Enter for your Popular Music Theory exam in four quick steps

The next deadline is 1 May

Popular Music Theory Grade 7

Popular Music Theory Grade 7 will teach you how to handle tricky notation challenges such as transposition and less-common time signatures. You'll also identify the differences between modes and complex chords, and rewrite scores for transposing instruments.

Key Skills at Grade 7

What you'll learn at Grade 7:

  • Complex music notation, time signatures and note values
  • Complex elements of popular music harmony
  • Instrumental components, specialist notation, techniques and stylistic traits
  • How to analyse, identify and modify music notation, harmony, stylistic traits and
  • instrumental characteristics within a multi-instrumental score
  • How to interpret a score to make a range of appropriate harmony choices for improvised music and interpret improvisational directions while demonstrating stylistic awareness

What You're Marked On

Your Popular Music Theory Grade 7 exam lasts 180 minutes and is split into four key sections.

Music Notation

At Grade 7 you will cover the following aspects of music notation:

  • Understanding rhythm: 32nd and 64th notes, and equivalent rests
  • Rhythmic values: halving rhythmic values, doubling rhythmic values, working with less-common time signatures
  • Understanding pitch: enharmonic transpositions
  • Transposing and re-writing scores across different instruments and clefs
  • Understanding time signatures: 5/4, 6/4, 7/4

Popular Music Harmony

At Grade 7 you will cover the following aspects of popular music harmony:

  • Identifying compound intervals
  • Understanding modes: Ionian, Dorian, Phrygian, Lydian, and Mixolydian
  • Recognising modes and modal differences, and writing out modes in notation
  • Transposing melodies: 2nds, 4ths, 6ths
  • Chord identification: diatonic 11 and 13

Band Knowledge

At Grade 7 you will cover the following aspects of band knowledge:

  • Understanding scores with up to eight different instruments
  • Understanding instrument-specific techniques
  • Re-writing a score for transposing instruments
  • Chordal analysis and stylistics traits of band and brass instruments
  • Interpreting a score for up to eight players
  • Understating improvisation techniques across instrumental disciplines

Band Analysis

At Grade 7 you will cover the following aspects of band analysis:

  • Understanding scores with up to eight different instruments
  • Understanding the use of improvisation techniques
  • Genre- specific techniques: style and content
  • Understanding of stylistic traits across varied instruments
  • Understanding the harmonic content in band scores
  • Understanding score writing

Timing

Your Grade 7 exam lasts 180 minutes. Candidates are asked to arrive at least 15 minutes before their exam starts.

Get Started Today!

You can start working towards your Grade 7 exam now! Simply buy or Grade 6 - 8 Guidebook and corresponding Grade 7 Workbook book below and start preparing alongside your music teacher.

If you don't have a music teacher that can help you with music theory, you can quickly find the perfect teacher nearest to you with our handy find a music teacher map.



Books for Popular Music Theory Grade 7

  • Guidebook Grade 6 - 8 Book Cover Guidebook Grade 6 - 8

    Rockschool's Guidebooks are the ideal introduction to music theory for musicians, composers, students and teachers.

  • Workbook Grade 7 Book Cover Workbook Grade 7

    The Rockschool Grade 7 Theory Workbook is the ideal preparation for your Grade 7 theory exam.

  • Workbook Grade 8 Book Cover Workbook Grade 8

    The Rockschool Grade 8 Theory Workbook is the ideal preparation for your Grade 8 theory exam.