Session 24: Phase 4 Showcase

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 closes Phase 4 and has nothing new for either hand. You bring the phase’s scales to the figures the checkpoint asks for, try an unseen TAB passage and an unseen chart, and walk through the Phase 4 checkpoint, which you take after this week. The session ends with the programme of the phase, the “Shuffle Blues in A” and the “Slur Study in A minor”, and with the Shuffle Blues played once more over your own recording, with a chorus of your own.

Learning Objectives

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

Record the Shuffle Blues in A and the Slur Study in A minor in one take, each alone from your own count-in to its written ending, one of the two from memory: 2 pieces, with no stop and at most 3 wrong or missed notes in either piece
Play the Shuffle Blues in A along with your recording of it, with one chorus of your own over its second chorus, and finish with its last chord: 38 measures, 5 ticks
Play A minor pentatonic in fifth position up and down in eighth notes, two notes per click, at 50 BPM, and the A blues scale in quarter notes at 80 BPM: 2 runs in a row of each scale
Play a four-measure TAB passage you have not seen, after 30 seconds of study, at 55 BPM: 4 measures with at most 1 wrong note
Strum a four-measure chord chart you have not seen, after 30 seconds of study, one strum on each chord at 65 BPM: 4 measures, every chord in its measure

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
Your recording of the “Shuffle Blues in A” (Session 21), and a way to play it back while you play
Your pile of theory cards from Phases 1 to 4, and the fourteen note-name cards of Session 17
Your piles of slips: the 48 note slips of Session 21, the 60 cell slips of Session 15 and the 12 straight and swung slips of Session 20
A sheet of paper and a pen, for marking your take
The page Phase 4 Checkpoint, open for Segment 3
Sessions 15, 20, 21, 22 and 23 open at the parts this session names: their blocks, tables and lines are not printed again here
Handout for this session: Performing A Programme (optional reading, after the session)
Staff reading this week: Reading Staff Notation 2, the section “Lines for Week 24”
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

Start with the change test (Beginner Session 3) for C and G7, a new chord every 2 beats at 70 BPM: one downstroke on beat 1 and one on beat 3, 8 chords, once. The checkpoint asks for this pair.

Tempo: Start at a new chord every 2 beats at 70 BPM and work up to 75. 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.

Then the change test for D and Bm (four strings), a new chord every 4 beats at 75 BPM: one downstroke on each beat 1, 8 chords, once. The checkpoint asks for this pair too.

Tempo: Start at a new chord every 4 beats at 75 BPM 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.

At 80 BPM this pair is at the end of its ladder: it goes no higher.

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

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

Then D D U U D U (Beginner Session 5) on G for four measures and on C for four measures, at 90 BPM, the figure it reached in the week of Session 19. The checkpoint asks for it at 90 BPM, and no row of this week’s plan holds it.

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. 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”. The checkpoint asks for it: all 4 strings ring, 3 presses in a row.

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 Scales of Phase 4 (10 minutes)

A Minor Pentatonic in Eighth Notes

This week starts nothing new. This segment brings the scales of the phase to the figures the checkpoint asks for.

The pentatonic changes its click this week, from one note per click to two:

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

Copy of Session 21: A minor pentatonic, two octaves, fifth position

A minor pentatonic, two octaves, fifth position: up and down, eighth notes
e|--------------------------------------|-----------5-----------------------|
B|--------------------------------------|---5---8-------8---5---------------|
G|------------------------------5---7---|-----------------------7---5-------|
D|----------------------5---7-----------|-------------------------------7---|
A|--------------5---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   3   1   3   1   3       1   4   1   4   1   3   1   3
Notes:  A   C   D   E   G   A   C   D       E   G   A   G   E   D   C   A

e|--------------------------------------|
B|--------------------------------------|
G|--------------------------------------|
D|------5-------------------------------|
A|----------7---5-----------------------|
E|------------------8---5---------------|
Count:  1   &   2   &   3      (4)
Pick:   D   U   D   U   D
Finger: 1   3   1   4   1
Notes:  G   E   D   C   A

A minor pentatonic in fifth position, in eighth notes: two notes per click. The top A is played once. The last A lasts two beats: let it ring while you count (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.

