Trinity Guildhall Examiners' Conference Applauds Yamaha Improvisation Tests
Yamaha's Bill Martin received a warm and enthusiastic welcome from some 200 Trinity Guildhall examiners, when he gave a presentation at the exam board's annual examiners' conference, at the Majestic Hotel, Harrogate, in mid January 2008. His chosen subject was: improvisation in the Yamaha/Trinity keyboard exams, a collaboration which began in 2003 and has produced the groundbreaking keyboard syllabus.
The syllabus is linked to Yamaha Music UK's Play For Keeps keyboard course, which is taught in Yamaha Music Schools throughout the UK. The exams were launched in 2005 and offer full QCA and NQF status, via Trinity, with those candidates passing grade 6 and above able to earn university entrance points.
At the top end of this pioneering syllabus, musicality and musicianship are the focus. Rather unusually, scale tests give way to improvisation tests, in which candidates must have an in-depth knowledge, not only of a broad range of scales and modes, but must also know which scale types can be used with each chord type, during improvisation. The exam then assesses the musicality of their improvisation.
This creative but practical skill is a key element in producing creative musicians who can play equally well from a score or by ear. Thanks to the breadth and depth of the Play For Keeps course, students will find themselves able to function in a broader range of musical situations than those learning elsewhere.
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(posted January 2008)
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