Session 23: Slurs Between Fretted Notes
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 joins two fretted notes with a hammer-on and a pull-off, from finger 1 to finger 3 only, at frets 5 and 7 on strings 5, 4 and 3. You add the blues scale’s one extra note, E flat, to the fifth position, and you begin the “Slur Study in A minor”, one phrase a day. The session ends with the “Shuffle Blues in A” played along with your recording, with a chorus of your own over its second chorus.
Learning Objectives
Section titled “Learning Objectives”By the end of this session you will be able to:
- Play the slur drill on strings 5, 4 and 3 at 50 BPM with the picked note on the click, so that every hammered and pulled-off note is heard: 3 measures, 6 slurred notes
- Play the twelve measures of the Slur Study in A minor from its TAB at 55 BPM, one note per click: 12 measures
- Play the A blues scale in fifth position, two octaves, up and down in quarter notes at 70 BPM with every note picked: 25 notes, 2 times in a row
- Play the Shuffle Blues in A along with your recording, with one chorus of your own, every note picked, over its second chorus: 38 measures, 5 ticks
Where an objective gives a tempo, it is the figure for the end of this week’s practice.
Materials Needed
Section titled “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
- Your recording of the “Shuffle Blues in A” (Session 21), and a way to play it back while you play
- The rule and the tick list of “Your Own Blues Chorus” (Session 22)
- Handout for this session: Slurs And Staccato (read after the session, 15 minutes)
- Handout for this session: Minor And Pentatonic Scales (read after the session, 5 minutes)
- Staff reading this week: Reading Staff Notation 2, the section “Lines for Week 23”
- Reference: Chord Chart, Glossary
Segment 1 — Warm-Up and Stretch (5 minutes)
Section titled “Segment 1 — Warm-Up and Stretch (5 minutes)”Hand Warm-Up
Section titled “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
Section titled “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
Section titled “Warm-Up”Play the crescendo strum (Session 10) on Em at 70 BPM, strumming D/U: its eight measures, twice, as its Dyn row marks.
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.
Tempo: 70 BPM, strumming D/U (down on the click, up between clicks)
The crescendo strum stays at 70 BPM: its ladder ended there.
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, 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”.
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: Slurs Between Fretted Notes (10 minutes)
Section titled “Segment 2 — Technique Focus: Slurs Between Fretted Notes (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: slur work, 3 minutes: the drill under “Slur Drill”.
Limited work today: slur work, 1 minute: the “Slur Study in A minor” in Segment 4.
Limited work today: barre work, 1 minute: the presses under “Warm-Up” in Segment 1.
Slur Drill (3 minutes)
Section titled “Slur Drill (3 minutes)”Slur 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.
- Slur — Two notes on one string joined so that only the first is picked: the fretting hand sounds the second by a hammer-on or a pull-off. In TAB it is written with h or p between the two fret numbers. (Session 23)
In the beginner course you played hammer-ons and pull-offs from an open string, and, on string 2, one hammer-on and one pull-off between two fretted notes, fret 1 with finger 1 and fret 3 with finger 3. Today every slur is between two fretted notes, at frets 5 and 7 on strings 5, 4 and 3, from finger 1 to finger 3 only.
Start with the two slurred blocks of Beginner Session 16, played from the page, not from memory: the scale with hammer-ons going up, then the scale with pull-offs coming down. Play each block once at 50 BPM, one note per click. Only the first note of each pair is picked, on counts 1 and 3, and every pick stroke is a downstroke.
