Over
the years I have entered lots of people for guitar grades. I have worked with
other musicians and music teachers, where we have used a variety of examination
boards and syllabuses.
For me it’s always
been about a motivator, I am not focused on the actual examination itself, as I
always say to my pupils, the journey is more important than the arrival, a bit
like life.
For some may need
a certain grade level in order to get onto a music college course, but even
that is something that we will need to review now we are in the days of
Internet courses, many run by most of the major universities. So from the
viewpoint of guitar, (but this is as relevant to other instruments I believe)you
maybe able to find another way of focusing that will act as a goal.
I have been using
predominantly and sometimes almost exclusively the RGT guitar exams run by the
LCM, which is accredited by the University of West London, but I’ve also taught
many pupils from other syllabuses. I’ve always found these to useful, but they
do have drawbacks.
Their main
competitors including The Rock School exams run by Trinity College, and the
guitar exams run by the Guildhall.
The categories for
the guitar examination fall into three main sections, the Electric guitar, the
Rock guitar, and the Acoustic guitar. The Acoustic guitar exams are
particularly good for younger players in the early grades, because they contain
some very pleasant and relatively simple melodies.
You are also
encouraged to learn a few scales and chords, but not as many as the Electric.
As the grades go
up there as an accompaniment section starting from Grade 1, where the candidate
accompanies using their own rhythm patterns, and a melody played by the
examiner. This is often quite a challenging section of the exam as the chord
progression is new to the candidate. This requires a thorough knowledge of the
chords not only for that Grade, but any preceding Grades. The rest of the
Acoustic guitar sections can be pretty much studied and learnt, as is typical
for most music exams for other instruments.
The Electric
guitar exams on the other hand is all about using information such as scales
and chords, and being able to create an improvised solo or a rhythm pattern
from a chart to your own rhythm ideas. As the grades progress they obviously
become far more complex with different key changes at the high grades, and more
Jazzy progressions using classic sort of Jazz 2-5-1 progressions, which is
really good for the all-round guitarist.
The Rock guitar
exams on the other hand were probably bought out in direct competition against
the Rock School exams, and these involve playing pieces of music that all cut
down versions of an original classic. Whereas with the Rock School exams the
pieces are pastiches of famous songs with the riff turned upside down and inside
out, and then given the name which hints at the original.
To be honest I
think that it is better to play the original piece of music than somebody’s
version of a song by Guns N’ Roses ,with a tribute band style song title. Now
there are some very good pieces in the higher Rock Schools syllabus, but I do
think that the RGT version has got the edge from the viewpoint of teaching and
learning.
There are
shortcomings to all of these exams because Contemporary guitar is such a varied
style, for some people they will need to learn to read if they wanted to say
for instance play in a pit orchestra, but for others they might not want to or
need to read. Reading music is a requirement for the Rock School syllabus, but
remember many of the famous guitar players could not read at all. Flamenco
players and Acoustic players in the past did not know how to read music, but
they did have exceptionally good ears which is something that I believe an
electric player really needs in preference. However, a little bit of everything
is always a good thing if you can manage it.
The music exams
happen three times a year at around the same time as the classical music exams.
They are held at various centres dotted around the country, and worldwide;
since the Coronavirus there have been efforts to put many of these exams
online, so that you can perform at home and be assessed by an examiner over the
Internet. So, do have a look at the various prices of the exams.
They are all
accredited by the examination boards, and they carry the same Ofqual ratings,
the higher grades being the same as an A-Level.
Vic
www.bluescampuk.co.uk
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