Session 7: G Major in Two Octaves

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.

This session opens Phase 2. You play the G major scale in two octaves, with the little finger at fret 4, and the Two-Octave Study in G, which walks the same scale as a tune. You learn why the key of G has one sharp. Then you read a song chart and make its song map: the session ends with the chart of “Knockin’ on Heaven’s Door”.

Learning Objectives

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

Play the G major scale in two octaves, up and down, in quarter notes at 65 BPM, one note per click, with finger 4 at fret 4 on string 4: 29 notes, 3 runs in a row with no wrong note
Play the Two-Octave Study in G once through from its TAB at 60 BPM, one note per click: 16 measures, with at most 3 wrong or missed notes
Name the note at each place of the G major scale in two octaves, string by string, with the table covered: 13 of the 15 places
Strum verse 1 of the chart of “Knockin’ on Heaven’s Door” in the down-up strum at 65 BPM without stopping, with D beginning on count 3 of the measures that hold two chords: 8 measures
Write the song map of “Knockin’ on Heaven’s Door” from its chart and the recording: tuning, key, capo, the sections in order and the measures in each: 5 things on the map, and the same counts on 2 listens

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
A way to play Bob Dylan’s recording of “Knockin’ on Heaven’s Door”: listen to it three times before the session, as its “Listen first” paragraph asks; the session plays it once more for the song map
Paper and a pen, for the song map and for the first cards of the Rotation row
Your recording of the strummed verse of “Amazing Grace” (the week of Session 5), for this week’s practice row
Handout for this session: Keys And Their Chords (read after the session, 5 minutes)
Handout for this session: Picking Across Strings (read after the session, 10 minutes)
Handout for this session: How To Practise At This Level (optional reading, after the session)
Reference: Chord Chart, Glossary

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

Play the Stop-Time pattern (Session 3) on E5 at 70 BPM: the measure below, four times in a row, with the rest stop on every count 4. The rest stop is taught in Session 3, “The Rest Stop”.

Copy of Session 3: the Stop-Time pattern

Chord:  E5
e|--------------------------------------|
B|--------------------------------------|
G|--------------------------------------|
D|--------------------------------------|
A|------2---2---2-------2---------------|
E|------0---0---0-------0---------------|
Count:  1   &   2  (&)  3  (&) [4] [&]
Strum:  D   U   D       D
PM:     PM  PM  PM      O

Tempo: 70 BPM, the click on the beat

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 in the minute, with the hand shaken out after each.

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.

Segment 2 — Technique Focus: The Little Finger at Fret 4 (10 minutes)

Session day: the daily limits count today too. The limited work you do in this session is all you do of it today, also if you pick up the guitar again later.

Limited work today: little-finger work, 4 minutes: the scale and the study under “The G Major Scale and Its Study”.

Limited work today: barre work, 1 minute: the presses under “Warm-Up” in Segment 1.

The G Major Scale and Its Study (5 minutes)

Little-finger work: no more than 5 minutes a day in total in the first two weeks at a new fret.

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.

From today the hand reaches one fret further, with the same position it has always had. Two terms for this:

Open position — The open strings plus frets 1 to 4. The beginner course used it as far as fret 3; from Session 7 finger 4 (little finger) plays fret 4. (Session 7)
First position — Where the fretting hand is in open position: finger 1 plays fret 1, finger 2 fret 2, finger 3 fret 3 and finger 4 (little finger) fret 4. (Session 7)

In open position the fret number is the finger number: fret 1 = finger 1, fret 2 = finger 2, fret 3 = finger 3, fret 4 = finger 4 (little finger).

G major scale, two octaves, open position: up and down, quarter notes
e|----------------------|-------------------|-------------------|
B|----------------------|-------------------|-------0---1---3---|
G|----------------------|---------------0---|---2---------------|
D|----------------------|---0---2---4-------|-------------------|
A|----------0---2---3---|-------------------|-------------------|
E|------3---------------|-------------------|-------------------|
Count:  1   2   3   4       1   2   3   4       1   2   3   4
Pick:   D   U   D   U       D   U   D   U       D   U   D   U
Finger: 3   -   2   3       -   2   4   -       2   -   1   3
Notes:  G   A   B   C       D   E   F#  G       A   B   C   D

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

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

G major scale, in quarter notes: one note per click. The top G is played once. The last G lasts four beats: let it ring while you count (2) (3) (4).

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.

