PianoDebut2015 Edition13May2016 Rock School

Piano Debut RSL-961238705557 / 1 / nazareno ciofo / [email protected]

Performance pieces, technical exercises, supporting tests and in-depth guidance for Rockschool examinations

All accompanying and supporting audio can be downloaded from: www.rslawards.com/downloads Input the following code when prompted: EWJFWE9BTJ For more information, turn to page 5

www.rslawards.com

Acknowledgements Published by Rockschool Ltd. © 2015 Catalogue Number RSK200001 ISBN: 978-1-908920-80-5 SYLLABUS

Syllabus written and devised by Nik Preston Syllabus consultants: Hannah Vasanth, Julia Martin, Stuart Slater, Jono Harrison, Simon Troup and Jennie Troup Hit tune arrangements by Jono Harrison and Nik Preston Supporting tests written by Jono Harrison, Nik Preston, Ash Preston and Hannah Vasanth Piano arrangements of Rockschool compositions by Brian Henry Syllabus advisors: Mary Keene, Patrick Healy, Emily Nash, Dan Phelps and Mike Stylianou PUBLISHING

Fact Files written by Julia Martin, Joe Bennett, Charlie Griffiths, Stephen Lawson, Simon Pitt, Stuart Ryan and James Uings Music engraving and book layout by Simon Troup and Jennie Troup of Digital Music Art Proof reading and copy editing by Simon Troup, Jennie Troup, Jonathan Preiss, Mary Keene, Stuart Slater and Nik Preston Cover design by Philip Millard Cover photograph © Kevin Winter/Getty Images

MUSICIANS

Jono Harrison, Hannah Vasanth, Brian Henry, Nik Preston, James Arben, Jason Bowld, Stuart Clayton, Andy Crompton, Neel Dhorajiwala, Fergus Gerrand, Felipe Karam, Kishon Khan, Noam Lederman, DJ Harry Love, Dave Marks, Jon Musgrave, Jake Painter, Richard Pardy, Ross Stanley, Carl Sterling, Henry Thomas, Camilo Tirado, Steve Walker, Chris Webster, Norton York, Nir Z DISTRIBUTION

Exclusive Distributors: Music Sales Ltd CONTACTING ROCKSCHOOL

Piano Debut

www.rslawards.com Telephone: +44 (0)845 460 4747 Email: [email protected]

2

RSL-961238705557 / 1 / nazareno ciofo / [email protected]

AUDIO

Produced by Ash Preston, Jono Harrison, Brian Henry and Music Sales Engineered by Ash Preston, Jono Harrison, Brian Henry and Music Sales Mixed and mastered by Ash Preston Edited by Ash Preston Supporting Tests recorded by Ash Preston, Jono Harrison and Hannah Vasanth Mastered by Ash Preston Executive producers: John Simpson and Norton York

Table of Contents Introductions & Information

1 Title Page 2 Acknowledgements 3 Table of Contents 4 Welcome to Rockschool Piano Debut 6 Piano Notation Explained

Rockschool Grade Pieces

7 Clocks 11 Fallin’ 15 Lean On Me 18 Beat The Mersey 20 Cashville 22 Helicopter

Technical Exercises

Supporting Tests

26 27 28 29

Sight Reading Improvisation & Interpretation Ear Tests General Musicianship Questions

Additional Information

30 31 31 32

Marking Schemes Entering Rockschool Exams Copyright Information Introducing Rockschool Popular Music Theory


