Session 2: Seventh Chords: A7, D7 and E7

Duration: 50 minutes

Break: Put the guitar down for 5 minutes at the end of Segment 3. No stretch of playing is then longer than 30 minutes.

In this session you learn three seventh chords: A7 and E7, each from a chord you already play, and D7, which is a new shape. You say what the 7 adds, and you then play the three chords in the 12-bar form you know from Beginner Session 8: that is today’s piece, the “Seventh-Chord Blues in A”. You also meet the A natural minor scale, repeat signs in a chord chart and the first ear check of this course.

Learning Objectives

By the end of this session you will be able to:

1. Form A7, D7 and E7 so that every string that should sound rings: 3 times in a row for each chord
2. Pass the change test for G and D7 and for A7 and D7, a new chord every 4 beats at 60 BPM: 8 chords, twice on the same day, for each of the 2 pairs
3. Play the Seventh-Chord Blues in A from its chart in the D D U U D U pattern at 60 BPM, from a count-in of four clicks to its last measure: 38 measures
4. Play the A natural minor scale from memory, up and down, in quarter notes at 70 BPM: 3 times in a row
5. Strum a four-measure chord chart with repeat signs from the page, one strum to a measure: 8 measures as played

Where an objective gives a tempo, it is the figure for the end of this week’s practice.

Materials Needed

• Your Saga SF-600C-BK guitar
• A guitar pick
• A clip-on tuner or phone tuner app
• A metronome
• A phone that records sound
• 24 slips of paper and a pen, for this week’s ear check
• Blank cards or slips for your first theory cards, written after the session
• Handout for this session: How To Practise At This Level (read after the session, 5 minutes)
• Handout for this session: Seventh Chords (read after the session, 10 minutes)
• Handout for this session: Reading A Chord Chart (read after the session, 5 minutes)
• Reference: Chord Chart, Glossary

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Segment 1 — Warm-Up and Stretch (5 minutes)

Hand Warm-Up

Open and close both hands loosely five times. Circle each wrist five times each way. Touch your thumb to each fingertip in turn. Shake the hands out.

Tune Your Guitar

Tune all six strings (EADGBE). Before you look at the tuner, guess: too low, too high or right? Then look.

Warm-Up

Bring back the 12-bar form in A (Beginner Session 8), with the chords A, D and E as you play them. First say the order of its chords aloud from memory, one chord to a measure, and check it against the chart of “12-Bar in A” in Beginner Session 8 if you are not sure: today’s piece is built on this form.

Copy of Beginner Session 5: the D D U U D U pattern

Strum:  D     D  U     U  D  U
Count:  1     2  & (3) &  4  &

Then play the form once from memory in this pattern at 75 BPM: one measure of the pattern to each of its 12 measures.

Spider crawl: frets 5-8, one finger at a time, all six strings, up and down. If it pulls, stop the crawl; if it aches, stop playing for today.

Barre presses:

The simplified F (Beginner Session 17): press, pluck four strings, release. Four presses.

Barre work: no more than 5 minutes a day in total. Pain rule: tender fingertips are normal. Pain in the wrist, forearm, thumb joint or knuckles, numbness or tingling, any sharp pain, or pain that lasts into the next day means stop. The full rule is in START HERE.

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Segment 2 — Technique Focus: A7, D7 and E7 (10 minutes)

Pain rule: tender fingertips are normal. Pain in the wrist, forearm, thumb joint or knuckles, numbness or tingling, any sharp pain, or pain that lasts into the next day means stop. The full rule is in START HERE.

The A7 Chord

A7 is the A chord with finger 2 lifted: fingers 1 and 3 stay where they are, and string 3 now rings open.

A7

XOOO

1

3

EADGBe

• Finger 1 (index): string 4 (D), fret 2
• Finger 3 (ring): string 2 (B), fret 2
• Strings 5, 3 and 1 are played open
• Do not play string 6
• Strum strings 5 to 1 (five strings)
• Notes, string 5 to string 1: A, E, G, C#, E

Many chord charts finger A7 with fingers 2 and 3. This course uses fingers 1 and 3 because that is your A chord with one finger lifted.

