Jazz Performance Grades – now available!
From January 2024, you will be able to take a Grade 1 to 5 Jazz exam wherever you are in the world, as we’ve just launched digitally-assessed Jazz Performance Grades!
Jazz Performance Grades will be available for Piano, Flute, Clarinet, Saxophone, Trumpet and Trombone. They will be assessed by specialist Jazz examiners using a specific jazz marking criteria.
Jazz trumpeter and educator Mark Armstrong, who is also a member of our Chief Examiner Group, said: "I'm really excited to see the Jazz exams going digital, offering aspiring jazz musicians the opportunity to record themselves from home and focus on repertoire as an alternative to our regular face-to-face exams. While we are starting with the current ABRSM Jazz syllabus, we hope to refresh this in future, incorporating new composers and arrangers who reflect the continuing vibrancy of the UK jazz scene, as well as respecting and maintaining the link to the African and American origins of the music and its growth and dissemination across borders around the world."
The repertoire for Jazz Performance Grades is the same as the Practical Grade repertoire.
In a Performance Grade, candidates perform four pieces from the syllabus, choosing at least one from each of the three lists: Blues, Standards and Contemporary Jazz. The fourth piece must be chosen from any of the three lists.
The syllabus pieces are available in our books: Jazz Piano Pieces for Grades 1 to 5, Jazz Tunes at Grades 1 to 3 and The AB Real Books for Grades 4 & 5 for Flute, Clarinet, Trumpet, Saxophone and Trombone. Each piece contains a fully notated head and at least one section for improvisation, with a simple chord sequence and set of guideline pitches.
Unlike other Performance Grades, there is no own-choice piece. Choosing pieces from our books ensures that candidates include an element of improvisation in each item of their programme.
