Guitar Study Guide 2026
Everything you need to pass the Guitar exam in one place: the exam format, every topic to study, real practice questions with explanations, flashcards, and full-length practice tests. Free, no sign-up needed.
📋 Guitar Exam Format at a Glance
📚 Guitar Topics to Study (21)
✍️ Sample Guitar Questions & Answers
1. In flamenco guitar, what is the term for the rapid fan-like strumming technique using the fingers of the picking hand?
Rasgueado is a flamenco strumming technique where fingers roll outward in rapid succession to produce a continuous strumming sound.
2. What interval is the defining characteristic that makes a chord 'diminished'?
A diminished triad is built by stacking two minor thirds (three semitones each), resulting in a root, flat third, and flat fifth that creates a tense, unstable sound.
3. True/False: The duple and triple subdivisions of the beat are referred to as subdivisions.
In music theory, subdivisions refer to the process of dividing a main beat into smaller, equal parts. Duple subdivision means dividing a beat into two equal sub-beats, while triple subdivision means dividing it into three equal sub-beats. These concepts are fundamental to understanding and performing rhythm and timing in music, making the statement true.
4. Which guitarist co-founded the band Led Zeppelin and is famous for his use of a bow on the electric guitar?
Jimmy Page is the founder and lead guitarist of Led Zeppelin, renowned for his diverse styles and his theatrical technique of playing guitar with a cello bow.
5. What is the purpose of a 'capo' on a guitar?
A capo clamps across all strings at a specific fret, effectively raising the guitar's open pitch so the player can use familiar chord shapes in a different key.
6. The Em chord has how many notes?
An E minor chord consists of three unique notes: E (root), G (minor third), and B (perfect fifth). When played as an open E minor chord on a standard six-string guitar (022000), all six strings are strummed. The notes sounded are E, B, E, G, B, and E, meaning six individual notes are played, even though they are repetitions of the three core chord tones.