Play the block up and down four times at 40 BPM, two notes per click.

Tempo: Start at 40 BPM, 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. In one week, take two steps at most.

Setting the metronome to 40 is not a step: the two steps of the week come after it. The checkpoint asks for this scale in eighth notes at 50 BPM, and no faster.

The A Blues Scale at 70

Copy of Session 23: A blues scale, two octaves, fifth position

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).

Play the block up and down three times at 70 BPM, one note per click, every note picked.

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.

The checkpoint asks for this scale in quarter notes at 80 BPM, and no faster. Its eighth-note form begins in Session 25.

A Scale Card: D Major

The third scale the checkpoint asks for has been one of the scale cards of the “Rotation” row since Session 20: the D major scale, one octave, open position. A scale card is played like this:

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

Today take the D major card from the pile; do not draw. Play the scale from memory, up and down, in eighth notes at 60 BPM, two notes per click, two times. Then look at its TAB in Scales And Arpeggios. Then play it two times more from memory. No block is printed here.

Segment 3 — New Learning: Unseen Reading and the Checkpoint (15 minutes)

Unseen TAB

You take an unseen TAB passage by the routine of Session 6, here, on its practice day and in the checkpoint alike:

The unseen TAB routine: (1) Set the metronome to 55 BPM. (2) Study the passage for 30 seconds without playing: the strings it uses, its lowest and highest fret, any eighth notes, and the count of its last note. (3) Start the recording. (4) Count one measure aloud. (5) Play the passage once, to the end, without stopping. (6) Follow the recording on the TAB and count the wrong notes.

Take passage A now by the routine, at 55 BPM. When the routine is done, play the passage once more. The pass mark, as the checkpoint has it: the whole passage with no stop and at most 1 wrong note.

The block below is closed. Open it at step (2) of the routine, when the 30 seconds begin, and not before.

Passage A

Unseen TAB, passage A
e|----------------------|-----------------------------------|
B|----------------------|---0---1---3-------1-------0-------|
G|--------------0---2---|-----------------------------------|
D|------0---3-----------|-----------------------------------|
A|----------------------|-----------------------------------|
E|----------------------|-----------------------------------|
Count:  1   2   3   4       1   &   2       3       4
Pick:   D   D   D   D       D   U   D       D       D
Finger: -   3   -   2       -   1   3       1       -
Notes:  D   F   G   A       B   C   D       C       B

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

Unseen Chart

You take an unseen chart by the routine of Session 18, here, on its practice day and in the checkpoint alike:

The unseen chart routine: (1) Set the metronome to 60 BPM. (2) Study the chart for 30 seconds without playing: its Key and Time line, each chord, any measure that holds two chords, and any repeat signs or endings. (3) Start the recording. (4) Count one measure aloud. (5) Strum the chart once, to the end, without stopping, one strum on each chord. (6) Follow the recording on the chart and count the chords that do not fall in their measure.

Take chart A now by the routine, at 60 BPM. When the routine is done, strum the chart once more. The pass mark, as the checkpoint has it: the whole chart with no stop, and every chord falls in its measure.

Tempo: Start at 60 BPM, the click on the beat and work up to 65.

The checkpoint asks for an unseen chart at 65 BPM. You do not climb to it by runs: each chart is new, so it is played once by the routine. Chart B, on its day this week, is strummed at 65 BPM.

The block below is closed. Open it at step (2) of the routine, when the 30 seconds begin, and not before.