If you play A with fingers 2, 3 and 4, as Beginner Session 8 allows, lift the middle one of the three.

Tuner check: Pluck strings 5 to 1 one at a time, slowly. The tuner should show A, E, G, C#, E. A different letter means a finger is on the wrong string or the wrong fret.

Rest the pick on string 5, then strum from there.

Place the shape, strum strings 5 to 1 once, lift the fingers and place the shape again: 8 placings.

The D7 Chord

D7 is a new shape, a small triangle: finger 1 on string 2 at fret 1, where it sits in Am and in C, with fingers 2 and 3 at fret 2 on the strings on either side of it.

D7

XXO

1

2

3

EADGBe

• Finger 1 (index): string 2 (B), fret 1
• Finger 2 (middle): string 3 (G), fret 2
• Finger 3 (ring): string 1 (high e), fret 2
• String 4 (D) is played open
• Do not play strings 6 and 5
• Strum strings 4 to 1 (four strings)
• Notes, string 4 to string 1: D, A, C, F#

Tuner check: Pluck strings 4 to 1 one at a time, slowly. The tuner should show D, A, C, F#. A different letter means a finger is on the wrong string or the wrong fret.

Rest the pick on string 4, then strum from there.

This is the one new shape of the three chords. Every finger of D moves to make it, so do not build it from D: place the three fingers together, as one shape. Strum strings 4 to 1 once, lift the fingers and place the shape again: 8 placings.

The E7 Chord

E7 is the E chord with finger 3 lifted: fingers 1 and 2 stay where they are, and string 4 now rings open.

E7

OOOO

1

2

EADGBe

• Finger 1 (index): string 3 (G), fret 1
• Finger 2 (middle): string 5 (A), fret 2
• Strings 6, 4, 2 and 1 are played open
• Strum all six strings
• Notes, string 6 to string 1: E, B, D, G#, B, E

Tuner check: Pluck strings 6 to 1 one at a time, slowly. The tuner should show E, B, D, G#, B, E. A different letter means a finger is on the wrong string or the wrong fret.

All six strings are strummed in E7. Place the shape, strum once, lift the fingers and place the shape again: 8 placings.

If a string does not ring:

• If a string is muffled, the finger on the string next to it is leaning on it: arch that finger more.
• If a note buzzes: (1) move the fingertip right up behind the fret wire; (2) stand the finger on its tip; (3) only then add the smallest extra pressure that clears the buzz.

A7: the open string 3 lies between the two fingers of the chord, on strings 4 and 2. If it is muffled, the first fix is the one to use.

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Segment 3 — New Learning: What the 7 Means (15 minutes)

What the 7 Means

A dominant seventh chord is a major chord with one more note added. Name the added note by counting a whole step (two frets) down from the root; in every shape of this course it lies above the lowest root.

• Seventh — The seventh note of a scale counted from the root. A major seventh is one fret below the next root; a minor seventh is two frets below it. (Session 2)

• Dominant seventh chord — A major chord with one more note added, written with a 7 after the letter: A7 is A, C sharp, E and G. The added note is named by counting a whole step down from the root, and in the chord it lies above the lowest root. (Session 2)

• Seventh chord — Any chord with a seventh added. The first kind in this course is the dominant seventh chord. (Session 2)

The table gives the added note of each of today’s three chords, read from the Notes line under its diagram.

Chord	Root	The note a whole step below the root	Where that note sounds in the shape
A7	A	G	string 3, open
D7	D	C	string 2 at fret 1
E7	E	D	string 4, open

Place each chord in turn and pluck its added note once. Nothing else is played here.

