Before you find out about the challenges below, here are our Bootcamp Rules...

1 -

Preparation Week

We want to be able to share as many of the videos you send us as we can, but if you haven’t set up your camera, room or equipment properly, we might not be able to feature you on the Summer Bootcamp website.

Therefore, make sure you do the below ahead of getting started to be able to share your bootcamp videos!:

Don’t leave your instrument and music equipment behind in the classroom store cupboard, or in another lesson space, over the summer! In order to complete the Trinity College London Summer Bootcamp, you will need to have regular access to your instrument.
Download and familiarise yourself with audio-recording software. There are plenty of free apps available, such as:

- Voice Recorder on Android phones and Voice Memos on iOS
- GarageBand on Mac
Get used to performing in front of a camera - this is a skill you’ll need if you choose to take a digital exam! A mobile phone or laptop camera will suffice, so long as the quality is good. If you are using a mobile phone or tablet to record an exam submission, you may wish to consider purchasing a mobile tripod to ensure a steady recording, but it’s not essential.
Download a free metronome and tuner if you do not already own them. You can download a free metronome and tuner app from the Google Play Store or App Store.
Choose your recording space. We recommend filming your performance in a room with sufficient space to perform and with minimal distractions so you don’t get interrupted. A living room or dining room, against a plain wall is preferred; try not to use your bedroom. Ensure the room you are in is well lit and that you are in focus.
Review your notes from your last lesson: what has your tutor instructed you to work on lately? Try to work these goals into your performances, regardless of the challenges we set you.
Look at the sample pieces you can play for your next grade. Listen to them on Spotify or YouTube a few times: which ones do you like best? Which ones do you want to work towards learning? What do you want to convey in your performance?
Check the marking criteria: read through the Trinity College London digital music grade exam rubric. Do you understand everything that is expected of you for your grade?

Aim to get these ‘housekeeping’ tasks set up ahead of Challenge 1. The challenges will require you to film and upload your performance, putting into practice the tasks in this list so it’s the best place to start!

2 -

Challenge 1: The Heartbeat

Focus: Technical Facility/Pulse

In Preparation Week, you will have thought about your set up, listened to some music and planned what you would like to play or sing.

From Week 1 onwards, we are going to think about how the music is developed, how it is performed, and how we go about ensuring a smooth performance video.

We will look at putting together a programme and how you communicate your performance, conveying meaning in different styles and achieving a musical aim, whether you are a beginner or an advanced performer.

Maintaining a solid pulse is to create the heartbeat of the music. Without a regular heartbeat, the music will be bumpy at best. One of the biggest problems for musicians learning alone at home is the lack of having someone to play with, that helps you establish that all important pulse. One common problem in exams often occurs when musicians lose their beat with the accompaniment or the track.

So, this week’s exercise is about developing your own internal metronome. Like your own heartbeat, your musical pulse should move steadily with the music, increasing or decreasing with the emotions you convey.

Exercise

Level 1

Choose one of your pieces/songs that has a section where the rhythm is straightforward. Find the metronome mark (this will tell you the tempo/speed of the piece of music) usually written on top, or if not, there will be a performance direction to guide you.
Start the metronome, ensuring there is a stronger first beat. Look at your music. Think about the melody and rhythm. Can you fit the music to the pulse in your head?
Try to play or sing along. Can you hear the beat? If you are completely in time, you may not hear it – this is good! If you find this hard to do, you may not be playing/singing in time. It will help to slow the metronome down until you are confident then gradually speed up.
RECORD: When you have practised and feel confident, place a metronome on the other side of the room from where you play/sing, then perform a section of the piece/song (by now you shouldn’t be able to hear the metronome when you are performing). The exercise here is to assess how ‘in time’ you stay.

Level 2

Choose a second piece of music that has more challenging rhythms. Difficult sections are often the places where students slow down or lose their sense of pulse, so it is helpful to tackle the trickiest parts first.
Repeat level 1, in terms of practice and recording. Remember you don’t need to record the whole piece or song – just a section, up to two minutes long.

Level 3

Repeat levels 1 and 2 with a third, more challenging piece/song or section.