Copy of Beginner Session 16: A minor pentatonic, open position
A minor pentatonic with hammer-ons, going up e|----------------------|-------------------|-----------0---h3--| B|----------------------|-------------------|---1---h3----------| G|----------------------|-----------0---h2--|-------------------| D|----------------------|---0---h2----------|-------------------| A|--------------0---h3--|-------------------|-------------------| E|------0---h3----------|-------------------|-------------------| Count: 1 2 3 4 1 2 3 4 1 2 3 4 Pick: D D D D D D Notes: E G A C D E G A C D E G
Copy of Beginner Session 16: A minor pentatonic, open position
A minor pentatonic with pull-offs, coming down e|------3---p0----------|-------------------|-------------------| B|--------------3---p1--|-------------------|-------------------| G|----------------------|---2---p0----------|-------------------| D|----------------------|-----------2---p0--|-------------------| A|----------------------|-------------------|---3---p0----------| E|----------------------|-------------------|-----------3---p0--| Count: 1 2 3 4 1 2 3 4 1 2 3 4 Pick: D D D D D D Notes: G E D C A G E D C A G E
Then the slur drill. It is the first form of the “Slur Study in A minor” in Segment 4, one string to a measure: on string 5, then string 4, then string 3, pick fret 5, hammer on to fret 7, pick fret 7, pull off to fret 5.
"Slur Study in A minor" - the slur drill e|----------------------|-------------------| B|----------------------|-------------------| G|----------------------|-------------------| D|----------------------|---5---h7--7---p5--| A|------5---h7--7---p5--|-------------------| E|----------------------|-------------------| Count: 1 2 3 4 1 2 3 4 Pick: D D D D Finger: 1 3 3 1 1 3 3 1 Notes: D E E D G A A G e|----------------------| B|----------------------| G|------5---h7--7---p5--| D|----------------------| A|----------------------| E|----------------------| Count: 1 2 3 4 Pick: D D Finger: 1 3 3 1 Notes: C D D C
The hammered note should be clearly audible. On an acoustic guitar it will be a little quieter than a picked note, and that is correct. If it is faint, make the tap quicker and land closer to the fret.
As you lift the finger, flick it slightly downward, towards the floor, so that it plucks the string.
Finger 1 stays down at fret 5 before finger 3 leaves fret 7.
Tempo: 50 BPM, one note per click (quarter notes)
Play the drill four times through at 50 BPM, the picked note on the click, with a measure of rest after each time through. Count it in times through, never by the clock. The drill stays at 50 BPM all week.
The Blues Scale (7 minutes)
Section titled “The Blues Scale (7 minutes)”Pain rule: tender fingertips are normal. Pain in the wrist, forearm, thumb joint or knuckles, numbness or tingling, any sharp pain, or pain that lasts into the next day means stop. The full rule is in START HERE.
- Blues scale — The minor pentatonic scale with one note added, one fret above its third note (in A: D). The A blues scale is A, C, D, E flat, E, G. (Session 23)
The blues scale is the minor pentatonic scale with one note added, one fret above its third note (in A: D). In A the added note is E flat (the same fret as D sharp), six frets above the home note.
The extra note has two places in the fifth position:
| Note | String | Fret | Finger |
|---|---|---|---|
| Eb | 5 (A) | 6 | 2 (middle) |
| Eb | 3 (G) | 8 | 4 (little finger) |
Press each place once, pluck it and read the tuner. The tuner may show D# or Eb: E flat is the same fret as D sharp, one fret with two names.
Then count it out on string 5 without playing: the open string is A, the home note, and six frets above it, at fret 6, is E flat.
In fifth position, fret 5 = finger 1, fret 6 = finger 2, fret 7 = finger 3 and fret 8 = finger 4 (little finger).
