Interesting thread. It seems logical that, if you can do a degree in traditional music, then you could conceivably do graded exams too - so long as they're not deadly dull (I have awful memories of bashing away at the same 3 classical pieces for 3 or 4 months at a time).

Would it be traditional? Who knows, but then that same question applies to almost any activity within the modern scene (eg, "are festivals traditional?"; "is touring traditional?", or indeed "is Martin Carthy traditional?" etc).

As for whether you CAN effectively grade this kind of music, perhaps we can learn from other non-classical forms. To shed light on this, does anyone have experience of the Associated Board's jazz exams?