How did you do?

How did you find this section? Hopefully you have now established a few pieces of music with a steady pulse and have laid the foundations for some further work on these pieces/songs.

We have provided you with a useful rehearsal tool for achieving a sense of pulse and accuracy. It is, of course, worth noting that playing strictly in time throughout a piece/song doesn’t always necessarily mean an effective performance.

For example, rubato in music provides the flexibility in the performance of a rhythm, and allows you to alter what the composer has written to provide more expression to the performance.

Exam Prep

Identify the three pieces/songs that you would use for a digital exam, and think about the speeds for each, identifying a pulse that allows you to practise accurately.

3 -

Challenge 2: Articulation, Dynamics and Tone

Focus: Communication & Interpretation/style

The type of sound you are making can completely change the character of a piece of music. Getting the detail of articulation and dynamics right at the beginning, allows you to focus on the sound and communication with the detail safely already embedded in your playing/singing.

Haven’t uploaded your first video yet? Don’t worry! Feel free to continue adding your Challenge 1 videos - we don't mind which challenge you submit or when, as long as you're practising!

Exercise

Level 1

Choose a phrase of a piece of music (2-4 bars).
Play/sing the excerpt the way as notated, following the existing phrase, dynamic and articulation marks. Remember to carefully think about pulse too!
Now play/sing it with strict staccato articulation.
Now play/sing it with strict legato articulation.
Play/sing the phrase with the first half legato and the second half staccato (or vice versa).
Put the four different styles together, side by side, in your video to show how you can communicate the same piece/song in three different ways. Which one do you prefer? Can you see why the composer has chosen his or her performance directions? Is there anything you would change?

Level 2

Repeat the instructions for level 1, but this time with a different piece/song, and work a longer section. Listen carefully to the tone and be careful to work the tone well with a good posture and technique for your own instrument.
Try to add any dynamics to the piece that you think help with the communication.
Now play/sing with the metronome – are you able to keep the pulse with all of the detail included? Record a section to show you are managing this.

Level 3

Repeat with a third piece/song, and work through the entire piece/song.
Record one entire piece/song. Can you sustain the pulse all the way through with the detail included? If the pulse is slower than set that’s fine – it’s the accuracy that examiners look for and it’s much easier to speed up when you are playing/singing accurately at a slower pace, than to try to get all the detail correct at a faster pace!

How did you do?

By the end of this challenge, you should have a good overview of your three pieces/songs and the detail that is needed within them. You will also now have a solid feel for the pulse and be on your way to being able to be playing/singing in time with the detail included at a comfortable pace.

4 -

Challenge 3: Keys and Moods

Did you know different keys have different moods? You may know that minors feel darker, and majors are generally happier. But did you know for example that the D major is associated with triumph and is used for fanfares, whilst F major is associated with calm?

In this section we explore the keys of your pieces/songs, how we can use the keys to learn and practise scales in a relevant way, and how we can use all of this to help with finger work and dexterity. For you drummers out there you should think about how your rudiments are played within the context of your pieces/songs.

Before starting this section, we need to address a little theory. Can you find the keys of your pieces/songs?

Exercise

Level 1

Identify your key. If you need help with this, you could even ask Siri or Alexa to help!
Play/sing the scale of your piece/song followed by the arpeggio for one octave. This is called a key centre.
Think about the character of the key – can you make it sound sad or happy. What about if you change the dynamics or the articulation?
Can you find a section in the music where there is an example of the scale or the arpeggio or chord? Record your scale and arpeggio first, then record the section of music to show how practising the scale first helps to master the music.

Level 2

Now that you have mastered one key, let's expand our knowledge. All keys have cousins. Each major key has a relative minor that shares the same key signature. So, for example, G major has one sharp and so does E minor, so they are like cousins.
Identify the relative minor or major to the piece of music you are working on.
Play/sing the scale – with minor scales you can choose which one: the natural minor = the same as major

Harmonic minor = sharpen the 7th note
Melodic minor = sharpen the 6th and 7th going up but play/sing as the natural minor coming down.

