Podcast: Play in new window | Download

Subscribe: Apple Podcasts | Spotify | RSS

Listen to see why I’m so enthusiastic about Rockschool’s Rock/Pop Piano grades for piano! Following on from my previous review, I also give more information for those considering the new Rockschool Classical grades.

Show Notes

• Excellent for fixing common rhythmic weaknesses in classical students [3:05]
• The difference between the graded exams and the performance certificates [4:30]
• The improvisation section was poorly implemented in classical syllabus- makes much more sense in the Rock/Pop syllabus [8:40]
• More on the unsuitability of Rockschool for face-to-face classical exams (in the UK) [10:25]
• A bit of a digression- why I would personally encourage my students to go for face-to-face exams in general rather than prerecorded online exams [12:30]
• Flaws in Rockschool’s prerecorded online graded exam option [18:10]
• Benefits of Rockschool’s format of pieces with backing tracks [20:00]
• Rockschool pieces are much more challenging than classical pieces at the same grade [23:10]
• A good fit for students not that interested in classical or jazz [25:20]
• About the excellent Online Learning Platform- free for teachers [29:30]
• A look at the highlights and impressions of each individual grade- in order from Debut to Grade 8 [36:55]
• The graded exams can provide a good foundation for jazz [49:40]
• Could be useful for traditional classical teachers to make their own way through the books to become more familiar and comfortable with rock/pop/jazz genres and improvisation [51:20]

Notes:

I uploaded a video of me playing one of the grade 7 pieces to YouTube (I added the guitar solo as well- obviously this isn’t part of the normal piano exam!): https://youtu.be/pI-yiJDhDjc

The intro/outro music is my jazz arrangement of the Rachmaninov Adagio from Symphony #2, you can watch the whole thing here if you like: https://youtu.be/hMqREAngb4s