E18: Rockschool New Classical Piano Syllabus 2021- Review

Heart of the Piano Podcast

Rockschool has recently released an exciting new set of classical piano grades! Listen to this review to find out their strengths and weaknesses, including my strong misgivings.

---

Show Notes

• Identity crisis [2:50]
• No mention of balanced programme [5:50]
• Difficult to assess across different styles with no requirement for balanced programme [6:40]
• Excellent representation of women and BIPOC [9:46]
• Lack of consistency across grades in terms of styles & difficulty levels [12:30]
• Comparison with ABRSM and Trinity [14:50]
• Issue of lack of flexibility when assessing dynamics, tempos & articulations [16:35]
• Good typesetting- but not always great editing, and glaring mistakes [19:40]
• Simplified arrangements- controversial, uncredited, and not labelled as simplified [21:45]
• Individual grades: Grade 8 [27:30]
• Debut grade [29:45]
• Grade 1 [32:15]
• Grade 5 [34:40]
• Grade 7 [37:55]
• Grade 6 [38:45]
• Grade 4 [40:45]
• Grade 3 [41:15]
• Grade 2 [42:40]
• Comparison of cost of books between Rockschool and Trinity [44:40]
• Exam options- grades and performance certificates [47:20]
• Concerns about Rockschool Centres for classical piano exams (in the UK) [48:20]
• About free choice options [52:40]

---

Notes:

Check out the following review of the Rockschool Rock/Pop syllabus for more information relevant to the classical syllabus which couldn’t fit in this review: https://heartofthepiano.com/e19-rockschool-rock-pop-piano-syllabus-review/

The intro/outro music is my jazz arrangement of the Rachmaninov Adagio from Symphony #2, you can watch the whole thing here if you like: https://youtu.be/hMqREAngb4s