TCL Grade 4 Orchestral Percussion

General Info

Candidates taking a Orchestral Percussion exam are required to:

• play one piece for each of Snare Drum, Timpani and Tuned Percussion, must not include the study pieces
• play at least one accompanied piece

Snare Drum Song List

Item	Works	Composer	Publication	Publisher
1	Football Crazy!	Keith Bartlett	50 Short Pieces For Snare Drum	United Music Publishing
2	Mixing It Up	John Beck	10 Intermediate Snare Drum Solos	Kendor Music
3	Syncopated	John Beck	10 Intermediate Snare Drum Solos	Kendor Music
4	Out on a Wing	Louie Bellson	Solo and Duet for Snare Drum	Alfred Music
5	Trixie	Louie Bellson	Solo and Duet for Snare Drum	Alfred Music
6	Nine to Five	Ben Hans	40 Intermediate Snare Drum Solos	Hal Leonard
7	No. 11	Keith Larson	Artistic Studies for Snare Drum	C. Alan Music Publications
8	Flamboyant Flams	Jackie Kendle	Percussion World: Snare Drum	Trinity College London Press
9	Calypso Hippo	Brian Slawson	Dynamic Solos for Snare Drum	C. Alan Music Publications
10	Groove Trail	Brian Slawson	Dynamic Solos for Snare Drum	C. Alan Music Publications
11	Snare Off	Michael Skinner	Percussion Exam Pieces & Studies Snare Drum Book 1: Grades 1-5	Trinity College London Press
12	Tambou-rim	Michael Skinner	Percussion Exam Pieces & Studies Snare Drum Book 1: Grades 1-5	Trinity College London Press
13	Three by Two	Michael Skinner & Jan Faulkner	Percussion Exam Pieces & Studies Snare Drum Book 1: Grades 1-5	Trinity College London Press

Timpani Song List

Item	Works	Composer	Publication	Publisher
1	Roll Up, Roll Down	Keith Bartlett	50 Short Pieces for Timpani	United Music Publishing
2	Short 'n' Sweet Samba	Keith Bartlett	20 Short Solos for Timpani	United Music Publishing
3	G Whizz!	Keith Bartlett	20 Short Solos for Timpani	United Music Publishing
4	Sweet Sixteenths	Keith Bartlett	Percussion World: Timpani	Trinity College London Press
5	Ronduet #2	Gert Bomhof	Solo Pieces for Timpani	De Haske
6	Gopak	Jan Faulkner	Percussion Exam Pieces & Studies Timpani: Grades 1-5	Trinity College London Press
7	Winter Thunder	Mike Hannickel	FIRST RECITAL SERIES (Timpani)	Curnow Music
8	Maple Leaf Rag	James Curnow	FIRST RECITAL SERIES (Timpani)	Curnow Music
9	Galop	Jackie Kendle	Percussion World: Timpani	Trinity College London Press
10	Quiere Bailar?	Brian Slawson	Dynamic Solos for Timpani	Alfred Music
11	Solo Study 4	Garwood Whaley	Primary Handbook for Timpani	Meredith Music
12	Solo Study 5	Garwood Whaley	Primary Handbook for Timpani	Meredith Music

Tuned Percussion Song List

Item	Works	Composer	Publications	Publisher	Video
1	Lain Xylo	Mark Aldous	Tuned Percussion Solos	Mark Aldous
2	Tears pf a Clown	Mark Aldous	Tuned Percussion Solos	Mark Aldous
3	Cool (from West Side Story)	John O'Reilly	Solos for the Percussion Player	Schirmer
4	Tango	Jan Faulkner	Percussion Exam Pieces & Studies Tuned Percussion: Grades 1-5	Trinity College London Press
5	Spike Island March	David Hext	Tuned In	Southern Music
6	The Bells of Notre Dame	Randy Newman	Disney Solos for Mallet Percussion	Hal Leonard
7	Empty Pocket	Michael Merkins	The Sound of Pop, Rock, Blues Volume 2	De Haske
8	Charlie is My Darling	Jan Faulkner	Percussion Exam Pieces & Studies Tuned Percussion: Grades 1-5	Trinity College London Press
9	Mr John	Fons van Gorp	Big Swing Pop	De Haske
10	Waltz for L	Fons van Gorp	Big Swing Pop	De Haske
11	Gallop #2	Ivos Weijmans	13 Pieces for Mallets	De Haske
12	Alla Pollacca	Nebojsa Jovan Zivkovic	Funny Xylophone (Book 1)	Gretel-Verlag

Technical Works

One of the following options, chosen by the candidate

Instrument	List	Publications	Memory
Snare Drum	Orchestral Figures Multiple Bounce Roll Study	Percussion Exam Pieces & Studies Snare Drum Book 1: Grades 1-5	Nil
Timpani	Sticking Patterns Roll Development Dynamics	Percussion Exam Pieces & Studies Timpani: Grades 1-5	Nil
Tuned Percussion	E / Ab Major Scales and Arpeggios (One Octave) Chromatic Scale starting on E / Ab C# / F Minor Scales and Arpeggios (One Octave)	Tuned Percussion Scales & Arpeggios	All requirements should be played from memory.

