Using TCL's Rock & Pop grades in the Key Stage 4 classroom

One of Tom Turner's innovations when he took up his present post as head of music at Woodlands School three years ago was to introduce the ‘Rock & Pop’ syllabus from Trinity College London (TCL), described as ‘the exam that puts performance first’.

‘We're not a specialist school,’ he says. ‘We go down traditional GCSE routes and there's a vocational certificate for music technology students. Rock and pop is something else we offer. It goes alongside our GCSE but students can complete the qualification if they get up to scratch, and it enhances the GCSE.’

The syllabus is straightforward, according to Turner. ‘You have just three performance pieces. One of them will have some form of technical focus. Then there is a session skills element, which falls into the bracket of either improvisation or playback. Most students go down the improvisation route.

‘In a general lesson we start with session skills,’ he continues. ‘That allows students to learn a specific device – harmonic, melodic, rhythmic – and they improvise using that knowledge to a backing track provided by Trinity. Once they have focused on that element, we move to the composition part of the coursework and students integrate what they have learnt into their own composition.

‘It would be the same sort of process for the performance element. When they are learning their song, we would focus on the playback element. We'd take a few notes of the melody and see if students can work that out just by ear, or it might be a rhythmic task so they may need to reproduce that.

‘A lot of the theoretical elements are also covered just by going through the grading system. Nearer exam time, there may be specific things we'd need to go through – time signatures, key signatures, perhaps. It comes to them more naturally [this way] than dictating it at the front of the class.’

Familiarity and choice

The emphasis on familiar music is one of the most important aspects of the rock and pop syllabus.

‘We have real songs by real artists,’ says Annabel Thomas, TCL's head of business development for the UK and Ireland arts team. ‘Students get to play music they love with our range of hit songs, spanning all contemporary styles. Students are able to choose their set list from the eight songs in our graded songbooks, play a song of their own choice or perform one they've written themselves. So, there is lots of opportunity for differentiation and personalisation.’

Woodlands School generally focuses on Grades 1, 3 and 6, and, if any pupil sits an examination, it is at the end of Grade 6 level. The syllabus covers five instruments – keyboards, guitar, bass, drums and vocals – and it is that variety of modern, familiar pieces which is the big draw. ‘Where we are in Basildon, we barely get any musicians visiting,’ says Turner. ‘That's why we, in part, introduced this syllabus. Our area has a lot of PPG (pupil premium grant) students as it is not a very wealthy place, and we are introducing music performance to them. The way the technical requirements are assessed gives them complete relevance and puts them into a real-life context within the structure of the song. Any musician following this course will be building the knowledge of repertoire needed to go out as a gigging musician – as well as just developing their enjoyment and love of music more generally.’

‘Before we introduced the rock and pop syllabus, especially for those doing composition, we advised those taking GCSE to go down the keyboard route,’ says Turner. ‘They just weren't enthused by that. But, because this gives them such a wide selection of materials, they can put it into more practical learning and it enhances them at other stages of the course.’

While some will have their own instruments, and some are vocalists, the school provides most students with the relevant equipment, most recently having acquired a couple of electronic drum kits. A rental scheme for minimal cost allows students to practise at home and, during the pandemic, continue learning while schools have been shut. Turner even spent time delivering instruments to student homes if they didn't have one, or if their instrument had developed a fault.

Making time for music

Two hours a week of dedicated music teaching time is built into the KS4 timetable. But, with the large number of PPG students at the school, some additional tuition is provided. ‘Another thing I introduced was for any student who fell into the PPG bracket and had taken music as an option to be entitled to music lessons as a peripatetic session,’ notes Turner. ‘They have a weekly 15-minute session for ten weeks every term.’

There is also an audition system, known as the Artistic Performance Team, to enable Year 6 music, dance or drama pupils to join the school, thus allowing gifted students from outside the catchment area to come to Woodlands. Those on the team are afforded an additional 15 minutes of peripatetic teaching time, meaning some music students will have the two-hour generic teaching period plus 30 minutes of peripatetic time.

‘What we have found works really well, as we have a three-year Key Stage 4, is when they come to us in Year 9, if they choose music, then they have three years to work on it. Generally, in Year 9, we start with Grade 1, and that would include the theoretical elements and the performance pieces which go alongside that. Year 10 would work on Grade 3, then in Year 11, we jump up to Grade 6.

‘Again, what we have found helpful is how logical it is moving from Grade 1 to Grade 6 when, previously, at KS3 you would learn some basic musical knowledge along with the odd melody or chord. Then, when you are talking about classical music, there was a really big jump. It put a lot of students off. It was a real barrier, so just being able to go through the individual grades with the learning broken down into easy steps has been really beneficial.’

Gathering momentum

Evidence of the professionalism of the course was explained by Turner. ‘One year that sticks out to me was the first year we transitioned to the new syllabus,’ he says. ‘Our Year 10s had not progressed over to the rock and pop syllabus and we wanted to see how year 11s were getting on. We put on a production of School of Rock. Previously, we would have put together a teacher band and we would have provided all the backing. Students would sing the songs and it would be left at that.

‘Then we had a large influx of students wanting to get involved with the bands. In the musical and film, there are student bands, so we started out with a couple of Year 11 students and then we found eight or so Year 10s eager to join. In the end, we had them perform three songs from the musical and there was a “battle of the bands” segment as the finale. They performed at the same standard as the teacher band would have and it amazed me how dedicated they were.

‘We would put on rehearsal schedules for two afternoons for six months before they actually played in the production. They gave three evening performances and two matinees to Year 6 students. It was great to see such a selection of students wanting to work together and not just from the singing side of things as it would have been previously. That sticks out as our star year to date.’

Turner also speaks of one student who, at the beginning of last year, was potentially having a recording session at Abbey Road, something scuppered by the pandemic.

‘We also have a large number of students who go down the music technology route,’ he adds. ‘They are not required to have a skill on an instrument but they would like to be able to record it. We tell them to go down the technology route and then, in the peripatetic sessions, they work on their graded piece. They then come away with two qualifications and they've learnt about two sides of the music industry.’

Performance notes and background information about the songs and artists in the TCL grade syllabuses are available, as well as other supporting resources for teachers. For more information, contact ukandireland@trinitycollege.co.uk.

www.trinityrock.com