Session 14: The Andantino, Second Half

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 teaches the pinch over an eighth-note accompaniment: the thumb with m, then the thumb with a, while i plays eighth notes on string 3 between them. With it you learn the second half of Giuliani’s Andantino, measures 17 to 32: the Andantino is the session’s piece. You also strum the verse chords of “Planet Caravan”, Em and D, and record the same two chords as the backing for eight measures of your own.

Learning Objectives

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

Play the pinch drill on open strings, thumb with m in one measure and thumb with a in the next, over the eighth notes of i, without stopping, at 45 BPM: 8 times through its 2 measures
Play measures 17 to 32 of Giuliani’s Andantino from the TAB without stopping, recorded with the metronome sounding at 50 BPM: 16 measures, at most 3 wrong or missed notes
Strum the course form of “Planet Caravan” from its chart in the down-up strum at 80 BPM, the last Em strummed once: 41 measures without stopping
Write a song map of the recording of “Planet Caravan”: its sections in order and the measures you count in each: 4 section lengths, each within 2 measures of the figure printed with the chart
Play eight measures of your own over the backing you recorded, question and answer twice, getting louder and then softer, by the rule of the task: 8 measures, all 6 ticks of the tick list

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 Black Sabbath’s recording of “Planet Caravan”: listen to it three times before the session, as its “Listen first” paragraph asks; it is played again for the song map on one practice day
Handout for this session: Blues And Improvising (optional reading, after the session)
Handout for this session: Fingerstyle Studies (optional reading, after the session)
Staff reading this week: Reading Staff Notation 1, the section “Lines for Week 14”
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 crescendo strum (Session 10) on Em at 65 BPM, the block once through: its first half gets louder and its second half gets quieter.

Copy of Session 10: the crescendo strum

Chord:  Em
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   |
Dyn:    p       cresc.

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   |

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   |
Dyn:    f       dim.

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   |

The Dyn row shows how loud to play: p = soft, mf = medium, f = loud, cresc. = get gradually louder from here, dim. = get gradually softer from here. Each mark stands under the count where it begins; cresc. and dim. last until the next mark in the row, also when the TAB or pattern goes on to a new line, or to the end of the TAB or pattern.

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), then Dm7 (Session 9): press, pluck strings 4 to 1 one at a time, release, shake out the hand. Two presses of the simplified F, then two of Dm7, in the minute. Their diagrams are not printed again here.

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 Pinch over an Eighth-Note Accompaniment (10 minutes)

The plucking fingertips may be tender this week: the pain rule covers this hand too. If they sting, stop fingerpicking for the day and do the pick items of the plan.

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 p-i-m-a Arpeggio Again

Put the pick down: the whole of this segment is played with the fingers of the picking hand. Before the new skill, bring back the p-i-m-a arpeggio (Beginner Session 15) on Em, in eighth notes.

Copy of Beginner Session 15: the p-i-m-a arpeggio

Em measure (hold the Em chord)

e|------------------0---------------0---|
B|--------------0---------------0-------|
G|----------0---------------0-----------|
D|--------------------------------------|
A|----------------------2---------------|
E|------0-------------------------------|
Count:  1   &   2   &   3   &   4   &
Finger: p   i   m   a   p   i   m   a

In the Finger row, the letters are the fingers of the picking hand: p (thumb), i (index), m (middle), a (ring).

Hold Em and play the measure four times in a row at 45 BPM, two notes per click. Each finger is on its home string: the thumb (p) on strings 6, 5 and 4, i on string 3, m on string 2, a on string 1.

The Pinch over Eighth Notes

The drill below is in 3/4. It is the texture of measures 17 to 32 of the Andantino on open strings, with every finger on its home string.

e|------------------------------|---0---------------0-------|
B|------0---------------0-------|---------------------------|
G|----------0---0---0-------0---|-------0---0---0-------0---|
D|------0---------------0-------|---0---------------0-------|
A|------------------------------|---------------------------|
E|------------------------------|---------------------------|
Count:  1   &   2   &   3   &       1   &   2   &   3   &
Finger: pm  i   i   i   pm  i       pa  i   i   i   pa  i

Letters written together in the Finger row, such as im or pm, are plucked at the same moment. The letters keep the order p i m a.