A blues scale, two octaves, fifth position: up and down, quarter notes e|----------------------|-------------------|-------------------| B|----------------------|-------------------|-----------5---8---| G|----------------------|---------------5---|---7---8-----------| D|----------------------|-------5---7-------|-------------------| A|--------------5---6---|---7---------------|-------------------| E|------5---8-----------|-------------------|-------------------| 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: 1 4 1 2 3 1 3 1 3 4 1 4 Notes: A C D Eb E G A C D Eb E G e|------5---------------|-------------------|-------------------| B|----------8---5-------|-------------------|-------------------| G|------------------8---|---7---5-----------|-------------------| D|----------------------|-----------7---5---|-------------------| A|----------------------|-------------------|---7---6---5-------| E|----------------------|-------------------|---------------8---| 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: 1 4 1 4 3 1 3 1 3 2 1 4 Notes: A G E Eb D C A G E Eb D C e|----------------------| B|----------------------| G|----------------------| D|----------------------| A|----------------------| E|------5---------------| Count: 1 (2) (3) (4) Pick: D Finger: 1 Notes: A
A blues scale, in quarter notes: one note per click. The top A is played once. The last A 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.
A blues scale, two octaves, fifth position: up and down, eighth notes e|--------------------------------------|-------------------5---------------| B|--------------------------------------|-----------5---8-------8---5-------| G|----------------------------------5---|---7---8-----------------------8---| D|--------------------------5---7-------|-----------------------------------| A|--------------5---6---7---------------|-----------------------------------| E|------5---8---------------------------|-----------------------------------| 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: 1 4 1 2 3 1 3 1 3 4 1 4 1 4 1 4 Notes: A C D Eb E G A C D Eb E G A G E Eb e|--------------------------------------|-------------------| B|--------------------------------------|-------------------| G|------7---5---------------------------|-------------------| D|--------------7---5-------------------|-------------------| A|----------------------7---6---5-------|-------------------| E|----------------------------------8---|---5---------------| Count: 1 & 2 & 3 & 4 & 1 (2) (3) (4) Pick: D U D U D U D U D Finger: 3 1 3 1 3 2 1 4 1 Notes: D C A G E Eb D C A
A blues scale, in eighth notes: two notes per click. The top A is played once. The last A lasts four beats: let it ring while you count (2) (3) (4).
The eighth-note form is played from Session 25. This week you play the quarter-note form.
The hand stays where it is for the pentatonic, and all four fingers play. Every note is picked: there is no hammer-on and no pull-off in the scale.
Play the quarter-note block up and down: once slowly with no metronome, saying the names from the Notes row; then two times at 60 BPM, one note per click.
Tempo: Start at 60 BPM, one note per click (quarter notes) and work up to 70. Raise the metronome 5 BPM at a time, and only after three clean runs in a row. In one week, take two steps at most.
A run is clean when every note or chord lands on its count, every string that should sound rings, and you do not stop.
Segment 3 — New Learning: Legato (15 minutes)
Section titled “Segment 3 — New Learning: Legato (15 minutes)”Legato and Staccato
Section titled “Legato and Staccato”- Legato — Played smoothly, each note running into the next with no gap. It needs no mark: a note with no other mark is played legato, for its full length. (Session 23)
Legato means that each note runs into the next with no gap. The fretting hand can join two notes on one string with no second pick stroke in two ways that this course calls slurs: a hammer-on to a higher note and a pull-off to a lower one.
Here are three ways to play two notes one after the other on one string:
| Way | Picking hand | Fretting hand | How it is written |
|---|---|---|---|
| Picked, legato | picks both notes | keeps each note down, so that it rings until the next begins | no mark: every unmarked note is played this way |
| Slurred | picks the first note only | sounds the second: a hammer-on to a higher note, a pull-off to a lower one | h or p |
| Staccato | picks both notes | cuts each note short by relaxing the fretting finger (Session 22) | a dot in the Short row |
On string 4, play fret 5 with finger 1 and fret 7 with finger 3. With no metronome, play fret 5 then fret 7 picked and legato, four times. Then play the same pair picked and staccato, four times.
The slurred way is the slur drill of Segment 2. Do not play it again here: today’s slur minutes are already counted.
Then answer these three questions in writing, and check each against the answer on the line below it:
-
Which mark means a hammer-on, and which a pull-off?
Answer: h means a hammer-on; p means a pull-off.
-
Which of the three ways needs no mark?
Answer: legato.
