Classical Guitar

Our Music Grade and Diploma exams are available both in digital and face-to-face formats.

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Outside the UK:

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Change to Guitar syllabus arrangements

Effective immediately, Trinity’s Classical Guitar syllabus will no longer operate with an end date. The current syllabus will remain valid indefinitely, and any necessary planned updates will be announced at least 12 months in advance.

Trinity will continue to increase the repertoire available to candidates through an ongoing programme of new publication releases. This will include a diverse range of exciting exam books, individual digital downloads, ebooks, anthologies and more. Most repertoire and technical work will remain indefinitely*. Advance notice of new publication releases will be available on the Classical Guitar webpage and the shop.

This innovative change in approach to our music exam syllabuses will make our exams more accessible, provide rich and ever-increasing repertoire to choose from, and encourage candidates to continue performing the music they love for as long as they wish.

* copyright and territory dependent

In addition to the Classical Guitar syllabus, we also offer Acoustic Guitar, which reinvents the successful plectrum exams.

Find out more about Acoustic Guitar

The Classical Guitar Syllabus from 2020

Styles and duets
Encompassing a range of inspiring repertoire from the Renaissance to the present day, the syllabus includes pieces published for the first time and more music by female composers. The duets option is now available up to Grade 5.

Books
Greater flexibility to personalise the exam experience by offering open choice repertoire lists up to and including Grade 5 and even greater choice through expanded alternative piece lists, including options from Trinity’s own Raise The Bar and Performance Edition series of publications.

Techniques
Technical work includes specially composed exercises for each grade, covering the technique required specifically by guitarists, ensuring that all learners put scales and arpeggios into the performance context.

Benefit from industry expertise
The syllabus and supporting books have been created in consultation with leading classical guitar specialists. You can access videos and articles produced to support teaching and learning on our resources pages, including demo videos of pieces, technical work, advice and support from professionals.

We offer classical guitar exams from Initial to Grade 8. The Initial exam acts as an introduction to the exam system for new performers.

Further information

Full details (including our procedures, syllabus requirements, what to expect, and what to bring with you) can be found in our Information & Regulations.

Information & Regulations

 

 

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