Tempo: 45 BPM in 3/4, two notes per click (eighth notes)

Play measure 1 of the block alone, eight times in a row at 45 BPM, two notes per click: the thumb with m on strings 4 and 2, over i on string 3.

Then measure 2 alone, eight times in a row at 45 BPM: the thumb with a on strings 4 and 1, over i on string 3. In the second half of the Andantino 10 of the 27 pinches are the thumb with a, so the drill has both.

Then join the two measures and play them six times through without stopping at 45 BPM. The tune stays on top of the eighth notes: pluck each pinch at mf (medium) and the notes of i at p (soft), the marks of the Dyn row you met in Session 10. This block has no Dyn row, so the marks are given here in words.

Segment 3 — New Learning: Two Chords and Eight Measures of Your Own (15 minutes)

“Planet Caravan” (verse chords, simplified)

Credits: Written by Geezer Butler, Tony Iommi, Ozzy Osbourne and Bill Ward. Recorded by Black Sabbath on the album Paranoid (1970).

Listen first: Find Black Sabbath’s recording of “Planet Caravan” (Paranoid, 1970) and listen to the first verse three times before you pick up the guitar. Listen for: (1) two chords taking turns, one measure each, from the first measure onwards; (2) the guitar picking the notes of each chord, mostly one at a time, with a clean sound, where this chart has you strum.

What this is: A simplified chord chart of the verse: plain Em and D, one measure each, in the down-up strum. The order of the two chords comes from two sources that agree. One is a printed transcription of the album. The other is a transcription of the recording on a tab site; it is the work of the site’s users, not of a publisher. The printed transcription writes the two chords as Em and D with extra notes added, and shows the guitar picking them, mostly one note at a time. Plain Em and D leave notes out of those two chords and change none. That is the course’s simplification, and the strumming pattern is the course’s own. So are the eight measures in the middle, where the same two chords go on and you strum them like the rest, and the ending: the recording fades out. Phrases of your own over these two chords are a separate task, played over a backing you record: “Eight measures of your own over Em and D”. By both sources the same two chords are played for four measures before each verse. The verse itself is longer than these sixteen measures: 24 measures the first time and 22 the second. The guitar solo is not printed: the sources differ on the names of its chords. The recording is about 86 to 89 BPM, a little faster than this chart, so you cannot play along with it yet. The transcriptions write the song in standard tuning; nobody has checked that the recording is exactly at concert pitch. Not yet play-tested.

Key: E minor

Time: 4/4

Tempo: Start at 75 BPM, strumming D/U (down on the click, up between clicks) and work up to 80. 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.

Strumming pattern: the down-up strum in every measure but the last. Measure 41 is one downstroke, left to ring.

"Planet Caravan" - the two verse measures in the down-up strum
Chord:  Em                                  D
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   |

"Planet Caravan" - verse chords (simplified)

Key: E minor        Time: 4/4 (four beats in a measure)

Verse, 16 measures:

| Em | D  | Em | D  |
| Em | D  | Em | D  |
| Em | D  | Em | D  |
| Em | D  | Em | D  |

The same two chords go on (the course's own section), 8 measures:

| Em | D  | Em | D  |
| Em | D  | Em | D  |

Verse again, 16 measures:

| Em | D  | Em | D  |
| Em | D  | Em | D  |
| Em | D  | Em | D  |
| Em | D  | Em | D  |

Ending (written for the course), 1 measure:

| Em |

Strum the last Em once. Guitar solo: not printed: the sources differ.

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

This song and the task under the next heading are read here, in Segment 3, and their short drills are played as you come to them. The course form of the chart and the recording of the backing are in Segment 4.

The chart is a song excerpt, its verse chords. Its course form is the verse, eight measures on the same two chords, the verse again and the ending: 41 measures. Strum the middle eight measures like the rest. Do not play along with the recording: it is faster than the chart, as its “What this is” paragraph says.

Take the pick again. Play the two verse measures of the strum block, Em then D, four times in a row at 75 BPM.

