Performing a Programme

When to read this: after Session 6, “What a Programme Is”, “The Count-In”, “Recording One Take” (10 minutes); after Session 12 (optional), “Playing from Memory” (5 minutes); after Session 18, “Playing from Memory” (5 minutes); after Session 24 (optional), “Recording One Take”, “Playing from Memory” (10 minutes); after Session 30 (optional), “Recording One Take”, “Playing from Memory” (10 minutes); after Session 31, “Choosing a Programme”, “The Three Questions” (10 minutes). None of this reading is part of a session’s 50 minutes.

What You’ll Learn

This handout says how you perform a programme in this course. You read it in parts, each after the session that sends you to it.

“What a Programme Is” and “The Count-In” (after Session 6): what a programme is, and how you count yourself in before each piece.
“Recording One Take” (after Session 6): how you record a programme in one take, and how you mark it.
“Playing from Memory” (after Session 18): how you memorise a piece.
“Choosing a Programme” (after Session 31): the rule of the final programme, and how you choose your three pieces.
“The Three Questions” (after Session 31): the three things you say about each piece you perform.

Sessions 12, 24 and 30 name sections as optional reading: Session 12 names “Playing from Memory”; Sessions 24 and 30 name “Recording One Take” and “Playing from Memory”.

What a Programme Is

Programme — The pieces you perform one after another in a single recorded take. The final programme is three complete pieces. (Session 6)
Complete piece — A piece printed whole, which you play from your own count-in to its written ending. An exercise, or a part of a song, is not a complete piece. (Session 1)

Each showcase session says which pieces its programme holds, or which you choose from. The final programme is yours to choose, from Session 31, by the rule under “Choosing a Programme”.

In a programme you play each piece alone, as its page writes it, from your own count-in to its written ending, with no backing sounding. Playing a piece over a backing you recorded is a separate item and is never part of the take.

The Count-In

A count-in is here what it was in the beginner course: one measure counted aloud before the first note, to set the speed. In 3/4 it is three counts. A piece that begins with pick-up notes is the exception: its rule stands below.

The speed is the piece’s performance tempo. It stands with the piece, in the sentence of a Tempo paragraph that begins “The performance tempo is”: on the piece’s own page, or in the showcase session that names the piece.

No metronome sounds while a piece of a programme is played. Before each piece, with the recording running, set the metronome to that piece’s performance tempo, listen to eight clicks and stop it, then count one measure aloud and begin.

A piece that begins with pick-up notes is counted in as its page prints it: the tune’s own counted measure is the count-in.

The count-in is yours, and it is part of the take: nobody and nothing counts for you, and the recording is not stopped between pieces. Before the next piece, take the time you need, set the metronome for that piece as above, then count in again.

Recording One Take

One take means this: you start the recording once, play every piece of the programme one after another, and stop the recording after the last ending. One device is enough, unless your phone cannot record while its own metronome sounds (the phone test of Session 1): then a second device or a separate metronome gives the eight clicks before the count-in.

A stop is a break in the count inside a piece: going back, beginning a measure again, or waiting a whole measure or longer before coming in. Keeping the count and coming in on the next beat 1 is not a stop: its notes are counted as missed.

A take with a stop has not passed and ends at the stop. One take a day: the next is made on a later day and begins with the first piece.

If you slip, do as the beginner course taught you: keep the count going and come in again on the next beat 1.

Before Session 36, a showcase week’s “Programme” row says: sections on four days, one recorded take on the last. After a take that has not passed, work in that row’s minutes on the piece that did not pass, in sections of four or eight measures with the metronome, before you make the next take. Make no take on a day on which you stopped a row because of the pain rule.

To mark the take, listen to it once for each piece, with that piece’s page in front of you. Make a stroke on paper for every wrong or missed note, and count the strokes piece by piece.

In a strummed piece, and in the strummed verse of a tune, one wrong or missed note is one measure in which the chord is wrong, late or not played.

The pass mark, as exit criterion E26 words it: no stop; each piece reaches its written ending; at most 3 wrong or missed notes in any one piece.

Playing from Memory

From Session 12, one piece of each programme is played from memory; no piece is asked from memory in Session 6.

Use the routine named “How to memorise a piece” in Beginner Session 6. Its six steps:

Split the piece into chunks of two measures.
Play chunk 1 from the page three times. Turn the page over and play it. Turn back and check.
Do the same with chunk 2, then play chunks 1 and 2 together from memory.
Add one chunk at a time, always starting from the beginning.
Next day, play the whole piece from memory before you look at the page. Then check, and repair the chunk where you slipped.
The piece is memorised when you have played it from memory, start to finish, on three different days.