-
Which hand stops a short single note?
Answer: the fretting hand.
The Scale Ladder
Section titled “The Scale Ladder”This is the week’s “Scale ladder” row, at its first figures. First play A minor pentatonic in fifth position up and down at 70 BPM, one note per click, two times.
Copy of Session 21: A minor pentatonic, two octaves, fifth position
A minor pentatonic, two octaves, fifth position: up and down, quarter notes e|----------------------|-------------------|-----------5-------| B|----------------------|-------------------|---5---8-------8---| G|----------------------|-----------5---7---|-------------------| D|----------------------|---5---7-----------|-------------------| A|--------------5---7---|-------------------|-------------------| E|------5---8-----------|-------------------|-------------------| 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: 1 4 1 3 1 3 1 3 1 4 1 4 Notes: A C D E G A C D E G A G e|----------------------|-------------------|-------------------| B|------5---------------|-------------------|-------------------| G|----------7---5-------|-------------------|-------------------| D|------------------7---|---5---------------|-------------------| A|----------------------|-------7---5-------|-------------------| E|----------------------|---------------8---|---5---------------| Count: 1 2 3 4 1 2 3 4 1 (2) (3) (4) Pick: D U D U D U D U D Finger: 1 3 1 3 1 3 1 4 1 Notes: E D C A G E D C A
A minor pentatonic in fifth position, in quarter notes: one note per click. The top A is played once. The last A lasts four beats: let it ring while you count (2) (3) (4).
Tempo: Start at 70 BPM, one note per click (quarter notes) 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.
Then the same with the blues scale’s extra note. With the metronome back at 60 BPM, play the A blues scale up and down once, one note per click, from its quarter-note block under “The Blues Scale” in Segment 2: it is not printed again here.
Sixteenth Notes on Two Chords
Section titled “Sixteenth Notes on Two Chords”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.
Play the plain sixteenth-note pattern (Session 8) at 50 BPM, four strums per click.
Copy of Session 8: the plain sixteenth-note pattern
Count: 1 e & a 2 e & a 3 e & a 4 e & a Strum: D U D U D U D U D U D U D U D U
Tempo: 50 BPM, four strums per click (sixteenth notes)
50 BPM is where this pattern’s ladder stands, so it does not go up.
Any two chords, one to a measure. Today play G and D7: four measures, G, D7, G, D7, two times, letting four clicks pass between plays.
Change Test: Em and B7
Section titled “Change Test: Em and B7”This is one pair of the Rotation row, played as the test. Take the change test (Beginner Session 3) for Em and B7, a new chord every 2 beats at 80 BPM, the figure its ladder reached in Session 18: 8 chords in a row, three times.
Break: 5 minutes. Guitar down.
Segment 4 — Piece Workshop: Slur Study in A minor (15 minutes)
Section titled “Segment 4 — Piece Workshop: Slur Study in A minor (15 minutes)”“Slur Study in A minor”
Section titled ““Slur Study in A minor””Slur 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.
Credits: Written for this course.
What this is: A complete piece written for this course. It is not a song. It is a written solo of twelve measures on the notes of A minor pentatonic in fifth position, played twice: 24 measures, which takes 1 minute 36 seconds at 60 BPM, the performance tempo. Every note falls on a click. Sixteen of the 35 notes of the twelve measures are slurred: each is a hammer-on from finger 1 to finger 3 or a pull-off from finger 3 to finger 1, between fret 5 and fret 7 on string 5, 4 or 3. The three phrases fit the three lines of the “Shuffle Blues in A”, so the piece can be played over a recording of that piece made at 60 BPM, with one more A on its last chord. Measures 1 to 4 are the slur phrase that later sessions and the assessments ask for. Not yet play-tested.
Key: A minor
Time: 4/4
Techniques: fifth position; pull-off; hammer-on
Tempo: Start at 50 BPM, one note per click (quarter notes) and work up to 55. 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 60 BPM, one note per click (quarter notes).