Change Test: A7 and D7, G and D7

This is the change test (Beginner Session 3) for the two new pairs, a new chord every 4 beats at 60 BPM. In both pairs no finger stays down, so lift the fingers together, form the new shape in the air and land it as one shape. Before the first run, read how each pair moves:

• A7 to D7: finger 3 moves one string towards the floor at fret 2, from string 2 to string 1; finger 1 goes from string 4 at fret 2 to string 2 at fret 1; finger 2 lands on string 3 at fret 2.
• G to D7: finger 4 lifts; finger 2 goes from string 5 to string 3, at fret 2; finger 3 goes from string 6 at fret 3 to string 1 at fret 2; finger 1 lands on string 2 at fret 1.

Going back, what landed lifts and what lifted lands.

These moves are written for the fingerings of the diagrams: A7 with fingers 1 and 3, and G with fingers 2, 3 and 4.

Play A7 and D7, 8 chords; then G and D7, 8 chords; then the pair that went worse, 8 chords more. The tempo does not rise this week.

The A Natural Minor Scale

• Natural minor scale (natural minor) — A seven-note scale following the pattern: whole, half, whole, whole, half, whole, whole. It has the notes of the major scale that starts three frets higher: A natural minor is A, B, C, D, E, F, G, the notes of C major from A. (Session 2)

These are the notes of the C major scale of Session 1, begun from A.

A natural minor scale, one octave, open position: up and down, quarter notes
e|----------------------|-------------------|
B|----------------------|-------------------|
G|----------------------|-----------0---2---|
D|------------------0---|---2---3-----------|
A|------0---2---3-------|-------------------|
E|----------------------|-------------------|
Count:  1   2   3   4       1   2   3   4
Pick:   D   U   D   U       D   U   D   U
Finger: -   2   3   -       2   3   -   2
Notes:  A   B   C   D       E   F   G   A

e|----------------------|-------------------|
B|----------------------|-------------------|
G|------0---------------|-------------------|
D|----------3---2---0---|-------------------|
A|----------------------|---3---2---0-------|
E|----------------------|-------------------|
Count:  1   2   3   4       1   2   3  (4)
Pick:   D   U   D   U       D   U   D
Finger: -   3   2   -       3   2   -
Notes:  G   F   E   D       C   B   A

A natural minor scale, in quarter notes: one note per click. The top A is played once. The last A lasts two beats: let it ring while you count (4).

The fret number is the finger number: fret 1 = finger 1, fret 2 = finger 2, fret 3 = finger 3.

This scale uses fingers 2 and 3 only.

In a scale or an arpeggio the pick alternates on every note, down then up, whatever the count: in quarter notes an upstroke falls on counts 2 and 4. In a tune the pick follows the count: down on the numbers, up on the &s.

Play the scale up and down at 60 BPM, one note per click: four runs. That is today’s tempo. The line below is for the week’s practice.

Tempo: Start at 60 BPM, one note per click (quarter notes) and work up to 70. Raise the metronome 5 BPM at a time, and only after three clean runs in a row. In one week, take two steps at most.

A run is clean when every note or chord lands on its count, every string that should sound rings, and you do not stop.

A natural minor scale, one octave, open position: up and down, eighth notes
e|--------------------------------------|-----------------------------------|
B|--------------------------------------|-----------------------------------|
G|------------------------------0---2---|---0-------------------------------|
D|------------------0---2---3-----------|-------3---2---0-------------------|
A|------0---2---3-----------------------|-------------------3---2---0-------|
E|--------------------------------------|-----------------------------------|
Count:  1   &   2   &   3   &   4   &       1   &   2   &   3   &   4
Pick:   D   U   D   U   D   U   D   U       D   U   D   U   D   U   D
Finger: -   2   3   -   2   3   -   2       -   3   2   -   3   2   -
Notes:  A   B   C   D   E   F   G   A       G   F   E   D   C   B   A

A natural minor scale, in eighth notes: two notes per click. The top A is played once. The last A lasts a full beat.

This form is played from Session 4: it is not played today.

Ear Drill: Higher or Lower

Play string 2 open, then string 2 at fret 1, and say “higher”. Play them the other way round and say “lower”. Do the same with each pair of neighbours in the table, letting every note ring for about two seconds.

