Rockschool Acoustic Guitar Grade 4 (2019)

Overview

Rockschool Acoustic Guitar Grade 4 (2019) is an intermediate-level resource for acoustic guitarists who have developed their basic technique and are ready to build stronger stylistic awareness, solo playing and improvisation skills.

The book contains six contemporary arrangements covering rock, pop, blues and acoustic styles, together with technical exercises, sight reading or improvisation, ear tests and General Musicianship Questions. Professional backing tracks, full-track recordings and downloadable audio support both practice and examination preparation.

At Grade 4, the 2019 syllabus places greater emphasis on solo acoustic performance, with Acoustic Specialist pieces arranged for performance without accompaniment or backing track.

Key Features

• Official Rockschool Acoustic Guitar 2019 Grade 4 resource

• Six contemporary song arrangements

• Rock, pop, soul, blues and acoustic repertoire

• Acoustic Specialist solo arrangements

• Professional backing tracks and full-track recordings

• Downloadable MP3 audio

• Fact Files with artist and repertoire information

• Walkthroughs and performance guidance

• Technical Exercises

• Sight Reading

• Improvisation & Interpretation

• Melodic and Harmonic Recall Ear Tests

• General Musicianship Questions

Featured Repertoire

The Grade 4 collection includes:

• Nothing Else Matters – Metallica

• Use Me – Bill Withers

• Ironic – Alanis Morissette

• Layla – Eric Clapton

• Road Trippin' – Red Hot Chili Peppers

• Sweet Home Chicago – Robert Johnson

The pieces are generally around two to two and a half minutes, giving students more scope to demonstrate technique, musical expression and stylistic control.

What Students Will Develop

Students will develop:

• Two-octave scale fluency

• Major, natural-minor, pentatonic and blues scales

• Major 7th, minor 7th and dominant 7th arpeggios

• Full barre-chord technique

• Major and minor chord voicings

• 7th-chord vocabulary

• Transposed acoustic-riff playing

• Fingerstyle, picking and hybrid technique

• Melody-and-accompaniment coordination

• Blues and soul stylistic vocabulary

• Sight-reading and improvisation

• Melodic and harmonic listening skills

• Greater control of dynamics, articulation and musical phrasing

The Grade 4 repertoire also introduces more demanding coordination, including fingerpicked bass-and-treble parts, swung rhythms, grace notes, harmonics and polyrhythmic passages in selected arrangements.

Technical Exercises

Group A – Scales

At ♩ = 80 bpm, students prepare two-octave scales in eighth notes, using starting notes on the low E string in the keys of A, B♭, B and C.

Two fingerings are required for each scale type and key:

• Major

• Natural Minor

• Minor Pentatonic

• Major Pentatonic

• Blues

Group B – Arpeggios

At ♩ = 80 bpm, students prepare eighth-note, two-octave arpeggios in the keys of A, B♭, B and C:

• Major 7

• Minor 7

• Dominant 7

The arpeggios start from the low E (6th) string.

Group C – Chords

Students prepare:

Full Barre Chords

• A major

• A minor

• D major

• D minor

7th Chords

• A maj7

• A7

• D maj7

• D7

• Dm7

• G7

• Am7

The 7th-chord sequence is played continuously to a click at ♩ = 80 bpm.

Group D – Acoustic Riff

Students perform a Soul/Blues acoustic riff with a backing track at ♩ = 80 bpm.

The riff introduced in the opening bars is transposed to different root notes throughout the exercise, developing fretboard awareness, rhythmic consistency and the ability to adapt a musical pattern to changing harmonic positions.

Product Details

• Brand: Rockschool / RSL Awards

• Series: Rockschool Acoustic Guitar

• Instrument: Acoustic Guitar

• Level: Grade 4

• Syllabus: 2019

• Publisher: Rockschool Ltd

• Publication Year: 2019

• Pages: 60

• Product Type: Graded Music Exam Book

• Includes: Performance repertoire, technical exercises and supporting tests

• Audio: Downloadable MP3 audio, backing tracks and full tracks