Welcome to another instalment in the series of ‘How to achieve top marks in your RGT Electric Guitar Grade’, in this article I will be looking at the spoken tests section of the exam. The spoken test marks the end of the practical assessments as the candidate will now be tested on their theoretical knowledge and are not allowed to use their instrument to work the questions out.

Welcome to another instalment in the series of ‘How to achieve top marks in your RGT Electric Guitar Grade’.

In this article I will be looking at the rhythm section of the RGT electric guitar grade exam. This is the first of the two core sections, the other being lead. Both sections are worth 30% of the overall marks so it is important that this section is well practised and that you are confident with all the chords from section two of the exam.

Welcome to the second article in the series ‘How to achieve top marks in your RGT Electric Guitar Grade’. If you missed the first article check it out here.

In this article I will be looking at the chords section of the electric guitar grade exam. It is important to remember that the chord section of the exam is really just preparation for the rhythm section where you will need to put the chords into practise by playing through a chord chart. Obviously if you don’t know your chords you will not achieve high marks in the rhythm section which accounts for 30% of the overall exam.

In this series of articles I will be addressing each section of the Registry of Guitar Tutors (RGT) Electric Guitar Playing and Acoustic Guitar Playing grade exams, giving you essential tips and advice on how to achieve top marks in each section.

In this article I will be focusing on Scales, the first section of the Electric Guitar Playing Grade. Scales are too often seen by students as purely a technical exercise which must be endured before getting to the ‘fun’ stuff. When in actual fact having a secure knowledge of scales makes lead guitar playing much easier and quicker to learn, improvisations more successful and sews the fundamentals needed to master music theory.

Scales also play a major role in the ‘lead guitar’ section of the exam. The lead guitar section carries 30 marks making it one of the largest sections, so without a secure knowledge of the scales you will be unlikely to achieve top marks.

I am now teaching the NEW RGT Rock Guitar Grade syllabus. 

The new exams enable guitar students of all ages to gain accredited qualifications for performing some of the most popular rock guitar tracks of all time in specially-crafted arrangements, all carefully designed by RGT to suit the appropriate technical level of each grade while retaining the authenticity of the song.

Examples of early grade RGT exam pieces include: Smoke On The Water, Smells Like Teen Spirit, All Right Now and Paranoid. Intermediate grade songs include Layla, The Boys Are Back In Town and All Along The Watchtower, while examples from advanced grades include tracks by Led Zeppelin, Santana, Steve Vai, Korn, System of a Down and Avenged Sevenfold.The exams also include aural tests and improvisation that focus on the core lead and rhythm playing skills required by rock guitarists.

RGT Exams Director Tony Skinner explains that: “The new rock guitar exams are in addition to RGT’s existing and very popular electric guitar exams and are not replacing them, but providing an alternative for those who want to specialise in rock guitar. Guitar teachers and students who’ve heard about the new exams seem very excited by the prospect of being able to play such a great choice of classic rock tracks as part of their RGT exam”.

A series of course handbooks has been produced by RGT to help students prepare for the exams. These are available from www.BooksForGuitar.com