Trinity Rock and Pop Session Skills Improvisation - anyone done it?

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I've booked myself in for my first ever music exam, using the Trinity Rock and Pop guitar syllabus.

The pieces are self-explanatory - practice the tab, play the piece.  But the "session skills" improvisation section isn't entirely clear what's required.

For those who aren't familiar with this, one is presented with a chord sheet and expected to play along with a backing track based on the chord sheet.

From viewing a few of their videos online I *think* it's acceptable to play rhythm for twice round, and then improvise a solo for the rest of the time.  Probably about two minutes in total.

I'm not sure how long I'll have to study the chord chart before playing.  I've read 30 seconds mentioned somewhere.

Anyone done one of these and care to describe the process?

Thanks.
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Comments

  • The older ( pre 2018) books have examples of the improvising and playback tests. Now , you have to buy examples in book ( with cd). 

    The test will play through the whole way once for you to practise with . The second time they’ll mark you .
    You can play chords for a bit for the improv, but it’s not as clear cut as play chords twice then solo, as the length of the piece is dictated by the Grade your taking ( what are you taking ?). You can totally get away with soloing over the whole thing . Worth getting the correct session skills book and having a go the playback test, too. I find this easier than the improvising test.
    Hope that helps.
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  • ModellistaModellista Frets: 2039
    edited March 2019
    ^ hi, thanks for that, @guitarmangler ;;. Interesting to hear from someone who’s done it. 

    I booked grade 7 on the basis that I could do the pieces (Black Dog, Sultans Of Swing, Voodoo Chile). But the improv is far tougher at grade 7 than 6. I have been working through the examples in the book, there’s a lot of jazz in 7/8 and 5/4 time. I don’t mind 5/4 but 7/8 is a pig! Often two changes to the bar too. 

    For example the first piece goes Fm9 Bbm6 Abmaj7 Gm7 C7 Fm9 Eb9 Db9 C7(b9) C7. All in 7/8.  And thats just the first eight bars!   Not impossible but tricky to get right having only 30 seconds prep time. 

    The book covers grades 6-8 and I started with the grade 6 improvs which are significantly more straightforward. So I would l play the chords through and then go for some soloing as I described above. By grade 7 the time sigs and chord changes have become so complex I don’t think it’s reasonable to be able to play a rhythm part. So I might solo all the way through, composing it properly so it starts off simple and becomes more complex towards the end. 

    Having said that, there are also some “boogie-woogie” style pieces which are in 4/4 with much more straightforward chord progressions. So I will probably start off with a lively rhythm part and then move on to a solo after once or twice round.  It’s just the jazz ones which are pigs!

    I guess I was just looking to confirm I hadn’t got the wrong end of the stick as to how to do this part of the exam. Should probably get a teacher but I’m too stubborn, I want to do it just from my own efforts!
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  • ModellistaModellista Frets: 2039
    edited March 2019
    And regarding the playback test - I’m more of an improviser than a reader but I did try the playbacks. Again, grade 6 is do-able but grade 7 it’s back to 7/8 again which is just so difficult to intuit. And the backing tracks for some reason often go really quiet and then come back in really loud. Very offputting. Improvising is the way for me personally I think. 
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  • Yeah, by grade 7 and 8 it gets a bit silly . I have no idea why in a ‘rock and pop’ exam they make you play over jazz, boogie woogie and Latin . Especially as none of their other songs are not even remostly like that.If you’re lucky you’ll get boogie woogie or Latin , as the blues/overdrive rock thing willl will work over it. If your unlucky and get jazz in 7/8 or 5/4 aim to survive rather than hit all the chords . Make sure you don’t run out of ideas too early  , as the songs are usual over 2 mins, be mindful  of key changes and quick modulations. Take a look at the marking scheme and know what’s expected of you ie being stylistically aware etc.
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  • ModellistaModellista Frets: 2039
    ^ all good points @guitarmangler ;. I did the exam yesterday and got jazz in 5/4.  Not impossible, I much prefer 5/4 to 7/8. For the assessment I did manage a run through the chords before the solo part. I thought it was important to attempt this because I think it actually shows more knowledge and skill than three minutes of pseudo-jazz noodling. 