G major scale, two octaves, open position: up and down, eighth notes
e|--------------------------------------|-------------------0---2---3---2---|
B|--------------------------------------|-------0---1---3-------------------|
G|----------------------------------0---|---2-------------------------------|
D|----------------------0---2---4-------|-----------------------------------|
A|----------0---2---3-------------------|-----------------------------------|
E|------3-------------------------------|-----------------------------------|
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   U
Finger: 3   -   2   3   -   2   4   -       2   -   1   3   -   2   3   2
Notes:  G   A   B   C   D   E   F#  G       A   B   C   D   E   F#  G   F#

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

G major scale, in eighth notes: two notes per click. The top G is played once. The last G lasts two beats: let it ring while you count (4).

You play this second form from Session 10. Today you play the quarter-note block only.

Finger 4 plays one place only: string 4 at fret 4, the F sharp, twice in a run (once on the way up, once on the way down). Your little finger has already worked in the spider crawl; here it presses one note at a time.

Play the quarter-note block once up and down without the metronome, saying aloud the finger for each note from the Finger row. Then play it at 60 BPM, one note per click, twice.

Tempo: 60 BPM, one note per click (quarter notes)

On the practice days the “G major scale” row may reach 65 BPM this week. Raise the metronome 5 BPM at a time, and only after three clean runs in a row. This week, take one step 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.

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.

”Two-Octave Study in G”

Credits: Written for this course.

What this is: A study: an original exercise written for this course. It is not a song. It is a melody of 16 measures in 4/4 that uses all fifteen places of the G major scale in two octaves, each with the finger the scale gives it. The first eight measures go up and the last eight come down. Measures 5 to 8 are measures 1 to 4 an octave higher, and measures 13 to 15 are measures 9 to 11 an octave lower. The notes are quarter notes, half notes and longer notes, and every one is a downstroke. Finger 4 plays four notes, all of them F sharp at fret 4 on string 4, in measures 3, 4, 12 and 13. Not yet play-tested.

Key: G major

Time: 4/4

Tempo: 60 BPM, one note per click (quarter notes) all week. It does not go up this week: the piece is new.

Picking: Every note is a downstroke: in a tune the pick follows the count, and every note here is on a numbered count.

"Two-Octave Study in G" - measures 1 to 8, the way up
e|----------------------|-------------------|
B|----------------------|-------------------|
G|----------------------|-------------------|
D|----------------------|---0---------------|
A|----------0---2---3---|-----------2-------|
E|------3---------------|-------------------|
Count:  1   2   3   4       1  (2)  3  (4)
Pick:   D   D   D   D       D       D
Finger: 3   -   2   3       -       2
Notes:  G   A   B   C       D       B

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

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

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

"Two-Octave Study in G" - measures 9 to 16, the way down
e|------3---2---0-------|-----------0-------|
B|------------------3---|---1---------------|
G|----------------------|-------------------|
D|----------------------|-------------------|
A|----------------------|-------------------|
E|----------------------|-------------------|
Count:  1   2   3   4       1  (2)  3  (4)
Pick:   D   D   D   D       D       D
Finger: 3   2   -   3       1       -
Notes:  G   F#  E   D       C       E

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

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

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

The study is a tune, so the pick follows the count and every note is a downstroke. The scale above alternates down and up; the study does not.

Step 1 — The scale first: The scale you have just played is the first step: the same fifteen places with the same fingers, straight up and down. On every day, play the scale before the study, never the study first.

Step 2 — The study, once through: Count in four clicks, then play the 16 measures at 60 BPM, one note per click. Play it once only: the study has 2 of this part’s 5 minutes, and a second time does not fit them. Finger 4 comes in measures 3, 4, 12 and 13, each time on the F sharp at fret 4 on string 4.

On a practice day on which the “G major scale” row has reached 65 BPM, the study stays at 60 BPM:

Set the metronome back to 60 before the study.

Naming the Notes of G Major (5 minutes)

There is no playing in this part: today’s minutes of little-finger work are used up. These are the fifteen places of the scale, on the way up:

Note	String	Fret	Finger
G	6 (low E)	3	3 (ring)
A	5 (A)	0 (open)	—
B	5 (A)	2	2 (middle)
C	5 (A)	3	3 (ring)
D	4 (D)	0 (open)	—
E	4 (D)	2	2 (middle)
F#	4 (D)	4	4 (little finger)
G	3 (G)	0 (open)	—
A	3 (G)	2	2 (middle)
B	2 (B)	0 (open)	—
C	2 (B)	1	1 (index)
D	2 (B)	3	3 (ring)
E	1 (high e)	0 (open)	—
F#	1 (high e)	2	2 (middle)
G	1 (high e)	3	3 (ring)

Read the table aloud string by string, from string 6 to string 1. Point at each place on the neck with a finger of the picking hand, without pressing, and say the note and its finger. F sharp has two places: string 4 at fret 4, with finger 4, and string 1 at fret 2, with finger 2.

