guitar grades

Acoustic guitar grades are best suited for anyone interested in playing classical, folk, rock, blues, pop …

They progress from Initial Stage to grade 8.

Grades six and beyond gain UCAS points towards university entry.

The syllabus offers a strong foundation in guitar playing and will develop your ability to perform fingerstyle picking and build your repertoire of performance pieces. You will improve your understanding of chords, scales, techniques and theory used in acoustic guitar playing both as a solo artist and accompanist.

As you progress you will gain skills to perform your favourite music and to create your own.

There is no requirement to read music for these grades.

To enter for a grade you will need the entry form found in the handbook of that grade.

Exam Handbooks

The grades progress to degree level with the guitar teaching diploma.

To book a course of study or for more information please get in contact (Tel: 01636 830282).

Live Skype video tuition is also available.

Janine D'Souza

17:49 31 Oct 24

Maggie Briggs

16:26 30 Apr 23

Carlos has taught my son Louis for 7 years he has been brilliant encouraging and supportive . He 's been brilliant at allowing louis to learn at his own pace fitting his guitar lessons in around his exams and studies . I can't thank you enough ! IWould definitely recommend Carlos to any one wanting to study for guitar exams or just playing for fun.

F Bonini

12:24 13 Feb 23

Carlos has been supporting me in the last few years to achieve Grade 8 in electric guitar and his help has been amazing. Thanks to him I found the focus and direction I needed to succeed and achieve a distinction. I have just finished now his Guitar Teaching course as I want to become a guitar teacher. His course is so useful and well designed to give you a great insight on how to start your teaching experience and deliver quality lesson to the students. Furthermore, Carlos has always been very helpful and responding very quickly to the many questions I had over the years. I would totally recommend Carlos as a tutor to anyone, from beginner to advanced player. Thank you so much Carlos!

Marie Chev

09:18 29 Mar 22

I took Carlos’ guitar teaching course and I am very satisfied. The course was very well structured and it went though everything I needed to know. I feel prepared now and this is exactly what I needed.Thank you Carlos for your help and professionalism!

ben giles

18:07 19 Jan 22

Carlos taught me for many years. Learned so much and I’m still using the skills I learned in music production today. Highly recommended. Thanks Carlos.

Ollie Dunster-Sigtermans

09:08 10 Nov 21

Diploma course was very useful not just towards the exam but helped me develop my teaching skills and make me rethink different teaching methods to help with my own students!

Sean Montgomery

21:56 05 Sep 20

I decided to use the lockdown period to learn to play the electric guitar - something that I have always wanted to do and certainly a skill that I felt would benefit me in my role as leader of the Product Management team at Roland Europe. Having had a traditional music education, I was unsure how effective online lessons would be. I needn't have worried. Carlos has a great set up which enables him to clearly see and hear everything that I am doing 150 miles away! Carlos is a truly great player with the ability to inspire - I always look forward to putting into practice what I have learnt in our lessons together.

Adam Larke

11:21 13 Jun 20

Carlos is an amazing guitar teacher and player - I’ve learnt more over the past 6 months with Carlos than I have for years & years of learning songs and teaching things to myself. Also switched to skype lessons during corona virus lockdown and they are brilliant!Thanks Carlos ✌️🎸

David Weston

17:09 11 Jun 20

Carlos is very good at sharing his vast wealth of knowledge and skills on the guitar. After years of self study I finally decided to get some one to one lessons. I feel I have learnt more in the last 2 months than I did in the previous 10 years trying to teach myself guitar. Always patient and encouraging during the lessons. I would recommend Carlos equally to a beginner as to someone who has been playing for years if you really want to start or greatly improve your guitar playing.

Henri Allen

08:26 13 Feb 20

I have been with Carlos for many years and he has taken me through many grades, whilst always providing interesting and fun lessons. He is patient and will help you through, no matter how hard you find it! A great tutor for anyone!

Floribus Luxury Flowers

12:38 04 Feb 20

Our Son has been having electric guitar lessons with Carlos for a couple of years now. He started off playing and learning for fun but has more recently being going through his grades achieving distinctions in his exams with Carlos’s expert tuition. My Son absolutely loves his lessons and his face often lights up in awe of Carlos’s musical talents during their ‘playing for fun’ sessions. Carlos is extraordinarily patient and will go over the same thing as many times as necessary when my son hits a stumbling block. My son finds his lessons both fun and informative and always leaves full of excitement and a bit more confident each time. As a parent I have found Carlos an absolute pleasure to deal with, his musical talent and knowledge is second to none and I would not hesitate in recommending him to anyone. In fact I have recommended to a couple of friends already whose children are now also enjoying their lessons.

Simon Brenchley

22:34 26 Jan 20

excellent tuition with endless patience and charmlook forward to each lesson every weekthe guidance and support is fabulous with noticeable progress from a complete novice

Shaun Monk

11:27 26 Jan 20

Patient and encouraging. Each lesson is well structured and supports student development week-by-week. Enables Grades to be achieved alongside fun sessions. Lucky to have him in the locality.

Andrew Denison

17:48 13 Jan 20

Carlos kept me on my toes but in a kind and helpful way. He also made superb cheese and tomato sandwiches...

Rose Smith

11:40 31 Dec 19

Carlos has taught me to play electric and acoustic guitar. He is very is very patient and his passion for guitar has inspired me to keep improving. I always really enjoy my lessons.

Kate Frith

12:08 28 Nov 19

Amazing Electric guitar teacher.My daughter has always loved her lessons with Carlos. His relaxed approach has resulted in fantastic exam grades together with imparting an all round musical education and understanding that has extended beyond the guitar in to her GCSE music and improv Jazz piano playing.

Nicola Meller

20:56 20 Nov 19

Structured lessons, great tuition and guidance. A very knowledgable teacher to learn from. Thank you Carlos