Three Birthday Sonatinas – ABRSM Shop

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Three Birthday Sonatinas

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Details

Instrument

Grade

4, 5

Product format

Product type

Instrumental repertoire

Series

Easier Piano Pieces

ISBN

9781854724205

Size

305 x 229 mm

Year

1989

Pages

32

Author

ABRSM

Description

Michael Rose, teacher and composer, wrote these three attractive piano sonatinas as birthday presents for his wife, a young friend and his daughter. They are contemporary in idiom and written with the young pianist in mind.

Contents

SHEET MUSIC

Birthday Sonatina No. 1 [Michael Rose]
Birthday Sonatina No. 2 [Michael Rose]
Birthday Sonatina No. 3 [Michael Rose]

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Customer reviews 4.6/5 based on 186 reviews Verified Read recent reviews

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4.6/5 Verified customer feedback

The overall choices from grade 6 is pretty fine or good, so I'd like to elaborate how good every piece is chosen. 5/5 means best, 0/5 means worst.

A list (Overall choice: Moderate)
A:1 Minuet: There are a lot of large hand leaps making younger piano players harder. Also it is difficult for the hand coordination. I'll give it a 3/5.
A:2 Allegro (nickname Sonata Facile): The song is probably unsuitable for grade 6. The worst thing is that it is so recognised that it is so probable to be judged harshly after the exam performance. I'll give it a 1/5.
A:3 Polonaise in G minor (Chopin): This song is so accessible for beginner players. But the well-known level is not at high as the Mozart sonata. I'll give it 4/5. I mean also this is the easiest piece to learn, taking exactly less than one week with polishing and practising by sight-reading.

B list (Overall choice: Good)
B:1 Summer Moonlight: good, but the polyrhythms may be hard to manage for grade 6 students, I'll give it a 3.5/5
B:2 Vals poetico by Granados: Perfect, it is easy to learn, and mirrors the 2023 2024 Vals poetico. I'll give it a 5/5.
B:3 Adagio in F: easy to learn, but the dynamics maybe slightly harder to learn or control. I'll give it a 4/5.

C list (overall choice: moderately good)
C:1 Sultana by Gonzaga: 2/5: it is so hard for a general grade 6 piano learner to learn because of the trills and the ultra-fast arpeggios.
C:2 Spring sunshine: 4/5: it's easy to learn, but the hardest part is the irregular 5/4 time signature. Accessible.
C:3 Reigen: the RH part needs practice and the overall difficulty is pretty complex and needs a good sense of hand coordination. I'll give it a 3.5/5

The overall difficulty comparing with the ones in 2025-26 is harder.

Marco

08/14/2026

Piano Exam Pieces 2027 & 2028, ABRSM Grade 6

The overall selection of the nine pieces is pretty well, and balances the difficulty from other ABRSM syllabuses, like 2023-24 or 2021-22. The ones from 2025-26 are "pieces of cakes", and pieces like Adagietto pianissimo looks like grade 6. The number of misprints are virtually zero. I'd also like to give the rating of every song in my opinion for how good it is chosen: (5/5 is best, 0/5 is worst)

A list:
A:1 Christmas piece in F: Very good (4/5): good for fingering shifting, dynamics hand coordination and articulation.
A:2 Passecaille: literally Passacaglia. (5/5): this song is so recognised globally and I guess most students or examiners will choose this due to the familiarity, like the c-c-b-c-a-c-g-c-f-c etc melody. Composed by Handel
A:3 Elizabeth Turner Allegro: (2/5): moderate, maybe overly classical or bland. The overall difficulty is very complicated, having a lot of scales and staccatissimo wedges making students playing badly.

B list
B:1 Prelude in D minor: (4/5): Although it LOOKS or SEEMS easy with only two pages, the difficulty part is harder because of the layer controlling and the LHRH coordination.
B:2 Adagio: (4.5/5): By Clara Schumann. Slower, the difficulty is similar to B:1.
B:3 If I told you I loved you Feenstra: (3/5): a bit long, and has 2:3 polyrhythms and maybe as a barrier. Needs practice.

C list
C:1 Smatroll by Grieg: (4/5): good and short, but needs practice for the speed and the RH part.
C:2 Tu presencia by Ruiz (3/5): slightly complex for hand coordination but good for rubato practice.
C:3 Wildcat (4.5/5): Very good for practising dynamics and articulation, very short. But it may be more suitable for those with larger hand sizes.

My favourites include Christmas piece, Passecaille, Prelude and Wildcat.

Marco

08/14/2026

Piano Exam Pieces 2027 & 2028, ABRSM Grade 7

Probably I've been waiting for the pre-ordered version for almost a month or above. I'm so glad to hear this "good news" where it will be dispatched after a short periods. When I got my 2027 2028 piano syllabus book, I found "Encore Plus". But there isn't any results and is non-existent, so I contact ABRSM and they will say it's going to release soon, in August. It's just like a relief to look at the description where it contains one of my most favourite pieces including Rondo Alla Turca, which I've been practising for months to prepare for my ABRSM G8 exam.

Marco

08/14/2026

Encore Plus, Book 4, Grades 7 & 8

As described. Delivery is not fast so be patient but it arrived in perfect condition.

Anonymous

08/13/2026

Violin Exam Pieces from 2024, ABRSM Grade 3, Violin Part

All just as expected.

Frank

08/12/2026

The ABRSM Songbook Plus, Grade 5

All went very well. Book as requested, and rapid delivery.

Thanks!

Frank

08/12/2026

Aural Training in Practice, ABRSM Grades 4 & 5

Great thank you

Owen

08/10/2026

Great thank you

Owen

08/10/2026

Piano Specimen Sight-Reading Tests, Grade 5

Great thank you

Owen

08/10/2026

Piano Scales & Arpeggios, ABRSM Grade 5

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Anonymous

08/07/2026

Great, thank you

Owen

08/04/2026

Haven't read it yet

Owen

08/04/2026

Music Theory Practice Papers Model Answers 2025, ABRSM Grade 5

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Owen

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Music Theory Practice Papers 2025, ABRSM Grade 5

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Three Birthday Sonatinas

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