Session 20: The Shuffle

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 brings swing into your strumming. You clap the triplet count, 1 trip let, and learn swing as the first and the last of the three. Then you keep the shuffle going on palm-muted power chords, and you hear the difference between straight and swung on your own recording. The session ends with the twelve measures of the “Shuffle Blues in A”, played four measures at a time.

Learning Objectives

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

Clap eighth-note triplets with the metronome at 60 BPM, counting 1 trip let aloud: 4 measures
Play four measures of straight eighth notes and then four of swung eighth notes on a palm-muted A5 at 65 BPM without stopping: 8 measures
Play the twelve measures of the Shuffle Blues in A and its two-measure ending in the shuffle at 65 BPM, stopping the strings on every rest: 14 measures
Say “straight” or “swung” for each item of your own recording of Test 7: 8 items, 7 right

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
Slips of paper and a pen, for this week’s ear check
Handout for this session: Rhythm Beyond Eighth Notes (read after the session, 10 minutes)
Handout for this session: The Blues (read after the session, 5 minutes)
Staff reading this week: Reading Staff Notation 1, the section “Lines for Week 20”
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 70 BPM: its eight measures, twice, as its Dyn row marks.

Tempo: 70 BPM, strumming D/U (down on the click, up between clicks)

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:

A (four strings) (Session 19), at fret 5: place it by the four steps of “How a Barre Works” (Session 19), then press, pluck strings 4 to 1 one at a time, release completely, and shake out the hand. 4 presses in the minute. Its diagram, its lines and the dead-string table (the table under “If a string is dead or buzzing”) are in Session 19, under “Presses at Fret 5”. This is the second of six weeks in which the shape is only pressed and released.

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 Shuffle (10 minutes)

Clap the Triplet

Triplet (eighth-note triplet) — Three equal notes in the time of one beat, counted 1 trip let. (Session 20)

Tempo: 60 BPM, three claps per click (eighth-note triplets)

The triplet count, clapped
Count:  1    trip let  2    trip let  3    trip let  4    trip let  |

Count:  1    trip let  2    trip let  3    trip let  4    trip let  |

Clap on every count that is written, and stay silent on a count in brackets. Say the count aloud as you clap, including the counts in brackets.

Clap three times to each click and count aloud: 1 trip let, 2 trip let, 3 trip let, 4 trip let. The clap on each number lands with the click.

Put the guitar down. With the metronome at 60 BPM, clap and count aloud through the block, four times.

In this course the triplet is a count you clap, not a speed you pick or strum.

From the Triplet to Swing

A beat can be divided into three equal parts, counted 1 trip let. Swung eighth notes are played on the first and the third of the three, on the number and on “let”, so each pair is long then short.

Straight eighth notes — Eighth notes that divide each beat into two equal halves, counted 1 & 2 &: the eighth notes of every piece in 4/4, 3/4 or 2/4 whose tempo line does not have the word Swing. (Session 20)
Swing (swung eighth notes) — Eighth notes played long then short. In this course the first of each pair falls on the number and the second on the “let” of 1 trip let; they are written as ordinary eighth notes with the word Swing on the tempo line. (Session 20)

This is the swing figure, on a palm-muted A5 (Beginner Session 9):

Chord:  A5
e|------------------------------------------------------------------|
B|------------------------------------------------------------------|
G|------------------------------------------------------------------|
D|------2---------2----2---------2----2---------2----2---------2----|
A|------0---------0----0---------0----0---------0----0---------0----|
E|------------------------------------------------------------------|
Count:  1    trip let  2    trip let  3    trip let  4    trip let
Strum:  D         U    D         U    D         U    D         U
PM:     PM        PM   PM        PM   PM        PM   PM        PM

1 trip let is one beat in three equal parts, the eighth-note triplet. The words trip and let are always printed: where the row under one of them is blank, nothing is played on it.

