Grade 7 guitar tutors

Use the syllabus for your intended exam date and instrument. ABRSM’s guitar routes use a nylon-strung classical guitar. Rockschool has separate electric and acoustic syllabuses; its acoustic route permits nylon or steel strings. The exam format then determines what you prepare alongside the pieces.

ABRSM Grade 7 sight-reading can include 7/8 and 7/4, four-note chords and harmonics at the 12th fret. A player may recognise the notes but hesitate when the beat pattern or hand position changes. At this level, reading the rhythm and planning the movement belong together.

Try this original 7/8 practice example, with each note lasting one quaver:

• A–B | C–D | E–F–G: group the seven notes as 2 + 2 + 3.
• A–B–C | D–E | F–G: group them as 3 + 2 + 2.

The vertical marks show practice groups within a bar. Both versions contain seven quavers, but the longer group moves. Count “1–2, 1–2, 1–2–3” for the first and “1–2–3, 1–2, 1–2” for the second. Tap the rhythm before playing, then keep the quavers equally spaced. The score’s grouping matters: 7/8 does not always mean 2 + 2 + 3.

A useful sign of improvement is changing groups without adding a pause. Return to an unfamiliar guitar passage and check whether that pulse survives a position change or chord. This is a preparation exercise, not an official exam extract.

Rockschool Grade 7 technical work includes ninth chords. Learning a new grip is only part of the task: you also need to hear the chord quality and move to it without interrupting the rhythm.

For an original comparison, spell out these two chords:

• Cmaj9: C, E, G, B, D.
• C9: C, E, G, B-flat, D.

The ninth, D, stays the same. The seventh changes from B to B-flat; C9 is a dominant ninth chord, not a shortened name for Cmaj9. Play the B and B-flat against a C bass note, then compare playable voicings of the complete chords.

If the change sounds clumsy, identify the finger movement that changes the seventh and practise it slowly before returning to a steady rhythm. Listen for unwanted string noise and whether the changed note can be heard. A better result makes the change of chord quality clear while the pulse continues. In the Rockschool Acoustic 2026 syllabus, the chord exercises are strummed and then picked as arpeggios: the chord notes played separately. Use both to check clarity. Apply the comparison to the keys and voicings in your own grade book; these C-based examples are not a prescribed exam sequence.