24 Scales, Arpeggios/Broken Chords & Chord Voicings

Piano Debut

3

Welcome to Rockschool Piano Debut Welcome to Rockschool’s 2015 Piano syllabus. This syllabus has been designed to equip all aspiring pianists with both a diverse range of stylistically appropriate, industry relevant skills and a thoroughly engaging learning experience. Utilising an array of well known repertoire, Rockschool’s own compositions and a truly innovative range of supporting tests, the continued progression of any candidate is assured from Debut through to Grade 8. Additionally, the Rockschool compositions, which are the 4th, 5th and 6th pieces featured in each book, have been arranged for Bass, Drums, Piano and Guitar at Grades 3, 5 and 8, in order to help pianists perform repertoire in an ensemble environment where available. The syllabus has been authored to ensure that pianists can develop as accompanists, soloists, sight readers and improvisers whilst enabling both teacher and candidate to choose the areas that they wish to specialise in. Rockschool’s long standing commitment to raising academic standards, assessing industry-relevant skills and ensuring student engagement is world renowned. The 2015 Piano syllabus has been conceived in order to build upon this success and continue the evolution of the contemporary music world’s first awarding body. When combined with Rockschool’s Popular Music Theory syllabus, the 2015 syllabus is guaranteed to furnish every candidate with both the practical skills and theoretical understanding necessary to perform at the highest level, across a whole range of contemporary music. Nik Preston – Head of Product Development and Publishing

Piano Exams

■■Grade Exam A Grade Exam is a mixture of music performances, technical work and tests. You are required to prepare three pieces (two of which may be Free Choice Pieces) and the contents of the Technical Exercise section. This accounts for 75% of the exam marks. The other 25% consists of: either a Sight Reading or an Improvisation & Interpretation test (10%), two Ear Tests (10%), and finally you will be asked five General Musicianship Questions (5%). The pass mark is 60%. ■■Performance Certificate A Performance Certificate is equivalent to a Grade Exam, but in a Performance Certificate you are required to perform five pieces. A maximum of three of these can be Free Choice Pieces. Each song is marked out of 20 and the pass mark is 60%.

Book Contents

The book is divided into a number of sections:

Piano Debut

■■Exam Pieces In this book you will find six pieces of Debut standard. Each song is preceded by a Fact File detailing information about the original recording, the composer and the artist/s who performed it. Every exam piece is notated for piano, but a selection also have the vocal melody notated. This is included as reference material and is not intended to be performed in the exam itself. In your exam you must perform to the backing tracks provided. If certain 3 or 4 note voicings notated in the pieces are unachievable, you may either reduce the amount of notes in the voicing, or play as a spread chord if stylistically appropriate. Please note, this is only applicable at Debut and Grade 1.

4

■■Technical Exercises There are either three or four types of technical exercise, depending on the grade: Group A – scales Group B – arpeggios/broken chords Group C – chord voicings Group D – a choice of stylistic studies. Please note, Group D only exists at Grades 6–8.


At each grade you have the option of taking one of two different types of examination:

■■Supporting Tests You are required to undertake three kinds of unprepared, supporting test: 1. Sight Reading or an Improvisation & Interpretation test at Debut to Grade 5. Please note, these are replaced by mandatory Quick Study Pieces (QSPs) at Grades 6–8. 2. Ear Tests: Debut to Grade 3 feature Melodic Recall and Chord Recognition. Grades 4–8 feature Melodic Recall and Harmonic Recall. 3. General Musicianship Questions (GMQs), which you will be asked by the examiner at the end of each exam. Each book features examples of the types of unprepared tests likely to appear in the exam. The examiner will give you a different version in the exam.

■■General Information You will find information on exam procedures, including online examination entry, marking schemes, information on Free Choice Pieces and improvisation requirements for each grade.

Audio

In addition to the Grade book, we have also provided audio in the form of backing tracks (minus piano) and examples (including piano) for both the pieces and the supporting tests where applicable. This can be downloaded from RSL directly at www.rslawards.com/downloads

You can find further details about Rockschool’s Piano syllabus by downloading the syllabus guide from our website: www.rslawards.com All candidates should download and read the accompanying syllabus guide when using this grade book.

Piano Debut

The audio files are supplied in MP3 format. Once downloaded you will be able to play them on any compatible device.


You will need to input this code when prompted: EWJFWE9BTJ

5

Piano Notation Explained

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Pedal Marking: Depress and then release the sustain pedal. Multiple pedal operations in a short space of time may be simplified as shown in the last two beats of the bar below.

Grace Note: Play the grace note on or before the beat depending on the style of music, then move quickly to the note it leads onto.

3 &4

j œ

œ 4 &4 œ œ œ œ œ œ œ

˙˙ ..