In the take, the page of a memorised piece lies face down. On a screen, close the page or lay the phone face down. Turn the page over, or open it, only for the marking.

Choosing a Programme

You choose the final programme by this rule.

The final programme is three different complete pieces, played one after another, each from your own count-in to its written ending, recorded in one take. Of the three:

at most one is from Phase 1;
at least one is from Phases 4 to 6;
at least one is Giuliani’s Andantino, “Down by the Salley Gardens” or “Greensleeves”;
at least one is played from memory.

One piece may meet two of these: “Greensleeves” is from Phase 5 and is one of the three named.

The eleven complete pieces

Piece	Phase	Kind	Measures	Time	Performance tempo	Length	From Phase 1	From Phases 4 to 6	One of the three named
”Seventh-Chord Blues in A”	1	course piece	38	4/4	70 BPM	2 min 10 s	yes	no	no
”Stop-Time Study in E”	1	course piece	26	4/4	70 BPM	1 min 29 s	yes	no	no
”Seventh-Chord Blues in E”	1	course piece	38	4/4	70 BPM	2 min 10 s	yes	no	no
”Amazing Grace” (traditional; the course’s arrangement in G)	1	traditional tune	42	3/4	70 BPM	1 min 48 s	yes	no	no
”Evening Sevenths”	2	course piece	26	4/4	70 BPM	1 min 29 s	no	no	no
Giuliani: “Andantino”, Op. 50 no. 1	2	public-domain study	32	3/4	55 BPM	1 min 45 s	no	no	yes
”Down by the Salley Gardens” (traditional air; the course’s arrangement in D)	3	traditional tune	48	4/4	65 BPM	2 min 57 s	no	no	yes
”Shuffle Blues in A”	4	course piece	38	4/4	70 BPM	2 min 10 s	no	yes	no
”Slur Study in A minor”	4	course piece	24	4/4	60 BPM	1 min 36 s	no	yes	no
”Greensleeves” (traditional; the course’s arrangement in A minor)	5	traditional tune	48	6/8	two clicks to the measure at 40	2 min 24 s	no	yes	yes
”Fifth-Fret Rock Study”	6	course piece	32	4/4	60 BPM	2 min 08 s	no	yes	no

The eleventh piece, the “Fifth-Fret Rock Study”, is taught in Session 32.

The Length column counts each piece from its measure 1 to its last measure, at its performance tempo. A pick-up note or a counted measure before measure 1 adds a few seconds at most, so a piece’s own page may give a little more.

The sessions take the nine steps below over three weeks (one piece in Session 31, the second in Session 32, the three fixed and the piece for memory decided in Session 33), so read all nine now and take each when its session asks.

Look at the table. Only these eleven pieces can be in the programme.
Choose one piece that has “yes” in the column “One of the three named”.
Choose one piece that has “yes” in the column “From Phases 4 to 6”. If the piece of step 2 is “Greensleeves”, it has “yes” here too, and you may choose any other piece in this step.
If you now have two pieces, choose a third from any row.
Count the pieces among your three that have “yes” in the column “From Phase 1”. There may be one or none. If there are two, change one of them.
Find your three pieces in the numbered list below. If they are there, your programme is allowed. If they are not, go back to step 2.
Choose which of the three you will play from memory: one at least.
For each of the three, write its key, its time signature and two techniques it uses, and check what you wrote against the Key, Time and Techniques lines printed with the piece (exit criterion E19).
If the “Fifth-Fret Rock Study” is one of your three, the measures you repeat are never its chorus.

The numbered list that step 6 names is under the next heading, “Every Allowed Programme”.

In a programme, a piece that has measures of your own plays its written backing there. Of the eleven pieces that is the “Fifth-Fret Rock Study”, in its measures 21 to 28. That study has two forms: its first form, which Session 32 teaches, and the full pattern, which you may add from Session 34. You perform the form you have reached, and its page is the page you mark the take against (exit criterion E26).

For a piece that has a daily limit, the plan’s programme rows carry this sentence:

If a piece you choose has a daily limit, play it for no more of this row than keeps today’s total inside that limit: 5 minutes of slurs, 5 of three-string power chords, and 5 of barre work, no more than 3 of them full barre.

One check of your three pieces, made after Session 33, when the three are fixed: write them on paper and, beside them, yes or no for each of the 4 conditions of the rule. Pass: 4 times yes, and your three pieces are one of the 78 rows of the list under “Every Allowed Programme”. If not: go back to step 2.

Every Allowed Programme

This is a list to look a programme up in, not a text to read through. Each row gives its three pieces in the order of the table, so look for yours in that order. The order in which you play them is yours.