This is a drill, not a test: you know each answer as you play it.

• Note slip — A slip of paper with one string and one fret written on it. For an ear test you draw slips and play their notes, so that what you play cannot be practised beforehand. (Session 2)

Note	String	Fret
B	2 (B)	0 (open)
C	2 (B)	1
D	2 (B)	3
E	1 (high e)	0 (open)
F	1 (high e)	1
G	1 (high e)	3

A note slip names one place: write its string and its fret, such as “string 2, fret 3”, or “string 3, open” for an open string.

The table runs from the lowest note to the highest: of two slips, the one further down the table is the higher note.

Play the drill once now.

Then put the guitar down: the rest of this part is reading. You make the recording after the session and mark it on your fourth practice day.

• Recorded card test — The ear test of the beginner course, used again here: you record yourself playing the items written on slips of paper, shuffled face down and turned over one at a time, wait until the day the week’s ear-check line names, answer from the recording, and then mark your answers against the slips. The recordings for a checkpoint or for the end-of-course assessment are not marked that week: you mark them when you take that checkpoint or assessment, at least one day later. (Session 2)

Do not read the method now. Go to the break at the end of this segment, and read from “The recorded card test” to the end of this part after the session, before you make the recording: about 10 minutes of reading, which are not part of the session.

The recorded card test

You need a phone that records sound, some slips of paper, a pen and a sheet of paper for your answers. A test that needs the metronome says so.

1. Make the pile of slips the test describes. If you made it for an earlier recording, use it again. After you have marked a recording, put all its slips back into one pile.
2. Shuffle the pile face down. Start recording. For each item, turn over as many slips as the test says and lay them in a row from left to right: say the item’s number aloud (“one”, “two”, …), play the item, and put its slips face down on a new pile, one at a time from left to right. Keep the pile in order.
3. Stop recording. Put the slips you did not turn over to one side: they are not part of the key. Put the new pile away without looking through it. The new pile is your answer key.
4. Wait until the day this week’s ear-check line names: the fourth practice day of the week, unless the line names another. By then you no longer remember the order.
5. Play the recording once through. Write your answer for each number. Stop the recording after an item if you need time to answer, but do not play any item again.
6. When every answer is written, turn the key pile over, so that the first slip you played is on top. Deal the slips out in order, as many to an item as the test says, and mark your answers.

If someone else can play the items for you where you cannot see their hands, that works equally well: skip steps 2 to 4.

Before the first item, record five seconds: say “test” and make the sound of the test once, a strum, a note or four claps, with the metronome sounding if the test uses it. Then listen. If you cannot hear your voice, the sound and the click, move the phone and record the five seconds again.

The number you say aloud is the item’s place in the recording (“one” for the first item), never anything written on a slip.

If you play or clap an item wrongly while you record, say “again” and do the item again. On marking day, answer from what comes after the last “again”.

If you cannot make out an item on the recording, cross out its number: it counts as wrong. If two or more numbers are crossed out, do not mark the recording: make a new one the same day and mark it on your next practice day. If that day is the last practice day of the week, mark it on the first practice day of the next week and answer the self-check question then. The new recording and its marking are not part of the practice minutes. You do not repeat the week for it.

Write the result as a count, such as “7 of 10”, with the test’s number and the date, at the foot of your answer sheet, and keep the sheet: a self-check question or a checkpoint item will ask for the figure.

Trying an ear test again

To try an ear test again, shuffle its pile, make a new recording after your last practice day of the week, and mark it on the fourth practice day of the week you repeat, after that day’s practice. A second try is not part of the practice minutes. While a key pile is waiting to be marked, take the slips for a drill from the slips you put to one side, never from the key pile.