Now cover the table. Name the fifteen places again from memory, string by string, and count how many you named right. Then say the eight note names of one octave in order, up and down: G, A, B, C, D, E, F sharp, G, and back down to G.

Segment 3 — New Learning: The Key of G (15 minutes)

Why the Key of G Has One Sharp

A major scale climbs from its home note by whole, whole, half, whole, whole, whole, half steps. From G, the seventh note has to be a whole step above E, and that is F sharp, not F; so the key of G has one sharp, F sharp.

Here is the formula on the upper octave of the scale, from the open G string to string 1 at fret 3, where no finger 4 is needed. When two notes are on one string, count the frets between them: two frets is a whole step, one fret is a half step.

Fret 0 is the open string.

Note	String	Fret	Step to the next note
G	3	0	whole: two frets
A	3	2	whole: the next note is on string 2
B	2	0	half: one fret
C	2	1	whole: two frets
D	2	3	whole: the next note is on string 1
E	1	0	whole: two frets
F#	1	2	half: one fret
G	1	3	the top of the octave

Two of the steps change string, so the frets cannot be counted across them. Check each on one string: B is also string 3 at fret 4, two frets above A; E is also string 2 at fret 5, two frets above D. Both are whole steps.

Now find the plain F, at string 1, fret 1. It is only a half step above E, and the formula asks for a whole step there. So the seventh note of G major is F sharp, at fret 2.

Key signature — The sharps or flats at the beginning of a piece that tell you which key the music is in. Each one holds for every note of that letter, and a major key shares its key signature with its relative minor: G major and E minor both have one sharp, F sharp. (Session 7)

The Rotation Row

From this week every practice plan has a Rotation row of 4 minutes, so that nothing tested goes cold. It holds three things, in this order: one scale card, played twice; one change-test pair; two chord cards. Write the first cards now, each on a slip of paper. What you do not finish in this part’s minutes, finish after the session, before the first practice day.

Scale cards: two this week. Write the scale’s name on each and nothing else: “C major scale, one octave, open position” and “A natural minor scale, one octave, open position”.

Scale card: shuffle the pile and draw one card. Play that scale from memory, up and down, in eighth notes at 60 BPM, twice. Then look at its TAB in the Scales and Arpeggios sheet. If a note was wrong, or you were not sure of one, play the scale once from the TAB and once more from memory.

The change-test pair: one pair a day, played as the test at the figure its ladder has reached. This week it is G and D7, a new chord every 2 beats at 65 BPM.

Chord cards: four this week, A7, D7, E7 and B7. Write the chord’s name on the face of its card. On the back write its Strum line and the letters of its tuner check:

Face	Back: Strum line	Back: tuner letters
A7	Strum strings 5 to 1 (five strings)	A, E, G, C#, E
D7	Strum strings 4 to 1 (four strings)	D, A, C, F#
E7	Strum all six strings	E, B, D, G#, B, E
B7	Strum strings 5 to 1 (five strings)	B, D#, A, B, F#

Under them, on the back of every chord card, write this line:

If the shape will not come: look it up in the chord chart, place it three times, and put the card back in the pile.

How a chord card is played (keep the pile face up: you read the name, place the shape, and turn the card over to check it):

Each chord card: place the shape once, pluck each string that should sound, let go.

A chord that holds a barre has no card in this pile.

Change Test: Em and B7, Two Beats

Take the change test (Beginner Session 3) for Em and B7 in its new form: a new chord every 2 beats, on beats 1 and 3, at 60 BPM. Play 8 chords in a row, three times. The rule in full:

Set the metronome to the tempo given; each click is one beat. Strum each chord once, with a downstroke, and let it ring. Play a new chord every 4 beats (on beat 1 of each measure) or every 2 beats (on beats 1 and 3), as the target says. Alternate the two chords until you have played 8 chords in a row: that is 7 changes. You pass when all 8 land on their click with every string that should sound ringing, twice on the same day.

Finger 2 stays where it is, on string 5 at fret 2, in both chords: it is an anchor finger. The metronome goes back to 60 BPM because the form is new.

