Trinity Initial Grade Piano Scales & Arpeggios
All 4 scales and broken triads for Trinity Initial Grade piano (syllabus from 2023): 2 scales and 2 broken triads across 2 keys. Practise each one with the right range, hands and fingering, and tick it off when it's ready.
Trinity Initial Grade at a glance
- Scales: C major; A minor
- Broken triads: C major; A minor
Face-to-face exam: the examiner picks from everything below. Taking a digital exam? Choose set A or set B to see just the items in it.
Scales
1 octave · hands separately · mf · legato · minors: natural, harmonic or melodic
- C major
- A minor
Broken triads
up to the 5th and back · hands separately · mf · legato
- C major
- A minor
In the exam
Trinity's technical work is these scales and broken triads plus exercises from the grade book. In a face-to-face exam the examiner picks from everything listed here, and you prepare three exercises and play two — one you choose and one the examiner picks. In a digital exam you choose set A or set B and play every item in it, plus two exercises of your choice — switch the checklist to your set to see exactly what to play.
Scales and arpeggios are played from memory, going up and then down, with the right hand an octave above the left when the hands move in the same direction. The dynamics and articulation are part of the requirement: practise every key both loud and soft. Any logical fingering that gives a smooth legato is accepted.
The speeds are Trinity's minimum speeds, in even quavers. Practise slowly and evenly first, then use the speed trainer to work up to the minimum — a little faster is fine once it's secure.
Requirements checked against Trinity's Piano syllabus for graded exams from 2023 (online edition, February 2026). Music Scale isn't affiliated with Trinity College London — always check the official syllabus before your exam.