Three different pieces can be chosen from eleven in 165 ways, and the first three conditions of the rule allow 78 of them; the fourth, one piece from memory, can be met inside any of the 78. The shortest is 4 minutes 50 seconds (two programmes: numbers 15 and 50) and the longest 7 minutes 31 seconds (three programmes: numbers 8, 32 and 71), counted without the pauses between the pieces.

No.	The three pieces, in the order of the table	Length
1	Seventh-Chord Blues in A; Evening Sevenths; Greensleeves	6 min 03 s
2	Seventh-Chord Blues in A; Giuliani’s Andantino; Shuffle Blues in A	6 min 05 s
3	Seventh-Chord Blues in A; Giuliani’s Andantino; Slur Study in A minor	5 min 31 s
4	Seventh-Chord Blues in A; Giuliani’s Andantino; Greensleeves	6 min 19 s
5	Seventh-Chord Blues in A; Giuliani’s Andantino; Fifth-Fret Rock Study	6 min 03 s
6	Seventh-Chord Blues in A; Down by the Salley Gardens; Shuffle Blues in A	7 min 17 s
7	Seventh-Chord Blues in A; Down by the Salley Gardens; Slur Study in A minor	6 min 43 s
8	Seventh-Chord Blues in A; Down by the Salley Gardens; Greensleeves	7 min 31 s
9	Seventh-Chord Blues in A; Down by the Salley Gardens; Fifth-Fret Rock Study	7 min 15 s
10	Seventh-Chord Blues in A; Shuffle Blues in A; Greensleeves	6 min 44 s
11	Seventh-Chord Blues in A; Slur Study in A minor; Greensleeves	6 min 10 s
12	Seventh-Chord Blues in A; Greensleeves; Fifth-Fret Rock Study	6 min 42 s
13	Stop-Time Study in E; Evening Sevenths; Greensleeves	5 min 22 s
14	Stop-Time Study in E; Giuliani’s Andantino; Shuffle Blues in A	5 min 24 s
15	Stop-Time Study in E; Giuliani’s Andantino; Slur Study in A minor	4 min 50 s
16	Stop-Time Study in E; Giuliani’s Andantino; Greensleeves	5 min 38 s
17	Stop-Time Study in E; Giuliani’s Andantino; Fifth-Fret Rock Study	5 min 22 s
18	Stop-Time Study in E; Down by the Salley Gardens; Shuffle Blues in A	6 min 36 s
19	Stop-Time Study in E; Down by the Salley Gardens; Slur Study in A minor	6 min 02 s
20	Stop-Time Study in E; Down by the Salley Gardens; Greensleeves	6 min 50 s
21	Stop-Time Study in E; Down by the Salley Gardens; Fifth-Fret Rock Study	6 min 34 s
22	Stop-Time Study in E; Shuffle Blues in A; Greensleeves	6 min 03 s
23	Stop-Time Study in E; Slur Study in A minor; Greensleeves	5 min 29 s
24	Stop-Time Study in E; Greensleeves; Fifth-Fret Rock Study	6 min 01 s
25	Seventh-Chord Blues in E; Evening Sevenths; Greensleeves	6 min 03 s
26	Seventh-Chord Blues in E; Giuliani’s Andantino; Shuffle Blues in A	6 min 05 s
27	Seventh-Chord Blues in E; Giuliani’s Andantino; Slur Study in A minor	5 min 31 s
28	Seventh-Chord Blues in E; Giuliani’s Andantino; Greensleeves	6 min 19 s
29	Seventh-Chord Blues in E; Giuliani’s Andantino; Fifth-Fret Rock Study	6 min 03 s
30	Seventh-Chord Blues in E; Down by the Salley Gardens; Shuffle Blues in A	7 min 17 s
31	Seventh-Chord Blues in E; Down by the Salley Gardens; Slur Study in A minor	6 min 43 s
32	Seventh-Chord Blues in E; Down by the Salley Gardens; Greensleeves	7 min 31 s
33	Seventh-Chord Blues in E; Down by the Salley Gardens; Fifth-Fret Rock Study	7 min 15 s
34	Seventh-Chord Blues in E; Shuffle Blues in A; Greensleeves	6 min 44 s
35	Seventh-Chord Blues in E; Slur Study in A minor; Greensleeves	6 min 10 s
36	Seventh-Chord Blues in E; Greensleeves; Fifth-Fret Rock Study	6 min 42 s
37	Amazing Grace; Evening Sevenths; Greensleeves	5 min 41 s
38	Amazing Grace; Giuliani’s Andantino; Shuffle Blues in A	5 min 43 s
39	Amazing Grace; Giuliani’s Andantino; Slur Study in A minor	5 min 09 s
40	Amazing Grace; Giuliani’s Andantino; Greensleeves	5 min 57 s
