1Term 1
First stepsMeeting the guitar · Your first chords · Strumming patterns · Changing chords · Your first songs · Reading tab and rhythm
The programme
Four years, term by term.
From your very first chord to the level to lead at a university music school. Sixteen terms, two grades a year, an exam in the app at every grade.
16 terms · 96 lessons
Year 1
Grades 1 and 2
2Grade exam 1
Chords and rhythmMinor chords · Seventh chords · Major sevenths and minor sevenths · Sus and add chords · Power chords · Barre chords
3Term 3
Scales and solosMinor pentatonic · Major pentatonic · The blues scale · Bends and vibrato · Hammer-ons, pull-offs and slides · Your first licks
4Grade exam 2
First stylesPop rhythm guitar · Twelve-bar blues · Sega — the Mauritian six-eight · Bollywood on guitar · Fingerpicking · Rock riffs
Year 2
Grades 3 and 4
5Term 5
Harmony on the neckThe CAGED system · Triads on the top strings · Chord inversions · Extended chords · The chords in a key · Capo and transposing
6Grade exam 3
Playing solosThe five pentatonic positions · Major scale positions · Modes that matter · Arpeggios · Sequences and speed · Phrasing
7Term 7
Styles in depthBlues in depth · Sega and seggae · Bollywood in depth · Funk rhythm guitar · Jazz: the language · Country and folk
8Grade exam 4
Repertoire and stageArranging a song · Improvising over changes · Playing with other people · Practising properly · Recording yourself · Building a set
Year 3
Grades 5 and 6
9Term 9
Advanced techniqueEconomy picking · Legato · Tapping · String skipping · Sweep picking · Hybrid picking
10Grade exam 5
Advanced harmonyExtended chords · Drop-2 voicings · Major and minor ii – V – I · Substitutions · Borrowed chords · Voice leading
11Term 11
Advanced stylesFunk · Jazz · Rock and metal · Latin · Reggae and Afrobeat · Gospel and neo-soul
12Grade exam 6
Acoustic and fingerstyleTravis picking with a melody · DADGAD · Open D and slide · Chord melody · A classical study · Percussive fingerstyle
Year 4
Grades 7 and 8
13Term 13
ImprovisationMotifs · Target notes · Superimposition · Outside and back · Space and rhythm · A solo over changes
14Grade exam 7
Composition and arrangingProgressions with colour · Writing melodies · Reharmonising · Arranging sections · Parts for two guitars · Form and key change
15Term 15
Studio and stageTone in the hands and on the neck · Recording: rhythm and double · Recording: the lead · Starting and ending together · Never stop · Lift the last chorus
16Grade exam 8
Final projectPlan: the intro · Compose: verse and chorus · Arrange: rhythm and bridge · Record: the solo · Perform: the last chorus and ending · Review: the whole song
At the end of the four years
01
All 12 keysChords, scales, modes and arpeggios in every key, round the circle of fifths.
02
RhythmHold the tempo, change chords without breaking the beat, read and play a rhythm at sight.
03
Ear and readingRecognise what you hear, read tab and the staff, play at sight.
04
Your own musicImprovise, arrange, compose, and play on stage or in the studio.
The CGT programme, levels 1 to 8
what you can do at each level, and the way on to an official exam
1Level 1
Keep a rhythm, change chords without stopping, play and sing a whole song, in 4/4, 3/4 and sega 6/8.Next, if you wish: RGT Grade 1 · ABRSM Grade 1 at the end of the year, with the classical option
2Level 2
Barre chords, the keys of C, G, D and A, and a first real solo.Next, if you wish: RGT Grade 2 · ABRSM Grade 1
3Level 3
Scales all over the neck, triads, Travis picking, sixteenth notes.Next, if you wish: RGT Grade 3 · ABRSM Grade 2
4Level 4
Each style with its real rhythm part, and holding a stage. Up to 4 sharps or flats.Next, if you wish: RGT Grade 4 · ABRSM Grade 3
5Level 5
Advanced techniques and four-note harmony and beyond. Up to 5 sharps or flats.Next, if you wish: RGT Grade 5 · ABRSM Grade 4
6Level 6
Advanced styles and the complete acoustic guitar, in all 12 keys.Next, if you wish: RGT Grade 6 · ABRSM Grade 5
7Level 7
Improvise in your own language, write and arrange.Next, if you wish: RGT Grade 7 · ABRSM Grade 6
8Level 8
An independent musician: hold a song from the first beat to the last chord, in any key.Next, if you wish: RGT Grade 8 · ABRSM Grade 7, then Grade 8 after a year of the classical option
Taking an official exam
For each level, the app shows you what you already know for an RGT or ABRSM exam, and what to add: the board’s own pieces, its scales, aural tests, sight-reading. You register directly with the board, which sets its own dates, fees and rules.
Chris Guitar Tuto is not affiliated with RGT or ABRSM. Their names are only there to help you find your way.
What you work on in the app
at every level, alongside the lessons
629 galaxies
The theory universeEach lesson is seen on the neck, heard, then read on the staff, with 3 questions. Together they cover what ABRSM theory grades 1 to 5 and RGT 1 to 8 ask, in our own words. CGT is not affiliated with these boards.
240World rhythms
The science of rhythmEach rhythm is drawn as an atom: clave, sega, polyrhythms. You hear it, then you play it.
TabTab and staff
Read and write musicAt every level: you read while the app listens, you write, and you take dictations.
900+Copyright-free
The repertoireThe set pieces in a player, staff and tab, with the original public-domain score beside them. And more than 900 free pieces for your own repertoire.
V–IThe map
HarmonyA map links cadences, chords, scales and substitutions. You see where a chord comes from, and where it can go.
The keys of each exam
On exam day the app draws one key from the grade’s keys. From grade 6, it is all twelve.
2Grade 1
keys
4Grade 2
keys
6Grade 3
keys
8Grade 4
keys
10Grade 5
keys
12Grade 6
keys
12Grade 7
keys
12Grade 8
keys
The five parts of the exam
Every exam follows the books’ plan. You need at least 40% in each part.
30 %
Technique
25 %
Study
15 %
Reading
15 %
Ear
15 %
Theory
The app on its ownfrom €9.90 a monthRs 399 in Mauritius · CHF 11.90 in SwitzerlandPrices include tax