°

Glissando: Play the notes between the notated pitches by sliding over the keyboard with the fingers or fingernails.

Spread Chord: Play the chord from the bottom note up (top down only if there is a downward arrow head). The final note should sound by the appropriate notated bar position.

# 4 g ˙˙ & 4 ggg n ˙˙

ggg ˙˙˙˙ g

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Tremolando: Oscillate at speed between marked notes.

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Piano Debut

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(accent)

(accent)

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(accent)

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3

4

œ

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D.%. al Coda

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D.C. al Fine

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Una Corda

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fi

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play until the bar marked Fine (end).

..

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fi

the bar marked To Coda then skip to the section marked Coda.

• Accentuate note with great intensity.

• Shorten time value of note.

gliss.

Finger Markings: These numbers represent your fingers. 1 is the thumb, 2 the index finger and so on.

w

• Accentuate note (play it louder).

°

..

• Repeat the bars between the repeat signs.

2.

• When a repeated section has different

endings, play the first ending only the first time and the second ending only the second time.


THE MUSICAL STAVE shows pitches and rhythms and is divided by lines into bars. Pitches are named after the first seven letters of the alphabet.

4 &4

œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ C D E F G A B C D E F G A B C œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ

Coldplay | Clocks

SONG TITLE: CLOCKS

q = 130

44 &

ALBUM: A RUSH OF BLOOD TO THE HEAD

RELEASED: 2002

LABEL: PARLOPHONE

GENRE: ALTERNATIVE ROCK

44 &

VOCAL AND PIANO: CHRIS MARTIN

GUITAR: JONNY BUCKLAND

BASS: GUY BERRYMAN

DRUMS: WILL CHAMPION

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PRODUCED BY: KEN NELSON AND COLDPLAY WRITTEN BY: CHRIS MARTIN, JONNY BUCKLAND, GUY BERRYMAN,

∑ Dm

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only Piano intro (4 bars) included as a cue

UK CHART PEAK: 9

‘Clocks’ was the third single to be released from the album A Rush of Blood to the Head. The album was Coldplay’s second after their debut, Parachutes in 2000. This track nearly didn’t make it on to the album. The band recorded it as a demo but thought it was too late for it to be included, so left it on a demo with some other tracks, which they intended to look at again for their third album. However, when the second album release was delayed, they returned to the demos. A friend of Chris Martin’s urged him to include this song on the album. As a result, Martin said it was “the newest song on the record. We recorded that very, very fast”. He also mentioned it was inspired by the band Muse. The track received acclaim from music critics worldwide and also won Record of the Year at the 2004 Grammy Awards and Best Single at the Q Awards. It was also sampled and licensed for use in the BBC Freeview commercials, and TV shows including: ER, The Sopranos and Family Guy. It was also used in the movie trailer for Peter Pan. Chris Martin originally composed ‘Clocks’ at the piano. He mentions that he played the piano hook

to guitarist, Jonny Buckland and: “he wrote these cool chords underneath it”. The rest of the band then began to add their ideas to the original piano hook and the final arrangement then added synthesisers and strings.

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Vocalist Chris Martin and guitarist Jonny Dm G met at University College London (UCL). Buckland j Their œ debut album Parachutes won the Mercury Music Prize. They have released six albums in total and have won a total of eight BRIT awards, seven Grammy awards, an Ivor Novello award and a host can’t of others ts in their date. and I gocareer toout

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Words & Music by Guy Berryman, Jonathan Buckland, William Champion & Christopher Martin © Copyright 2003 Universal Music Publishing MGB Limited. All Rights Reserved. International Copyright Secured.

