Grades

[FastFred]

Hi
Been playing since last October and my teacher is putting me in for Grade 4 in July. He packed me off last week with the scales, appeggios and three tunes which I have only had a few goes at so far but will not take long to master. When I turned to the Grade 4 sight reading tests however they look pretty difficult, certainly under the pressure of exam conditions. My sight reading is pretty good but the timings are always challenging on first play. What is the best way to improve here?
My thinking is towards doing some 'ear training' so that I can hear the notes by just looking at the music. This then will help with the timings as one can see where the tune is going. Is this something that I should be able to do at Grade 4 level?

 

[colin_]

Depends where your frailties lie but some intensive rhythm training may be a good idea. I have a couple of drumming books which present graduated rhythms across the page, so that all eventualities are covered. If you work through the exercises regularly you will be able to instantly recognise the rhythm for any given bar, giving you more time to calculate the notes you need to play.

A visit to www.musictheory.com will help you I think.

 

[FastFred]

Thanks Colin, will give that site a try

 

[Linky Lee]

understanding the rhythm is the hard bit of sight reading. transcribing helps wonderfully as A you have to hear the rhythm. B, then understand that rhythm. and finally C ork out how to write that rhythm down!

get fluent subdividing and using time signatures like 3/4 and 6/8 too.

The sight reading material for grade 4 shouldbe at a playable grade 3 level. Meaning it will not contain any key signatures, time signatures or difficult rhythms you won't of come across at grade 3.

 

[nick_cook]

[color:green]Wow! Grade 4, and only been playing 5 months!!! I've been playing since June last year and my teacher's putting me in for grade 1 in June. I did think that I could do at least grade 2.

We were talking about grades the other week, 'cos I got the grade 2 tunes book cheap off e-bay. She had a bit of a go about parents wanting their offspring to skip grade 1 and go straight onto grade 2. She reckons that you need to get the basics right first, and skipping grades meant possibly missing out on some techniques that need to be ingrained first. So I'm going to be moving through the grades one by one.

All credit to you though - I hope you do well!!![/color]

 

[philthd]

i reckon its better to take an exam you can ace than one you could just about struggle through if you worked your arse off.

playing the tunes is often the easy bit - its often the other bits that mark more clearly the increased level of musicianship needed

 

[nick_cook]

[color:green]I agree. I'm doing the Jazz Grade 1 exam. I can do the basic tunes and the scales fine. What I have trouble with is the improvisation part in the tune and the quick study and aural tests!![/color]

 

[PaulyT]

I wasn't going to do grades initially and my teacher was quite happy with this - until the book that came with the Sax ran out of pages.
Now he's told me to get the 80 graded excercises book because I'll be doing them after all. He advises skipping grade 1 for kids and suggested I could go straight on to grade 3 or 4 with a bit of discipline! 🙂
Paul

 

[david_tannahill]

I have been studying grade 2 jazz on and off for the last 6-9 months or so. I think that these tunes are as simple or complex as you make them. Every tune we look at has it's own complexities, and my teacher often makes me think a lot about the theory. I agree that the improv section is hard, but sometimes parts of the tunes are quite hard in that there is not much room for error e.g. when the emphasis is on the off-beat or between the beat it is no good approximating what you think it should be! Also with the improv my teacher is encouraging me to play the 7, 9, 11, 13 extensions rather than just using the guide notes or a blues scale. He is also trying to teach me vibrato for the more ballad-type sections. I can't play very fast, so I try to be melodic. It is a very big learning experience but is great fun.

 

[Linky Lee]

I've bought the ABRSM jazz piano books for grades 1-3 and the scale book for all the grades, unfortunately it isn't hugely comprehensive with the piano scales even at grade 5 jazz piano (why haven't they introduced 6-8 yet?)

I'm trying to teach myself piano by learning all the tunes in these books but I'm awful and just can't do it. I'd really like to get to grade 5 jazz piano standard. Then I'd have good enough piano skills to become a music teacher!

 

[jadoube]

Now he's told me to get the 80 graded excercises book because I'll be doing them after all. He advises skipping grade 1 for kids and suggested I could go straight on to grade 3 or 4 with a bit of discipline!

That brings a pointed memory. Just what my teacher said - but he soon stopped mentioning it. :erm:

I blame the lack of discipline in the old of today.