TOPICS COVERED

Please review the summary listing below which show what’s taught at each grade on the drums and the objective criteria’s that will be completed whilst having classes with us. 

Please note that here at Multiply Music we will prepare you for your graded drum exams, however the official exams will need to be conducted off site with Rockschool themselves (governing body).

When you commence classes with Multiply Music you can start at any grade / level ability.  

GRADE 1

  • Learn what a measure is and other basic music structure
  • Learn how to play single roll and diddle rudiments
  • Learn what BPM and time signature represents in music
  • Learn how to play kick drum on the beat (See beat book)
  • Learn what each note and rest value mean (quarters and 8ths)
  • Learn how to play basic fills every 4 or 8 bars 70 bpm
  • Learn how to play a 4, 8, 16 beat at 70 bpm
  • Sight read one bar with quarters and eighths on snare at 80 bpm
  • Ear test one bar with quarters and eighths on snare at 80 bpm
  • Groove recall with kick snare and hihat 2 bars using quarters and eigths (75 bpm)
  • Be able to identify drum kit instruments on the music stave
  • Be able to continuously play sing stroke roles at speed for 60 seconds (70 bpm) eigth notes
  • Understand what dynamics are
  • Know all names of each part of the drum kit
  • Complete Grade 1 book (optional)
  • Play eights and sixteenths for singles, doubles and paradiddles at 70 bpm. on snare
  • Play a basic 4 beat bar fill using eigth and sixteenth notes (no rests)

GRADE 2

  • Expand on single and diddle rudiments (double stroke technique: one hit two bounces) (BPM doubles are in 8th notes)
  • Introduce roll rudiments
  • Introduce what a flam and drag are
  • Incoporate hihat pedal on the beat (Dog barks or clicks)
  • Introduce Triplets
  • Sight read one bar with quarters and eighths and sixteenths (and equivalent rests) on snare at 75 bpm
  • Improvise with just kick snare and hihat at 75 bpm
  • Ear test one bar with quarters, eights, sixteenths, and quarter rests on snare at (80 bpm)
  • Grove recall with kick snare and hihat (open and closed) 2 bars using quarters eigths and sixteenths and quarter rests (75 bpm)
  • Be able to continuously play sing stroke roles at speed for 120 seconds
  • Start to incorporate dynamics while playing and not changing tempo
  • Start learning rudiments and foot patterns at teachers discretion
  • Be able to play accented paradiddles, singles, flams (qtr), and eighth note triplets on snare (70 bpm)
  • Fill useing eigth, sixteenth, and eigth triplet (75bpm)

GRADE 3

  • Play a triplet on snare, incorporate accents
  • Start learning rolls, and looking at the value of a roll in music notation
  • Start incorporating beating foot on the “pulse” when playing rudiments
  • Start playing back fills from ear , and sight reading
  • Starting to apply MM drum beats to drum-less backing tracks
  • Learn what dotted notes mean
  • Start improvising fills to backing tracks. 70-80 bpm
  • Continue to refine technique
  • Completed a Grade 3 book
  • Sight read one bar with quarters and eighths and sixteenths (and equivalent rests) on snare at 80 bpm
  • Improvise with just kick snare hihat and crash at 80 bpm
  • Be able to play singles at 75 bpm (eigth, eigth triplet, and sixteenth notes) 75 bpm
  • Ear test one bar with quarters, eights, eight triplets, sixteenths, and quarter rests on snare at (80 bpm)
  • Grove recall with kick snare hihat and crash (open and closed) 2 bars using quarters eigths and sixteenths and quarter and eighth rests (75 bpm)
  • Double Strokes eigth and sixteenth (75bpm)
  • Paradidles with accent on snare or toms (75bpm)
  • Flams and drags qtrs (75bpm)
  • Triplets (Accents on snares and toms) 75 (bpm)