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Alicia Keys | Fallin’

SONG TITLE: FALLIN’ ALBUM: SONGS IN A MINOR RELEASED: 2001

LABEL: J RECORDS

GENRE: R&B

VOX/BV: ALICIA KEYS

PIANO: ALICIA KEYS

VIOLIN: MIRI BEN-ARI

GUITAR: SPACEMAN PATTERSON

DRUM PROGRAMMING: KERRY “KRUCIAL” BROTHERS

ADDITIONAL BV: CINDY MAZELLE, TAMMY SAUNDERS, ANDRICKA HALL

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& ARRANGED BY: ALICIA KEYS

UK CHART PEAK: 3

This was the debut single from Alicia Key’s first album: Songs in A Minor. It reached No. 3 in the UK charts and No. 1 in the Billboard Hot 100 in the US. The song samples James Brown’s ‘It’s a Man’s Man’s Man’s World’ and in 2002, won three Grammy awards. Keys writes and produces all her songs. She states that her piano writing is influenced by Chopin, who is one of her favourite composers. Musically, she is also heavily influenced by Hip Hop. She first started playing the piano when friends of her mother gave the family an old piano. It was on this that she started experimenting with songwriting, taking fragments of songs and rearranging the chords: “I’d learn the chords then play them backwards”. Keys graduated from the Professional Performing Arts School in New York when she was 16. She was immediately signed by Columbia Records, but they wanted to take her in a musical direction that didn’t suit her and stalled the release of her music. She was then introduced to music mogul, Clive Davis (who has guided the careers of Whitney Houston, Christina Aguilera, Jennifer Hudson to name a few). Davis appreciated her blend of Classical, R&B and Jazz

music, and immediately signed Keys to his label, J Records. The album reached number one that same year. Keys isn’t her real name (she was born Alicia Augello-Cook), she chose the name because of her love of the piano. The album’s name: Songs in A Minor comes from her love of playing in a minor key. She says this song resembles the piano part of Beethoven’s ‘Moonlight Sonata’, which she learnt to play at her childhood piano lessons.

Piano Debut


WRITTEN, PRODUCED

11

Fallin’ Alicia Keys

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Words & Music by Alicia Keys © Copyright 2001 EMI April Music Inc. and Lellow Productions. All Rights Controlled and Administered by EMI April Music Inc. All Rights Reserved. International Copyright Secured.

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q.= 64

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Bill Withers | Lean On Me

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ALBUM: STILL BILL

strong,

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RELEASED: 1972

LABEL: SUSSEX GENRE: SOUL

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˙

VOCALS: BILL WITHERS

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PIANO: BILL WITHERS

BASS: MELVIN DUNLAP DRUMS: JAMES GADSON

ARRANGER: RAYMOND JACKSON

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˙

˙

WRITTEN BY: BILL WITHERS

PRODUCED BY: BILL WITHERS

UK CHART PEAK: 18

Withers states that he could afford to buy a “little Wurlitzer electric piano” with the proceeds from his first album and it was on this that he composed ‘Lean on Me’. As he was playing the piano, the song’s title popped into his head and the lyrics developed from there. Withers says that he is a man of few words when writing songs: “snob, lyrically. That means, how clear can you make it and in how few words?”

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performed publicly in concert for over 25 years. He is often asked if ‘Lean on Me’ can be used for TV shows and films but he refuses to have the song synchronised with any violent scenes: “we don’t want people to associate ‘Lean on Me’ with violence”. Anyone wishing to use one of his songs has to contact him personally.

Withers didn’t record his first song until he was This song is often popular with young pianists as 32, having previously worked in the US Navy. When the verse can be played without removing your hand C G he left the Navy, he started informally writingC songs, from the piano and using the first four fingers on your F recording demos and unsuccessfully trying to gain right hand. interest from record companies. Eventually, he was introduced to Booker T. Jones (of Booker T. and the MGs, the Stax Records house band) who offered to on. to lean some -bod - y d nee na produce his first album: Just As I Am, which gave him gon I’m till long his way into the record industry. However, he refused to quit his job immediately as he felt the music industry was fickle.

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charts, it reached No. 1 in the Billboard Hot 100 in 1972. He has won two Grammy awards, one of which was for this song. It has also featured at the end of an episode of The Simpsons.

˙

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Interestingly, Bill Withers walked away from the music industry saying that “these days I wouldn’t know a pop chart from a Pop-Tart”. He has not

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SONG TITLE: LEAN ON ME

Piano Debut

15

Lean On Me Bill Withers

4 &4

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times in our lives

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sor

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Words & Music by Bill Withers © Copyright 1972 Interior Music Corporation, USA. Universal/MCA Music Limited. All Rights Reserved. International Copyright Secured.

