Trinity Grade 4 sight-reading
Four piano sight-reading tests written to Trinity's published rules for Grade 4. Print them, or play one at your MIDI keyboard and get every note marked, then ask for a new one.
A short piece the candidate hasn't seen, set about two grades below the exam being taken. There is half a minute to look through it and try any of it out loud before playing it for the examiner. From Initial to Grade 5 it is one of four supporting tests, of which a candidate takes two; from Grade 6 every candidate takes it.
Play one on a MIDI keyboard in Chrome, Edge or Firefox on a computer, or Chrome on an Android phone or tablet, or on the keys on screen without one. Printing needs nothing. No keyboard yet? Which keyboard to buy.
What the test can ask for
| Trinity Grade 4 | These tests | |
|---|---|---|
| Length | Not stated for Grade 4 | Our choice: 8 bars |
| Time | 2/4, 4/4 and 3/4 | The same |
| Keys | C, G and D major; A, D and E minor (with G♯ in A minor) | The same |
| Hands | Not stated for Grade 4 | Our choice: hands together, each in a five-finger position, the left hand holding one or two notes a bar |
| Note values | Quarter notes (crotchets), half notes (minims), half-note rests (minim rests), whole notes (semibreves), whole-note rests (semibreve rests), dotted half notes (dotted minims), tied notes, eighth notes (quavers), quarter-note rests (crotchet rests), dotted quarter notes (dotted crotchets) and eighth-note rests (quaver rests) | Quarter notes (crotchets), half notes (minims), whole notes (semibreves), dotted half notes (dotted minims), eighth notes in pairs (quavers) and dotted quarter notes followed by an eighth (dotted crotchet and quaver) |
| Also | P and f, the tempo word moderato, simple phrasing, mf, the tempo word allegretto, mp, the tempo word andante, slurs, cresc. and dim. hairpins and staccato and accents | Not in these tests |
Not in these: half-note rests (minim rests), whole-note rests (semibreve rests), tied notes, quarter-note rests (crotchet rests) and eighth-note rests (quaver rests); p and f, the tempo word moderato, simple phrasing, mf, the tempo word allegretto, mp, the tempo word andante, slurs, cresc. and dim. hairpins and staccato and accents. Practise those from printed music too.
Trinity's rules from its Piano Syllabus, graded exams from 2023 (online edition, February 2026): Parameters for sight reading tests, page 81. Clefsight isn't connected with ABRSM, The Royal Conservatory or Trinity College London. Clefsight writes these tests to the rules each board publishes for its piano sight-reading test; they aren't the boards' own tests, and a board's real test may use anything its rules allow.
Test 1
Play this one
Test 2
Play this one
Test 3
Play this one
Test 4
Play this one
Play a new Trinity Grade 4 test
Trinity Grade 4 sight-reading tests from clefsight.com/sight-reading/exams/trinity-grade-4. Play any of them, or a new one, at a MIDI keyboard there and get every note marked.
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