Electric Guitar Solo Competition: What It Is, Where It’s Run and How It’s Judged

One player performs a prepared solo on the electric guitar, entered by age band and marked out of 100.

Electric Guitar Solo is the class for a single player on the electric guitar. The entry is one performer and one prepared piece, which can be a rock, blues, pop or instrumental number, played on the player’s own instrument. Because the class is named for the instrument rather than a style, a beginner picking out a simple riff and an older player with a lead-guitar piece enter under the same heading, and the panel judges how well each performs what they chose.

The one template that carries it, a British music, speech and drama eisteddfod, splits the class by age in six bands: seven and under, nine and under, eleven and under, thirteen and under, fifteen and under, and eighteen and under. The time limit is five minutes for the four youngest bands, then six minutes for fifteen and under and eight minutes for eighteen and under. Every band is an individual entry, open to boys and girls together, with no language set and a top mark of 100.

A round is short and orderly. The entrant is called, plugs in, checks the tone and volume, and plays; the adjudicator writes a comment and a mark as the piece finishes. Unlike an acoustic instrument, the electric guitar depends on an amplifier and a lead, so set-up and sound check are part of the entrant’s preparation and take time from the organiser’s timetable. A well-prepared player arrives knowing the settings they need and how to start cleanly.

Organisers add the class because the electric guitar is a very popular reason for young people to take up music, and a dedicated class gives those players a stage that a classical guitar or general instrumental class would not. It sits beside the other solo classes in a music section and is marked on the same scale, so results can be compared fairly across the section.

Where Electric Guitar Solo is run

Electric Guitar Solo appears on one eTalenter template: a British children and young people’s music, speech and drama eisteddfod that runs it in six age bands. The data supports only that template, so this page does not claim wider use. Many other festivals and school events run electric or rock guitar classes under their own names, and organisers building a similar event can use this class as the starting point.

• United Kingdom

Key facts

• Individual entry, open to boys and girls together; no language is set
• Six age bands: 7 & Under, 9 & Under, 11 & Under, 13 & Under, 15 & Under and 18 & Under
• Time limits by band: 5 minutes for the four youngest, then 6 and 8 minutes
• Marked out of 100; the source prints no judging criteria for the class, so none are assumed here
• Idea, not a rule: younger entrants often choose a simple, well-known riff or melody played cleanly
• Idea, not a rule: older entrants sometimes pair a rhythm section with a short, controlled lead passage

On eTalenter, Electric Guitar Solo is filed under Music and typically scored with Marks. It appears in 1 ready-made event templates — each one can adjust its time limit, age-group assignment and scoring setup independently.

Across the templates that use it, Electric Guitar Solo is most often entered as an Individual competition, typically scored out of 100, commonly time-limited to 5–8 minutes where a limit is set.

What judges look at in Electric Guitar Solo

What a Electric Guitar Solo panel is actually weighing up, and where the marks are usually won or lost:

• Rhythm and timing: a steady pulse that does not rush or drag, with chords and riffs landing exactly on the beat
• Technical control: clean fretting, even picking or strumming and tidy bends or slides, with little string noise
• Tone and dynamics: a clear, well-chosen sound from the amplifier and a real difference between quiet and loud passages
• Accuracy and memory: the notes and chords played as written or rehearsed, with a secure recovery if a slip happens
• Musicality and expression: a piece shaped as music with phrasing and feeling, not just a run of notes at speed
• Time discipline and stage manner: a quick, tidy set-up, a calm start, and finishing inside the limit for the band

Treat these as the judging focus, not a fixed rubric: publish your own weighted criteria for Electric Guitar Solo under Scoring Setup, or start from the full instrumental music competition judging criteria guide.

How to prepare for Electric Guitar Solo

How entrants and their teachers usually get Electric Guitar Solo right on the day:

• Choose a piece that suits the age band and fits the time limit, and pick something you can play cleanly every time rather than something just out of reach
• Practise with a metronome or backing track at several speeds, then without it, to check that the timing holds on its own
• Rehearse the full set-up: lead, amplifier, volume and tone settings, so a sound check takes seconds and not minutes
• Record yourself and listen back for buzzing strings, uneven strumming and notes that are too loud or too quiet, then fix those first
• Plan the dynamics deliberately, because the difference between soft and loud is where panels hear musicianship
• Bring spare strings, a spare lead, picks, a tuner and a clean copy of the music if the notice asks for it, and tune before you walk on
• If you lost marks at a first festival, ask for the written comments and work on the fault named most, usually timing or clean fretting

Frequently asked questions

Is Electric Guitar Solo judged individually or as a team?

Across eTalenter’s templates it’s most often run as an Individual entry, though an organiser can set either participation type when assigning the item to an age group.

Is Electric Guitar Solo the same as Classical Guitar Solo?

No. They are separate classes on the same template. Classical Guitar Solo is for the classical guitar, while this class is for the electric guitar played through an amplifier.

How long is an Electric Guitar Solo?

On the British template that carries it, the limit is 5 minutes for 7 & Under, 9 & Under, 11 & Under and 13 & Under, 6 minutes for 15 & Under and 8 minutes for 18 & Under.

Do I need to bring my own amplifier?

The template does not say. It prints only the age bands, time limits and a mark out of 100, so ask your organiser what equipment is provided on the day.

Is it judged individually or as a team?

It is an individual item: one player per entry, open to boys and girls together, and marked out of 100.

Want the full judging picture? Read the full instrumental music competition judging criteria guide, or browse every music competition item.