C

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Rockschool | Beat The Mersey SONG TITLE: BEAT THE MERSEY GENRE: 1960S POP

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Pop of the early 1960s was influenced by trailblazing rock ’n’ roll artists like Buddy Holly And The Crickets, Elvis Presley and Chuck Berry. The songs written and played by those bands were often built on simple chords or a catchy guitar riff. Various 1960s pop songs traditionally followed the now familiar pop song structure of verse, chorus, verse, chorus, middle 8 and chorus.

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Rockschool | Cashville SONG TITLE: CASHVILLE GENRE: COUNTRY

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D music owes much of its distinct sound to Country the guitar. Most Country tracks meld both acoustic and electric parts, with the rhythm parts often being covered on acoustic guitar. Pedal steel guitars are also common, and you can hear them on this song’s backing track. While piano isn’t the iconic sound of Country music, it’s far from uncommon to hear a piano in Country music, particularly in a larger band.

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‘Cashville’ is a piece in the style of musicians such as Johnny Cash, Hank Williams and Merle Haggard – some of the best-known Country artists of the past 60 years.

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new to the genre; his hell raiser reputation is almost as great as his musical legacy. Cash’s instrument of choice was an acoustic guitar; the electric guitar licks of his early years were performed by Luther Perkins. Merle Haggard helped to create a new sub-genre in the 1960s called the Bakersfield sound, which was characterised by a raw production style – a reaction against the sumptuous production favoured C in Nashville at the time. m

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Rockschool | Helicopter SONG TITLE: HELICOPTER GENRE: INDIE TEMPO: 95 BPM

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Oasis’ biggest rival Blur released their debut album Leisure in 1991. Their best-selling album Parklife was released in 1994, around the same time as Definitely Maybe. A war of words erupted between the bands. This culminated in the ‘battle of Britpop’ – Blur’s ‘Country House’ single pipped ‘Roll With It’ to number one. Oasis took their ‘album revenge’ in 1995 when (What’s The Story) Morning Glory? beat Blur’s The Great Escape to the top of the albums chart.

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Technical Exercises In this section, you will be asked to play a selection of exercises drawn from each of the groups below. The examiner will be looking for the speed of your response and will also give credit for the level of your musicality. All exercises need to be played hands separately, in straight feel, ascending and descending, in the keys, octaves and tempos shown. You may use your book for Group A and Group B. All Group C exercises must be played from memory. Note that Groups A and B need to be played to a click and any fingerings shown are suggestions only.

Group A: Scales

The tempo for this group is q = 52 bpm.

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Group B: Arpeggios/Broken Chords The tempo for this group is q = 92 bpm.

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Group C: Chord Voicings

In the exam you will be asked to play, from memory, your choice of one chord voicing from each of the following exercises, without the aid of a backing track or metronome. However, for practice purposes a demonstration of the chords played to a metronome click is available in the downloadable audio. 1. C major

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25

Sight Reading In this section you have a choice between either a sight reading test or an improvisation and interpretation test (see facing page). The examiner will ask you which one you wish to choose before commencing. Once you have decided you cannot change your mind. In the sight reading test, the examiner will give you a 4–6 bar melody in the key of C major. You will first be given 90 seconds to practise, after which the examiner will play the backing track twice. The first time is for you to practise and the second time is for you to perform the final version for the exam. For each playthrough, the backing track will begin with a one bar count-in. The tempo is q = 60. During the practice time, you will be given the choice of a metronome click throughout or a one bar count in at the beginning. The backing track is continuous, so once the first playthrough has finished, the count in of the second playing will start immediately. Please note: ■■There will be a requirement to play hands separately. ■■Single notes only will be required with both left and right hands.

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27

Ear Tests In this section, there are two ear tests: ■■Melodic Recall ■■Chord Recognition You will find one example of each type of test printed below and you will need to perform both of them in the exam.