Chart A

Unseen chart A

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

Chart A, 4 measures:

         | C      | G7     | C   G7 | C      |
Beats:     1234     1234     12  34   1234

For Your Practice Days

Passage B is for the day on which the “Checkpoint items” row is an unseen TAB passage: the first practice day. Chart B is for the day on which it is an unseen chart: the third practice day. On its day, take each once by its routine under “Unseen TAB” or “Unseen Chart”, and record it, with the metronome at the figure the “Checkpoint items” row gives it. For chart B that figure is higher than the one printed in step (1) of its routine: set the row’s figure in its place. Neither is played or read today. Neither is printed in any other file: the checkpoint has passages of its own.

Each passage or chart below is in a closed block. Open a block only on its day, when its routine tells you to study it.

In a week you repeat, open the same blocks again on their days. They are no longer unseen, and that is expected: the routine is still the practice, and the next unseen passage is in the next session or assessment.

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.

Passage B

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

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

Chart B

Unseen chart B

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

Chart B, 4 measures:

         | D        | G        | Am7  D7  | G        |
Beats:     1234       1234       12   34    1234

Cards and the Triplet Count

Copy of Session 20: the clapped triplet count

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.

Put the guitar down. Clap and count 1 trip let aloud through the block twice, four measures, at 60 BPM, three claps per click. The checkpoint asks for this, and for measures of the shuffle on A5, first straight and then swung.

The theory cards of Phases 1 to 4 come back now: the cards you wrote from the theory handouts after their sessions. Shuffle the pile, keep it question side up, and draw two. Answer each aloud before you turn it over and read the answer on its back. The checkpoint draws ten, and passes at 8 of 10.

If you have not yet written a card for each question printed at the end of the sections you read after Sessions 19 to 23, write those cards this week, after the session, from the questions printed there.

Then take one note-name card of Session 17. Find its place on the neck and say the note. Check it against the sentence on the natural notes under “Finding the Nine Roots” in Session 17.

The Checkpoint, Item by Item

Open Phase 4 Checkpoint and read this part with that page beside it. No item is taken now.

You take the checkpoint after this week’s practice and before Session 25, in two sittings, on one day or on two. No sitting is taken on your last practice day: that day holds the week’s take, and there is one take a day.

These are its items, by number:

A (four strings) at fret 5: 3 presses
Bm (four strings): 3 presses
The change test for G and D7, a new chord every 2 beats
The change test for Em and B7, a new chord every 2 beats
The change test for Am7 and D7, a new chord every 2 beats
The change test for C and G7, a new chord every 2 beats
The change test for D and Bm (four strings), a new chord every 4 beats
D D U U D U for 8 measures
The shuffle on A5 for 8 measures, first straight, then swung
The clapped triplet count for 4 measures
The D major scale from memory, in eighth notes
A minor pentatonic in fifth position, in eighth notes
The A blues scale, in quarter notes
The slur phrase, measures 1 to 4 of the Slur Study in A minor
An unseen TAB passage
An unseen chart
Four unseen staff measures
Ten theory cards
Your recording of Test 7
Your programme: the Shuffle Blues in A, then the Slur Study in A minor
The Shuffle Blues in A along with your recording, with a chorus of your own
The tick list of that chorus
Your recording of Test 3
Your recording of Test 5

The checkpoint prints the tempo of each item with it. No item asks for a tempo above the figure its ladder reaches by the end of this week’s practice.

The “Checkpoint items” row of this week’s plan prepares five of them, one a day, in this order: on the first practice day an unseen TAB passage at 55 BPM; on the second, four unseen staff measures at 50 BPM; on the third, an unseen chart at 65 BPM; on the fourth, five theory cards and five note-name cards; on the fifth, the clapped triplet count for four measures. So the staff measures fall on the second practice day, whose line has the key signature of G.

No staff notation is printed in a session. On the second practice day the four measures are that day’s own line under “Lines for Week 24” in Reading Staff Notation 2. Take it by the unseen staff routine:

The unseen staff routine: (1) Set the metronome to 50 BPM. (2) Study the passage for 30 seconds without playing: its first note and its last, its lowest note and its highest, and any eighth notes. (3) Start the recording. (4) Count one measure aloud. (5) Play the passage once, to the end, without stopping. (6) Check the recording against the passage’s TAB under “Answers” and count the wrong notes.