Study List

Item	Works	Composer	Instrument	Publications	Publisher	Video
1	Sticks for Six	Lorne Pearcey	Snare Drum	Snare Drum Studies	Mark Aldous
2	Grade 4 Rudimental Study	Michael Skinner	Snare Drum	Percussion Exam Pieces & Studies Snare Drum Book 1: Grades 1-5	Trinity College London Press
3	Penguin Waddle	Lorne Pearcey	Timpani	Timpani Studies	Mark Aldous
4	Grade 4 Study	Jan Faulkner & Jayne Obradovic	Timpani	Percussion Exam Pieces & Studies Timpani: Grades 1-5	Trinity College London Press
5	Grade 4 Major Study	Jan Faulkner	Tuned Percussion	Percussion Exam Pieces & Studies Tuned Percussion: Grades 1-5	Trinity College London Press
6	Grade 4 Minor Study	Jan Faulkner	Tuned Percussion	Percussion Exam Pieces & Studies Tuned Percussion: Grades 1-5	Trinity College London Press

Sight reading

This test assesses candidates’ ability to perform a previously unseen musical extract, at a level approximately two grades lower than the exam being taken.

About the Test

After 30 seconds’ preparation time, candidates perform a previously unseen musical extract at a level lower than the exam being taken.

Supporting Publications

For practice purposes, sample Sight-reading tests are published by Trinity College London Press in Graded Percussion Sight-Reading, Grades 1-8. Purchasing the book is not a requirement.

Aural

This test supports the development of candidates’ abilities in musical perception and understanding by requiring them to recognize musical features by ear (for example meter and pulse, pitch, performance characteristics). All questions are based on a single musical example played at the piano by the examiner. Candidates are asked to describe various features of the music such as dynamics, articulation, texture and style. Candidates are not required to sing.
1. Listen to the melody twice times, clap the pulse on the second playing and stressing the strong beat, identify the time signature after clapping.
2. Listen to the melody twice, identify the changing tonality and the final cadence (Perfect, Plagal, Imperfect or Interrupted)
3. Listen to two notes from the melody line played consecutively and identify the interval
4. Study a copy of the piece and listen to it once as written and once with a change of rhythm and a change of pitch (both changes in the melody line)

Improvisation

This test assesses candidates’ ability to improvise fluently, coherently and creatively in response to a musical stimulus. Candidates perform an improvisation based on a stimulus chosen from the following options:

• Stylistic
• Motivic
• Harmonic

Stylistic stimulus

This option requires candidates to improvise on their instrument over a notated accompaniment played by the examiner at the piano.

• Candidates are given a stimulus which includes the notated piano part and chord symbols. The stimulus begins with a two-bar introduction played by the examiner alone, followed by a further section over which candidates must improvise for a specified number of repeats.
• The examiner plays the stimulus twice for candidates’ reference, without repeats.
• Candidates are then given 30 seconds’ preparation time, during which they may prepare for their improvisation aloud.
• The test then follows. The examiner plays the stimulus again, and candidates join in after the introduction, improvising for the specified number of repeats. Candidates should aim to improvise in a way that complements the musical style of the stimulus.

Motivic stimulus

This option requires candidates to improvise solo in response to a short melodic fragment.

• Candidates are given a notated melodic fragment, which the examiner plays twice on the piano for candidates’ reference.
• Candidates are then given 30 seconds’ preparation time, during which they may prepare for their improvisation aloud.
• The test then follows. Candidates should aim to improvise within the specified duration range and may begin by quoting the stimulus directly, developing their improvisation from there. However, they are not required to quote the stimulus directly, and may instead develop their improvisation from ideas taken from the stimulus such as a small group of notes or an interval. Responses must use the given time signature.

Harmonic stimulus

This option requires candidates to improvise solo in response to a chord sequence.

• Candidates are given a notated chord sequence, including chord symbols, which the examiner plays twice on the piano for candidates’ reference.
• Candidates are then given 30 seconds’ preparation time, during which they may prepare for their improvisation aloud.
• The test then follows. Candidates should improvise for the specified number of repeats, following the chord sequence. Responses should contain melodic / rhythmic interest.

Musical Knowledge

This test encourages learners to understand the wider musical context of the pieces they play, as well as their knowledge of notation and their instrument. Examiners ask carefully graded questions based on candidates’ chosen pieces. Questions refer to the solo line only, and not the accompaniment. In the exam, candidates choose which piece they would like to be asked about first. Examiners then choose a second piece for the remaining questions. Candidates’ musical scores should be free of annotations which might aid their responses. Examiners usually point to the relevant part of the score when asking questions. Candidates can use American terms (eighth note, half note, etc) as an alternative to English terms (quaver, minim, etc).