Cyberspace Detective by Anand: Lesson Ideas
Cyberspace Detective is a new commission from composer Amit Anand, it features in Grade 1 Piano Exam Pieces in 2025 & 2026 Piano syllabus.
This resource created by Karen Marshall is designed to be taught over approximately 6 weeks.
Karen Marshall has provided a resource toolkit in the style of her ABRSM Piano Star Skills Builder book. You can find some free sample pages for Karen's book here to download and please visit the ABRSM shop to purchase a copy.
By exploring these activities, you will be:
- Incorporating the other elements of the exam – sight reading, scales/arpeggios and aural skills.
- Teaching to play the piece musically with good technique.
- Using the piece to develop musicianship skills including improvising and performing with expression.
Get started by clicking left and right or using the chapter headings on the right-hand side.
1. What skills are we building?
Aural skills
This is a teacher resource to use with your pupil in conjunction with the piece. This will not only help your pupil play this piece with greater understanding and more expression, it will also help with some of the aural tests in the exam.
Reading skills
A random note reading activity is provided which incorporates all of the pitches used in the piece. In addition, there are two other reading activities, a sight reading example and another short piece for quick learning. Again, these activities practice some of the reading skills required by the Cyberspace Detective.
Technical and creative skills
This piece use elements of the chromatic scale. This resource includes activities to learn a chromatic scale but also improvise with it.
General Technical advice – top tips for teaching Cyberspace Detective
- Make sure your pupil has a good hand position and has some control and independence in their fingers before learning this piece.
- There's a good range of articulation in this piece. Make sure your pupil can identify the different sounds aurally. Demonstrate two bars at a time, hands separately and get your pupil to copy. Give detailed information on how to use the hands and the fingers to make the appropriate sound.
- Make sure your pupil avoids banging with their thumb.
- Practise playing a chromatic scale with the left-hand E to A.
- Adapt the fingering given if needed based on their technical ability and hand size/shape. The fingering is very good but may not be right for everyone.
- Double check your pupil understands how to play ties.
On the following pages, activities have been suggested in a weekly pattern. These lesson plans may move at a pace too quick or too slow for your pupil, so please feel free to amend these lesson ideas to suit your pupils' needs.