Classical Guitar Corner Academy

Your Online School for Classical Guitar

The CGC Academy serves adult amateur guitarists by providing them with the highest quality education available.

It is an opportunity for you to access a world-class education from your home and join a vibrant community of guitarists who are studying the classical guitar alongside you.

Acoustic Guitar Magazine
Yale Alumni
Gendai Guitar
Classical Guitar Magazine

Highlights of Membership

A world-renowned curriculum “The Cornerstone Method”

Used by teachers, schools, and students around the world, this modern progressive method builds upon the great methods of the past and incorporates all of the advantages of 21st century multimedia technology.

A vibrant community of over 1000 students to share ideas and draw inspiration

Students in the CGC Academy are dedicated and engaged in learning. You can watch and learn in private or immerse yourself fully in the active community forum.

Regular live member sessions give you the opportunity to play and watch

Live Zoom session give you the opportunity to play, receive feedback, or watch and enjoy. A wonderful way to learn and feel the camaraderie of the community.

Personal Feedback

You have a variety of ways to receive personal feedback at the academy: Coaching calls, exams, member challenges, member Q&A, forum questions, and dedicated email support.

Regular Events and Activities

There is always something going on at the Academy. Member challenges, duets, live concerts, member meetups, workshops, guest classes, and even an international Summer School!

Hear directly from members

See more reviews of Classical Guitar Corner here

Meet Your Teacher, Dr. Simon Powis

I am a guitarist just like you and I am excited to share my knowledge and experience. I was awarded a doctorate from Yale University, performed in Carnegie Hall, the Kennedy Center, taught in international universities and masterclasses and I maintain an active performance career. I say this only to convey that I have passion for both performance and education and through this site I have been privileged to help hundreds of guitarists like you to improve their playing.

“Simon Powis is the rare combination of a virtuoso guitarist and a thoughtful, forward thinking pedagogue.”

Ben VerderyBen Verdery, Yale University

“Although he has performed, taught and given master classes all over the world, the talented and personable guitarist is perhaps most widely known these days for his highly regarded online classical guitar pedagogy: Classical Guitar Corner.”

Classical Guitar MagazineBlair Jackson, Classical Guitar Magazine

“Originally from Australia, New York–based guitarist Simon Powis has built his online school into one of the most widely respected sites of its kind.”

Acoustic Guitar MagazineAcoustic Guitar Magazine

A World-Class Curriculum

The Cornerstone Method for Classical Guitar

A structured learning path to help you focus, save time, and enjoy the journey.

Take a Look Inside the Academy

The CGC Academy offers a guided path to learning. It makes it easy to know what to work on next

Of course, after fifteen years of development there is a lot of material to discover. Enjoy this look behind the scenes to see what you can expect inside the Academy.

There are so many tips and tricks videos out there, thousands of pieces to choose from, and a variety of teachers that range from experienced to novice. This can leave you feeling lost, overwhelmed, and ultimately, frustrated.

The CGC Academy provides you with a guided learning experience that helps you improve step-by-step. You will feel a sense of clarity knowing what to work on next, have the opportunity for feedback, and save time by focusing on what needs to happen right now.

Focused Lessons

Lessons are taught with a variety of resources to help you learn key concepts:

  • High quality video recordings
  • PDF sheet music downloads
  • Focused exercises to work on and develop your skills
  • Audio backing tracks to play along with
  • Q&A under each lesson

You can keep track of your progress, mark off lessons as “complete”, and easily navigate back to your current lesson when you log in to the Academy.

Progressive Units

There are 20 progressive units which organize the following elements:

  • Notation & Sight Reading
  • Solo & Duet Repertoire
  • Technique & Musicianship
  • Scales & Arpeggios
  • Practice Tools & Routines
  • Theory & Analysis

Each unit represents a set of achievable goals that keep you focused and provide you with the right material to work on.

8 Grades – Beginner to Advanced

Starting with a preparatory course (the Fundamentals) the 8 Grades take you from complete beginner material through to intermediate and advanced lessons. Each Grade has a clear set of goals to achieve and if you would like, you can submit a grade exam and get detailed feedback.

The Fundamentals Course prepares the absolute beginner to start studying with correct technique, posture, and a working knowledge of the guitar. It is a quick course that will get you started and playing within a short period of time. No prior experience is needed with guitar or music.

The first four grades cover core techniques that are used in classical guitar playing. Techniques such as free stroke, rest stroke, arpeggios, and nail shaping are all covered. In addition to technique you will learn how to read music, get and introduction to music theory, musicianship, and sight reading.

Repertoire has been carefully selected to help you progress without frustration. You will have lessons for all of the repertoire in level one and even duets to further use your new found skills.