Your song map:

On one practice day the week’s row asks for the song map (Session 5) of the recording in place of playing. Write its head first: the tuning, the key and the capo (the chart has no Capo line: no capo). Then play the recording and write its sections in order, with the measures you count in each. Name the guitar solo at the end, which runs to the fade, and do not count it. Check your figures against the song’s “What this is” paragraph: four measures on the two chords before each verse, 24 measures in the first verse and 22 in the second.

Eight measures of your own over Em and D

Credits: Written for this course.

What this is: A task, not a piece: you make up 8 measures of your own over your recording of Em and D, with the E minor pentatonic, by the rule printed below. Not yet play-tested.

Key: E minor

Time: 4/4

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

Strumming pattern: the down-up strum in every measure of the backing but the last; in the last measure, one downstroke on beat 1, left to ring.

Eight measures of your own over Em and D - the backing in the down-up strum
Chord:  Em                                  D
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   |

The task has no tempo of its own: it is played at the figure its backing is recorded at.

The Backing

Eight measures of your own over Em and D - the backing

Key: E minor        Time: 4/4 (four beats in a measure)

The eight measures, 8 measures:

| Em | D  | Em | D  |
| Em | D  | Em | D  |

Record the eight measures four times, then strum one last Em.

How the backing is recorded:

Count the form first. With the metronome at 75 BPM and no guitar, point to each box of the backing chart and count the eight measures aloud, saying the measure number on beat 1: “ONE 2 3 4, TWO 2 3 4 …” up to “EIGHT 2 3 4”.
Record. Start the phone recording with the metronome still clicking at 75 BPM. Let four clicks go by, then play the down-up strum: the eight measures four times through, then one last strum of Em, left to ring. Say the measure number aloud on beat 1 of every measure.

If you lose your place while recording, stop, let four clicks pass, and start again from measure 1.

If your phone cannot record while its metronome app is sounding, listen to eight clicks, stop the metronome, and keep that beat with your foot.

Check. Play the recording back with the chart in front of you: “ONE” to “EIGHT” four times, then the last Em.

Do only step 1 now, at 75 BPM with no guitar. You record the backing in Segment 4. Strum it at one loudness: the getting louder and softer is in your own line, not in the backing.

The Note Pool

These are the twelve places your notes may come from:

Note	String	Fret
E	6	0
G	6	3
A	5	0
B	5	2
D	4	0
E	4	2
G	3	0
A	3	2
B	2	0
D	2	3
E	1	0
G	1	3

Copy of Session 4: E minor pentatonic, two octaves, open position

E minor pentatonic, two octaves, open position: up and down, quarter notes
e|----------------------|-------------------|-----------0-------|
B|----------------------|-------------------|---0---3-------3---|
G|----------------------|-----------0---2---|-------------------|
D|----------------------|---0---2-----------|-------------------|
A|--------------0---2---|-------------------|-------------------|
E|------0---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       -   2   -   2       -   3   -   3
Notes:  E   G   A   B       D   E   G   A       B   D   E   D

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

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.

The block holds eleven of the twelve places. The twelfth, string 1 at fret 3, is in the table. Play the block once, up and down, at 75 BPM, one note to a click.

The Model Phrases

Phrase 1 in E minor pentatonic: a question (measures 1 and 2)
Chord:  Em                  D
e|----------------------|-------------------|
B|------0-----------0---|---3---------------|
G|----------2---0-------|-------------------|
D|----------------------|-------------------|
A|----------------------|-------------------|
E|----------------------|-------------------|
Count:  1   2   3   4       1  (2) [3] [4]
Pick:   D   D   D   D       D
Finger: -   2   -   -       3
Notes:  B   A   G   B       D
Dyn:    p   cresc.

The counts in square brackets are rests. In Session 3 you made a rest after a strummed chord with the rest stop.

In a picked line a rest is made with the same rest stop: lay the edge of your picking-hand palm across the strings you have played.