Play it at 60 BPM, four times, saying 1 trip let aloud: strum down on each number and up on each “let”, and play nothing on “trip”.

This is the only block in the course that writes swing with trip and let. Everywhere else swung eighth notes are written 1 & 2 &, with the word Swing on the tempo line.

The Shuffle

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.

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.

Shuffle — A rhythm of swung eighth notes kept going steadily, two to every beat, as in the palm-muted power-chord pattern of the Shuffle Blues in A. (Session 20)

Tempo: 60 BPM, Swing, two strums per click (swung eighth notes)

Chord:  A5
e|--------------------------------------|
B|--------------------------------------|
G|--------------------------------------|
D|------2---2---2---2---2---2---2---2---|
A|------0---0---0---0---0---0---0---0---|
E|--------------------------------------|
Count:  1   &   2   &   3   &   4   &
Strum:  D   U   D   U   D   U   D   U
PM:     PM  PM  PM  PM  PM  PM  PM  PM

Swing on a tempo line means that every pair of eighth notes is played long then short: the note on the number comes on 1 of 1 trip let, and the note on the & comes on let. The Count row is still written 1 & 2 &.

In swing your hand still goes down on each number and up on each &. Only the timing changes: the & comes late.

The metronome clicks the beat. The downstroke falls on the click; the upstroke comes late, two thirds of the way to the next click.

Many players strum the shuffle with downstrokes only; this course uses down-up, as for palm-muted eighth notes.

Play the block swung at 60 BPM for four measures without stopping. Do this four times, and let four clicks pass between one play and the next.

On the practice days the shuffle may reach 65 BPM this week, and no more. 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.

Segment 3 — New Learning: Straight and Swung (15 minutes)

Straight, Then Swung

Play from the shuffle block under “The Shuffle” in Segment 2: four measures straight and then four measures swung, without stopping, at 60 BPM. The two halves have a tempo line each:

Tempo: 60 BPM, two strums per click (eighth notes), down-up

Tempo: 60 BPM, Swing, two strums per click (swung eighth notes)

Play the eight measures three times, and record the third play with the metronome sounding.

Listen to the recording and clap the click along with it. In the straight measures the upstroke falls halfway between two claps; in the swung measures it falls late, close to the next clap. Write down, measure by measure, which of the two you hear.

The Hits

The rest stop (Session 3) comes back here for the seventh-chord strums of today’s piece.

Copy of Session 3: the rest stop (quarter rests)

Count:  1  [2]  3  [4]
Strum:  D       D

The rest stop: on the count in square brackets, lay the edge of your strumming-hand palm (the fleshy side below the little finger) flat across every string you have just played and leave it there, so that the sound stops. The pick does not touch the strings.

First place E7, then D7, then A7 (Session 2), once each, as a chord card is played: place the shape, pluck each string that should sound, let go.

Then play the block at 60 BPM on E7 for four measures and on D7 for four measures: one ringing downstroke, then the palm laid flat on the next count.

Ear Drill: Straight, Then Swung

Play the measure of palm-muted eighth notes on A5 eight times without stopping, with the metronome at 60 BPM: two measures straight, then two measures swung, and so on.

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

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.

Play the drill once now, from the shuffle block under “The Shuffle” in Segment 2: eight measures at 60 BPM.

Read the form below now, so that nothing in it is new on recording day. After the session you write the twelve slips, six marked “straight” and six marked “swung”, and record the eight items with the recorded card test (Session 2): all of this fits in the 4 minutes of the Record line at the end of this page. You mark the recording on your fourth practice day, in 2 minutes taken from the “Shuffle Blues in A” row. Nothing is recorded or marked in the session.

Test 7, straight or swung. The pile is 12 slips: six marked “straight” and six marked “swung”. An item is one slip: with the metronome sounding at 60 BPM, listen to four clicks, then play two measures of palm-muted eighth notes on A5, down-up, straight or swung as the slip says. Record eight items; four slips stay in the pile unseen. Your answer for each number is “straight” or “swung”. To mark, deal the key pile one slip to an item.