In the 30 seconds, look at the key signature first: if there is one sharp, it is F sharp, and every F in the passage, high or low, is played as F sharp.

That day, play the “Checkpoint items” row in Sitting 1, directly before the “Staff reading” row, and not again in Sitting 2. The “Staff reading” row then reads the same line by its usual steps.

The three ear recordings, Tests 3, 5 and 7, are made after this session. They are marked at the checkpoint, at least one day after you make them.

Ear Drill: The Six Places

Play the six places of the table from the lowest note to the highest and back, saying each note’s name. Then turn over two note slips, play the two notes, and say which is higher. Put the two slips back and mix the slips. Do this five times.

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

This is the first of three ear sections. The recordings for the checkpoint are Tests 3, 5 and 7, and the words of each test stand last in its section.

The table of the six places and the three lines under it, with the line above the table that names the places, and the block of the six-note rhythm in fifth position with its line, are in Session 21, under “Ear Drill: The Six Places”. They are not printed again here.

Play the drill once now, with six slips of your Session 21 pile.

Test 3, play it back, six notes in fifth position. The pile is 48 note slips, eight for each of these six places: string 5 fret 5, string 5 fret 7, string 4 fret 5, string 4 fret 7, string 3 fret 5, string 3 fret 7. An item is six slips in a row from left to right: play their notes as two half notes and then four quarter notes. Record with the metronome sounding at 60 BPM, one count to a click, and start each playing on a click. Play the phrase twice. If you play a note that is not on its slip, say “again” and play the phrase twice more. Record six items. To answer, listen to both playings of an item, stop the recording, play the phrase back once on the six places of the pile, and write the places you played, in order. If you hear “again”, answer from the two playings after the last “again”. Write each place as two figures, the string then the fret, such as 4-7. To mark, deal the key pile six slips to an item. A phrase is right only if every note matched.

Ear Drill: Clap the Cells

Clap each kind of cell on four clicks in a row, one kind after another, with the metronome at the test’s tempo, saying the count aloud. Then turn over four cell slips in a row and clap the row twice.

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

The four cell blocks (quarter, two eighths and rest; four sixteenths), the two lines that say what each cell is, and the worked rhythm of two measures are in Session 15, under “Ear Drill: Clap the Cells”. They are not printed again here.

Clap the drill once now at 50 BPM, the test’s tempo: each kind of cell on four clicks in a row, saying the count aloud. Then turn over four cell slips of your Session 15 pile and clap the row twice.

Test 5, rhythm recall, two measures. The pile is 60 cell slips: the 38 of Session 9 and 22 more: 6 marked “quarter”, 6 marked “two eighths”, 4 marked “four sixteenths” and 6 marked “rest”. An item is eight slips in a row from left to right: the eight beats of two measures. Record with the metronome sounding at 50 BPM, one cell to a click. For each item say “1, 2, 3, 4” with four clicks, then clap the row twice through without a break. Count in your head while you clap: if you said the count aloud, the recording would tell you the answer. Record six items. On each click the claps name the cell: none is “rest”, one is “quarter”, two are “two eighths”, four are “four sixteenths”. To answer, listen to an item, stop the recording, clap the rhythm back once, and write the cells you clapped, in order. Write each cell as the number of claps on its click: 0, 1, 2 or 4. To mark, deal the key pile eight slips to an item. A rhythm is right only if every cell matched.

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.

The shuffle block is in Session 20, under “The Shuffle”. It is not printed again here. Play the drill once now from that block, at 60 BPM, the test’s tempo: eight measures, two straight and two swung in turn.

All three recordings, Tests 3, 5 and 7, are made after the session with the recorded card test (Session 2), after a break of 5 minutes, and none of them is marked this week.

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: The Phase 4 Programme (15 minutes)

The Phase 4 Programme

Read this part first; nothing is played in it.