Change Test: D and Am, D and C

Take the change test for D and Am, a new chord every 2 beats at 65 BPM: 8 chords in a row, twice. These are two of the changes of the chart in Segment 4.

Then the same for D and C, a new chord every 2 beats at 65 BPM: 8 chords in a row, twice.

Break: 5 minutes. Guitar down.

Segment 4 — Piece Workshop: A Song Chart and Its Map (15 minutes)

“Knockin’ on Heaven’s Door” (its four-measure chord progression)

Credits: Written by Bob Dylan. Recorded by Bob Dylan on the soundtrack album Pat Garrett & Billy the Kid (1973).

Listen first: Find Bob Dylan’s recording of “Knockin’ on Heaven’s Door” (Pat Garrett & Billy the Kid, 1973) and listen to the whole song three times before you pick up the guitar. Listen for: (1) one pattern, four measures long, that never changes: two chords share the first measure, one chord fills the second, the same two chords share the third, and a different chord fills the fourth; (2) where the singing starts and stops, so that you can tell the introduction, the two verses and the two refrains apart when you make your song map.

What this is: A chord chart of the song’s one four-measure progression, set out section by section: verse, refrain, verse, refrain, and an ending. The order of the chords is the same in the publisher’s songbook and in four other sources. One is a transcriber’s own website; the other three are websites whose charts are made by their users. The songbook writes the second chord as Am with one note added. Three of the other four sources have plain Am, and this chart prints Am. The down-up strum is the course’s own choice of pattern. By three of the sources the recording begins with an introduction before the singing starts. Two transcriptions made by users give it as the same four measures, twice; a printed edition with a piano part gives two measures. Because the sources differ, it is not printed, and you count it yourself on your song map. The songbook marks the end “repeat and fade”; the ending here is written for the course. The recording is about 69 to 70 BPM. The sources that show the guitar write it in standard tuning with open chords, so you can try playing along once you reach 70 BPM. Nobody has checked that the recording is exactly at concert pitch: if it sounds out of tune with your guitar, go back to the metronome. Not yet play-tested.

Key: G major

Time: 4/4

Tempo: Start at 60 BPM, strumming D/U (down on the click, up between clicks) and work up to 65. 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.

Reading a song chart:

This step has no playing. Here is the chart:

"Knockin' on Heaven's Door" - its four-measure chord progression, by section

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

Verse 1, 8 measures:

| G   D  | Am     | G   D  | C      |
| G   D  | Am     | G   D  | C      |

Refrain, 8 measures:

| G   D  | Am     | G   D  | C      |
| G   D  | Am     | G   D  | C      |

Verse 2, 8 measures:

| G   D  | Am     | G   D  | C      |
| G   D  | Am     | G   D  | C      |

Refrain again, 8 measures:

| G   D  | Am     | G   D  | C      |
| G   D  | Am     | G   D  | C      |

Ending (written for the course), 3 measures:

| G   D  | Am     | G      |

Strum the last G once. Introduction: not printed: the sources differ.

Three terms for what you are reading:

Song chart — A chord chart of a song. It gives the chords section by section and may give the order of the sections, the strumming or picking pattern, the tempo, the key and the tuning; it prints no words and no sung melody. (Session 7)
Song excerpt — A part of a song, printed only as far as two published sources agree, and named by what it prints: for example “verse and chorus chords”. A chart is called complete only when every section of the song is printed. (Session 7)
Course form — The form of a song chart that you play at the course tempo: which sections, how many measures in each, and how long it lasts (about four minutes at most). You practise it in sections. (Session 7)

This chart gives the chords section by section. It is a song excerpt, named by what it prints: its four-measure chord progression. Its course form is verse 1, refrain, verse 2, refrain and a written ending: 35 measures, which take 2 minutes 20 seconds at 60 BPM.

Read the chart aloud. Say the name of each section and its measures: Verse 1, 8 measures; Refrain, 8; Verse 2, 8; Refrain again, 8; the ending, 3. In each line, measures 1 and 3 hold two chords, G and then D, two beats each; measure 2 holds Am and measure 4 holds C. Then read the last line: the introduction is not printed, because the sources differ.

How to Learn This Song:

Step 1 — One strum to a chord: Play the four measures of the progression with one downstroke on each chord, left to ring, at 60 BPM, four times: G on count 1 and D on count 3, Am on count 1, G on count 1 and D on count 3, C on count 1. 60 BPM is slower than this week’s 65 BPM for the change tests of D with Am and of D with C.

