Graded Examinations in
Solo Steelpan Performances

The development of these examinations was initiated and undertaken by staff members of the music unit at the Centre for Creative and Festival Arts, St. Augustine, UWI as an avenue of practical music certification for pannists. The syllabus was publicly launched on August 25, l994, as part of Pan Trinbago's "Youth Rally" during Steelband week and the first examinations were held in April 1995. The examinations have now begun to take root regionally with the St. Lucia School of Music, Castries being the first to make use of this opportunity (May 1997).

The examinations were developed to fill a gap in the existing British system of graded instrumental examinations that have been available in Trinidad and Tobago for all instruments except Pan over the past 75 years.

The examinations were developed to fill a gap in the existing British system of graded instrumental examinations that have been available in Trinidad and Tobago for all instruments except Pan over the past 75 years.

Syllabuses, entry forms, examination music and other related information can be obtained from the Centre for Creative and Festival Arts. Examinations are scheduled twice per year at the Centre during the third week in November and during March or April. 

The main objectives of these examinations are to:

1) encourage pannists to become musically literate
2) widen the scope of instruction in pan playing to include reading, in addition to rote learning
3) encourage composers to write for solo instruments so that the repertoire of original pan compositions can be enlarged
4) provide pan students with an opportunity to have their progress systematically assessed in a non-competitive setting