Hello, I am currently around Grade 3 level of guitar and i have been playing for under a year. Do you think it is possible for me to get to Grade 5 by this September?
I need to get to that because i wanted to apply for it in college but they said i need to be Grade 5 in my chosen instrument. Can anyone help or give me some tips? thank you
Hi Tom and welcome to the forum. I see you dont havent had any answers to your question yet. Im not sure if i understood your question correctly. But you asked if you can do Grade 5 before september and you played for 1 year?
I have played for little over a year and just started to dip my toe in grade 3.
To me personally it sounds like a very very though call. We all learn in different paces and everything is possible. But that needs a crazy amount of dedication and hours.
My thoughts, yes its probably possible to do grade 5 in that time, it all depends on how you progress and amount of time you put down.
I will probably never end up in grade 5 after i had a look at what that is🤣
Maybe someone else with far more experience can chip in and help you out with your question as well.
Good luck in your journey
Hello @Juglet and welcome to the Community.
Justin’s Beginner course runs in modules and grades. It does not yet exist as a cerificated course with a qualificatin / accreditation.
I suspect that a college isvasking for an accredited and recognised Grade 5 music qualification. There are a lot of competing accredited providers so it will help if you ask the college which they recognise.
I achieved Grade 5 using Rockschool but for my own purposes, not as an entry to a college course I do not think I could have achieved it after just one year.
I know there are others in the community who are or have studied towards accredited grades … @Rossco01 is at or around grade 5 iirc.
@Richard_close2u Yes I did Rock Guitar grades up to 5 … As you say depends on what the OP is talking about in terms of grades and whether he’s talking acoustic or electric AND an officially recognised qualification or what he’s doing here online.
In terms of whether you can do it in by September. There are a couple of things this depends on a) how experienced you are generally at playing guitar and b) how much time you have. I went straight in at grade 4 having gone all the way through Justins classic and intermediate course a number of years before and been playing for quite a few years after as well. I think it took me about 5-6 months but I would say “technically” there was anything I needed to learn except a few different scale patterns. The hardest part was getting the 2 performance pieces ready and also listening to a short scale piece and repeating it.
The hardest part was doing the exam as I was very nervous having never played in front of anyone before. The exam only takes 15-20 mins.
My advice would be to engage a teacher who typically puts his students through the exams and get him to give you an assessment of whether he thinks you can do it.
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well i only really need to be at the grade 5 standard. I don’t think i have to be graded. Do you think that I should invest in getting a proper real life teacher?
Justin Guitar Grade 3? or Grade 3 Rockschool or another credited course?
Who’s Grade 5? You’ll need to find out from the Collage what standards they use.
This would be a good idea but make sure the teacher is teaching what the collage wants
you’ll be wasting your time and money if you don’t learn what the Collage is looking for.
Good luck in your studies. Music is the best gift you can give yourself.
Nothing against Justin, I think the course is great but I’m pretty certain that any college or university would not recognize Justin Guitar Grade 5 as any kind of milestone. Anybody can say they did grades 1 thru 5 online. ask the university specifically what grade 5 they are referring to.
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I will now consult the “all knowing” magic eight ball:
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Agreed.
Normally, if an educational institution require a certain standard, they expect to see this in some sort of certificate. Typically, in the UK, this will be from an institution such as LCM, Trinity, ABRSM, etc.
The Rockshool and RGT grades will count towards this normally, but (as others have mentioned) you need to get clarification from the college as there is a difference between (for instance) RGT Guitar and RGT Rock Guitar.
Like some of the others here, I have done an accredited grade 5 exam (RGT Rock grade 5).
The key part of these courses is that you have to do a short exam in front of a trained examiner, who will set some of the exercises (particularly note and chord recognition.and improvisation tests) and will mark you.
Justin’s courses are great but is Justin’s “grade 5” an equivalent standard to grade 5 from, say, Rockshool or RGT?
I think that’s a moot point in your case. Until there is an examination system in place to support Justin’s scheme, with accredited examiners and official certificates issues, then I doubt many will accept it.
After all, at the moment anyone could claim they have reach grade 5 on Justin’s course without evidence.
That is not to say Justin’s courses are without merit: far from it. I think it’s one of the best (if not the best) guitar teaching systems around. But if you need a certificate, then you need to do an accredited examination.
My feeling is, you have genuinely reached Justin’s grade 5 standard, then you should be able to do (say) the Rockshool grade 5 fairly easily. But, bear in mind, you can’t just jump into it; you will need to understand the curriculum and the exam format, and learn the required songs as a minimum.
As a rule of thumb, I have been told that it is expected that a dedicated learner should be able to achieve 1 grade approximately every 6-12 months.
Cheers,
Keith