Grade 5

At Grade 5, you can learn to play drum breaks and ghost notes. You’ll perform three songs and build on your Grade 4 Session skills.

Choose your songs from our song list, including one of the Technical focus songs that develop particular skills. There’s an option for you to play your own cover version of a song or, if you’re a songwriter, one of your own songs.

You’ll find more information about how the exam works in the syllabus.

Grade 5 Drums song list

The Grade 5 Drums songbook includes everything you need for the exam – sheet music for six songs, performance tips, technical support and guidance on Session skills, together with a CD of demo and backing tracks. If you want to buy individual songs, choose them from the list below.

• Airbag (Technical focus) Radiohead
• My Generation The Who
• Primitive Notion New Order
• The Raggle Taggle Gypsies Traditional
• White Room (Technical focus) Cream
• Would? Alice In Chains

Grade 5 Drums demo video

Session skills

Players choose Playback or Improvising.

Playback

You’ll perform some music you haven’t seen or heard – you can sight-read from a song chart or play by ear from an audio track, or both.

Improvising

You’ll be given a song chart with chord symbols and song style and will improvise over a backing track.

Songs:  Airbag, My Generation, Primitive Notion, The Raggle Taggle Gypsies, White Room, Would?

• Download drums syllabus

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