Step 2 — Add the down-up strum: Play the same four measures in the down-up strum at 60 BPM, four times, from the strum block under the Strumming pattern line below. The hand keeps swinging, and D arrives on count 3.

Strumming pattern: the down-up strum in every measure but the last. Measure 35 is one downstroke, left to ring.

"Knockin' on Heaven's Door" - the four measures in the down-up strum
Chord:  G               D                   Am
Count:  1   &   2   &   3   &   4   &   |   1   &   2   &   3   &   4   &   |
Strum:  D   U   D   U   D   U   D   U   |   D   U   D   U   D   U   D   U   |

Chord:  G               D                   C
Count:  1   &   2   &   3   &   4   &   |   1   &   2   &   3   &   4   &   |
Strum:  D   U   D   U   D   U   D   U   |   D   U   D   U   D   U   D   U   |

Down on the numbers, up on the &s. Your hand keeps swinging down-up even when it does not touch the strings.

Step 3 — One section: Play verse 1 from the chart, its 8 measures, in the down-up strum at 60 BPM, twice. Count in four clicks each time.

Step 4 — The ending: Play measures 33 to 35 of the chart at 60 BPM, three times: G and D, then Am, then one downstroke of G on beat 1, left to ring.

What it should sound like: With the metronome at 60 BPM, the first strum of every measure falls with a click, and D begins on count 3 in measures 1, 3, 5 and 7 of verse 1: 8 measures. Count 1 & 2 & 3 & 4 & aloud through the 8 measures of verse 1 without stopping. On a recording of the ending, the last G is 1 strum and no strum follows it.

On the practice days the song’s row goes on in the same way: the chart in sections, in the chart’s order, with the metronome. Do not play it through from start to end yet.

Make the Song Map:

Make the song map (Session 5) of the song on your paper. Write its head from the chart and the lines above it: tuning standard, key G major, no capo. Then write the sections in the chart’s order, each with 8 measures: Verse 1, Refrain, Verse 2, Refrain again.

Now take the recording’s beat: set the metronome to 70 BPM and tap eight clicks with your hand, then stop the metronome. Play the recording once from the start, tap that beat with it, and count the measures of each section. The chart does not print the introduction, so write its count at the top of your map, before Verse 1. Write down too where the recording fades.

The second listen is on a practice day, inside the song’s row.

Segment 5 — Review and Practice Plan (5 minutes)

What You Learned Today

The G major scale in two octaves, with finger 4 at fret 4
Why the key of G has one sharp
How a song chart is read, and how its song map is made
The Rotation row

Common Mistakes

F sharp at fret 4 on string 4 buzzes or is dull — Finger 4 is lying flat or far from the fret wire: stand it on its tip right up behind the wire of fret 4, as the three steps for a buzzing note say. Placement first; if the hand aches, stop playing for today.
Playing F at fret 1 on string 1 where the scale has F sharp — In G major every F is F sharp: on string 1 it is fret 2, with finger 2. Say the note names aloud on the way up.
Picking the study like the scale, or the scale like the study — Read the Pick row: in the scale the pick alternates on every note, so an upstroke falls on counts 2 and 4; the study is a tune, the pick follows the count, and every note is a downstroke.
D arrives late in the measures of the chart that hold G and D — D begins on count 3. Go back to one strum to a chord at 60 BPM and count aloud until D lands with count 3, then add the down-up strum again.

