Guitar Grade 1

Our Guitar requirements and information summarise the most important points that teachers and candidates need to know when taking ABRSM graded Guitar exams.

They are detailed in the exam sections below (Pieces, Scales and arpeggios, Sight-reading and Aural tests) immediately after the grade-specific requirements, and are available to download as a PDF.

Further exam details and administrative information are given in our Information & Regulations, which you should read before booking an exam.

Eligibility

There are eight grades of exam for Guitar and candidates may be entered for any grade irrespective of age and without previously having taken any other grade in Guitar. Candidates for a Grade 6, 7 or 8 exam must already have passed ABRSM Grade 5 (or above) in Music Theory, Practical Musicianship or a solo Jazz instrument. For full details, including a list of accepted alternatives, see Prerequisite for Grades 6-8.

Instruments

This syllabus is only appropriate for the standard classical instrument fitted with nylon strings (guitars with a cutaway body are permitted). Candidates may choose to use a capo at the 2nd or 3rd fret for the pieces in Grades 7 and 8 that have an optional F# tuning; no other use of the capo is permitted unless specified by the composer.

In the exam

Examiners: Generally, there will be one examiner in the exam room; however, for training and quality assurance purposes, a second examiner may sometimes be present. Examiners may ask to look at the music before or after the performance of a piece (a separate copy is not required – the candidate’s copy will suffice). Examiners may stop the performance of a piece when they have heard enough to form a judgment. They will not issue or discuss a candidate’s result. Instead, the mark form (and certificate for successful candidates) will be issued by ABRSM after the exam.

Order of the exam: The individual sections of the exam may be taken in any order, at the candidate’s choice, although it is preferable for accompanied pieces to be performed consecutively and at the beginning of the exam. For more information on accompanied pieces, see ‘Guitar requirements and information: Pieces’ in the ‘Pieces’ section below.

Tuning: The guitar should be tuned before entering the exam room, but in cases at Grades 1–5 where the candidate is playing with a piano accompaniment the teacher or accompanist may tune the candidate’s instrument to the piano (or advise on tuning) before the exam begins. In Grades 6–8, candidates must tune their instrument themselves. Examiners are unable to help with tuning.

Footstools: Candidates should provide their own footstool (or other form of guitar support) if required.

Music stands: All ABRSM public venues provide a music stand, but candidates are welcome to bring their own if they prefer. The examiner will be happy to help adjust the height or position of the stand.

Further information

• Assessment
• Obtaining exam music
• Access

Scale speeds

The scale speeds in the section below are given as a general guide.

Guitar requirements and information: Scales and arpeggios

Examiners will usually ask for at least one of each type of scale/arpeggio etc. required at each grade and will ask for majors followed by minors within each type. In the Grade 5–8 fingers-only scales, they will also ask to hear a balance of the specified strokes. When asking for requirements, examiners will specify:

• The key (including minor form – harmonic or melodic – in the Grade 6–8 scales) or the starting note
• The stroke for fingers-only scales (tirando or apoyando), Grades 5–8
• The form for interval scales (together or broken)

All scales and arpeggios should:

• Be played from memory
• Be played in even notes (except where indicated at Grades 1–5)
• Be played from the lowest possible tonic/starting note unless the syllabus indicates otherwise
• Ascend and descend according to the specified range (and pattern)
• Be played legato

In Grades 1–4, candidates may choose to play ‘fingers-only’ scales either tirando (free stroke) or apoyando (rest stroke); from Grade 5, these scales must be prepared with both right-hand techniques. The tirando stroke is expected for all other requirements.

Any combination of alternating right-hand fingers may be used for ‘fingers-only’ scales. Any left-hand fingering may be used, but candidates are expected to observe the requirements regarding over-ringing and non-over-ringing for broken chords and arpeggios from Grade 3.

Arpeggios and dominant sevenths are required in root position only. Scales in thirds and tenths should begin with the tonic as the lower note, while scales in sixths should begin with the tonic as the upper note.

Download scale and arpeggio patterns (PDF).

Purchase Guitar Scales and Arpeggios, Grades 1–5.

Guitar requirements and information: Sight-reading

Candidates will be asked to play a short unaccompanied piece of music which they have not previously seen. They will be given half a minute in which to look through and, if they wish, try out all or any part of the test before they are required to play it for assessment. The table below shows the introduction of elements at each grade. Please note that these parameters are presented cumulatively, i.e. once introduced they apply for all subsequent grades (albeit within a logical progression of difficulty).

For practice purposes, a book of sample sight-reading tests is published for Guitar by ABRSM.

Purchase Guitar Specimen Sight-Reading Tests, Grades 1–8.

1. To clap the pulse of a piece played by the examiner and to identify whether it is in two time or three time: The examiner will start playing the passage and the candidate should join in as soon as possible, clapping in time and giving a louder clap on the strong beats. The examiner will then ask whether the music is in two time or three time. The candidate is not required to state the time signature.
2. To sing as ‘echoes’ three phrases played by the examiner: The phrases will be two bars long, in a major key, and within the range of tonic–mediant. First the examiner will play the key-chord and the starting note (the tonic) and then count in two bars. After the examiner has played each phrase, the candidate should sing back the echo without a pause, keeping in time.
3. To identify where a change in pitch occurs during a phrase played by the examiner: The phrase will be two bars long, in a major key, and the change will affect only one of the notes. First the examiner will play the key-chord and the tonic and then count in two bars. The examiner will play the phrase twice, making the change in the second playing, after which the candidate should state whether the change was near the beginning or the end. If necessary, the examiner will play both versions of the phrase again (although this will affect the assessment).
4. To answer questions about two features of a piece played by the examiner: Before playing, the examiner will tell the candidate which two features the questions will be about. The first will be dynamics (loud/quiet, or sudden/gradual changes). The second will be articulation (smooth/detached). 

Guitar requirements and information: Aural tests

Listening lies at the heart of all good music-making. Developing aural awareness is fundamental to musical training because having a ‘musical ear’ impacts on all aspects of musicianship. Singing, both silently in the head and out loud, is one of the best ways to develop the ‘musical ear’. It connects the internal imagining of sound, the ‘inner ear’, with the external creation of it, without the necessity of mechanically having to ‘find the note’ on an instrument (important though that connection is). By integrating aural activities in imaginative ways in the lesson, preparation for the aural tests within an exam will be a natural extension of what is already an essential part of the learning experience.

In the exam

Aural tests are an integral part of all Practical graded exams. The tests are administered by the examiner from the piano. For any test that requires a sung response, pitch rather than vocal quality is being assessed. The examiner will be happy to adapt to the vocal range of the candidate, whose responses may be sung to any vowel (or consonant followed by a vowel), hummed or whistled (and at a different octave, if appropriate).

Assessment

Some tests allow for a second attempt or for an additional playing by the examiner, if necessary. The examiner will also be ready to prompt, where helpful, although this may affect the assessment.

Marks are not awarded for each individual test or deducted for mistakes; instead they reflect the candidate’s overall response in this section. See marking criteria.

Specimen tests

Examples of the tests are given in Specimen Aural Tests and Aural Training in Practice (from 2011).

Deaf or hearing-impaired candidates

Deaf or hearing-impaired candidates may choose alternative tests in place of the standard tests, if requested at the time of entry. See more information on alternative tests.