Summertime,
and the livin' is easy..
..but
at Grade 6 and higher, the exams surely aren't.
And
so to our second look at how to pass your Rockschool grade exam, this
time focusing on grades 6, 7 and 8. At this level, things have got
serious. Grades 3-5 count as GCSE level passes, but grades 6-8 are
QCA (Quality Certification Alliance) accredited and can count towards
your UCAS points total (assuming you're looking at something
music-based – don't bet on it counting towards getting a place on a
Civil Engineering course), so the pieces are challenging. Expect
awkward time signatures, extended chords, technically demanding riffs
and soloing... but if you've come this far, odds are you'll be able
to handle it.
First
step – make sure you've read my previous article on Rockschool
exams because ALL OF IT still applies here -
http://jmguitartuition.blogspot.co.uk/2015/05/how-to-pass-your-rockschool-exam-grades.html
Preparation?
- check. Take nothing for granted when planning your journey. If
necessary ring the venue themselves to enquire about parking
facilities, equipment and so on. Take nothing for granted regarding
the venue either, especially if it's a new one – I have a vivid
recollection of turning up to do a day's examining in an exam room
where the venue had provided all the musical equipment imaginable but
no desk or chair. With the best of intentions, these places are
usually run by musicians, and musicians are not always brilliant at
thinking organisational and logistical problems through.
Technicals?
- check. In fact, as you progress further along the grade structure,
the technical exercises become a very important primer for the
abilities you need. As discussed in my earlier article, don't just
learn these parrot fashion. You won't get the lasting benefits that
way. Sequence them, play them in thirds, fourths, fifths – make
sure you practice them using the two bar on/ two bar off method. At
grade 8 you're also dealing with some fairly... adventurous...
tonalities. Of particular interest is the “altered” scale, also
known as the Superlocrian mode ( R b2 b3 b4 b5 b6 b7 – Locrian, but
even more so!) - during a recent lesson, I livened things up for a
slightly frustrated student by getting him to harmonise it and write
a song based off a I-V-vi-IV chord progression in the Superlocrian.
It's important to remember these things are not dry academic
exercises for the fingers but genuine musical resources.
Pieces?
- check. These are obviously more difficult than anything encountered
so far in the grade structure, but the progression is logical and
incremental. At this level, more and more emphasis is placed on
“stylistic awareness”, that is the authentic feel that a player
has for the style he or she is playing in. Obviously if you're
playing a funk piece you wouldn't want to be laying down heavy handed
power chords, and conversely a metal solo is no place for your
sensitive and sophisticated jazz/blues lines. A good trick here is to
look at the songs the pieces are based on – for example, the old
Grade 8 2006-2012 syllabus contained a classic rock track called
Bonzo, which owed a healthy debt to Led Zeppelin's “Rock &
Roll”. So if you want to play Bonzo really well and authentically,
learn Rock & Roll too. The new syllabus gives a list of
recommended listening to get the feel of the exam pieces – it's
definitely worth your while checking them out.
The
major difference with the exam format at this level is that the sight
reading and improvisation/ interpretation part of the exam has been
replaced by the Quick Study Piece. This is in some ways actually
easier, as you get 15 minutes to study and learn a piece that really
is none too demanding. The same approach is applicable here as is
with the sight-reading: prioritise rhythm, then pitch (you'll have
the tablature there), and then dynamics. You may be left with the
backing track to practice to – it's well worth sticking the backing
on and tracing the tablature along with it to get the feel for how
the whole thing hangs together. Often, any unusual rhythmic phrasing
will be cued with the drums and bass. Oh, and one sneaky trick - f
you're feeling nervous about reading and want to stack the deck
further in your favour, when you're offered the choice of style for
your QSP, avoid rhythmically complex ones like funk and go for
something more straightforward like rock or punk.
It's
important to realise that at Grade 8 the player is supposed to be a
complete package, with all the bases covered. It shouldn't be a
problem to get the right tone from your amp or guitar. You shouldn't
be struggling to remember scales or arpeggios. You shouldn't be
playing the pieces with our nose buried in the tab book. The
examiners are looking for a polished and confident performance,
befitting an experienced and confident player. No examiner wants to
fail a student, but equally Grade 8 is the top end of the scale and
is supposed to be difficult. No examiner is going to devalue
the exam by diluting the standards. Completing it represents a huge
accomplishment, but it does require a lot of preparation. Don't
expect to dive in and busk it, because you will fail, and
deservedly so.
If
you're feeling nervous and unsure whether you're ready, the odds are
you probably aren't so delay the application to the next exam period
and get some extra experience in playing the syllabus and also around
it using the recommended listening as a guide. When the pieces feel
and sound mature and confident, when you're playing the music not just
the notes - that's the time to go for it. Do the homework –
I particularly recommend the Companion Guides as “past papers” to
help you prepare – and you will end up with an achievement you can
be genuinely proud of.