Phrase 2 in E minor pentatonic: an answer (measures 3 and 4)
Chord:  Em                  D
e|----------------------|-------------------|
B|------0---------------|-------------------|
G|----------2---0-------|-------------------|
D|------------------2---|-------------------|
A|----------------------|-------------------|
E|----------------------|-------------------|
Count:  1   2   3   4      [1] [2] [3] [4]
Pick:   D   D   D   D
Finger: -   2   -   2
Notes:  B   A   G   E
Dyn:    mf  cresc.

Phrase 3 in E minor pentatonic: a second question (measures 5 and 6)
Chord:  Em                  D
e|------0---------------|-------------------|
B|----------3---0-------|-------------------|
G|------------------0---|---2---------------|
D|----------------------|-------------------|
A|----------------------|-------------------|
E|----------------------|-------------------|
Count:  1   2   3   4       1  (2) [3] [4]
Pick:   D   D   D   D       D
Finger: -   3   -   -       2
Notes:  E   D   B   G       A
Dyn:    f   dim.

Phrase 4 in E minor pentatonic: the last answer (measures 7 and 8)
Chord:  Em                  D
e|------0-------0-------|-------------------|
B|----------3-----------|-------------------|
G|----------------------|-------------------|
D|----------------------|-------------------|
A|----------------------|-------------------|
E|----------------------|-------------------|
Count:  1   2   3  (4)     [1] [2] [3] [4]
Pick:   D   D   D
Finger: -   3   -
Notes:  E   D   E
Dyn:    mf  dim.

Read the Dyn rows from Phrase 1 to Phrase 4: the phrases rise from p to f and fall again. Play each phrase twice at 75 BPM, one note to a click, without the backing, with its rests and its Dyn marks.

The Rule

Read the rule aloud once.

Eight measures: once through Em and D in turn, one measure each, over your backing. During the first time through you listen and count, and you come in at the second “ONE”. The second, third and fourth times through are three turns of eight measures; mark the tick list for the fourth.
These notes only: the twelve places of E minor pentatonic in open position (the notes E, G, A, B and D), one note at a time, and no note shorter than one beat: one note to a click at most.
Question and answer, twice: measures 1 and 2 are a question, measures 3 and 4 an answer, measures 5 and 6 a question, measures 7 and 8 an answer. No phrase is longer than its two measures. A question ends on a note that is not E, G or B. An answer ends on E, the home note, in its Em measure (measure 3 or measure 7), and the D measure after it is left silent.

In Beginner Session 22 an answer could rest on any note of the home chord; here it rests on the home note itself, so that you can check it alone.

Empty measures: at least two of the eight measures hold a rest of two beats or more.
The ending: your last note is E, the home note, in measure 7, where the chord is Em. Measure 8 is silent.
Loud and soft: get gradually louder through measures 1 to 4 and gradually softer through measures 5 to 8.

The Tick List

I came in at the second “ONE”, and in my fourth time through I stopped as measure 8 ended.
Every note was at one of the twelve places, and I played no more than one note to a click.
My two questions ended on D or A; my two answers ended on E, in measure 3 and in measure 7; measures 4 and 8 were silent.
At least two measures held a rest of two beats or more.
My last note was E, in measure 7.
My playing got louder up to measure 5 and softer after it.

Six ticks is a pass.

If one is missing, play the map once more, then try again.

If your phone cannot play the backing and record you at the same time, play with the backing sounding and judge it as you play; checking it on a recording then needs a second device.

In the second tick, the place of each note is marked from what you saw your hand do as you played: a recording does not show the place a note was played at.

The last tick, about loud and soft, may also be checked in the way of Beginner Session 22: record one playing of your eight measures without the backing, to the metronome, and listen to it.

The four times through: read the table once, and say aloud what you will play in each time through. The steps of the exercise in Segment 4 follow it.

Time through	Measures 1 and 2	Measures 3 and 4	Measures 5 and 6	Measures 7 and 8
1	listen and count	listen and count	listen and count	listen and count
2	Phrase 1	Phrase 2	Phrase 3	Phrase 4
3	Phrase 1	an answer of your own	Phrase 3	an answer of your own
4	a question of your own	an answer of your own	a question of your own	an answer of your own

Break: 5 minutes. Guitar down.