Find a section in the music where the relative key is used.
Record and play/sing that section, explaining your findings.

Level 3

How many other keys and relative keys can you find in your music? Can you spot anywhere that the music changes key?
When the key changes, what happens to the mood in that section? Does it become more energetic perhaps? Or calmer?
If so, can you describe and play/sing that section in your video?

How did you do?

In this section you will have both achieved some technical practice through development of scales, as well as some musicianship, by working those scales into the music and thinking about the effect each has on the mood. This will help with communication and the ability to convey the musical intention. Well done!

Exam Prep

Check that you have also identified the scales that you might need for a digital grade exam you may be working towards.

How many of your scales/rudiments can be found in your pieces/songs?
Do you need to play/sing them from memory?
You may not choose to do scales in an exam, but it is useful practice none-the-less.

If you enter for a digital Rock & Pop exam, don’t forget the technical elements are embedded in the structure of the songs that you will play.

Some tips to help you prepare your scales are below:

Play/sing scales in different rhythms - swung and straight.
Play/sing scales in different articulations – legato, staccato and mixed articulations. Even in the early grades this helps. Drummers, you can think about playing your rudiments at different tempos.
Identify the articulations and dynamics of how the scales/rudiments should be played in the recording.
Play/sing scales through multiple octaves, ascending and descending. These scales will be determined by exam grade requirements.
Play/sing the scale upside down (top to bottom) to check you know it! If you’re a drummer, you can practise reverse sticking for your rudiments.

5 -

Challenge 4: Playing from Memory

Focus: Fluency & accuracy/security

Playing or singing from memory can help embed a piece you are learning in your mind. It encourages a greater depth of understanding of the music, and the result is more focus during the performance

Exercise

Level 1

Choose one of the sections of music that you find tricky. Take a short phrase – it could be a bar or more. See if you can play/sing that short section without the rest of the music. Try it with the camera on.

See if you can play/sing the entire piece/song. Hide your sheet music from yourself. It’s easy to leave the sheet music in sight ‘just in case’, but this is counterproductive to your practice.
Record yourself playing/singing a bar or phrase of music without looking at the sheet music. Listen back to your performance while you read the sheet music - did you play/sing it correctly?

Level 2

Repeat Exercise 1 but with a bigger section or with the whole piece/song.

Level 3

Play/sing the same section but try to play or sing it capturing different moods. Can you make it angry? Or sad? What do you need to change? What mood best suits the composer’s intention?

How did you do?

During this challenge, you'll really have challenged your brainpower! Memory is a brilliant skill to nurture, not only for your musical abilities, but in life. Have you noticed, after concentrating on learning your piece, that your memory is improving in other parts of your life? If you 'flex this muscle' enough, you'll start to notice the benefits in all sorts of different ways.

You may also feel that it's easier to articulate a particular emotion in your music now you can concentrate less on reading the notes and more on the tone, rhythm and mood.

Exam Prep

Play/sing some or all of one of your pieces/songs from memory.

6 -

Challenge 5

Focus: Communication & Interpretation/Style

In this challenge, we will continue to develop all that you have learnt so far, but take your thinking about communication a step further. We’ll be developing your tone control, and encouraging you to find your own musical voice.

A useful learning tool is to consider colour in your performance (flute players may recognise this concept from Trevor Wye’s tone work!).

Whether you are a beginner trying to expand the range of dynamics you can make, or a more-experienced player or singer, able to think about more subtle shades of tone: listening for changing colours can be an effective way of changing the mood. It’ll also help you gain technical control of your instrument or voice.

Exercise

Level 1

Play/sing a long note and establish a clear tone quality. Piano or keyboard players should play a repeated steady crotchet, listening for an equal tone on each note.
Make the tone yellow – what does that feel like? It may be gentle but warm? You may see it as a thin sound? Everyone will hear something slightly different (and that’s great!)
Now play/sing the sound with a deep purple tone. Does that feel louder? Maybe it’s a thicker, richer sound?
Now move from one to another – start yellow, over 4-8 beats take the sound from yellow to purple and back again.
Record your efforts – can you hear the change when you listen back?

