Piano Duet Competition: What It Is, Where It's Run and How It's Judged

Two pianists perform one piece together, either sharing a single keyboard or playing on two instruments, and are judged as a pair on balance, togetherness and musical shaping.

A piano duet class puts two players on the stage at once. In the most common form they sit side by side at one piano, one taking the upper part (primo) and the other the lower part (secondo), and the secondo player usually handles the pedal. Some classes also allow two pianos or a four-hands piece written for the purpose. Either way the audience should hear one piece with two players, not two soloists who happen to start together.

A round is short and plain. The pair is called in, introduces the piece if the adjudicator asks, settles at the keyboard and plays from memory or from the music, depending on the event's rules. The adjudicator listens for the quality of the joint playing: whether the two hands of each player and the four hands of the pair agree on tempo, dynamics and phrasing, and whether neither partner covers the other.

On paper an entry is one four-hands arrangement or original duet that fits the time limit for the age band. The best choices give both players real musical work, so a primo with a long tune over a secondo that only plays a repeated accompaniment will usually score below a piece in which the parts trade the melody. Pairs are often a teacher and pupil, two classmates or siblings, and organisers like the class because it teaches listening skills a solo class cannot.

On the eTalenter template listed here Piano Duet is a team entry, open to boys and girls together, with six age bands from 7 and under to 18 and under. The limit is 5 minutes for the four youngest bands, 6 minutes for the 15 and under band and 8 minutes for the 18 and under band, and every round is marked out of 100. The syllabus behind that template prints duet ceilings of 11 and under and above, so check your own event's rules before copying the two youngest bands.

Where Piano Duet is run

Piano Duet appears on eight eTalenter templates, all of them music or speech-and-drama festivals: a British eisteddfod, a young musicians' festival in Gibraltar and six Australian eisteddfods. It normally sits in the instrumental or piano section beside solo piano classes. Duet classes for piano and other instruments are a staple of competitive music festivals in the English-speaking world, but this page records only the templates listed here.

• United Kingdom
• Gibraltar
• Australia

Key facts

• Team entry of two players, open to boys and girls together
• Six age bands on the British template, from 7 and under up to 18 and under
• Time limit is 5 minutes for the four youngest bands, 6 minutes for 15 and under and 8 minutes for 18 and under on that template
• Marked out of 100 on most templates; the Gibraltar festival marks out of 10
• Other templates set limits from 3 to 10 minutes and group duets by age or by an open class
• A partner may not enter the same class twice on the British template, so each pair needs two different players

On eTalenter, Piano Duet is filed under Music and typically scored with Marks. It appears in 8 ready-made event templates — each one can adjust its time limit, age-group assignment and scoring setup independently.

Across the templates that use it, Piano Duet is most often entered as an Team competition, typically scored out of 100, commonly time-limited to 2–10 minutes where a limit is set.

What judges look at in Piano Duet

What a Piano Duet panel is actually weighing up, and where the marks are usually won or lost:

• Ensemble balance: the primo melody sings over the secondo without being drowned, and the secondo stays supportive but never dull
• Togetherness: both players start, change tempo and finish at exactly the same moment, with clean entries after rests
• Rhythm and tempo: a steady, shared pulse is held through difficult passages, and neither player rushes or drags the other
• Dynamics and shaping: the phrases, crescendos and quiet endings are planned together and sound like one musical idea
• Technical accuracy and fluency: notes, fingering and pedalling are secure, and the piece suits the players' standard
• Stagecraft and communication: breathing, eye contact and small nods cue the changes, and the pair sits and leaves the stage calmly

Treat these as the judging focus, not a fixed rubric: publish your own weighted criteria for Piano Duet under Scoring Setup, or start from how judge scoring and tabulation works in eTalenter.

How to prepare for Piano Duet

How entrants and their teachers usually get Piano Duet right on the day:

• Choose a duet that gives both players interesting music, and one that fits the shorter of the two players' technical levels
• Practise hands separately, then each part with a metronome, before playing together, so the pair can focus on listening
• Agree your cues early: who counts in, where the breaths come and how to signal a slowing down or a final chord
• Record a rehearsal and listen for balance, since players seated at the keyboard often cannot tell which part is too loud
• Decide who pedals and mark the pedal changes in the music so they match the harmonies of both parts
• Rehearse the entrance, the seating and the bow or nod together, as these frame the first impression
• Time the piece against the limit for your age band and trim repeats if it runs over

Frequently asked questions

Is Piano Duet judged individually or as a team?

Across eTalenter's templates it's most often run as an Team entry, though an organiser can set either participation type when assigning the item to an age group.

What is a piano duet class in a music festival?

It is a class where two pianists perform one piece together, usually at a single piano, and are judged as a pair on togetherness, balance and musical shaping as well as technique.

How long is a piano duet in competition?

It depends on the event. On the British eisteddfod template listed here the limit is 5 minutes for the four youngest age bands, 6 minutes for 15 and under and 8 minutes for 18 and under.

Is a piano duet the same as a piano solo?

No. A piano solo is one player and is a separate catalogue item. In a duet the adjudicator marks the partnership, so two strong soloists who do not listen to each other can score below a well-matched pair.

Can I play from the music?

Rules differ by event. Many festivals allow the music to be on the stand for instrumental classes, so check your syllabus before deciding to play from memory.

Want the full judging picture? Read how judge scoring and tabulation works in eTalenter, or browse every music competition item.

Try Piano Duet in eTalenter

See every ready-made template that runs Piano Duet, and install one as a live event — age groups, rules and scoring included.

See where Piano Duet is used