Should you want to take a grade exam, you can submit in either a Spring or Fall exam period. From these submissions you will receive personal feedback, guidance, and a certificate to mark your achievement.

Grades 5 & 6 are designed for the intermediate guitarist and includes repertoire from Bach, Tarrega, Giuliani, Carcassi and more.

Courses are available in all core areas of study: Technique, Musicianship, Notation, Sight Reading, Theory, Analysis, Duets

Grades 7 & 8 incorporate advanced techniques and true masterpieces of the repertoire. Examples include: Bach Allemande BWV 996, Bach Prelude from Cello Suite No.1 BWV 1007, Scarlatti sonantas, Giuliani etudes, Legnani, Tarrega’s Capricho Arabe, Villa Lobos Prelude No.1, Julia Florida by Barrios and more.

You will find advanced courses on rasgueado technique, and in depth workshops from Ben Verdery, Gohar Vardanyan, Fred Hand and other teachers.

Solo Repertoire

You will find a vast library of solo works to study inside the CGC Academy. These solo works come with downloadable PDF editions, video lessons, score analysis, performance examples, and some are provided with full study guides!

Solo works span from beginner pieces to advanced grade 8 repertoire and include:

  • Selected studies from Fernando Sor Opus 60, 35, and 6
  • Lágrima by Francisco Tárrega
  • Bourée by J.S. Bach
  • Capricho Árabe by Francisco Tárrega
  • Julia Florida by Agustín Barrios
  • Allegro by Mauro Giuliani
  • Españoleta by Gaspar Sanz
  • El Testament D’Amelia by Miguel Llobet
Adelita and Lágrima

Practice Routines

The Practice Routines at CGC Academy provide you with exercises focused on a comprehensive and balanced approach to technique and musicianship.

Exercises focus on the following kinds of elements:

  • Left Hand
  • Arpeggios
  • Scales
  • Right-hand balance and voices
  • Slurs
  • Shifting
  • Fingerboard knowledge
  • Finger independence
  • Speed development
Using Goals in Scale Practice

Duets

The Graded Duets for Classical Guitar course features a variety of musical styles that are organized in a progressive series that develops your playing. Each piece is offered with sheet music, performance tracks and play along tracks, video lessons, and video performances. 

The extensive library of duets includes:

  • Mazurka by Francisco Tárrega
  • Moderato by Carulli
  • Invention in A minor by J.S. Bach
  • Canarios by Gaspar Sanz
  • Der Spiegel by W.A. Mozart
  • Canone a due liuti by F. da Milano
  • Canon by G.P. Telemann

Music Theory

Music theory can help you understand how a piece of music is put together, how you can interpret different aspects, and it will impact general comprehension and memorization. Inside the Academy you will find step by step lessons that start from the absolute basics of reading music to harmonic analysis of repertoire.

Theory lessons inside the Academy cover a variety of topics that include:

  • Learning to read music
  • Score markings and expression terms
  • Scales
  • Triads
  • Extended harmonies
  • Phrasing
  • Harmonic analysis
  • The CAGED system

Scales & Arpeggios

Scales and Arpeggios can be incredibly useful in your development as a guitarist and a musician. Not only can they be used as tools to develop technique but they can also be used to explore fingering approaches, work on expressive aspects, and outline harmony on the fingerboard.

Inside the academy you will find a collection of over 40 lessons on scales and arpeggios that feature:

  • An introduction to scale practice approaches
  • Speed development
  • Fingering approaches
  • Right and left hand approaches to arpeggios
  • Articulation and expression practice
  • Rhythmic challenges

Meet Your Colleages

Listen to Musicians Make Progress in the CGC Academy

Before

After

Before

After

Watch CGC Member Stories

Scott B., CGC Member

Kari K., CGC Member

Erica G., CGC Member

Watch more member stories here

5 Ways to Get Feedback

1. Personal Coaching Calls

There are several ways for all members to get feedback on their playing in the Academy. These include performance seminars, grade exams, forum posts, and member challenges. However, if you want to get ongoing, immediate, and regular personal feedback on your playing you should consider joining our coaching calls.

Each week you will have the opportunity to sign up for one-to-one sessions with a selection of world class performers at a variety of time slots. You can use this time to ask a specific question, play and get feedback, set practice goals, or get general guidance with your studies. Sessions are fifteen minutes each, you can schedule them up to two weeks in advance and they are open in a wide range of time slots over each weekend.

2. Performance Seminars and Open Mic

All members are welcome to participate and or watch our live performance seminars. Students are welcome to perform a piece, exercise, or whatever they might be working on and get detailed feedback to help them improve. Replays are available in the forum and performance seminars are run every other weekend.

These live sessions are easy to set up (just like Skype only better!) and provide a wonderful sense of community amongst members.