Break: 5 minutes. Guitar down.

Segment 4 — Piece Workshop: Shuffle Blues in A (15 minutes)

“Shuffle Blues in A”

Credits: Written for this course.

For listening only: “Running Free” by Iron Maiden, on the album Iron Maiden (1980). Written by Steve Harris and Paul Di’Anno. Listen for the swing: a printed transcription of the song marks it as a fast shuffle, at about 170 BPM, more than twice the speed of this piece. The piece below is not that song.

What this is: A complete piece written for this course. It is not a song. It is a 12-bar blues in A: you play its twelve measures three times and then a two-measure ending, 38 measures in all, which takes 2 minutes 10 seconds at 70 BPM, the performance tempo. The open power chords A5, D5 and E5 are palm-muted and played in the shuffle. In measure 11 the shuffle stops one beat early with the rest stop, and measure 12 is one strum of E7, stopped with the rest stop. The ending is one strum of D7, stopped in the same way, and one strum of A7, left to ring. From Session 21 your own recording of this piece is the backing for a chorus of your own. Not yet play-tested.

Key: A major

Time: 4/4

Techniques: palm muting; the shuffle; rest stop

Tempo: Start at 60 BPM, Swing, two strums per click (swung eighth notes) and work up to 65. 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 70 BPM, Swing, two strums per click (swung eighth notes).

In this piece one time round the 12 measures is one run: once through with no stop is three runs.

Strumming pattern: the shuffle in measures 1 to 10 of the 12-bar form; in measure 11, the shuffle for three beats and the rest stop on beat 4; in measure 12 and in the first measure of the ending, one downstroke on beat 1 and the rest stop on beat 2; in the last measure, one downstroke on beat 1, left to ring.

"Shuffle Blues in A" - one measure of the shuffle
Chord:  A5
e|--------------------------------------|
B|--------------------------------------|
G|--------------------------------------|
D|------2---2---2---2---2---2---2---2---|
A|------0---0---0---0---0---0---0---0---|
E|--------------------------------------|
Count:  1   &   2   &   3   &   4   &
Strum:  D   U   D   U   D   U   D   U
PM:     PM  PM  PM  PM  PM  PM  PM  PM

The techniques of this piece are palm muting, the shuffle and the rest stop.

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.

Before the full pattern, play the piece in its first form, Step 1 of “How to Learn This Piece”: the strum block above, one measure of the shuffle on A5, four times without a stop, swung, at 60 BPM.

"Shuffle Blues in A" - the chords, one to a measure

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

The 12-bar form, 12 measures:

| A5 | A5 | A5 | A5 |
| D5 | D5 | A5 | A5 |
| E5 | D5 | A5 | E7 |

Ending, 2 measures:

| D7 | A7 |

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

"Shuffle Blues in A" - measures 1 to 4
Chord:  A5                                  A5
e|--------------------------------------|-----------------------------------|
B|--------------------------------------|-----------------------------------|
G|--------------------------------------|-----------------------------------|
D|------2---2---2---2---2---2---2---2---|---2---2---2---2---2---2---2---2---|
A|------0---0---0---0---0---0---0---0---|---0---0---0---0---0---0---0---0---|
E|--------------------------------------|-----------------------------------|
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
PM:     PM  PM  PM  PM  PM  PM  PM  PM      PM  PM  PM  PM  PM  PM  PM  PM

Chord:  A5                                  A5
e|--------------------------------------|-----------------------------------|
B|--------------------------------------|-----------------------------------|
G|--------------------------------------|-----------------------------------|
D|------2---2---2---2---2---2---2---2---|---2---2---2---2---2---2---2---2---|
A|------0---0---0---0---0---0---0---0---|---0---0---0---0---0---0---0---0---|
E|--------------------------------------|-----------------------------------|
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
PM:     PM  PM  PM  PM  PM  PM  PM  PM      PM  PM  PM  PM  PM  PM  PM  PM