GRADE 4

  • Learn how to “ride the toms”
  • Know the difference between an 8th, 16th and 32nd notation and triplet notation on the stave
  • Start apply 8th rests, 16th rests, and triplet rests
  • Learn what a ghost note is and its purpose in music
  • To have completed a Grade 4 book
  • Have sight-read 40 rudiments
  • Start to increase speed, endurance, and maintain proper technique with the basic rudiments
  • Understand coda’s, repeats, dynamic notation
  • Ear test one bar with quarters, eights, eight triplets, sixteenths, quarter and eight rests on snare at (80 bpm)
  • Grove recall with all drums (open and closed) 2 bars using quarters eigths and sixteenths and quarter and eighth rests (75 bpm)
  • Single and Double strokes (eigths, sixteenths, eigth triplets) 80 bpm
  • Paradiddles singles and paradiddlediddlediddles (triple paradiddles) sixteenth notes (80bpm)
  • Flam taps and ruffs eight and quarter (80bpm)
  • Hands and feet playing sixteenth notes and eight triplets (BPM)
  • Fill at 80 BPM

GRADE 5

  • Refine technique
  • Be able to distinguish the difference between a verse, pre-chorus, bridge and outro
  • Memorized a piece of music longer than 60 bars
  • Singles, doubles, paradiddles, triplets, flams and ruffs/drags 120 BPM
  • Other rudiments at 75bpm
  • To have completed a Grade 5 book
  • Start learning rudiments and foot patterns at teachers discretion
  • Ear test one bar with quarters, eights, dotted eights, eight triplets, sixteenths, quarter and eight rests on snare at (80 bpm)
  • Grove recall with all drums (open and closed) 2 bars using quarters eigths, eight tiplets, dotted eighths and sixteenths and quarter and eighth rests (80-120 bpm)
  • Single and Double strokes (eigths, sixteenths, eigth triplets) 80 bpm
  • Paradiddles singles and paradiddlediddlediddles (triple paradiddles) sixteenth notes (80bpm)
  • Flam accents and drag taps eight and eigth triplets (80bpm)
  • Hands and feet playing sixteenth notes and eight triplets (BPM)
  • 5 stroke roll phrase
  • Fill at 80 BPM

GRADE 6

  • Intro to polyrhythms
  • Start keeping a rudiment log, just like a gym log to start tracking progression
  • Singles, doubles, paradiddles, triplets, flams and ruffs/drags 85 BPM
  • Other rudiments at 70bpm
  • To have completed a Grade 6 book
  • Start learning rudiments and foot patterns at teachers discretion
  • Refining techniques including fingers, wrists, and arms
  • Improv to drum less tracks
  • Recall of groove and fills
  • Single and Double strokes (eighth triplets, sixteenth, sixteenth triplets ) 80 bpm
  • All diddle rudiments sixteenth notes (80bpm)
  • All ratimicue rudiments (80bpm)
  • Rolls open and closed (80) bpm
  • Hands and feet playing sixteenth notes and eight triplets (80 BPM)
  • Sylistic Study (Rock, Jazz, Latin, Blues)
  • Fill at 80 BPM

GRADE 7

  • To have completed a Grade 7 book
  • Singles run of 4s 32 note, 85 bpm
  • Single and Double strokes (eighth triplets, sixteenth, sixteenth triplets ) 85 bpm
  • All diddle rudiments sixteenth notes (85bpm)
  • All ratimicue rudiments (85bpm)
  • Rolls open and closed (85) bpm
  • Hands and feet playing sixteenth notes and eight triplets (85 BPM)
  • Sylistic Study (Rock, Jazz, Latin, Blues)
  • Improv to drum less tracks
  • Recall of groove and fills
  • Intro to odd time signatures (9/8, 5/4 7/8, 3/4)

GRADE 8

  • To have completed a Grade 8 book
  • Singles run of 5s 32 note, 90 bpm
  • Single and Double strokes (eighth triplets, sixteenth, sixteenth triplets ) 90 bpm
  • All diddle rudiments sixteenth notes (90bpm)
  • All ratimicue rudiments (90bpm)
  • Rolls open and closed (90) bpm
  • Hands and feet playing sixteenth notes and eight triplets (90 BPM)
  • Sylistic Study (Rock, Jazz, Latin, Blues)
  • Fill at 90 BPM
  • Improv to drum less tracks
  • Recall of groove and fills
  • Intro to odd time signatures (9/8, 5/4 7/8, 3/4)