Test 1 | Melodic Recall

The examiner will play you two consecutive notes. You will need to identify whether the last note is higher or lower than the first. You will hear the test twice, each time with a one bar count-in. The tempo is q = 95 bpm. For this exercise, please use the word ‘higher’ or ‘lower’ in your answer.

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28


Test 2 | Chord Recognition

General Musicianship Questions The final part of your exam is the General Musicianship Questions section, which features 5 questions relating to one of your choice of the performance pieces. 1. You will be asked a question relating to the harmony from a section of one of your pieces. 2. You will be asked a question relating to the melody in a section of one of your pieces. 3. You will be asked a question relating to the rhythms used in a section of one of your pieces. 4. You will be asked a question relating to the technical requirements of one of your pieces.

Piano Debut


5. You will be asked a question relating to the genre of one of your pieces.

29

Marking Schemes Grade Exams | Debut to Grade 5 * ELEMENT

PASS

MERIT

DISTINCTION

Performance Piece 1

12–14 out of 20

15–17 out of 20

18+ out of 20

Performance Piece 2

12–14 out of 20

15–17 out of 20

18+ out of 20

Performance Piece 3

12–14 out of 20

15–17 out of 20

18+ out of 20

Technical Exercises

9–10 out of 15

11–12 out of 15

13 + out of 15

Sight Reading or Improvisation & Interpretation

6 out of 10

7–8 out of 10

9 + out of 10

Ear Tests

6 out of 10

7–8 out of 10

9 + out of 10

General Musicianship Questions

3 out of 5

4 out of 5

5 out of 5

TOTAL MARKS

60%+

74%+

90%+

ELEMENT

PASS

MERIT

DISTINCTION

Performance Piece 1

12–14 out of 20

15–17 out of 20

18+ out of 20

Performance Piece 2

12–14 out of 20

15–17 out of 20

18+ out of 20

Performance Piece 3

12–14 out of 20

15–17 out of 20

18+ out of 20

Technical Exercises

9–10 out of 15

11–12 out of 15

13 + out of 15

Quick Study Piece

6 out of 10

7–8 out of 10

9 + out of 10

Ear Tests

6 out of 10

7–8 out of 10

9 + out of 10

General Musicianship Questions

3 out of 5

4 out of 5

5 out of 5

TOTAL MARKS

60%+

74%+

90%+

Piano Debut

Performance Certificates | Debut to Grade 8 *

30

ELEMENT

PASS

MERIT

DISTINCTION

Performance Piece 1

12–14 out of 20

15–17 out of 20

18+ out of 20

Performance Piece 2

12–14 out of 20

15–17 out of 20

18+ out of 20

Performance Piece 3

12–14 out of 20

15–17 out of 20

18+ out of 20

Performance Piece 4

12–14 out of 20

15–17 out of 20

18+ out of 20

Performance Piece 5

12–14 out of 20

15–17 out of 20

18+ out of 20

TOTAL MARKS

60%+

75%+

90%+

* Note that there are no Debut Vocal exams.


Grade Exams | Grades 6–8

Entering Rockschool Exams Entering a Rockschool exam is easy, just go online and follow our simple six step process. All details for entering online, dates, fees, regulations and Free Choice pieces can be found at www.rslawards.com ■■All candidates should ensure they bring their own Grade syllabus book to the exam or have their KR app ready and the full book downloaded. ■■All Grade 6–8 candidates must ensure that they bring valid photo ID to their exam. ■■Candidates will receive their exam results (and certificates if applicable) a maximum of 3 weeks after their exam. If nothing has been received after this time then please call +44 (0)845 460 4747 or email to [email protected]

Fallin’ (Keys) EMI Music Publishing Limited. Lean On Me (Withers) Universal/MCA Music Limited.

Piano Debut

Clocks (Berryman/Buckland/Champion/Martin) Universal Music Publishing MGB Limited.


Copyright Information

31

Introducing… Rockschoo new theorl’s y exams!

GRADES DEBUT–8

OUT NOW! Discover more at www.rslawards.com/theory Enter online at www.rslawards.com/enter-online


POPULAR MUSIC THEORY


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