Guitar Exam Exercise Book

Classical, Acoustic & Fingerstyle Guitar Styles Grades 1 – 5 and beyond

Elevate your performance success with expertly curated exercises, studies, and technical demands that enhance finger strength, coordination, tone production, speed, accuracy and more. Master slurs, hammer-ons/pull-offs/natural harmonics/arpeggio patterns/right-hand fingers/half-barre technique/ascending arpeggio patterns/rhythmic pattern exercises to achieve an unparalleled level of playing excellence.

Specifically tailored to meet the requirements of ABRSM, Trinity, and Guildhall grade exams, these technical demands are sure to improve your finger strength, coordination, tone production, speed, accuracy while providing you with valuable insights into slurs techniques like hammer-ons, pull-offs and natural harmonics.

• The Guitar Exam Exercise Book is an ideal classical/fingerstyle guitar manual for those preparing for ABRSM, Trinity, Guildhall and other music body exams
• It offers a comprehensive range of exercises and studies to help improve technique, finger strength, coordination and tone production
• This book provides technical exercises with clear fingerings in both staff notation and TAB format to ensure performing success at grade exams

BOOK CONTENT 85 exercises & 16 studies grade 1 to grade 5 and beyond covering:

GRADE 1 – The exercises for grade 1 are intended to help the guitarist in the early stages of their development build up their finger strength, improve their coordination, tone production, speed, and accuracy.

GRADE 2 – The exercises for Grade 2 extend and consolidate the ideas introduced in Grade 1, providing more material to allow the evolving guitarist to improve their technique in a systematic way.

GRADE 3 – New techniques are introduced, including slurs, (or hammer-ons and pull-offs) and natural harmonics. In addition, as well as exercises, there are several specially composed study pieces, in a variety of styles, to allow the techniques learned so far to be practiced in a more musical context.

GRADE 4 – Common descending arpeggio pattern across three strings, 4 note chords using all right-hand fingers, multiple slurs, or hammer-ons and pull-offs, in various finger combinations including open strings and multiple fretted notes, the half-barre technique for the left hand.

GRADE 5 – Ascending arpeggio patterns, speed & rhythmic pattern exercises, left hand workouts with repeated patterns, mixed ascending/descending slur patterns, full barre technique

BEYOND GRADE 5 – Tremolo technique, natural harmonics in exercise and within a study.

STUDIES

Sixteen original studies are provided for grades 3 onwards:

GRADE 3 – Six studies individually demonstrating various left hand finger combinations, two part chordal textures, three part chords, ascending slur and hammer on techniques,

GRADE 4 – Four studies individually demonstrating arpeggio playing, three and four part chordal performance, half barre in a musical context, ascending and descending slurs, playing in complex time signatures, introducing natural harmonics.

GRADE 5 AND BEYOND – Six studies individually demonstrating arpeggio playing, slur exploration, speed study, thick textured chordal playing, tremolo study, artificial harmonics in melodic scenario.

DOWNLOAD
All exercises and studies have been recorded by James Akers and are included as a free download to accompany this book.

Buy this book direct from GMI Guitar Shop or from Amazon.