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Grade 5 Music Production tutors

Get help with Rockschool Grade 5 coursework, listening and production theory, or develop those skills through your own music. Tell us which software you use and what you want to improve.

Find my music production tutorSee what Grade 5 involves
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Grade 5 Music Production brings musical decisions and technical organisation together: reproducing a melody, adding software-instrument layers and keeping a project usable. RSL’s Rockschool qualification provides a defined assessment route; project-based tuition can focus on the same skills without an exam entry.

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Grade 5 Music Production tuition enquiry

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Subject
Music
Level
Grade 5

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How one-to-one tuition can help

  • Copy melodies accurately and build musical layers that serve the track.
  • Connect what you hear with seventh chords, rhythm and production terminology.
  • Organise sessions and media so your work can be opened, understood and reviewed.

Exam guidance below follows RSL Rockschool Music Production Grade 5.

Available tutors

Explore tutors for your production goals

Check production teaching experience, familiarity with your music software and knowledge of the Rockschool coursework route. Describe the project you want help with when contacting a tutor or requesting a match.

Portrait of Owen Evans

Owen Evans

Music, and Musical Instrument Specialist

Lumsden, United Kingdom

£30.00 per hourDBS checkediAccepting enquiries
GuitarMusicMusic PerformanceMusic Technology+1 more
  • Holds over 8 years' of online teaching experience.
  • Owen holds over 18 Years' experience teaching & in the Music industry.
  • Received over 1 million views & listens on Spotify, Youtube & social media.
  • A professional songwriter in all genres.
  • Over 10 years' experience using Logic Pro-x.
  • Owen has worked with Grammy-winning producers.

Owen Evans is a UK guitar tutor with 18+ years in teaching and the music industry, including 8+ years of online tutoring. He supports ABRSM/Rockschool, GCSE and A-Level Music, plus songwriting and Logic Pro X production with tailored lesson plans.

Send a quick enquiry from here and the Latimer Tuition team will pass it on to Owen.

View Owen’s profile
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What Rockschool Grade 5 assesses

RSL lists Grade 5 as a Level 2 Certificate in Music Production. It is aimed at learners with practical production experience and combines production theory, listening and coursework. Coursework accounts for 60%: you prepare it before the exam and upload the project and required screenshots during the exam.

The emphasis changes from Grade 4’s work on equalisation and removing unwanted noise to creating musical layers and managing a session at Grade 5. That makes both listening decisions and an orderly working project important.

Coursework
Create musical layers with software instruments and practise hearing and reproducing melodies. Technical work includes naming and colour-coding tracks, adding markers and organising session files.
Listening
Recognise major-seventh, dominant-seventh and minor-seventh chords; identify swung rhythms in 4/4 and distinguish jazz from hip-hop. Audio tasks also cover boosted frequency bands and sine-wave frequency ranges.
Production theory
Explain how audio and MIDI move through a session. Topics include routing, buses, auxiliaries, inserts and multitrack recording. Link each term to its role in a project instead of only memorising a definition.

Next step

A practice example: correct a melody, then add a layer

This invented exercise shows the kind of listening and editing behind Grade 5 musical-layer work. It uses straight 4/4 timing: four beats to a bar, with each beat divided into two equal halves. It is separate from the swung-rhythm listening task.

Use the notes C, E, G, E in one bar. The reference starts them on beats 1, 2-and, 3 and 4. Here, “2-and” means halfway between beats 2 and 3. MIDI records note instructions that a software instrument turns into sound.

  1. Find the difference

    Suppose the copied version uses the right notes but starts E on beat 2. Listen to both versions while counting “1-and, 2-and, 3-and, 4-and”. The E arrives half a beat too early; choosing a different instrument sound will not correct its timing.

  2. Make one precise edit

    In the MIDI note editor, move that E half a beat later to 2-and. Shorten it so it finishes before G starts on beat 3. Replay the bar against the reference: the second note should now enter at the same point, without running into the next note.

  3. Add a layer with a purpose

    Try a quiet sustained C-major chord, using C, E and G in a lower register, beneath the melody. Compare the phrase with the layer on and off. If it covers the melody, try a quieter level or a different sound. Keep the version in which you can still follow the melody clearly.

A listening example: hear which note changed

Grade 5 asks you to distinguish three kinds of seventh chord. Try this separate practice comparison with one instrument sound and the same register. Play C–E–G–B: this is C major seventh, written Cmaj7. Lower B by one semitone to B-flat and play C–E–G–B-flat: this is C dominant seventh, written C7. Then also lower E by one semitone to E-flat: C–E-flat–G–B-flat is C minor seventh, written Cm7. A semitone is the distance to the next adjacent piano key.

The first change alters the seventh; the second also changes the major chord’s third to a minor third. Naming every four-note chord “a seventh” misses the distinction the task needs. First identify the changed notes with the editor visible. Then listen in a shuffled order without looking and name the chord type. Correct labels by ear show more than recognising a written pattern.