Segment 4 — Piece Workshop: Giuliani: Andantino, measures 17 to 32 (15 minutes)

Giuliani: “Andantino”, Op. 50 no. 1

Credits: Composed by Mauro Giuliani (1781 to 1829): the first piece of Le Papillon, Op. 50, marked Andantino. The music is in the public domain. The notes follow the Mutopia Project’s typeset no. 1329 by Stephen Rhen (licence: Creative Commons Attribution 3.0), except in three places, where they were changed to agree with a Paris print published by Henry Lemoine & Cie (plate numbers V. D. et D. 523 and 13758 H.): the lower note on beat 3 of measure 5, the lower note on beat 3 of measure 14, and the last eighth note of measure 30. The TAB and the fingering were made for this course.

What this is: A complete piece: 32 measures in 3/4, in C major, all within the first three frets. In measures 1 to 16 two parts move together, so almost every note is two strings plucked at once. Each plucking finger keeps its own string (the thumb on strings 6, 5 and 4, i on string 3, m on string 2, a on string 1), so most of these pairs are two fingers plucking together: i with m on strings 3 and 2, or m with a on strings 2 and 1. Six pairs are a pinch: the thumb on string 4 with m on string 2. Measures 17 to 32 are the same tune, with its three phrase endings filled in, over an accompaniment in eighth notes. There the thumb plays the bass notes on strings 6, 5 and 4, i repeats the notes on string 3, and m and a play the tune on strings 2 and 1, usually as a pinch with a bass note from the thumb. In the three filled-in endings the tune runs across the other strings too, each note still plucked by its own string’s finger. Not yet play-tested.

Key: C major

Time: 3/4

Techniques: two strings plucked together; pinch

Tempo: Start at 45 BPM in 3/4, two notes per click (eighth notes) and work up to 50. Raise the metronome 5 BPM at a time, and only after three clean runs in a row. This week, take one step at most. The performance tempo is 55 BPM in 3/4, the click on the beat.

Put the pick down: the piece is plucked with the fingers. The techniques of this piece are two strings plucked together and the pinch. This part is for reading: you play it under the next heading. The click is the beat, and the accompaniment has two notes to each click.

Measures 1 to 16 are printed in Session 11. Here are measures 17 to 32.

Giuliani, Andantino, Op. 50 no. 1: measures 17 to 24
e|------------------------------|---------------------------|
B|------1---------------1-------|---3---------------3-------|
G|----------0---0---0-------0---|-------0---0---0-------0---|
D|------2---------------2-------|---------------------------|
A|------------------------------|---2---------------2-------|
E|------------------------------|---------------------------|
Count:  1   &   2   &   3   &       1   &   2   &   3   &
Finger: pm  i   i   i   pm  i       pm  i   i   i   pm  i

e|------0-------1-------0-------|---------------------------|
B|------------------------------|---3-----------------------|
G|----------0-------0-------0---|-------0---0---0---0---0---|
D|--------------0---------------|---------------------------|
A|------3---------------3-------|---2-----------------------|
E|------------------------------|---------------------------|
Count:  1   &   2   &   3   &       1   &   2   &   3   &
Finger: pa  i   pa  i   pa  i       pm  i   i   i   i   i

e|------1---------------3-------|---0-----------------------|
B|------------------------------|-------------------1-------|
G|----------0---0---0-------0---|-------0---0---0-------0---|
D|------0-----------------------|-------------------2-------|
A|----------------------2-------|---3-----------------------|
E|------------------------------|---------------------------|
Count:  1   &   2   &   3   &       1   &   2   &   3   &
Finger: pa  i   i   i   pa  i       pa  i   i   i   pm  i

e|------------------------------|---------------------------|
B|------3---------------0-------|-------1-------------------|
G|----------2---2---2-------0---|-----------0---------------|
D|------3---------------0-------|---------------2-----------|
A|------------------------------|---3---------------3-------|
E|------------------------------|---------------------------|
Count:  1   &   2   &   3   &       1   &   2   &   3
Finger: pm  i   i   i   pm  i       p   m   i   p   p