Self-Check Questions

By the end of this week’s practice: inside the “G major scale” row of your last practice day, play the G major scale in two octaves, up and down, in quarter notes at 65 BPM, one note per click, and record it with the metronome sounding. Check: follow the recording on the scale’s TAB, note by note. Pass: 3 runs in a row with no wrong note. If not: inside the “G major scale” row, play measure 2 of the block alone four times before each run, watching finger 4 land right behind the fret wire; add no minutes, under “The G Major Scale and Its Study” in Segment 2, and try again the next day.
Inside the “Two-Octave Study in G” row of your last practice day: with the metronome back at 60 BPM, count in one measure, play the Two-Octave Study in G once through from its TAB, one note per click, and record it with the metronome sounding. Check: follow the recording on the TAB and mark each wrong or missed note. Pass: 16 measures with no stop, and at most 3 wrong or missed notes. If not: play the scale first, then measures 1 to 4 and measures 13 to 16 of the study once each, inside the study’s row, under “The G Major Scale and Its Study” in Segment 2, and try again the next day.
Cover the table of the fifteen places and name the note at each place of the G major scale, string by string from string 6 to string 1, pointing at each place without pressing. Check: uncover the table and count the places you named correctly. Pass: 13 of the 15 places. If not: read the table aloud twice, string by string, under “Naming the Notes of G Major” in Segment 2, and try again the next day.
Pass the change test (Beginner Session 3) for Em and B7, a new chord every 2 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. If not: play the pair at a new chord every 4 beats at 60 BPM for two days, then try 2 beats again, under “Change Test: Em and B7, Two Beats” in Segment 3, and try again after those two days.
By the end of this week’s practice: play verse 1 of the chart of “Knockin’ on Heaven’s Door” in the down-up strum at 65 BPM, after one measure counted in, and record it with the metronome sounding. Check: listen to the recording and count the measures aloud. Pass: 8 measures with no stop, and in all 4 measures that hold two chords D begins on count 3. If not: play the four measures with one strum to a chord for two days, under “How to Learn This Song” in Segment 4, and try again after those two days.
Play the recording of “Knockin’ on Heaven’s Door” twice and count the measures of each section each time, after tapping eight clicks of the metronome at 70 BPM and stopping it. Check: compare the two sets of counts with each other and with your song map. Pass: the counts are the same on both of the 2 listens and add up to your map, and the map names all 5 things: tuning, key, capo, the sections in order and the measures in each. If not: count one section at a time, stopping the recording after each, under “Make the Song Map” in Segment 4, and try again the next day.

Practice Plan for Week 7 (each practice day, 30 minutes)

Notes on the rows:

Rotation this week, the change-test pair: G and D7, a new chord every 2 beats at 65 BPM, every day. The row is explained under “The Rotation Row” in Segment 3.
The G major scale row: it starts at 60 BPM and may reach 65 BPM this week. This week, take one step at most. On a day it has reached 65 BPM, set the metronome back for the study’s row:

Set the metronome back to 60 before the study.
The Change test row: Em and B7 stay at 60 BPM all week, because the form is new. D with Am and D with C start at 65 BPM and may reach 70 BPM. In one week, take two steps at most.
The Scale ladder row: the pentatonic pair changes to eighth notes this week. It starts at 40 BPM and may reach 50 BPM, and its blocks are in Session 4.

Now two notes per click (eighth notes): set the metronome to 40 BPM. That is exactly as fast as one note per click at 80 BPM.

Block	Time	Activity
Warm-Up	4 min	Movement warm-up, tune; then the Stop-Time pattern for four measures; then the spider crawl at frets 5 to 8. Then simplified F: press, pluck four strings, release, for 1 minute
Rotation	4 min	One scale card, played twice. One change-test pair, played as the test at the figure its ladder has reached (80 once it is there). Two single chord cards from the pile of E1, as far as its chords have been taught. Each chord card: place the shape once, pluck each string that should sound, let go. These are the cards the end-of-course assessment uses. A chord that holds a barre is not in the pile: it is in the barre rows
G major scale	3 min	two octaves, one finger to a fret, quarter notes
Two-Octave Study in G	2 min	once through at 60 BPM
Knockin’ on Heaven’s Door	6 min	the chart in sections with the metronome; make its song map from the recording
Change test	4 min	Em-B7 at 2 beats; D-Am and D-C at 2 beats
Amazing Grace	4 min	once through over your recorded strum
Scale ladder	3 min	the pentatonic pair, now in eighth notes

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

Little-finger work: no more than 5 minutes a day in total in the first two weeks at a new fret.

Little-finger rows this week: “G major scale”, 3 minutes; “Two-Octave Study in G”, 1 minute. Total: 4 minutes a day.

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 8.

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.

If the item is barre work, slur work, little-finger work or three-string power-chord work, do not add it to your warm-up: play it inside the row of next week’s plan that holds that work, in that row’s minutes. The daily limits do not change.

Guitar Tip — Saga SF-600C-BK

Look along the neck of your Saga: the frets lie closer together the higher they are. The space from fret 3 to fret 4 is narrower than the space from fret 1 to fret 2. So when finger 4 goes to fret 4 in the G major scale, it has less far to reach than the first frets suggest, with the hand where it always is.

After the session (not part of the 50 minutes)

Read: Keys And Their Chords, the section “The Key of G”. (5 minutes)
Read: Picking Across Strings, the sections “Two-Octave Scales” and “How a Scale Climbs Its Ladder”. (10 minutes)
Optional: How To Practise At This Level, the section “The Rotation Row”. (5 minutes)