The ground-breaking Play Trinity Rock & Pop app gives aspiring musicians an exciting and innovative new way to practise, putting them behind their own mixing desk. It is the only app that allows students to play or sing along to professionally recorded tracks for hundreds of well-known songs in an authentic way, and to adjust pitch, tempo and the volume levels of individual instruments in the mix. Each instrument is played by a highly experienced session musician, so learners can mute their own instrument in the mix and play along live as part of a professional band. Available for Apple iPhone and iPad and Android phones and tablets, the Play Trinity Rock & Pop app uses cutting edge technology to put music technology and the chance to play with other musicians at the learner's fingertips, in a truly unique, accessible and portable way.
WHO IS IT FOR
The app is primarily designed to support students working with the Trinity Rock & Pop 2018 exam syllabus for bass, drums, guitar, keyboards and vocals. It gives students working with teachers an interactive, fun and motivating tool to practise with in between lessons, and allows students teaching themselves to learn at their own pace.
The Play Trinity Rock & Pop app also gives musicians who are not formally learning an instrument a way to play or sing along to hundreds of well-known songs and to experiment with music technology.
The app is also a great teaching tool; James Sedge, Director of Music Station, a music school in the UK, said: 'the feedback from teachers and students was really positive… we will be using the app in approximately 400 lessons a week and it's already changing how I teach my lessons.'
FEATURES AND FUNCTIONALITY
The app is compatible with all 384 songs currently featured on the Rock & Pop 2018 syllabus, covering hits from artists such as Adele, Stevie Wonder, Nirvana, David Bowie, Coldplay, The Beatles, Taylor Swift, Queens of the Stone Age, Muse, Pink Floyd, Daft Punk, Lorde and many more. Each Rock & Pop 2018 song has been arranged and recorded for a specific instrument and grade level, while staying as true to the original as possible.
The Play Trinity Rock & Pop app is free to download and comes pre-loaded with one sample song, 'Heartbreaker' by Led Zeppelin, so musicians can try out the mixing desk features for free. Further songs are available as an in-app purchase of just £0.99 per song, or as a graded bundle of eight songs for £3.99, making them just £0.50 each.
Once musicians have purchased and downloaded the songs they want to learn and practise, they can:
• CONTROL THE MIX: isolate or adjust the volume of individual instruments
• LOOP A SECTION: choose a section of the song to loop on repeat to practise challenging parts
• ADJUST THE SPEED: slow the track down to learn at their own pace
• CHANGE THE PITCH: sing in a key that suits their range
• COME IN WITH A COUNT-IN: make sure they start promptly and at the right speed every time
• KEEP PERFECT TIME: use a click track to make sure they don't miss a beat
• FOLLOW THE LYRICS: have the song's lyrics scroll as they play or sing
DESIGN AND USER EXPERIENCE
The Play Trinity Rock & Pop app features an authentic, colourful and user-friendly five channel mixing desk interface. It is extremely intuitive and easy to use. All functions are accessible from the main interface, whatever device the learner is using. The app allows musicians to be both the artist, playing along to professional musicians, and the producer, creating the mix that best works for them.
EDUCATIONAL VALUE AND MUSIC INDUSTRY RELEVANCE
Playing in a band can be more enjoyable than playing on your own, and it can also help students progress more quickly and encourage them not to give up. However, playing with other musicians is not always possible in between lessons or outside of school hours – the Play Trinity Rock & Pop app simulates the experience by giving learners the chance to play in a band anytime, anywhere. It helps them to develop not only their performance skills, but their confidence in performing, by being able to listen to the professional play the part before playing it themselves. The learner can lower the volume of the other instruments in the mix to more clearly hear their instrument's part more clearly, or solo their instrument to hear their part played in isolation. They can slow the track down, and even loop sections to hear tricky technical passages played over and over. Learners can play along to the professional and, once confident enough in their performance, play the part on their own with the rest of the band. This unique and flexible functionality allows musicians to build up their performance skills and confidence in the way that suits them best.
Learning a contemporary musical instrument today is about much more than learning how to play – music technology forms a large part of a rock and pop musician's education. The Play Trinity Rock & Pop app not only supports learners with their musical development and performance technique, but introduces them to the production side of the music industry, through encouraging them to experiment with mixing audio tracks and to learn about how songs are put together in a studio setting.
ABOUT THE TRINITY ROCK & POP 2018 SYLLABUS
The Rock & Pop 2018 syllabus from Trinity College London provides an internationally recognised graded exam system for rock and pop music. The exams, for bass, drums, guitar, keyboards and vocals, help musicians develop real skills through the performance of real songs from hundreds of well-known artists.
REAL SONGS: Learners play the music they love with our huge range of songs spanning all contemporary styles. They can choose their set-list from the eight songs in our new graded books, play a song of their own choice, or even perform a song they've written themselves.
REAL SKILLS: Learners develop the improvisation and playback session skills that professional musicians need. They can prove their technical skills in a real-life context through our technical focus songs and demonstrate their ability to deliver a compelling live performance.
REAL PROGRESS: Learners can achieve their goals with an accredited and internationally recognised exam. They can trust the 140-year heritage Trinity brings to contemporary music, and benefit from being marked by industry experts.
www.trinityrock.com