Level two guitar students' expectations:

Technique

Students in their fourth year of itinerant guitar tuition will have developed a range of secure technical skills and will generally be moving with confidence around the fretboard with more sound‐hole/pick up positioning for timbral variety (pluck/strummed/contemporarily bowed/picking moving towards sweep picking). Generally the right hand may include melodic, riff or chordal lines. Further advanced techniques may include some variety of chord patterns/shapes/neck range, only sounding strings appropriate to the chord or integrated bass‐lines underneath/lead over the top. Hands will be controlled with evidently general equableness of tone, flexibility and coordination.

Posture and hand position will demonstrate confidence and development of an individual style. Finger work will exhibit fluency and a range of skills which will have developed through attention to technical exercises for improved accuracy across played patterns (having evidently considered rhythmic, pitch and incorporated expressivity). Melodic, harmony or riff lines will be less stepwise (neither overly angular), arpeggiations are more varied and strumming is less consistently motoric. Interplay between hands and a sensitive ‘touch’ appear, some evidence of the interspersion of H/T/P/bends etc. as tastefully appropriate (Hammer on, tap, pull off, pitch bends).

Correct posture and hand position will aid students in creating effective tone and fluency and sound projection (including amplification). Standing is acceptable and to be encouraged to reach further comfort levels in delivery as style appropriate. With experience comes further knowledge of fingering, alternate fingering and effective selection of string/fret positionings and timbral range in fretboard playing together with an effective performance sound.

Repertoire

There will be a notable step‐up in ability seen in students from those who gained Level 1. This will generally be shown through repertoire choice which will be extending students into the ‘classics’ of their chosen or preferred musical genre. Student guitarists at this level will display rehearsed and mostly accurate performances. If errors (hesitation, fumble, slip or stop) occur students will be able to continue playing until the end of the music. Attention will be given to dynamics; phrasing and articulation, however there may not yet be a complete understanding of all stylistic aspects to the music. For example, the use of the Palm mute, cloth mute, temporary hand string arrest, and capo may not be fully integrated into performances and may be seen to be used to cover up technical errors (hesitation, fumble, slip or stop) from the hands rather than used for subtle effect.

Students performing at Achievement level may make minor errors (the piece’s recognisability is somewhat impacted by some of hesitation, fumble, slip or stop). However the music will maintain general fluency (students play through their mistakes) and students will be experienced enough to acknowledge the audience at the end and maintain their ‘game face’.

At Merit and Excellence levels, pieces will be played with technical security (M) and assurance (E). Confidence will be demonstrated through well‐rehearsed performances and a degree of interpretive understanding (E). Minor errors (hesitation, fumble, slip or stop) will not mar performances.

Musicality

Melody lines may begin to exhibit more than technical delivery and may begin to incite audience engagement through expressiveness/contrast, e.g. rubato and other interpretive styles such as cantabile; both of which could be between both hands and their relationship with the strings, fretboard and sound body. Performances will be musically expressive with a recognisably more mature interpretation of musical genre from higher end criteria students. Students in a fourth year of lessons will be developing communication skills which allow them to share the music with their audience rather than being singularly introspective or potentially only focussed on playing the notes.