Giuliani, Andantino, Op. 50 no. 1: measures 25 to 32
e|----------------------0-------|---------------------------|
B|------3-----------------------|---3-----------------------|
G|----------0---0---0-------0---|-------0---0---0---0---0---|
D|------------------------------|---------------------------|
A|------2---------------3-------|---2-----------------------|
E|------------------------------|---------------------------|
Count:  1   &   2   &   3   &       1   &   2   &   3   &
Finger: pm  i   i   i   pa  i       pm  i   i   i   i   i

e|--------------1-------0-------|---------------------------|
B|------3-----------------------|---3-----------0---1---3---|
G|----------0-------0-------0---|-------0---2---------------|
D|--------------0---------------|---------------------------|
A|------2---------------3-------|---2-----------------------|
E|------------------------------|---------------------------|
Count:  1   &   2   &   3   &       1   &   2   &   3   &
Finger: pm  i   pa  i   pa  i       pm  i   i   m   m   m

e|------0-----------------------|---------------------------|
B|----------------------3-------|---1---------------3-------|
G|----------0---0---0-------1---|-------2---2---2-------2---|
D|------------------------------|---------------------------|
A|------3---------------2-------|---0-----------------------|
E|------------------------------|-------------------1-------|
Count:  1   &   2   &   3   &       1   &   2   &   3   &
Finger: pa  i   i   i   pm  i       pm  i   i   i   pm  i

e|------------------------------|---------------------------|
B|------1---------------0-------|---------------1-----------|
G|------------------------------|-----------0---------------|
D|----------2---2---2-------0---|-------2-------------------|
A|------------------------------|---3---------------3-------|
E|------3---------------3-------|---------------------------|
Count:  1   &   2   &   3   &       1   &   2   &   3
Finger: pm  p   p   p   pm  p       p   p   i   m   p

Read the two blocks before you play. Three things the TAB cannot show:

The tune’s half notes last through the eighth notes under them.
The tune rests on beat 3 of measures 20 and 26, while the accompaniment goes on.
Measures 24 and 32 begin with the bass note alone.

Beat 1 of measure 23 is the one place in this half where two strings are held at fret 3 together: F on string 4 with D on string 2. There finger 3 takes string 4 and finger 4 takes string 2, beside it. It is not counted as little-finger work.

The last eighth note of measure 29 is the G sharp: string 3, fret 1.

In seven places one finger leaves one string and lands on another at the same fret, with no time between:

finger 3 at fret 3, from string 2 to string 5: measure 18 into 19, inside measure 25, and measure 28 into 29;
finger 3 at fret 3, from string 1 to string 5: measure 21 into 22;
finger 3 at fret 3, from string 5 to string 2: measure 24 into 25;
finger 3 at fret 3, from string 2 to string 6: measure 30 into 31;
finger 1 at fret 1, from string 2 to string 6: beat 3 of measure 30.

How to Learn This Study

In the session, Step 1 is done: you played the drill in Segment 2. Play Step 2 at 45 BPM, two notes per click: each pair of measures three times in a row, from 17 and 18 to 31 and 32. That is three times through the two blocks. Step 3 is for the practice days, and measures 1 to 16 are not played today: they have their own row in the week.

Step 1 — The pinch on open strings: Play the drill of Segment 2 first: measure 1 (thumb with m) four times, measure 2 (thumb with a) four times, then both joined twice.

Step 2 — Two measures at a time: Play measures 17 and 18 three times in a row, then 19 and 20, and so on to 31 and 32. Keep the tune on top: the pinched notes at mf, the single notes of i at p.

Step 3 — Join the pairs: Play measures 17 to 24 without stopping, then 25 to 32, then 17 to 32. When measures 17 to 32 have gone three clean runs in a row, play the whole piece from measure 1.

What it should sound like: Record measures 17 to 32 with the metronome sounding and follow the recording on the TAB, counting aloud the numbers and each & that is printed: 16 measures with no stop. On the same recording, count the pinches: 27, each one two strings beginning at the same moment. On the same recording, count the wrong or missed notes against the TAB: 3 at most.

Play the Song Chart

The chart and the strum block are under “Planet Caravan” (verse chords, simplified) in Segment 3; they are not printed again.

