Rockschool (RSL Awards) Electric Guitar · Grade 5
Rockschool Electric Grade 5 guitar
A recognised milestone — worth UCAS points and a real sense of achievement.
Books for this grade
You can pick your exam pieces from any of these books — the current one, the previous edition or the Rockschool Classics series. Tap a book to see its full song list.
Current book · 2024Rockschool Guitar Grade 5The current syllabus book — the default choice for exams today.See the 9 songs →
Previous book · 2018Rockschool Guitar Grade 5The previous edition. These pieces are still accepted in exams.See the 12 songs →
Rockschool ClassicsRockschool Classics Guitar Grade 5Rockschool Classics (previously Hot Rock). Benchmarked repertoire — usable in your exam at this grade.See the 8 songs →
I run these as digital exams by default — recorded in the lesson and submitted to RSL — unless a student would rather sit an in-person exam, which I'm happy to arrange.
Set pieces
Tap any piece to open its own page with a play-along video, amp settings and practice tips. You'll still need the official grade book for the notation.
Every piece across all Rockschool Electric Grade 5 books(29)
- Do Balanço Play
- Geek Play
- Hell Ain't A Bad Place To Be— AC/DC Play
- Lay Down Sally— Eric Clapton Play
- Lose Yourself (Live) Play
- Love On Top— Beyoncé Play
- People Say— The Meters Play
- Pick Up The Pieces— Average White Band Play
- Rollin' Play
- Slam Dunk Funk Play
- Smack Talk Play
- Tiberius Play
- For Once In My Life— Stevie Wonder Play
- Black Smoke Rising— Greta Van Fleet Play
- Keep Yourself Alive— Queen Play
- Canned Heat— Jamiroquai Play
- 662— Christone \u201cKingfish\u201d Ingram Play
- Life In The Fast Lane— Eagles Play
- 7th And 42nd Play
- Flight Check Play
- Down At The Abbey Play
- Surfing With The Alien— Joe Satriani Play
- Sweet Home Alabama— Lynyrd Skynyrd Play
- The Crying Machine— Steve Vai Play
- Fall To Pieces— Velvet Revolver Play
- The Pretender— Foo Fighters Play
- Radioactive— Kings Of Leon Play
- Sad But True— Metallica Play
- Back In Black— AC/DC Play
Books and exam booking
Everything you need for Grade 5 comes from RSL directly — the grade book with notation and backing tracks, and the exam booking itself. Most of my students book the Performance Certificate first.
Technical work at Grade 5
- Scales across the full neck in multiple positions
- Modal shapes
- Sixteenth-note rhythm playing
- Advanced bending, double stops and legato phrasing
What's in the exam
- Three performance pieces
- Technical exercises
- One supporting test
- Ear tests and general musicianship questions