Jazz exams in addition to standard ABRSM exams?

[ShawnSpencer]

My 8 yo is G3 piano and G2 on stringed instrument. I want to widen his piano playing because unlike the stringed (where he plays in orchestras and ensembles as well as exam pieces) he will only play exam pieces as he only wants to learn for a goal and at moment exam is only goal he has for piano as not concert standard yet.

I was having a look at the ABRSM Jazz syllabus and thought that maybe a good idea - he could do the Jazz pieces as well and take the Jazz exams.

Is this a rubbish idea? Would it make learning the regular pieces too difficult or will it help? Any comments gratefully received?

Lots of people do both. Jazz improvisation is fun. There's no need to take another set of exams unless he wants to though.

He likes the something to aim for be it playing concert on x date or sitting exam on y date.

Good to know lots do both.

Abrsm have good jazz pieces and it does give a structure. Wish I'd done it with mine.

I have started some of my students with the jazz syllabus and they love it. I would recommend starting at a slightly lower level than they are in order to gain the new skills. It really improves their sense timing I have noticed and really broadens their skills. And a grade 5 in a jazz instrument means you never need to do grade 5 theory!

Really why don't you need to do theory?

To do Grade 6 practical with AB, you need:

Grade 5 Theory or
Grade 5 Practical Musicianship or
Grade 5 Jazz.

In practice, all of these options require quite a lot of knowledge of scales, chords, harmony and rhythm. The theory is done on paper, and the others are done on your instrument.

That's interesting - something new I learnt today.

DS would much prefer to do it practically rather than theoretically on paper.

Yes, go for jazz! Great for broadening musical skills. I'm doing grade 8, forty years too late! Wish I'd had the opportunity when I was younger as I'd be a far better musician now.

Definitely go for it but be aware that the Jazz grades are harder- grade three jazz is closer to grade 5 classical technically.

brigit that's an interesting point. Why do you think this? I'm not disagreeing, just interested. I've always thought that there is no difference between the classical and jazz grades in terms of difficulty.

I'd be interested to hear your views.

There isn't supposed to be, but I haven't done enough to be sure. The Grade 2 Jazz pieces certainly seem Grade 2 to me, but I suppose taking the grades requires a relatively high level of theory knowledge for the improvisation. Some people say the aural is harder, but it's not - just different. I suppose some of the pieces are a bit more complicated rhythmically, but again - just different.

Because ABRSM only offers (or used to offer) up to Grade 5 Jazz, lots of pupils used to go around saying that Grade 5 Jazz = Grade 8, but it doesn't because it's a Level 2 qualification, just like the standard grades. Trinity now offer Grade 8 Jazz, and a friend's pupil scored 99% last year!

The improvisational element makes jazz more challenging, i would say, but there are elements of classical which others may find more difficult! I'm not sure if drawing comparisons is useful anyway. I wish the abrsm would either offer jazz grade 8 or combine the two genres. I'm doing my grade 8 through the LCM, and I would definitely say that it's more like grade 8 classical in terms of the knowledge and understanding required, and the difficulty of the pieces is about the same, I'd say.

If I were the OP, I would definitely look at favouring jazz over classical. The improvisation element is fun and really tests musical understanding. I suppose it depends on the personality and learning style of the pupil.