"Shuffle Blues in A" - measures 5 to 8
Chord:  D5                                  D5
e|--------------------------------------|-----------------------------------|
B|--------------------------------------|-----------------------------------|
G|------2---2---2---2---2---2---2---2---|---2---2---2---2---2---2---2---2---|
D|------0---0---0---0---0---0---0---0---|---0---0---0---0---0---0---0---0---|
A|--------------------------------------|-----------------------------------|
E|--------------------------------------|-----------------------------------|
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
PM:     PM  PM  PM  PM  PM  PM  PM  PM      PM  PM  PM  PM  PM  PM  PM  PM

Chord:  A5                                  A5
e|--------------------------------------|-----------------------------------|
B|--------------------------------------|-----------------------------------|
G|--------------------------------------|-----------------------------------|
D|------2---2---2---2---2---2---2---2---|---2---2---2---2---2---2---2---2---|
A|------0---0---0---0---0---0---0---0---|---0---0---0---0---0---0---0---0---|
E|--------------------------------------|-----------------------------------|
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
PM:     PM  PM  PM  PM  PM  PM  PM  PM      PM  PM  PM  PM  PM  PM  PM  PM

"Shuffle Blues in A" - measures 9 to 12
Chord:  E5                                  D5
e|--------------------------------------|-----------------------------------|
B|--------------------------------------|-----------------------------------|
G|--------------------------------------|---2---2---2---2---2---2---2---2---|
D|--------------------------------------|---0---0---0---0---0---0---0---0---|
A|------2---2---2---2---2---2---2---2---|-----------------------------------|
E|------0---0---0---0---0---0---0---0---|-----------------------------------|
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
PM:     PM  PM  PM  PM  PM  PM  PM  PM      PM  PM  PM  PM  PM  PM  PM  PM

Chord:  A5                                  E7
e|--------------------------------------|---0---------------|
B|--------------------------------------|---0---------------|
G|--------------------------------------|---1---------------|
D|------2---2---2---2---2---2-----------|---0---------------|
A|------0---0---0---0---0---0-----------|---2---------------|
E|--------------------------------------|---0---------------|
Count:  1   &   2   &   3   &  [4] [&]      1  [2] [3] [4]
Strum:  D   U   D   U   D   U               D
PM:     PM  PM  PM  PM  PM  PM              O

"Shuffle Blues in A" - the ending, measures 37 and 38
Chord:  D7                  A7
e|------2---------------|---0---------------|
B|------1---------------|---2---------------|
G|------2---------------|---0---------------|
D|------0---------------|---2---------------|
A|----------------------|---0---------------|
E|----------------------|-------------------|
Count:  1  [2] [3] [4]      1  (2) (3) (4)
Strum:  D                   D
PM:     O                   O

Now read the chart and the TAB with the guitar still. Nothing is played.

Say the twelve chords of the form aloud from the chart, then the two chords of the ending.
Say what the form is: the 12-bar form of Session 2, with A5, D5 and E5 in place of A7, D7 and E7 until the last measure of each time round.
Find the four measures that are not a whole shuffle measure, and say what each does. Measure 11: the shuffle for three beats and the rest stop on beat 4. Measure 12, and the first measure of the ending: one ringing strum on beat 1 and the rest stop on beat 2. The last measure: one strum, left to ring.

How to Learn This Piece

Step 1 — The first form: one measure of the shuffle: Play the piece’s strum block, one measure of the shuffle on a palm-muted A5, four times without a stop at 60 BPM. This is the piece in its plainest form: the pattern on one chord, with no change.

Step 2 — Measures 11 and 12 alone: Before the third line is played whole, play measures 11 and 12 alone, four times: the shuffle on A5 for three beats and the rest stop on beat 4; then one strum of E7 on beat 1 and the rest stop on beat 2.