3. Grade Exams

Twice a year you have the opportunity to submit a grade exam. This includes a performance of set repertoire pieces, a practice routine, and also a self assessment of your playing and progress. Not only do you get to enjoy the focus and motivation from this process but you will receive detailed personal feedback on your playing.

4. Progress Journals

By starting a progress journal at the Academy you will be able to watch your transformation over time. It helps you focus on what you need to work on and also provides a great source of positive motivation when you feel stuck. More often than not we are making progress but it is hard to feel that progress. Keeping a progress journal helps keep your perspective on your achievements. As an added bonus you will find that other members are happy to cheer you on with support and feedback if you ask for it.

5. Member Challenges

Making progress on the classical guitar can often feel like a turtle race: it’s a long road that takes discipline and daily work. However, it’s also important to set smaller, more achievable goals to keep you motivated and on track to reach your more long-term goals. To that end, CGC Academy hosts member challenges each season. These challenges only last for three to four weeks, giving you the opportunity to set and stick to small, achievable goals. Each challenge has a different focus: for instance, scales or left-hand arpeggios.

Reviews &Testimonials

Finding this site has been one of the great joys in my life.

Barry , CGC Member

I’ve seen a lot of change in guitar pedagogy in my life and I think that the clarity of your teaching as well as your expert use of technology provides enormous value to guitar students at all levels.

Lou, CGC Member

I am now 56 years young and it took a lot of trial and error trying to learn on my own and jumping from one you tube channel to the next without any clear path for progression until I came upon Classical Guitar Corner!

Chris, CGC Member

See more reviews of CGC Academy here

CGC is Unlike Anywhere Else

Our Family of World Class Musicians

In both the online academy and in-person events we have a family of professional colleagues that share their knowledge and experience with CGC Members. These can be in the form of recorded and live masterclasses, live member workshops,  and teaching at the CGC Summer School.

Current masterclasses include:

Andrew York
Rene Izquierdo
Gohar Vardanyan
Bradford Werner
Dr. Noa Kagayama (Juilliard)
Benjamin Verdery (Yale)
Fred Hand (Mannes)
Garret Lee (Luthier)
GFA laureate, Kevin Gallagher

Our Family of Students

The community at CGC Academy is one of the friendliest and welcoming on the internet. We love to support one another through the journey of learning music. Members hail from all around the world and many friendships have started here at the Academy.

There have been several groups that decided to conduct local meetups and open mics in their local area bringing guitar enthusiasts together.

CGC Academy Events

Each year the students of CGC have the opportunity to attend an international gathering of guitarists near Boston USA. This weeklong event brings in master teachers and provides a fun relaxed environment for students to hone their performance skills, knowledge, and ensemble skills. The Summer School runs in June each year and is a ton of fun!

It’s really simple…

We put our heart and soul into this school and we are confident you are going to enjoy being a member. If you find that this site is not for you, you can let us know within thirty days of signing up, and we will give you a full refund. This guarantee means there is no risk in signing up and every reason to become a member right now. Choose your membership below.

Choose your membership below, and get instant access.

Quarterly

$150Quarterly
  • Full Curriculum Access
  • All Downloads
  • Live Performance Seminars
  • Member Challenges
Enroll Now

Annual

$397Yearly
  • Everything from Quarterly Plus:
  • $200 Annual Discount
  • Guest Masterclass Series
Enroll Now

Annual with Coaching

$797Yearly
  • Full Annual Membership plus
  • One-to-one coaching on a weekly basis.
  • Teachers include: Simon Powis, David Belcher, Niki Todesco, James Erickson, and Sanja Plohl.
Enroll Now

FAQ : Memberships

While we generally recommend everyone to start with the Annual membership — it has the greatest value — the Quarterly membership can be great for those who know they will be away from home or even just away from internet for a time. Nonetheless, the Annual membership is cheaper in the long term, gives you access to the Masterclass series of courses and the Grade Exam submissions, and also gives you more time to work through the materials so you can make the progress you want to make on classical guitar.

Yes, you can upgrade your membership at any time and we will credit any time you have left on your current membership toward the upgrade fee (which is prorated). Your new Annual membership starts the day you upgrade and renews one year later. If you sign up for the Annual and would like to add Coaching Calls later, you can also upgrade to those at any time.

Yes, your membership will automatically renew with the payment method you use when you sign up. You can cancel the automatic renewal at any time, however, and retain access to your membership until its expiration date. You can also update your payment info at any time if you need to change it before a renewal. 

No! Your membership starts the day you sign up and will renew on the same day a year later.

As a member you will have access to a huge library of resources and this includes the graded repertoire, 20 practice routines, and duets. You can download these individually underneath the lessons on each topic.

