Its been absolutely ages since i visited this forum. Would i be correct that the AB are still only doing jazz exams up to grade 5? It was one of the main reasons I abandoned the syllabus in favour of LCM who have a jazz syllabus in place from grade 1 to fellowship diploma. I actually think the AB jazz syllabus is fantastic and make my students work through the AB jazz books but they do LCM jazz exams, if the AB ever sort out a complete syllabus i will definitely invest in it.


TC

Yes that is so.

I like the AB exams and my pupils do them up to grade five, then we change to LCM who I also like but feel that their approach to improv is not as structured.

If AB went up to grade 8 then i would probably do them instead.

I wonder if anyone has tried the rock school syllabus? I get the impression that one can prepare mainly jazz pieces if they so desire. I wonder if anyone who has tried it can give us some feedback re the improvisation and the mandatory hearing component of the assessment, esp for grade 6 and above?

The girls have done lower level Rock School Guitar and Drums stuff. The pieces tend to come in a book similar to those supplied by ABRSM for Flute and Violin. If I remember rightly improvisation was one of the additional tests or a small element of tthe main test. I might be wrongly under the impression that this syllabus is about Rock rather than anything else but I am aware that it's probably the fastest evolving so may well have changed.

It should be easy to pop inot a music shop and have a look. I've also found them very helpful if you need to contact them by email.

I've never taken a pupil through the jazz syllabus before. I might be wrong, but my experience of other pupils who have done the exams is that they can be passed without actually needing to learn/know anything practical about jazz (ie history, chord-to-scale relationships, voice leading etc).

Jazz musicians are jazz fans and I found it staggering that G5 'jazzers' I have spoken to didn't know the names of any jazz players on their instruments, let alone actually listen to it!

This said, I am resolved to dip a toe. I have a pupil in mind who is G5 'Classical' standard, plus G6 piano. He also has some interest in the genre. He passed a couple of exams before I took him over, so I'm going in at G5.

I believe that, if done properly, G5 Jazz is far more challenging than G5 Theory.

[quote name='Bobilleg74' date='Dec 11 2010, 09:51 PM' post='1012984']
I've never taken a pupil through the jazz syllabus before. I might be wrong, but my experience of other pupils who have done the exams is that they can be passed without actually needing to learn/know anything practical about jazz (ie history, chord-to-scale relationships, voice leading etc).[/quote]

Nope i think you would be mistaken, certainly check the ABRSM Real book full of good info on historical background and developments, been a while since my students took ABRSM Jazz exam but certainly for LCM Jazz exams the examiner can ask you all sorts of questions about the specifics of Jazz and styles as well as history and basic biographical details.

[/quote]Jazz musicians are jazz fans and I found it staggering that G5 'jazzers' I have spoken to didn't know the names of any jazz players on their instruments, let alone actually listen to it![/quote]

I can believe this....

[/quote]This said, I am resolved to dip a toe. I have a pupil in mind who is G5 'Classical' standard, plus G6 piano. He also has some interest in the genre. He passed a couple of exams before I took him over, so I'm going in at G5.
I believe that, if done properly, G5 Jazz is far more challenging than G5 Theory.
[/quote]

Good for you! Hope you enjoy the path.

I know someone who took a Jazz exam and got a good mark by copying what was on the CD. I don't blame the person but I think examiners should have some knowledge of the basic improv on the board they work for CD.

When daughter took the exams she always made an attempt to improvise as per the exam requirements. there is no point in oding the exam if youare not going to learn anything from it. She took Grade 3 and 5 on FLute, 4 and 5 on Sax. Flute was pretty much do it yourself Sax she had more help and that was reflected in the marks.