Step 3 — Four measures at a time: Play each of the three lines three times, then the ending three times, then the twelve measures once and the ending.

You played Step 1 under the piece’s name. Play Step 2 now, before the third line is played whole: measures 11 and 12 alone, four times, swung, at 60 BPM. After the last palm-muted upstroke, on the & of 3, lay the palm flat on beat 4. In that beat finger 1 goes from string 4 to string 3 and finger 2 lands on string 5, for E7; then the palm lifts for the one strum of E7 on beat 1.

Then Step 3, one line at a time, at 60 BPM. Play line 1 (measures 1 to 4) three times, then line 2 (measures 5 to 8) three times, each time after four clicks. In line 2 finger 1 moves one string across between the last upstroke of a measure and beat 1 of the next.

Play line 3 (measures 9 to 12) three times at 60 BPM, each time after four clicks.

Play the ending three times at 60 BPM: one strum of D7 and the rest stop, then one strum of A7, left to ring through its measure.

Last, play the whole form once and then the ending, without a stop, at 60 BPM: 14 measures. As written, the piece goes round the form once, a second time and a third time before the ending; this week you practise it a line at a time, and you play it whole in Session 21.

What it should sound like: With the metronome at 60 BPM, every downstroke of the shuffle falls with a click, in all 12 measures. Count 1 & 2 & 3 & 4 & aloud through the twelve measures: on beat 4 of measure 11 and on beats 2, 3 and 4 of measure 12 you say the count and play nothing. On a recording, 0 strings ring in the 3 silent beats of measure 12 and in the 3 silent beats of the ending’s first measure.

Segment 5 — Review and Practice Plan (5 minutes)

What You Learned Today

A beat in three equal parts, clapped 1 trip let
Swing: the first and the last of the three
The shuffle on a palm-muted power chord, down-up
The Shuffle Blues in A, four measures at a time, with the rest stop on its hits

Common Mistakes

The swung upstroke drifts back to the middle of the beat — Clap 1 trip let for two measures, then play again saying “let” on each upstroke. Slow the metronome by 5 BPM.
The strumming hand stops between two strokes in swing — The hand still goes down on each number and up on each &: keep it moving and let only the upstroke come late.
A string still rings in the rests of measure 12 — On beat 2 lay the edge of the strumming-hand palm flat across all six strings and leave it there until the next strum. The pick does not touch the strings.
The strumming hand or forearm aches after a few rounds of the shuffle — That is tension: stop playing for today, and next time loosen your grip on the pick.

Self-Check Questions

Clap eighth-note triplets for four measures at 60 BPM, counting 1 trip let aloud, and record it with the metronome sounding. Check: listen to the recording and count the claps to each click. Pass: 3 claps to each of the 16 clicks, and the spoken count never breaks in the 4 measures. If not: say the count without clapping for two measures, then clap and say it, on two days, under “Clap the Triplet” in Segment 2, and try again after those two days.
By the end of this week’s practice: play four measures of straight eighth notes and then four of swung eighth notes on a palm-muted A5 at 65 BPM without stopping, and record it with the metronome sounding. Check: listen to the recording and clap the click along with it: say for each measure whether the upstroke falls halfway between two claps or late. Pass: 8 measures with no stop: measures 1 to 4 heard as straight and measures 5 to 8 heard as swung. If not: go back to 60 BPM for two days: clap 1 trip let for two measures, play the swing figure, then the shuffle, under “The Shuffle” in Segment 2, and try again after those two days.
By the end of this week’s practice: play the twelve measures of the Shuffle Blues in A once and then its ending at 65 BPM, Swing, and record it with the metronome sounding. Check: listen to the recording with the page open and count the measures aloud. Pass: 14 measures with no stop, and 0 rests with a string still ringing. If not: play measures 11 and 12 alone four times, then one line at a time, for two days, under “How to Learn This Piece” in Segment 4, and try again after those two days.
Read the result you wrote when you marked your recording of Test 7, straight or swung: eight items of two measures. Check: the key pile, dealt one slip to an item, against the answers you wrote. Pass: 7 of 8. If not: record the test again after your last practice day of this week, play “Ear Drill: Straight, Then Swung” in Segment 3 once on each practice day of the week you repeat, and mark the new recording on its fourth practice day.
Press A (four strings) at fret 5, pluck strings 4 to 1 one at a time, release completely and shake out the hand: 3 presses. Check: the tuner shows A, C#, E, A, string by string, and each string rings when it is plucked. Pass: all 4 strings ring in 2 of the 3 presses. If not: find the string that did not ring in the dead-string table of Session 19 and, adding no pressure, move the finger as its row says, under “Barre presses” in Segment 1, and try again the next day, inside that day’s barre minutes.