The Coaching Calls are weekly personal check-ins where you can get instant feedback on something you need help with from one of our world-class faculty. We have five different two-hour blocks of time, each hosted by a different teacher, and you can sign up for one, 15-minute coaching call each week. (You can, however, sit in to listen to as many calls as you like.) You set the topic for the call, which can range from playing something and getting feedback, to talking about a technical issue, to doing harmonic analysis of a piece, and much more. Additionally, you can play anything you like in the calls — it is not restricted to repertoire inside the Academy curriculum.

Many members get a great deal out of these calls and they can also be a great way to work through different elements of the curriculum to ensure you’re making good solid progress you want to see.

The memberships at CGC are never discounted, nor are there sales on the prices. There are two reasons for this: #1 I want to be fair to paying members of CGC #2 I believe the membership rates are already representing exceptional value. The equivalent cost in private one-to-one lessons would be well into the thousands each year and there simply isn’t a price you can put on the quality of the materials and the community on this site.

It is quite simple, if you are not satisfied with the membership I will give you your money back. I am very confident in the quality of these courses and lessons so I am happy to offer this assurance.

Please note that the refund only applies to your first 30 days and if you receive a refund within the first 30 days and then sign up again at a later date we cannot offer any further refunds.

FAQ : The Academy

You might be surprised to know that while members at CGC are both young and old the majority of members are 40+. We even have some members who are well into their 80’s and are making great progress. All are welcome here at Classical Guitar Corner.

Yes, absolutely! The courses start from the very, very beginning. You will learn how to hold the guitar, how to tune, and also how to read music without any prior knowledge.

Yes! You will be taught how to read music from the very first grade. Clear and progressive lessons will allow you to read with confidence and then develop the ability to sigh read. No prior reading experience is necessary and you will be provided with all the materials as you learn.

We generally recommend all new members to first go through the Fundamentals course, and specifically the technique lessons on the sitting position, left-hand position, and right-hand position. These are great assessment tools and are very important because we build off of them and refer back to them often in the lessons that follow. 

From there you could either send us a video of you playing something you’re comfortable with so we can assess where you would fit best in the curriculum, or you could use our technique self-assessment tools located at the end of each grade to find a suitable grade level to start. 

Absolutely! One thing that can be difficult for even the best teachers is crafting a comprehensive and consistent path for learning. Most teachers are incredibly capable musicians but don’t have much in the way of training in terms of education. Even those who are great teachers still need some assistance in being able to guide the student along at every step of the journey, providing the necessary materials for where the student is now and how to get to the next step.

The Grades curriculum at CGC Academy was created for just this situation, to give you the tools you need at each step of the journey without overwhelming you. Our curriculum is split up into several different categories of lessons: notation and sight reading, technique and musicianship, solo and duo repertoire, and theory and analysis. The flow of the lessons within each unit within a particular grade builds upon each previous lesson, and every unit culminates with a Practice Routine — which are sets of musical-technical exercises that sum up all the material you’ve learned in that unit of lessons. What is great about this approach is that a teacher can easily sit down with you to guide you on the material you’re currently working on in the curriculum and also give you hands-on advice on how to work on the material at the same time.

We have many members at the Academy who take this approach and have been very successful working with a private teacher and supplementing those lessons with the curriculum, community, and other resources at the Academy.

The Grade Exams are not at all required. You may work through the graded curriculum at your own pace and use our technique self-assessments at the end of each grade or get feedback from our Faculty through live events, member challenges, progress journals, or coaching calls to determine whether you’re ready to move on. You don’t need to pass an exam to move from one grade to the next. 

There are, however, some real benefits to the grading process. First of all, the exams give you a longer-term goal that can provide motivation and something to shoot for in your daily practice. While goals require structure and a plan to realize, they can really keep you moving forward.

Moreover, the personalized feedback the teachers provide will give you a straightforward answer whether you’re well prepared for the more challenging material ahead. It’s not always clear if your progress has prepared you for the next grade and so having a teacher assess your playing gives you the guidance you need, even if the recommendation is to remain in your current grade for a time. Plus, you get a cool certificate to mark the accomplishment of passing your exam!

Yes! You do not need to read music to get started at the Academy. We start you out from scratch learning to read notation and walk you through that process with fun and challenging exercises, playalong duets, and on-screen examples of every notation element you’ll encounter in the lessons ahead before you get there.

This site is for you. I am quite passionate about teaching dedicated amateur guitarists because I believe that music has a wonderful effect on quality of life. It can bring joy, passion, goals, and focus along with a skill that you can share with others. I believe the dedicated amateur will get the most out of this site with its supportive and motivating atmosphere. You are certainly not alone here at CGC!

The materials in the membership provide years of study and they go up to an advanced level. Sometimes, if a member comes in with prior experience they might go through the early grades quickly as revision.

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