The new ABRSM percussion syllabus has an unbelievable 30 pieces at each grade level: 10 snare, 10 tuned and 10 timpani. A little quick math and you'll find that's 240 pieces of music, 84 of which are brand new compositions from composers we know and love like Ney Rosauro and Cameron Sinclair. The other 156 pieces are from a cross-section of the classics: Cirone's Portraits in Rhythm, Kraft's French Suite, Wilcoxon's Rudimental Swing Solos, and your favourite George Hamilton Green rags all make an appearance. Not to mention staples written by Hochrainer, Knauer, Cahn, Beck, Carter, Živković, Sammut, Abe, Burritt, Séjourné and Stout. That seems like a lot of names, right? It is! There are over 100 composers and arrangers whose contributions are included in this syllabus.
A range of instruments
With the new syllabus, students finally have the variety to match their range of personalities and circumstances. The number one game-changer is four different learning tracks to choose from. Students can prepare for a single subject exam in snare, timpani, tuned or combined subject percussion.
Bernadette loves the xylophone (and it's a good thing because her school only has a xylophone.) Now she can do graded exams exclusively on tuned instruments all the way up to Grade 8. Toby's school is a little better off. They have two timpani and a glockenspiel in the music room. The problem is he can only use them on Wednesdays, so progress is slow. Meanwhile, his practice pad is coming unglued from some over-enthusiastic paradiddling. Not to worry. He can take the single subject snare exam and hold off on timps and tuned until he's ready. Musn't forget Zane and Kalinda who are good all-round players. The combined percussion exams are more their style. The thing is, Zane is into classical rep whereas Kalinda digs the groovy stuff. You give Zane the Bach, Kalinda the Rosauro.
Let's talk about instruments for a second. In reality, there are loads of instruments our students need to play, but everybody knows exams focus on snare, marimba and timpani. Simple, streamlined and efficient – but not so great when your ensemble students get their first vibes or multi part. Who knows why it's taken so long, but finally there's a syllabus that includes it all. Multi-percussion solos make an appearance from Grade 3. Set-ups include snare plus concert toms, bongos, cowbells, timbales and many more. The tuned pieces are written for two and four mallet vibes, marimba and xylophone. Timpani parts build up from 2 to 3 and 4 drums.
How about accompaniments? Many of us don't even have a piano in our teaching studio or worse, we do – making for a painstaking plunk through keyboard accompaniments that are far beyond our prowess. If you happen to love piano, you're all set. This syllabus has plenty of the parts you're used to. Fellow piano-phobes, fear not! We're off the hook. It also offers solos, duets and tunes with complementary percussion instead.
Original material
Andrea Vogler is the syllabus's lead consultant. She's a teacher of percussion at the Royal Northern College of Music and a sought-after percussionist. One of Vogler's many contributions is a Grade 2 timpani and tom-tom duet. ‘What's for Tea Tonight?’ is a question-and-answer game. Students can put words to music, interpreting a series of crochets and quavers as their favourite foods or making up their own responses. Though not expressly suggested in the syllabus, one could imagine this would be a great classroom-teaching activity as well.
‘March of the Octopus’, a Grade 2 piece for piano and snare drum, is a sort of homage to Ravel's Bolero. It starts pianissimo and steadily crescendos throughout. It's written by Damien Harron, programme leader at Leeds College of Music. Harron is also an award-winning chamber musician and it's clear he has a good sense of humour. How else could he have written this march for an eight-legged cephalopod? Slow and dignified, you can imagine this little mollusc plodding along. The performance indication describes his progress as ‘slightly restrained, but with purpose.’
Harron also contributes ‘Leap Frog Funk’, a marimba solo for Grade 5. It sounds a bit more minimalist than funky. The initial theme builds like Steve Reich's Nagoya Marimbas. However, there's a little syncopation in the bass line to keep things grooving. ‘Leap Frog Funk’ is a good example of a two-mallet piece offering rhythmic complexities and contemporary sounds while remaining accessible to an intermediate learner's taste and technique.
It's great to see young composers featured and William Edwards is certainly one to note. His timpani etude entitled ‘Conflict’ is a mixed-metre affair. Energetic and fun, this tune would be an especially good precursor to excerpts from The Rite of Spring, the Symphonic Dances from West Side Story and Carmina Burana. Edwards undoubtedly knows that repertoire, performing regularly in West End shows and orchestras throughout London and the UK. This piece is tailored for Grade 5 and benefits from Edwards’ teaching experience.
Challenging and varied repertoire
From Grades 6 through 8 the options are more rooted in external repertoire than original material. Nine out of every 10 pieces come from trusted publications like Atkatz's Tributes for Snare Drum, Woud's Symphonic Studies for Timpani, or Živković's Funny Marimba Book 2. Many are solos by the likes of J S Bach, Kreisler, Abe, and Carter. Any would be great to select for a recital or conservatoire entry audition, and could even be on the list of repertoire to study at the university level.
‘Exact Change Please’ is one of the originals. A vibraphone solo for Grade 8, its haunting harmonies evoke jazz standards like ‘Beautiful Love’ or ‘Lullaby of Birdland’. This is a great example of a four-mallet foray into the world of jazz vibes. It's a notated improvisation written by Anthony Kerr. Kerr is a jazz vibraphonist whose long list of collaborators includes none other than George Shearing and Elvis Costello. He teaches at Royal College of Music and manages to keep a busy studio schedule, all the while making time for his own projects and compositions.
One of the most anticipated contributions comes from Nick Woud. Woud is principal timpanist of the Royal Concertgebouw, considered one of the world's leading orchestras. ‘Variations’, a timpani solo for Grade 8, features soft melody in the opening a la Strauss's ‘Burleske’ or the ending of Hindemith's Symphonic Metamorphosis (also a theme and variations). He treats the timpani with sophistication, offering melodic material rather than the quintessential bravado of classical and early-romantic composers. Variations range from allegro to andante, vivo and vivace, all within 80 bars.
For advanced snare drum there is Clive Malabar's ‘Up Sticks’. This Grade 7 snare drum solo is a groovy romp with the rudimental influence of Charles Wilcoxon. Malabar, a graduate of Royal Northern College of Music and former principal percussionist with the English National Opera, includes extended techniques like stick clicks, stick shots and rim clicks. It's a challenge, but a fun one. No wonder Malabar has been awarded the Evelyn Glennie Award for excellence in percussion composition.
There are so many other remarkable composers and pieces that deserve a mention. It's clear to see the cornucopia of music ABRSM is offering percussionists. Thank goodness, because the one thing that sets percussion apart from every other instrument is exactly that – variety. Now, finally, we have a syllabus to match.
To find out more about ABRSM's new percussion syllabus from 2020, visit https://shop.abrsm.org/shop/ucat/101723