Test 4, higher or lower. The pile is 24 note slips, four for each of these six places: string 2 open, string 2 fret 1, string 2 fret 3, string 1 open, string 1 fret 1, string 1 fret 3. An item is two slips: play the first note and let it ring for about two seconds, then play the second and let it ring. If the second slip names the same place as the first, put it under the pile and turn over another. Wait about five seconds after each item. Record ten items; about four slips stay in the pile. No metronome. Your answer for each number is “higher” or “lower”: is the second note higher or lower than the first? To mark, deal the key pile two slips to an item. On one string the higher fret is the higher note, and every one of these notes on string 1 is higher than every one on string 2.

Break: 5 minutes. Guitar down.

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Segment 4 — Piece Workshop: Seventh-Chord Blues in A (15 minutes)

Reading a Chord Chart: Repeat Signs

• Chord chart — Rows of measures that show which chord to play in each measure of a piece, with a bar line between measures. The reference sheet of chord diagrams has the same name. (Session 2)

• Repeat sign — One of the two marks |: and :| in a chord chart, which stand where a bar line would. Play the measures between them twice. (Session 2)

|: opens a repeated passage and :| closes it. The first time you reach :| go back to |: and play the passage once more; the second time, go on.

Key: A major        Time: 4/4 (four beats in a measure)

Example, 4 measures, 8 as played:

|:  A7    |   D7    |   A7    |   E7   :|

Read the chart aloud as it is played: A7, D7, A7, E7, and the same four again. Then strum it from the page with one strum to a measure at 60 BPM: the four measures, played twice as the signs say.

The chart of today’s piece has no repeat signs and writes its repeat in words: the signs are for the charts of songbooks you read later in this course.

”Seventh-Chord Blues in A”

Credits: Written for this course.

What this is: A complete piece written for this course. It is not a song. It is the 12-bar blues of Beginner Session 8 with each of its three chords made a dominant seventh chord: A7, D7 and E7, one chord to a measure, in the D D U U D U pattern. You play the 12 measures three times and then a two-measure ending, 38 measures in all. That takes 2 minutes 32 seconds at 60 BPM, and 2 minutes 10 seconds at 70 BPM, the performance tempo. In the last measure you strum A7 once, on beat 1, and let it ring. Not yet play-tested.

Key: A major

Time: 4/4

Techniques: dominant seventh chord; the D D U U D U pattern; 12-bar blues

Tempo: 60 BPM, D D U U D U pattern all week. It does not go up this week: A7, D7 and E7 are new in it. The performance tempo is 70 BPM, D D U U D U pattern.

Strumming pattern: the D D U U D U pattern in every measure but the last; in the last measure, one downstroke on beat 1, left to ring.

"Seventh-Chord Blues in A" - one measure in the D D U U D U pattern
Chord:  A7
Strum:  D     D  U     U  D  U
Count:  1     2  & (3) &  4  &

"Seventh-Chord Blues in A" - chord chart

Key: A major        Time: 4/4 (four beats in a measure)

The 12-bar form, 12 measures:

| A7 | A7 | A7 | A7 |
| D7 | D7 | A7 | A7 |
| E7 | D7 | A7 | E7 |

Ending, 2 measures:

| A7 | A7 |

Play the 12-bar form three times, then the ending: 38 measures as played.

Read the lines above and the chart before you play. The techniques of this piece are dominant seventh chord, the D D U U D U pattern and 12-bar blues. The 12 measures of the chart are those of the “12-Bar in A” of Beginner Session 8 with a 7 after each letter. Measure 12 leads back to measure 1 the first two times and to the ending the third time.

How to Learn This Piece

Step 1 — The chord map: Play the 12 measures of the chart with one strum to a measure: a downstroke on beat 1, the chord left to ring, the hand moving to the next chord during beats 3 and 4. No strumming pattern yet. This is the week’s change test laid over the form.

"Seventh-Chord Blues in A" - the chord map, one strum to a measure
Chord:  A7
Count:  1  (2) (3) (4)
Strum:  D

Strum on beat 1 and let it ring; move during beats 3 and 4.

Play this measure on the chord of each box of the chart, the 12 boxes once, at 60 BPM.