Step 1 — The two verse measures: Play Em for a measure and D for a measure in the down-up strum, four times in a row.

Step 2 — The course form: Play the chart from its first measure to its last without stopping, pointing to nothing: count the boxes in fours. Strum the last Em once and let it ring.

You played Step 1 in Segment 3. Now take the pick and play Step 2 once through at 75 BPM, in the down-up strum, after four clicks counted in: the verse, the middle section on the same two chords, the verse again, and the ending, one strum of Em left to ring.

What it should sound like: Record the course form with the metronome sounding and count the measures aloud on the recording: 41, with no stop. On the same recording, each new chord begins on count 1: count 1 2 3 4 through the first 8 measures and say the chord’s name on each 1.

How to Learn This Exercise

Now record the backing: steps 2 and 3 of “How the backing is recorded”, under “The Backing” in Segment 3. The backing’s chart and its strum block are in Segment 3 too, and are not printed again. With the metronome sounding at 75 BPM, start the recording, let four clicks go by, and strum the backing’s chart four times through in the down-up strum, then one last strum of Em, saying the measure number on beat 1. Then play the recording back against the chart: ONE to EIGHT four times, and the last Em. The recording is 136 beats, 1 minute 49 seconds, and so is the playback.

The backing is the verse chords of “Planet Caravan” at that chart’s figure for the start of the week, 75 BPM. A recording keeps the figure it was made at, so the task stays at 75 BPM all week, and again in Session 19.

If you lose your place while playing, stop, listen for the next ONE on the recording, and come in again there.

Step 1 — Listen, then the model phrases: Start the recording. The first time through, listen and count ONE to EIGHT. Come in at the second ONE with Phrases 1, 2, 3 and 4 in order.

Step 2 — Answers of your own: The third time through: Phrase 1, an answer of your own that ends on E in measure 3, Phrase 3, an answer of your own that ends on E in measure 7. Measures 4 and 8 stay silent.

Step 3 — Eight measures of your own: The fourth time through: question, answer, question, answer, all your own, louder up to measure 5 and softer after it. Stop as measure 8 ends, and mark the tick list for this time through.

None of the three steps is played today. On the first practice day the task’s row begins with Step 1: start the recording, listen and count through its first time through, then follow the table of the four times through and mark the tick list.

What it should sound like: Play your backing recording against its chart and count aloud: ONE to EIGHT four times, then 1 last strum of Em. Count the ticks of the tick list after the fourth time through: 6.

Segment 5 — Review and Practice Plan (5 minutes)

What You Learned Today

The pinch over an eighth-note accompaniment: thumb with m and thumb with a
Measures 17 to 32 of Giuliani’s Andantino
A verse on two chords, “Planet Caravan”, and its song map
Eight measures of your own that get louder and softer

Common Mistakes

The two notes of a pinch do not begin together — Set the thumb and the finger on their two strings before the count, then pluck both at the same moment. Go back to measure 1 of the drill on open strings.
The eighth notes of i cover the tune — Pluck the single notes of i at p and each pinch at mf: the tune is the upper note of the pinch.
The backing gets louder and softer — Strum the backing at one loudness. Getting louder and softer is in your own line, not in the recording.
An answer of your own ends on a note that is not E, or runs on into the D measure — End each answer on E in measure 3 or measure 7, then stop the strings with the rest stop: measures 4 and 8 are silent.