Picking: The pick follows the count on every note that is picked: down on the numbers, up on the &s. A note under a slur (h or p) is not picked.
The techniques of this piece are fifth position, pull-off and hammer-on.
Its first form was the slur drill under “Slur Drill” in Segment 2.
Read these lines first. Nothing is played yet.
The study is three phrases of four measures. The twelve measures are played two times through as written: 24 measures in all. This week you learn one phrase a day.
"Slur Study in A minor" - measures 1 to 4, the slur phrase e|----------------------|-------------------| B|----------------------|-------------------| G|----------------------|-------------------| D|------7---p5--5---h7--|---7---p5----------| A|----------------------|-----------7---p5--| E|----------------------|-------------------| Count: 1 2 3 4 1 2 3 4 Pick: D D D D Finger: 3 1 1 3 3 1 3 1 Notes: A G G A A G E D e|----------------------|-------------------| B|----------------------|-------------------| G|----------------------|-------------------| D|--------------5---h7--|---7---------------| A|------5---h7----------|-------------------| E|----------------------|-------------------| Count: 1 2 3 4 1 (2) (3) (4) Pick: D D D Finger: 1 3 1 3 3 Notes: D E G A A
"Slur Study in A minor" - measures 5 to 8 e|----------------------|-------------------| B|----------------------|-------------------| G|----------------------|---5---h7--7---p5--| D|--------------5---h7--|-------------------| A|------5---h7----------|-------------------| E|----------------------|-------------------| Count: 1 2 3 4 1 2 3 4 Pick: D D D D Finger: 1 3 1 3 1 3 3 1 Notes: D E G A C D D C e|----------------------|-------------------| B|----------------------|-------------------| G|----------------------|-------------------| D|------7---p5----------|---7---------------| A|--------------7---p5--|-------------------| E|----------------------|-------------------| Count: 1 2 3 4 1 (2) (3) (4) Pick: D D D Finger: 3 1 3 1 3 Notes: A G E D A
"Slur Study in A minor" - measures 9 to 12 e|----------------------|-------------------| B|----------------------|-------------------| G|----------------------|-------------------| D|----------------------|-----------5---h7--| A|------7---p5--5---h7--|---5---h7----------| E|----------------------|-------------------| Count: 1 2 3 4 1 2 3 4 Pick: D D D D Finger: 3 1 1 3 1 3 1 3 Notes: E D D E D E G A e|----------------------|-------------------| B|----------------------|-------------------| G|----------------------|-------------------| D|------7---------------|-------------------| A|----------------------|-------------------| E|----------------------|-------------------| Count: 1 (2) (3) (4) [1] [2] [3] [4] Pick: D Finger: 3 Notes: A
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.
Read the three blocks: for each note, say its name from the Notes row and then “pick”, “hammer” or “pull”. Then finger the twelve measures silently: the fretting fingers go to each place in turn, with no pick stroke and no tap. Nothing is played in this step.
How to Learn This Piece:
Step 1 — The first form: the slur drill: Play the slur drill at 50 BPM, held all week: one string to a measure: pick fret 5, hammer on to fret 7, pick fret 7, pull off to fret 5. Four times through, with a measure of rest after each. Today you played it under “Slur Drill” in Segment 2.
Step 2 — One phrase a day: Measures 1 to 4 on the first day, measures 5 to 8 on the second, measures 9 to 12 on the third, with the picked note on the click.
Step 3 — The twelve measures once: On the days after the three phrases, play the twelve measures once, and then the hardest phrase again.
Today is Step 2’s first day: play measures 1 to 4, the slur phrase, two times at 50 BPM, one note per click, the picked note on the click. Let four clicks pass before each time. This minute is the last of today’s slur work.
