Rockschool Acoustic Guitar Grade 8 (2019)

Overview

Rockschool Acoustic Guitar Grade 8 (2019) is an advanced-level resource for acoustic guitarists who have developed strong technical control and are ready to demonstrate mature stylistic interpretation, rhythmic complexity, creative solo and improvisation work, and confident musical communication.

The book contains six contemporary arrangements spanning acoustic, blues, jazz, rock and contemporary styles, supported by advanced technical exercises, Stylistic Studies, Quick Study Pieces, Ear Tests and General Musicianship Questions. Downloadable audio provides backing tracks, full tracks and supporting material for practice and examination preparation.

At Grade 8, the 2019 syllabus expects players to combine advanced technique with individual musical expression and stylistic awareness, rather than simply demonstrating technical accuracy.

Key Features

• Official Rockschool Acoustic Guitar 2019 Grade 8 resource

• Six contemporary performance arrangements

• Rock, blues, jazz, acoustic and contemporary repertoire

• Solo and session-style performance pieces

• Professional backing tracks and full-track recordings

• Downloadable audio

• Vocal melody lines for selected arrangements

• Fact Files with artist and repertoire information

• Walkthroughs for each performance piece

• Advanced Technical Exercises

• Three Stylistic Study options

• Quick Study Piece

• Melodic and Harmonic Recall Ear Tests

• General Musicianship Questions

Featured Repertoire

The Grade 8 collection includes:

• While My Guitar Gently Weeps – The Beatles

• Kind Hearted Woman Blues – Robert Johnson

• Tears For Jerusalem – Tommy Emmanuel

• First Rule Of Thumb – Brent Mason

• Minor Swing – Django Reinhardt

• Breathing Underwater – Hiatus Kaiyote

The Grade 8 pieces are longer than those in the earlier grades, typically around three to three and a half minutes, allowing candidates to demonstrate sustained technical control, stylistic interpretation and musical communication.

What Students Will Develop

Students will develop:

• Advanced scale and modal vocabulary

• Whole-tone, diminished and altered-scale concepts

• Extended and altered harmony

• Dominant 7♯5, 7♭5, 7♯9 and 7♭9 arpeggios

• Minor 7♭5 and diminished arpeggios

• Altered dominant chord voicings

• Strummed and arpeggiated chord control

• Advanced fretboard awareness

• Complex rhythmic coordination

• Fingerstyle, picking and hybrid techniques

• Percussive acoustic-guitar techniques

• Stylistic improvisation

• Chord extensions and inversions

• Quick interpretation of unfamiliar material

• Melodic and harmonic listening skills

• Greater independence in musical phrasing and performance

The syllabus also encourages candidates to demonstrate musical judgement through appropriate chord extensions, inversions, rhythmic development and stylistically suitable improvisation.

Technical Exercises

Group A – Scales & Modes

At ♩ = 100 bpm, students prepare two-octave eighth-note exercises in two positions:

• Whole Tone

• Diminished

• Altered

Root positions:

• 6th-string roots: G, G♯/A♭, A, A♯/B♭, B

• 5th-string roots: C, C♯/D♭, D, D♯/E♭, E

These exercises extend the modal and harmonic vocabulary developed at Grades 6 and 7 into more advanced altered-scale material.

Group B – Arpeggios

At ♩ = 100 bpm, students prepare one-octave eighth-note arpeggios in two positions:

• Dominant 7♯5

• Dominant 7♭5

• Minor 7♭5

• Dominant 7♯9

• Dominant 7♭9

• Diminished

The same root-position groups are used:

• 6th-string roots: G–B chromatically

• 5th-string roots: C–E chromatically

Group C – Chords

Students prepare advanced altered dominant chord voicings:

• Dominant 7♯5

• Dominant 7♭5

• Dominant 7♯9

• Dominant 7♭9

The chords are performed first as strummed chords and then picked/arpeggiated, developing both chordal control and awareness of individual voices within the harmony.

Group D – Stylistic Studies

Students choose one Stylistic Study and perform it with a backing track:

• Rock & Pop

• Blues & Country

• Acoustic Specialist

The selected style also determines the style of the Quick Study Piece.

Product Details

• Brand: Rockschool / RSL Awards

• Series: Rockschool Acoustic Guitar

• Instrument: Acoustic Guitar

• Level: Grade 8

• Syllabus: 2019

• Publisher: Rockschool Ltd

• Publication Year: 2019

• Pages: 76

• Product Type: Graded Music Exam Book

• Includes: Performance repertoire, technical exercises and supporting tests

• Audio: Downloadable audio, backing tracks and performance recordings