    The chord sequence shared a lot of similarities to the examples in the book - there’s always a lot of relative minor action, and even though I’m not an expert on this, I’m pretty sure they modulate around the circle of fifths a few times to end up on something only distantly related to the starting point.  This started on Amaj7 and ended up on Cm7. Then they always throw in a little lead break where you’ve got to come up with a coherent solution to resolving things back to the beginning!

    As you say, completely out of character with the rest of the syllabus. If I wanted to be a jazzer I’d do a jazz exam! And very little explanation of how to approach the test. It’s bascially cross fingers and do he best you can!

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  • Awesome, well done. I think improv is only 20% of the marks, and it sounds like you aced it, so good job.

    I suppose it could be harder if it wasn’t jazz, they could give you some whacky Frank Zappa inspired piece in several compound time signatures or play over or Dream Theatre epic , or the chord changes of a Steely Dan song . 

    Fortunately, the Grade 8 improvising tests aren’t really any harder than 7, so if you do the next grade you know what you’re getting yourself into!
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  • ModellistaModellista Frets: 2039
    Well, the results are in.

    I got 16/20 for the improv, so it seems my approach was the correct one on the day.  With some help from @guitarmangler - so thanks!

    Overall score was 92/100 so rather chuffed with that.

    After a rest period I'm tempted by grade 8...

    If anyone wants any help with the Trinity exams, drop me a line, I think I've got the hang of the format now.


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  • Distinction ! Nice work, congrats ! 
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  • ModellistaModellista Frets: 2039
    edited March 2019
    Cheers.  I know it's a bit of a humblebrag but I don't care, after years of self-taught playing I'm trying to formalise things and this is a decent step in the right direction as my first music exam.  I was a bit worried about the improv piece, whether I'd done enough, not being a true jazzer, but it's turned out fine in the end.  And now I want to brush up on my jazz chops to try and find those four lost marks!
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  • mrkbmrkb Frets: 6637
    Well done Martin. Are you going to do the Country and Western grade 8 next - where they assess you on your ability to twang over the chord changes while wearing a cowboy shirt, dungarees and straw hat ;)
    Karma......
    Ebay mark7777_1
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  • SnagsSnags Frets: 5326
    Impressive stuff, congratulations.
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  • BigMonkaBigMonka Frets: 1763
    Wow, that's an impressive score - great job!
    Always be yourself! Unless you can be Batman, in which case always be Batman.
    My boss told me "dress for the job you want, not the job you have"... now I'm sat in a disciplinary meeting dressed as Batman.
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  • pmbombpmbomb Frets: 1169
    well done @Modellista ;

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  • stickersticker Frets: 869
    Well played Martin ! 
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  • ModellistaModellista Frets: 2039
    ^ Thanks to everyone for their kind words.
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  • ModellistaModellista Frets: 2039
    I've had one or two comments asking about the format of the exams and what to expect.  I thought I'd share these videos which might be of some use to people considering entering the Trinity Rock & Pop guitar exams.




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  • ModellistaModellista Frets: 2039
    And the sort of standard required for distinction: (ie not perfect!)

    Sultans Of Swing:



    Voodoo Child:



    Black Dog:


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  • evilcevilc Frets: 0
    I found this thread really interesting because I think I’m in very much the same situation as you @Modellista, long time player wanting to formalise and develop, particularly as you’ve picked the songs for g7 that I’m thinking of!
    I actually started with grade 4, having never done a guitar exam before, I wanted to be sure I’d pass, and didn’t want the stress of the exam to mess me up, so I did 4 in spring and I’ve just done and passed my grade 6 (I gave 5 a miss once I was confident of the format of the exam).  I found this thread while looking for tips on the improv section, like you I think it’s easy up to 5 but there’s not a lot of detail about what they are looking for from 6 onward, so your posts were really helpful... I still think that trying to resolve keys during that ‘solo’ section is a total bugger, but I managed 15 marks for my improv piece at g6.  I’m going to spend a bit more time before I do 7 working on the playback stuff as I wonder if that might be a better option, but there’s not a lot of info about how accurate you need to be to get marks.

    Anyway, this is plenty for now.

    TLDR: thanks @modellista for your helpful videos and posts
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