E19: Rockschool Rock/Pop Piano Syllabus- Review

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