Practice Plan for Week 20 (each practice day, 35 minutes)

Notes on the rows:

The Rotation row: the card “D major scale, one octave, open position” joins the pile of scale cards this week.
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 80 BPM; Am7 and D7, a new chord every 2 beats at 75 BPM; C and G7, a new chord every 2 beats at 65 BPM; D and Bm, a new chord every 4 beats at 70 BPM. One of them a day, in turn.
The Staff reading row: this week’s lines are in Reading Staff Notation 1, the section “Lines for Week 20”.
The Shuffle row: after the two clapped measures, play four measures straight and then four measures swung without stopping, as under “Straight, Then Swung” in Segment 3, and then keep the shuffle going.
The Shuffle Blues in A row: it begins Sitting 2. Each day start it with Step 1 of “How to Learn This Piece” (one measure of the shuffle on A5, four times: the first form) and Step 2 (measures 11 and 12, four times), and only then play the lines, four measures at a time.
The Root-Finder Study row: play it from the two-beat chart of Session 19, at 60 BPM.

Block	Time	Activity
Warm-Up	4 min	Movement warm-up, tune; then the crescendo strum; then the spider crawl at frets 5 to 8
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, with the Bm (four strings) card and the nine power-chord cards of E5. 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
Barre presses	3 min	A (four strings) at fret 5: press, pluck four strings, release, 2 minutes; simplified F and Dm7 the same way, 1 minute
Shuffle	5 min	clap and count 1 trip let for two measures; then long-short on a palm-muted A5
Shuffle Blues in A	8 min	four measures at a time; the hits use the rest stop
Root-Finder Study	3 min	once through, two beats to a chord
Giuliani: Andantino	5 min	the whole piece once, then its hardest four measures

Barre rows this week: “Barre presses”, 3 minutes. Total: 3 minutes a day.

Three-string power-chord work: no more than 5 minutes a day in total.

Power-chord rows this week: “Root-Finder Study”, 3 minutes. Total: 3 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.

Two sittings this week: Sitting 1 is the rows from “Warm-Up” to “Shuffle” (19 minutes). Sitting 2 is the rows from “Shuffle Blues in A” to “Giuliani: Andantino” (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.

Ear check this week: on your fourth practice day, mark the recording you made after this session. It takes 2 minutes: that day, give the “Shuffle Blues in A” row 6 minutes instead of 8.

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 21.

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

For palm muting on your Saga, rest the edge of your strumming-hand palm lightly on the strings just where they cross the saddle. In today’s shuffle it stays there for ten measures at a time: measures 1 to 10 of each time round the form. In measure 11 it keeps its place for three beats, then lies flat for the rest stop on beat 4, and it lifts for the ringing strum of E7 in measure 12.

After the session (not part of the 50 minutes)

Read: Rhythm Beyond Eighth Notes, the section “Triplets and Swing”. (10 minutes)
Read: The Blues, the section “The Shuffle”. (5 minutes)
Record: this week’s ear check. Use the recorded card test (Session 2) with Test 7, straight or swung, as Segment 3 gives it. Pass: 7 of 8. (4 minutes)