Next step

Make the project work when it is reopened

A track that plays on your computer can still have missing files when its project folder is copied. Grade 5’s file-management work matters because the submission includes the saved session and associated media, alongside the deliverables specified in the coursework brief.

For a practice check, save a separate copy using your software’s project-management tools. Reopen that copy and check that every part plays. A missing-media message means the project still refers to an audio file it cannot find: locate and include the required media, save, then repeat the check. An audio export alone cannot show how the editable session is organised.

  • Use clear track names such as Lead melody and Chord layer, with colours that help you find related parts.
  • Add a marker to identify the section you want to discuss, so feedback refers to a precise location.
  • Keep a before-and-after version of an edit and use the actual coursework brief for required filenames, screenshots and submission files.

Turn feedback into independent work

Bring a short project excerpt to the first lesson and explain what is difficult: copying a phrase, identifying a chord or keeping the files together. A useful starting review can combine listening to that excerpt, watching one edit and checking that you can explain the change.

Agree lesson frequency around the work you can complete between sessions. Someone learning the editor may need small repeated tasks; a confident producer may need focused listening practice or a check of coursework requirements. Choose the next review point after seeing that starting work, rather than committing to a fixed number of lessons.

  • Practise one transfer

    After the melody exercise, make a new one-bar phrase using C, E and G. Put one note on an “and”, the halfway point between two beats, then explain its position and duration. The check is whether you can apply the timing idea to new material.

  • Keep the instructions usable

    Discuss a larger MIDI note-editor view, written edit steps or replaying one short listening comparison. Agree which format helps you follow the task and repeat it independently.

  • Review a visible result

    Compare saved versions, replay a listening question and explain one production choice. RSL’s Grade 5 publication includes sample questions, audio and a glossary that can support exam-focused practice.

Prepare your software and sound for online lessons

Latimer provides online-first, one-to-one tuition. Microsoft Teams is the default lesson platform, and you and the tutor can agree another platform. Before the lesson, check that the tutor can see the project and hear its playback as well as your voice. Agree how to share a project copy or an audio example if live playback is awkward. In-person lessons require an individual arrangement with the tutor.

RSL describes Music Production as independent of a particular digital audio workstation, or DAW: the software used to record, arrange and edit music. Check that your edition can perform the coursework tasks and save the required files before buying or changing software. Bring the DAW name and version, your current book or task instructions and headphones.

Use a practice project with dummy information for the initial sharing check. Keep passwords and private account details off screen, and check installation restrictions on school-managed computers before adding software.

Discuss cost and fit before arranging lessons

Latimer’s matching request and introductory meeting are free. Use the introduction to discuss the goal, teaching approach and practical arrangements, including the software and project you will work on. This is an introductory meeting rather than a full free teaching lesson.

Tutors set their own rates and lessons are pay as you go. Check the profile rate and agree lesson length and frequency with the tutor. When setting a budget, also check any book, software or exam-entry costs relevant to your plan. A useful comparison is whether the proposed lesson leaves you with a task you can practise independently and a clear way to review it.

Next step

Tell us about your music project

Include your DAW and version, what you can already do, and whether you are preparing for Rockschool Grade 5 or working towards a personal production goal. Add the part you find difficult and any preferred lesson times so the enquiry describes the help you need.

Find my music production tutor

Support and clarity

Frequently asked questions

Straight answers to the questions people ask most often.

Do I need to pass Grade 4 first?

RSL has no formal entry requirements for Music Production. Higher grades draw on earlier knowledge, though, and Grade 5 is aimed at learners with practical experience. If you are new to production, use a recent project or a short starting task to identify the basics you need before tackling Grade 5 work.

Can I take lessons without entering the exam?

Yes: discuss a project-based goal with the tutor, such as reproducing a melody accurately, adding a useful instrument part or preparing an organised session. Those tasks can give lessons a clear purpose without an exam entry. If you later choose the qualification, review the full Rockschool requirements as a separate step.

Does Latimer arrange the Music Production exam?

Agree who will book and manage the exam before setting a preparation deadline; a tuition enquiry does not arrange an exam entry. RSL currently says Music Production exams run online and are outside its fixed instrumental exam periods. Follow the current RSL booking instructions for the date, equipment and submission arrangements.

Which materials should I bring for coursework preparation?

Bring the current Grade 5 book or assigned coursework brief, the source media it requires and a copy of your working project. Use the brief to check the exact files and screenshots to submit. The exercises on this page are practice illustrations, so use your official task materials for assessed work.

What could I work on after Grade 5?

For the RSL exam route, Grade 6 introduces practical work with bus and auxiliary effects and choices involving vocal automation, creating a synthesiser patch or sound for an image. Alternatively, choose a new production project and agree the skills it needs. A school Music Technology course has its own specification and entry requirements; discuss that course separately if it is your goal.

Further information

Useful links and resources

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