What it should sound like: With the metronome at 50 BPM, every picked note falls with a click: counts 1 and 3 of measures 1 to 3, and count 1 of measure 4. Count 1 2 3 4 aloud through the phrase: in measures 1 to 3 a slurred note sounds on each count 2 and count 4, with no pick stroke; in measure 4 the A rings through counts 2, 3 and 4. On a recording followed on the TAB, count the slurred notes you can hear: 6 of the 6 in the slur phrase.
Shuffle Blues with a Chorus of Your Own (10 minutes)
Section titled “Shuffle Blues with a Chorus of Your Own (10 minutes)”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.
Copy of Session 20: “Shuffle Blues in A” - the chords, one to a measure
"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.
In this form you play along with your recording of the “Shuffle Blues in A” from Session 21. Over its first chorus you play the piece itself. Over its second chorus you play a chorus of your own. Over its third chorus you play the piece itself again, and then the ending. Move your hand to fret 5 in the three silent beats of measure 12, and back in the empty last measure of your chorus.
Your chorus follows the rule and the tick list of “Your Own Blues Chorus” in Session 22, under “The Rule” and “The Tick List”: they are not printed again here. Its notes are the six places of that task’s note pool. If a tick is missing, the map to play is that task’s map, under “The Rule” in Session 22. Every note of your chorus is picked, with no hammer-on and no pull-off: today’s slur minutes are used up, and the rule’s second line asks for every note picked in any week.
Read this part through. Nothing is played in this step.
If you lose your place while playing, stop, listen for the next ONE on the recording, and come in again there.
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.
First pass: start your recording, made at 65 BPM, and play along from its first measure to its last A7, all 38 measures, with your chorus over the second chorus.
At once, mark the five ticks of the tick list of Session 22. Then mark a sixth thing: your last A7 fell within 1 beat of the recording’s last A7.
If one is missing, play the map once more, then try again.
Second pass: the same once more along with your recording at 65 BPM, all 38 measures, with another chorus of your own.
Segment 5 — Review and Practice Plan (5 minutes)
Section titled “Segment 5 — Review and Practice Plan (5 minutes)”What You Learned Today
Section titled “What You Learned Today”- A slur joins two notes on one string with one pick stroke, by a hammer-on or a pull-off
- Legato is how every unmarked note is played
- The A blues scale is A minor pentatonic with E flat added
- The Slur Study in A minor, one phrase a day
Common Mistakes
Section titled “Common Mistakes”- The hammered note is faint — Make the tap quicker and land closer to the fret. On an acoustic guitar it is a little quieter than a picked note, and that is correct.
- The pulled-off note does not sound — Keep finger 1 down at fret 5 before finger 3 leaves. Then lift finger 3 as the pull-off sentence under “Slur Drill” in Segment 2 says.
- The pick strikes the slurred note as well — Only the first note of each pair is picked: a downstroke on counts 1 and 3. The Pick row is blank under a slurred note.
- The slur work goes on after the hand is tired — Slur work is 5 minutes a day at most. Count it in times through, rest for a measure after each, and stop when the day’s minutes are used.
Self-Check Questions
Section titled “Self-Check Questions”- Play the slur drill once through at 50 BPM, the picked note on the click, and record it with the metronome sounding. Check: listen to the recording and count the slurred notes you can hear. Pass: all 6 slurred notes heard: 3 hammered and 3 pulled off. If not: stop all playing for today if the hand aches; otherwise play one string of the drill at a time, inside the day’s slur minutes: make the tap quicker and land closer to the fret, and flick the lifting finger a little towards the floor, under “Slur Drill” in Segment 2, and try again the next day, inside that day’s slur minutes.
- By the end of this week’s practice: play the twelve measures of the Slur Study in A minor once at 55 BPM, one note per click, and record it with the metronome sounding. Check: follow the recording on the TAB and count the slurred notes you can hear. Pass: 12 measures with no stop, and at least 14 of the 16 slurred notes heard. If not: go back to one phrase a day for three days, at 50 BPM, under “How to Learn This Piece” in Segment 4, and try again after those three days.