41	Amazing Grace; Giuliani’s Andantino; Fifth-Fret Rock Study	5 min 41 s
42	Amazing Grace; Down by the Salley Gardens; Shuffle Blues in A	6 min 55 s
43	Amazing Grace; Down by the Salley Gardens; Slur Study in A minor	6 min 21 s
44	Amazing Grace; Down by the Salley Gardens; Greensleeves	7 min 09 s
45	Amazing Grace; Down by the Salley Gardens; Fifth-Fret Rock Study	6 min 53 s
46	Amazing Grace; Shuffle Blues in A; Greensleeves	6 min 22 s
47	Amazing Grace; Slur Study in A minor; Greensleeves	5 min 48 s
48	Amazing Grace; Greensleeves; Fifth-Fret Rock Study	6 min 20 s
49	Evening Sevenths; Giuliani’s Andantino; Shuffle Blues in A	5 min 24 s
50	Evening Sevenths; Giuliani’s Andantino; Slur Study in A minor	4 min 50 s
51	Evening Sevenths; Giuliani’s Andantino; Greensleeves	5 min 38 s
52	Evening Sevenths; Giuliani’s Andantino; Fifth-Fret Rock Study	5 min 22 s
53	Evening Sevenths; Down by the Salley Gardens; Shuffle Blues in A	6 min 36 s
54	Evening Sevenths; Down by the Salley Gardens; Slur Study in A minor	6 min 02 s
55	Evening Sevenths; Down by the Salley Gardens; Greensleeves	6 min 50 s
56	Evening Sevenths; Down by the Salley Gardens; Fifth-Fret Rock Study	6 min 34 s
57	Evening Sevenths; Shuffle Blues in A; Greensleeves	6 min 03 s
58	Evening Sevenths; Slur Study in A minor; Greensleeves	5 min 29 s
59	Evening Sevenths; Greensleeves; Fifth-Fret Rock Study	6 min 01 s
60	Giuliani’s Andantino; Down by the Salley Gardens; Shuffle Blues in A	6 min 52 s
61	Giuliani’s Andantino; Down by the Salley Gardens; Slur Study in A minor	6 min 18 s
62	Giuliani’s Andantino; Down by the Salley Gardens; Greensleeves	7 min 06 s
63	Giuliani’s Andantino; Down by the Salley Gardens; Fifth-Fret Rock Study	6 min 50 s
64	Giuliani’s Andantino; Shuffle Blues in A; Slur Study in A minor	5 min 31 s
65	Giuliani’s Andantino; Shuffle Blues in A; Greensleeves	6 min 19 s
66	Giuliani’s Andantino; Shuffle Blues in A; Fifth-Fret Rock Study	6 min 03 s
67	Giuliani’s Andantino; Slur Study in A minor; Greensleeves	5 min 45 s
68	Giuliani’s Andantino; Slur Study in A minor; Fifth-Fret Rock Study	5 min 29 s
69	Giuliani’s Andantino; Greensleeves; Fifth-Fret Rock Study	6 min 17 s
70	Down by the Salley Gardens; Shuffle Blues in A; Slur Study in A minor	6 min 43 s
71	Down by the Salley Gardens; Shuffle Blues in A; Greensleeves	7 min 31 s
72	Down by the Salley Gardens; Shuffle Blues in A; Fifth-Fret Rock Study	7 min 15 s
73	Down by the Salley Gardens; Slur Study in A minor; Greensleeves	6 min 57 s
74	Down by the Salley Gardens; Slur Study in A minor; Fifth-Fret Rock Study	6 min 41 s
75	Down by the Salley Gardens; Greensleeves; Fifth-Fret Rock Study	7 min 29 s
76	Shuffle Blues in A; Slur Study in A minor; Greensleeves	6 min 10 s
77	Shuffle Blues in A; Greensleeves; Fifth-Fret Rock Study	6 min 42 s
78	Slur Study in A minor; Greensleeves; Fifth-Fret Rock Study	6 min 08 s

The Three Questions

For every piece you perform you can say three things: its key, its time signature and two techniques it uses.

The answers are the lines that begin “Key:”, “Time:” and “Techniques:”, printed with each of the eleven complete pieces in the session that teaches it. A piece’s Techniques line names two to four techniques, and any two of them are right.

For each of your three pieces, write the three answers from memory. Then open the piece’s page and check them against its three lines.

The pass mark, as exit criterion E19 words it: the key, the time signature and both techniques right for every piece. If not: read the three lines of the piece aloud, close the page and write them again the next day.