Rockschool music qualifications are tailor-made for the contemporary musician.
Music Teachers
01 September, 2024
Rockschool Guitar, Bass, and Drums Syllabuses are Out Now!
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Rockschool. Stay Original.
The original fire keeps beating on! In the UK, in 1991, Rockschool became the original way to study and gain a qualification in rock, pop and contemporary music. Now, we do that in over 60 countries across the globe. Our Guitar, Bass & Drums syllabus started it all. We’ve just launched our biggest update yet, and it’s packed full of amazing music and innovative features.
The best just got better!
We spent a bunch of time in Abbey Road’s world-famous Studio 3 over the course of the last year creating the new Rockschool syllabuses, and returned for the live launch of Rockschool #GBD24. Watch the video below to see live performances of new Hit Tunes and Rockschool Originals, interviews with the musicians who’ve recorded the syllabus and surrounding materials, and in depth discussions of all the innovative features included in these new syllabuses.
Purchase Your Grade Books!
New Repertoire!
Rockschool Guitar, Bass, and Drums returns with upgraded and refreshed repertoire across the suite of graded syllabuses! Think new originals and new Hit Tunes, allowing you to learn, teach, and jam with your friends like never before. Each Graded publication will contain 9 tracks, expertly arranged and benchmarked per grade.
Hit the button below to download the repertoire pack and explore our vault of hits!
New Hit Tunes
For each grade, we’ve arranged and recorded six new Hit Tunes reflecting rock and pop’s musical heritage in all its forms. We’ve included tracks from the likes of Sam Fender, Phoebe Bridgers, Tame Impala, H.E.R., Phony PPL, Fleetwood Mac, Pixies, Nirvana, The Beatles, Pink Floyd, Audioslave, Marcus Miller, RUSH, Red Hot Chili Peppers, Chick Corea, Jaco Pastorius and Hiatus Kaiyote to name just a few!
New Originals
We’re rolling out three new Rockschool Originals per grade. These arrangements have been expertly written and performed by top session musicians who have worked with some of the biggest names in rock and pop, to recognise the nuances of each instrument and to celebrate the history of Rockschool.
Shared Repertoire
Nothing beats jamming with your friends. This unique release will see at least 6 shared pieces of repertoire per electric guitar, bass, and drums grade. While the exam format remains a solo effort, Rockschool Guitar, Bass and Drums will support your journey of instrument mastery and ensemble performance.
Amplify your Session Experience
Professionally recorded, mixed, and mastered audio accompanies each arrangement. All nine pieces per grade have a full backing track as well as a track excluding the assessed part. Any Hit Tune that had vocals on its original release will feature a vocal line. They will also come with recorded count-ins.
Enhanced Technology: Incorporating Video!
To support every teacher, learner, and budding music enthusiast, we’ve enhanced our digital offering to make your teaching and learning experience as engaging as possible. Our e-books, complete with Learning Platform technology powered by MatchMySound, give you the ability to loop and slow down tricky sections while providing instant feedback on your performances. For the first time we will be incorporating video into the e-books, guiding you through the key musical features of each publication.
Same World-class Assessment Experience
While the Rockschool Guitar, Bass, and Drums publications have a new look and feel to them, they are still supported by the same class-leading assessment experience. The current technical exercises, supporting and unseen tests structure (as found in the 2018-2024 syllabus) will remain in place, alongside our existing exam formats. You will still have the choice of a Graded Exam or Performance Certificate, which can be assessed in a face-to-face or digital setting (recorded and live stream exams available!).
Exam Types
Graded Exam
Number of Pieces: 3
Technical Exercises: Examiner Selection of Scales, Arpeggios/Broken Chords, and Technical Studies
Unseen Tests: Sight Reading OR Improvisation, Ear Test, and General Musicianship Questions
Performance Certificate
Number of Pieces: 5
Face-to-face
Exams
The original exam experience. Take your exam whilst being observed in person by a member of our expertly trained examiner panel.
Recorded Digital Exams
Pre-record your exam and upload it to our innovative submissions portal for it to be marked by our expert examining panel.
Live Stream Digital Exams
Bringing the full RSL Awards graded exam experience to your front room by beaming in an examiner, digitally, in real time.
Celebrating Musical Icons
This syllabus celebrates the rich and diverse musical heritage that has shaped our culture and creative industries today. We’re also celebrating over 30 years worth of Rockschool history. Where better than to showcase this than at the most famous recording studio in the world, Abbey Road Studios! Led by our CEO Tim Bennett-Hart on the desk, MD’d by our Composer in Residence and Keys extraordinaire Jono Harrison, and Director of Product & Marketing Nathan Theodoulou on guitar, together with some of the hottest session players in the business, we had the privilege of recording in Studio 3 (think Pink Floyd, The Beatles, Amy Winehouse, Frank Ocean, Kanye West…)!
But the fun didn’t stop there. We headed down to the Marshall Studio, continuing the UK music heritage theme, with three lucky competition winners. Our winners-turned-session-musicians got the chance to record and feature on the new syllabus! They performed the lead parts on Debut track “Midnight Song”, met the Rockschool production team, and were given an exclusive tour of the fabled Marshall factory.