- By the end of this week’s practice: play the A blues scale in fifth position, two octaves, up and down in quarter notes at 70 BPM, every note picked, and record it with the metronome sounding. Check: follow the recording on the scale’s TAB. Pass: 25 notes with no wrong note, 2 times in a row. If not: go back to 60 BPM for two days, under “The Blues Scale” in Segment 2, and try again after those two days.
- Play the Shuffle Blues in A along with your recording, with one chorus of your own, every note picked, over its second chorus, and mark the tick list of Session 22 at once. Check: count the ticks; count the measures aloud as you play; record yourself and listen to where your last A7 falls against the recording’s last A7, or, if your phone cannot play the backing and record you at the same time and you have no second device, judge it as you play. Pass: 5 ticks, and your last A7 falls within 1 beat of the recording’s last A7. If not: play the map of Session 22 over the second chorus of your recording once more, under “Shuffle Blues with a Chorus of Your Own” in Segment 4, and try again the next 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, 3 presses in a row. 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 23 (each practice day, 35 minutes)
Section titled “Practice Plan for Week 23 (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 80 BPM; Am7 and D7, a new chord every 2 beats at 80 BPM; C and G7, a new chord every 2 beats at 70 BPM; D and Bm, a new chord every 4 beats at 75 BPM. One of them a day, in turn.
- The Staff reading row: read one line a day from the section “Lines for Week 23” of Reading Staff Notation 2.
- The Slurs row: the slur drill at 50 BPM, which stays at 50 BPM all week.
- The Slur Study in A minor row: one phrase a day, then on the other days the twelve measures once and the hardest phrase again.
- The Scale ladder row: after the pentatonic, put the metronome back at this week’s figure for the A blues scale before you play it.
- 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 |
| Slurs | 2 min | the slur drill at 50, four times through with a measure of rest after each: fret 5 to fret 7 and back on strings 5, 4 and 3: quicker and closer, never harder |
| Slur Study in A minor | 2 min | four measures a day, in quarter notes with the picked note on the click |
| Scale ladder | 4 min | A minor pentatonic at fret 5, then the same with the blues scale’s extra note |
| Shuffle Blues with your chorus | 7 min | once through with one chorus of your own, over your recorded backing |
| Sixteenth-note strum | 3 min | the plain pattern at 50 with the metronome clicking the beat, on any two chords |
| Root-Finder Study | 3 min | once through, two beats to a chord |
Barre work: no more than 5 minutes a day in total. Pain rule: tender fingertips are normal. Pain in the wrist, forearm, thumb joint or knuckles, numbness or tingling, any sharp pain, or pain that lasts into the next day means stop. The full rule is in START HERE.
Barre rows this week: “Barre presses”, 3 minutes. Total: 3 minutes a day.
Slur work: no more than 5 minutes a day in total.
Slur rows this week: “Slurs”, 2 minutes; “Slur Study in A minor”, 2 minutes. Total: 4 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 “Slur Study in A minor” (18 minutes). Sitting 2 is the rows from “Scale ladder” to “Root-Finder Study” (17 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 24.
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
Section titled “Guitar Tip — Saga SF-600C-BK”Your Saga is a steel-string acoustic guitar, and on it a hammered or pulled-off note is a little quieter than a picked one: that is correct, and no more force is needed. To hear your slurs, record the slur drill with the metronome sounding, then play the recording back with the drill’s TAB in front of you. Follow the TAB note by note: on counts 2 and 4 of each measure there is no pick stroke, and a slurred note counts when you can hear a new note begin on that count. Count the slurred notes you hear, out of 6.
After the session (not part of the 50 minutes)
- Read: Slurs And Staccato, the sections “Slurs Between Fretted Notes” and “Staccato”. (15 minutes)
- Read: Minor And Pentatonic Scales, the section “The Blues Scale”. (5 minutes)