Self-Check Questions

Play the pinch drill, both measures joined, 8 times through without stopping at 45 BPM, and record it with the metronome sounding. Check: listen to the recording and count the pinches aloud; in each one the two strings begin at the same moment. Pass: 32 pinches in 8 times through, with no stop. If not: play measure 1 alone and measure 2 alone, eight times each, for two days, under “The Pinch over Eighth Notes” in Segment 2, and try again after those two days.
By the end of this week’s practice: play measures 17 to 32 of Giuliani’s Andantino at 50 BPM, counted in by yourself, 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: go back to 45 BPM and to Step 2, a pair of measures at a time, for two days, under “How to Learn This Study” in Segment 4, and try again after those two days.
By the end of this week’s practice: strum the course form of “Planet Caravan” from its chart at 80 BPM in the down-up strum, 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: 41 measures with no stop, and 1 strum in the last measure. If not: go back to 75 BPM and play the first verse alone, twice a day, under “Play the Song Chart” in Segment 4, and try again after two days.
On one day, in place of playing, write the song map of the recording of “Planet Caravan”: the sections in order and the measures you count in each. Check: compare your figures with the ones in the song’s What this is paragraph: 4 measures before each verse, 24 in the first verse and 22 in the second. Pass: 4 section lengths written, each within 2 measures of the printed figure. If not: listen again with a finger on the chart, one box to a measure, and count aloud, under “Your song map” in Segment 3, and try again the next practice day.
Play over your backing recording once, with eight measures of your own in the fourth time through. Check: mark the tick list as soon as you stop; mark its second tick from what you saw your hand do. Pass: 6 ticks. If not: play the table of the four times through once more, under “How to Learn This Exercise” in Segment 4, and try again straight after, on the same day.

Practice Plan for Week 14 (each practice day, 35 minutes)

Notes on the rows:

Rotation this week, the change-test pairs: G and D7, a new chord every 2 beats at 80 BPM; Em and B7, a new chord every 2 beats at 70 BPM; Am7 and D7, a new chord every 2 beats at 65 BPM. One of them a day, in turn.
The “Turnaround Study in C and G” row: the study stays at 60 BPM all week, because the piece stays at the first tempo of the skill it carries. That skill is the change from C to G7: played a new chord every 4 beats, it climbs in the same row from 60 BPM to 70.
The “Sixteenth-note strum” row: the plain pattern stays at 45 BPM, the metronome at 90, the figure of Session 10’s week.

Block	Time	Activity
Warm-Up	4 min	Movement warm-up, tune; then the crescendo strum on Em; then the spider crawl at frets 5 to 8. Then simplified F and Dm7: 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, and that keeps Dm7 out: it is a barre chord, practised as presses, not as a card
Staff reading	3 min	today’s line from the staff handout, then its answer
Giuliani: Andantino, measures 17 to 32	8 min	first the pinch on open strings, thumb with m, then thumb with a; then two measures at a time: the tune stays on top of the eighth notes
Giuliani: Andantino, measures 1 to 16	3 min	once through
Turnaround Study in C and G	4 min	once through at 60 BPM; then C to G7 every 4 beats
Eight measures of your own over Em and D	6 min	over the backing you recorded in the session (Em and D in turn, one measure each): play eight measures of question and answer over it, getting louder and softer. The backing is the verse chords of the Planet Caravan chart: play that chart’s course form once a day. On one day, in place of playing, make the song map of its recording
Sixteenth-note strum	3 min	the plain pattern at 45 BPM (the metronome at 90)

Barre rows this week: “Warm-Up”, 1 minute; “Turnaround Study in C and G”, 1 minute. Total: 2 minutes a day.

Fast strumming: if your strumming hand or forearm aches, that is tension. Stop playing for today, and next time loosen your grip on the pick.

The plucking fingertips may be tender this week: the pain rule covers this hand too. If they sting, stop fingerpicking for the day and do the pick items of the plan.

Two sittings this week: Sitting 1 is the rows from “Warm-Up” to “Giuliani: Andantino, measures 17 to 32” (19 minutes). Sitting 2 is the rows from “Giuliani: Andantino, measures 1 to 16” to “Sixteenth-note strum” (16 minutes). Leave at least an hour between them. Begin Sitting 2 with the movements under “Hand Warm-Up” in Segment 1, and tune again: neither is counted in the minutes.

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 15.

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 dreadnought the picking hand rests for fingerstyle where Beginner Session 15 set it. Rest the forearm on the top edge of the lower bout, the wide part of the body. Bring the hand over the soundhole. Keep the thumb a little ahead of the index finger, towards the headstock. Check all three before the pinch drill.

After the session (not part of the 50 minutes)

Optional: Blues And Improvising, the section “Question and Answer”. (5 minutes)
Optional: Fingerstyle Studies, the sections “Giuliani’s Andantino, Whole” and “Studies in Reserve”. (10 minutes)