Step 2 — Measures 9 to 12 alone: E7, D7, A7, E7: three changes in four measures. Make each of them in the same way, one strum to a measure, before the pattern is added.

Take three turns at this last line of the chart, at 60 BPM. Two of its three changes are in no change test this week, and in none of the three does a finger stay down:

• E7 to D7: finger 1 moves one string towards the floor at fret 1, from string 3 to string 2; finger 2 goes from string 5 to string 3, at fret 2; finger 3 lands on string 1 at fret 2.
• A7 to E7: finger 3 lifts; finger 1 goes from string 4 at fret 2 to string 3 at fret 1; finger 2 lands on string 5 at fret 2.

The change between these two, D7 to A7, is the A7 and D7 pair of this week’s change test, going back.

Step 3 — Add the pattern: The same 12 measures in the D D U U D U pattern, four measures at a time (the three lines of the chart). The first turn of each line is the chord map; the turns after it are in the pattern.

Give each line three turns at 60 BPM, and start every turn from a count-in of four clicks.

Step 4 — The ending: Measures 37 and 38: the pattern once on A7, then one downstroke on beat 1, left to ring through counts 2, 3 and 4. Two times.

"Seventh-Chord Blues in A" - the ending, measures 37 and 38
Chord:  A7                                  A7
Count:  1  (&)  2   &  (3)  &   4   &   |   1  (2) (3) (4)  |
Strum:  D       D   U       U   D   U   |   D               |

Play these two measures at 60 BPM.

Step 5 — Once through: The 12 measures three times and the ending, in the pattern, from a count-in of four clicks.

Play it at 60 BPM: that takes 2 minutes 32 seconds.

What it should sound like: With the metronome at 60 BPM, the first strum of every measure falls with a click: 12 measures. Count 1 2 3 4 aloud through the 12 measures without stopping. On a recording of the ending, count the strums: 6 in measure 37 and 1 in measure 38.

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Segment 5 — Review and Practice Plan (5 minutes)

What You Learned Today

• A7, D7 and E7
• What the 7 adds: one more note, a whole step below the root
• The 12-bar blues with seventh chords
• The A natural minor scale, and repeat signs in a chord chart

Common Mistakes

1. String 5 or string 6 is strummed in D7 — Rest the pick on string 4, then strum from there: D7 is strings 4 to 1.
2. The open string 3 is silent in A7 — Finger 1 or finger 3 is leaning on it. Arch both fingers and stand each on its tip, right up behind the fret wire.
3. A chord of the blues arrives after beat 1 — Go back to the chord map for that line: one strum on beat 1, move during beats 3 and 4. Add the pattern again when the chord is down by count 1 three turns in a row.

