Rockschool Grade 2 - NIGHTBUS Part One

In Rockschool’s Grade 1 most of the fingerings are kept to the first few frets, but in Grade 2 we explore a bit more; we move out of 1st position and start using the first 12 frets. Rhythms are more varied and melodies more complex. You’ll find yourself learning and using not only a greater variety of scales and chords, but also new techniques such as slides, vibrato, hammer-ons/pull-offs, palm muting and staccato.

There are a few markings on the Grade 2 music notation that may be new to you – let’s take a look at some.

ACCENTS

Accents are indicated by ‘>’ above a note. Simply play this note harder. These can often create what’s called a syncopated rhythm (on the off beat).

DYNAMICS

Dynamics tell us how loud to play. When written in music we use abbreviations based on the Italian for loud (forte) and for soft (piano). So f means play loudly, and p play softly. You will also see mf and mp, which mean moderately loud and soft respectively, and ff or pp for very loud or very soft. You will also see crescendos and diminuendos, written as arrows indicating a gradual increase or decrease in volume.

NightBus, a Rockschool Grade 2 piece, is adriving Ska style piece embellished with syncopated rhythms, simple chordshapes and chromatic moving melodies.

The main points to focus on in this piece are its interesting rhythms and how themelody moves swiftly between chords and single line melodies. In no time you’ll be getting that the ska feel by using off beat rhythms and simple barre chords. Dynamics, palm muting, andstaccato techniques emphasise this sound. Next time we’ll break the piece down and look specifically at its' rhythms.