Level 2

Now look at one of your pieces/songs. What colour overall do you think it might be? You might associate a fanfare or a march with red, maybe a gentle pastoral piece with green, or a heavy rock track with black. Ask yourself whether it maintains the same colour overall.
If you struggle with this, imagine the piece in a movie – what’s happening? What colours might be in the movie scene?
Record yourself playing/singing a section of the piece or song, but first, explain what colours you are trying to show and why you think they represent the music. For example, you may say ‘this piece feels blue, because it’s in a minor key and it has slow, low notes that make it feel sad’.

Level 3

Now think about how you might use this in your performance more fully. What passages in your music would need to change? How can you use colour to help you transition through the moods?
How does this help with the overall performance?
Is your tone well enough developed to be able to communicate what you are trying to do? If not, try playing/singing those passages slowly and listen hard to the sound, correcting posture, air pressure, bow pressure etc. (as relevant to your instrument).
Can you talk about colour in one of your pieces as a whole, and about how it changes, and then perform it demonstrating what you mean?

How did you do?

Thinking in colour as a way to change the expression of a piece of music is a real skill. If you found it difficult – you aren’t alone. It’s a challenging activity (that’s why we left it until Challenge 5!)

But once you start seeing music in this way, it will help you express the “voice” of the music with far more meaning. If you found one style, such as bright, happy colours (perhaps yellows and oranges) easier to play than a piece with a more melancholy tone (such as blue) then keep practising.

Exam Prep

Look at the pieces you can choose from for your next digital grade. Listen to them being played online and as you listen, think about which colours come to mind.
Do you like the way they’re played and the colours and emotions that they inspire? Would you play it in a slightly different way or with another colour in mind?
Start practising some of these pieces slowly, experimenting with playing them in the style of different colours.

7 -

Challenge 6

Focus: Performance and presentation

Well done for making it this far!

You have by now tidied up your rhythmic skills, learnt your scales/rudiments, and discovered how they can influence the communication of the piece/song, and you have memorised some of the tricky passages. You will have made some significant progress with three pieces/songs which may well take you towards entering a digital exam.

Now it's time to focus on presentation.

Exercise

Level 1

Watch some YouTube clips of performances you like. Think about the following questions. What is it that they do well? How do they dress? What is their posture? Do they look at the audience/camera? Do they smile? How do you feel when you watch?
Think about what you can do to make your own performance look skilled. Maybe you want to revisit where you place your camera. Your audience are inside it – it can help to visualise an audience watching. What will you wear? Will you smile? Will you introduce your music?
Record a ‘trial’ performance of a whole piece/song. Watch it back and if needed re-record before you upload.

Level 2

Identify what you have found positive about performing to a camera.
Identify the main challenges. How can you improve? Does it just need more practice on the pieces/songs or is there something that is particularly tricky such as changing angle, the light, or thinking about whether windows are open or closed?
Record again, this time recording two pieces/songs. Think about how you move from one piece/song to the next. Have your music ready, don’t rush between items but allow one to settle before moving calmly and assuredly to the next. It helps to pause and think about the music on your second piece/song, so that you have the mood prepared in your mind.

Level 3

If you can show your level 2 performance to a friend. What do they think? Did they enjoy the performance?
Watch again and once more think about how you can improve. Self-reflection is one of the most powerful methods of learning, and this is a great opportunity!
When you feel ready now record all three pieces/songs, ensuring that you move calmly between them, and give yourself time to consider the different moods you are trying to create.

How did you do?

In this week's challenge we have tried to demonstrate that learning your pieces/songs and all the technical elements required is just a part of delivering an accomplished performance. Through your self-reflection and by paying close attention to how you perform in front of an audience you can make even the smallest of adjustments that can help boost your confidence, make you more comfortable as you play and take your performance to a more professional level.

Exam Prep

Repeat level 3 BUT now try adding your scales to it. This will help you experience the exam format (for a Classical and Jazz exam).
The order you record in is entirely up to you. If you are doing an exam you can indicate your preferred order of performance.
Use an accompaniment if you have one – you will need it for the real event if you choose to do an exam.