Self-Check Questions

1. Play A7, then D7, then E7, plucking the strings of each chord one at a time. Check: the tuner shows the letters of the chord’s Notes line, string by string. Pass: every string that should sound shows its letter, 3 times in a row for each chord, lifting the hand in between. If not: use the two fixes, under “If a string does not ring” in Segment 2, and try again the next day.
2. Pass the change test (Beginner Session 3) for G and D7 and for A7 and D7, a new chord every 4 beats at 60 BPM. Check: the metronome clicks the beat; each chord lands on its click with every string that should sound ringing. Pass: all 8 chords, twice on the same day, for each of the 2 pairs. If not: drop to 50 BPM and climb back 5 BPM at a time, under “Change Test: A7 and D7, G and D7” in Segment 3, and try again the next day.
3. Play the Seventh-Chord Blues in A once through at 60 BPM in the D D U U D U pattern, from a count-in of four clicks, and record it with the metronome sounding. Check: listen to the recording with the chart in front of you and count the measures aloud. Pass: 38 measures with no stop, and each new chord is down by its count 1. If not: go back to Step 3 for two days: one line of four measures at a time, the first turn as the chord map, under “How to Learn This Piece” in Segment 4, and try again after those two days.
4. By the end of this week’s practice: play the A natural minor scale from memory, up and down, in quarter notes at 70 BPM, and record it. Check: follow the recording on the scale’s TAB and mark every wrong note. Pass: 3 runs in a row with 0 wrong notes. If not: go back to 60 BPM and take one step of 5 BPM only after three runs in a row with no wrong note, under “The A Natural Minor Scale” in Segment 3, and try again the next day.
5. Read the result you wrote when you marked your recording of Test 4, higher or lower: ten items of two notes. Check: the key pile, dealt two slips to an item, against the answers you wrote. Pass: 8 of 10. If not: record the test again after your last practice day of this week, play “Ear Drill: Higher or Lower” in Segment 3 once on each practice day of the week you repeat, and mark the new recording on its fourth practice day.
6. Strum the repeat-sign example from the page, one strum to a measure at 60 BPM, saying each chord’s name as you strum it. Check: record it with the metronome sounding, then count the measures aloud on the recording. Pass: 8 measures as played, in the order A7, D7, A7, E7 and the same 4 again. If not: read the chart aloud twice without the guitar, pointing at each box, then strum it, under “Reading a Chord Chart: Repeat Signs” in Segment 4, and try again the next day.
7. Without looking, say which note the 7 adds to A7, to D7 and to E7, and on which string each of the three sounds. Check: compare what you said with the table under “What the 7 Means”. Pass: all 3 notes and all 3 strings right: 6 answers. If not: read the table aloud once, plucking each added note as you name it, under “What the 7 Means” in Segment 3, and try again the next day.

Practice Plan for Week 2 (each practice day, 30 minutes)

Block	Time	Activity
Warm-Up	4 min	Movement warm-up, tune; then D D U U D U on two known chords, four measures; then the spider crawl at frets 5 to 8. Then simplified F: press, pluck four strings, release, for 1 minute
Seventh chords	5 min	A7, D7, E7: place, strum, lift, place; then pluck each string
Change test	4 min	A7-D7 and G-D7: a new chord every 4 beats at 60
Seventh-Chord Blues in A	9 min	from its chart, first as its chord map, one strum to a measure, then with D D U U D U: four measures at a time, then once through. On two days of the week, begin with the session’s repeat-sign example, played once
Scale ladder	4 min	A natural minor scale, quarter notes
Your study	4 min	the beginner study from Session 1, once a day

Barre work: no more than 5 minutes a day in total. Pain rule: tender fingertips are normal. Pain in the wrist, forearm, thumb joint or knuckles, numbness or tingling, any sharp pain, or pain that lasts into the next day means stop. The full rule is in START HERE.

Barre rows this week: “Warm-Up”, 1 minute. Total: 1 minute a day.

Ear check this week: on your fourth practice day, mark the recording you made after this session. It takes 3 minutes: that day, give the “Seventh-Chord Blues in A” row 6 minutes instead of 9.

This is your plan for the whole week. On your last practice day, answer this session’s Self-Check Questions as you play the rows that hold them: a question adds no minutes to a row and nothing to a daily limit.

All yes: go on to Session 3.

Any no: repeat this week’s plan for up to one more week and check again. If it is still no after the second week, go on, and add that item to your warm-up until it passes.

Guitar Tip — Saga SF-600C-BK

On this guitar the pick starts on a different string for each of today’s three chords: string 5 for A7, string 4 for D7 and string 6 for E7. Before each strum, rest the pick on that string, then strum from there.

After the session (not part of the 50 minutes)

• Read: How To Practise At This Level, the section “Theory Cards”. (5 minutes)
• Read: Seventh Chords, the sections “Dominant Sevenths” and “Your First Theory Cards”. (10 minutes)
• Read: Reading A Chord Chart, the sections “What a Chord Chart Shows” and “Repeat Signs”. (5 minutes)
• Record: this week’s ear check. Use the recorded card test (Session 2) with Test 4, higher or lower, as Segment 3 gives it. Pass: 8 of 10. (5 minutes)