers.

After her worldwide travels as a Winston Churchill Fellow, Sally founded the Oxford Piano Group as a place for pianists and teachers to collaborate and share experiences. She was awarded a Ph.D. from the Institute of Education, UCL, London in 2013. Her topic was the first comprehensive study of UK piano teachers, exploring common practices, expertise, values, attitudes and motivation to teaching.

Sally is a trained Kodály practitioner and was Director of Musicianship for The Voices Foundation from 2013-2022. She is a Principal Tutor on the Piano Teachers’ Course (UK) and is a piano syllabus consultant for the UK examining board ABRSM. She has written a series of musicianship books for young pianists, ‘ready to play’, which have recently been published by Alfred UK. In collaboration with Dr Christopher Fisher Sally is currently working as co-editor of the Oxford Handbook of Piano Pedagogy.

Buy the course today!

Grade 1 Toolkit Course
Join the thousands of teachers who are more confident thanks to TopMusic courses.

Just a quick thanks for helping me be the teacher I wish I’d had.

— Arleen

Here's what you'll get:

17 video lessons by The Curious Piano Teachers


Downloadable and printable handouts for each module to help you organise your thoughts
Ideas you can add to your technical work toolbox

In-depth advice from real-life teachers


More questions? Contact us

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