AMEB · Associate in Music, Australia · Piano
Your AMusA programme is a journey through 250 years of music — from Bach's church in Leipzig to Bartók's villages in Transylvania. This course takes you inside all four pieces, one lesson at a time.
In your AMusA exam, after you finish playing, two examiners will sit with you and talk about your pieces for about ten minutes. They don't want you to recite a list of dates. They want to know that you have lived with this music — that you know its stories, its secrets, and why you play it the way you do.
This course gives you exactly that. Work through one lesson at a time, listen while you read, and try saying the answers out loud — because the exam is a conversation, not a test paper.
Each lesson is a complete visit to one piece. Tap a card to begin.
The "chromatic fugue" — a tiny 27-bar fugue packed with tricks, and a prelude that sounds like a violin. Baroque, c. 1740.
Lesson 2 · List B"Haydn's Appassionata" — his only C minor sonata, full of storms, silences and a sad ending. Classical, 1771.
Lesson 3 · List CA waltz written first but published last — glittering, sad-and-brilliant, by a 20-year-old about to leave home forever. Romantic, 1830.
Lesson 4 · List DSix real village dances, recorded on a wax-cylinder machine, turned into piano magic. Twentieth century, 1915.
Why these four pieces belong side by side: the instrument that changes under your hands, the three different "minors", and the hidden dance. Plus a quiz.
Two hundred and fifty years, four composers. Follow the timeline — your pieces are the gold stars.
About 25–40 minutes of music — your four pieces. Two examiners listen. You don't need to memorise (that's only for the higher diploma, LMusA).
For roughly ten minutes, the examiners ask you about the music — with the score open in front of you. They point at the page and ask: "What's this? Why do you play it that way?"
Before the recital, you need a pass (65%+) in Grade 5 Theory, Musicianship or Music Craft. That's where words like sonata form and modulation come from.
Award with Distinction / Award / No Award. Playing and talking are judged together — a great recital plus a thin discussion still loses marks.
Every question they ask fits one of five boxes: 1. Terminology (titles & every marking), 2. Composers (their lives, influences, other works), 3. Historical & stylistic context (the period and how it was performed), 4. Structure (form, keys, climax), and 5. The instrument (what the piano was like then). Each lesson in this course covers all five.
Examiners love to zoom out and ask "so tell us about your whole programme." These three ideas turn four separate pieces into one story. (Full versions in the bonus lesson.)
Bach's harpsichord had no volume control from the keys. Haydn's fortepiano had five octaves and leather hammers. Chopin's Pleyel was songful and delicate. Bartók had the modern iron-framed grand — and hit it like a drum.
Bach's D minor is rhetoric (an old lament figure). Haydn's C minor is tragedy (it refuses a happy ending). Chopin's E minor is brilliance (sparkling, not sad). Then Bartók steps outside major and minor altogether.
Haydn's finale borrows a dance step (but isn't a dance). Chopin's waltz looks like a dance (but you can't dance to it). Bartók's six pieces were really danced, by real villagers, and he recorded them.
Your study documents, ready to download or open — all in one place. The Study Guide PDF holds the full 96-question bank and four mock vivas; the two card decks are interactive 96-question flashcard apps.
The overview: composers, works, form, harmony and performance practice, with the 96-question bank and model answers.
📄 Download · PDFThe deep dive: five official question areas, bar-by-bar analysis, rubato sources, and four mock vivas.
🎴 Open · Flash cards96 questions with a 3D flip card and a progress stave. Tap a card to reveal the answer; press Space, 1 / 2 to mark.
🎴 Open · Flash cardsThe same 96 questions in a bullet-answer deck, filterable by composer. Press Space to reveal, 1 / 2 to mark.
Answer out loud, in sentences before you reveal — the exam tests fluency, not recognition. Then use the "Practice" page for three full mock vivas.