The programme of this phase is two complete pieces, in this order: the “Shuffle Blues in A” (Session 20) and the “Slur Study in A minor” (Session 23). In a programme you play each piece alone, as its page writes it, from your own count-in to its written ending, with no backing sounding.

No metronome sounds while a piece of a programme is played. Before each piece, with the recording running, set the metronome to that piece’s performance tempo, listen to eight clicks and stop it, then count one measure aloud and begin.

The performance tempos are 70 BPM for the Shuffle Blues and 60 BPM for the Slur Study. You play one of the two from memory.

The Shuffle Blues is played from its page in Session 20: none of its blocks is printed here. The three blocks of the Slur Study stand under its heading below.

Today you play each piece once through with the metronome sounding, at the figure it has this week: that is practice. The take is for your last practice day, and there is one take a day. Playing the Shuffle Blues over your recording with a chorus of your own is a separate item, under “Over Your Backing”, and is never part of the take.

”Shuffle Blues in A” (Session 20)

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 it once through alone, from its page in Session 20, at 70 BPM, Swing, two strums per click (swung eighth notes), its performance tempo. Let four clicks pass, then begin. Play all 38 measures as the page writes them: its own strummed chorus each time round, and no solo.

”Slur Study in A minor” (Session 23)

Slur work: no more than 5 minutes a day in total.

Every minute of this piece is slur work. On a practice day at most 4 minutes of the “Programme” row are this piece, as the note on that row says above the table of the practice plan.

Tempo: Start at 55 BPM, one note per click (quarter notes) and work up to 60. 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. The performance tempo is 60 BPM, one note per click (quarter notes).

Play it once through alone at 55 BPM, one note per click, with the metronome sounding. Let four clicks pass, then begin. Play all 24 measures as its page writes them: the twelve measures twice, with no backing, and without the one extra A that ends it over a backing.

Copy of Session 23: “Slur Study in A minor” - measures 1 to 4, the slur phrase

"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

Copy of Session 23: “Slur Study in A minor” - measures 5 to 8

"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

Copy of Session 23: “Slur Study in A minor” - measures 9 to 12

"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

From Memory

Choose which of the two pieces you will play from memory in the take, and write it down.

You learn it by the routine named “How to memorise a piece” in Beginner Session 6, which Performing A Programme prints under “Playing from Memory”. It is not printed here.

Today, its first chunk only, with no metronome: the first two measures of the piece you chose. Play them three times from the page. Then play them with the page out of sight: scrolled off the screen, or the printed page turned over. Then check them against the page.

A piece counts as memorised when you have played it from memory, start to finish, on three different days. So begin the routine on your first practice day.

Over Your Backing

Today you practise the separate item of the checkpoint, which is taken there once: the Shuffle Blues in A along with your recording of Session 21, with one chorus of your own over its second chorus, by the rule of “Your Own Blues Chorus” (Session 22), every note picked.

Over the recording’s first chorus you play the piece itself; over its second chorus, your own chorus; over its third chorus the piece itself again, and then the ending. Your recording was made at 65 BPM, so you play at 65 BPM, with no metronome: the recording keeps the beat.

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.

Start the recording and play along from its first measure to its last A7: all 38 measures.

Then, at once, mark the five ticks of the tick list of Session 22, under “The Tick List”. Then mark one thing more, the pass mark of this item: your last A7 fell within 1 beat of the recording’s last A7.

Marking Your Take

This is how the take of your last practice day is marked. Listen to it once for each piece, with that piece’s page in front of you. Make a stroke on your sheet of paper for every wrong or missed note, and count the strokes piece by piece.

The pass mark: no stop; each piece reaches its written ending; at most 3 wrong or missed notes in any one piece.

A stop is a break in the count inside a piece: going back, beginning a measure again, or waiting a whole measure or longer before coming in. Keeping the count and coming in on the next beat 1 is not a stop: its notes are counted as missed.

A take with a stop has not passed and ends at the stop. One take a day: the next is made on a later day and begins with the first piece.

In a strummed piece, and in the strummed verse of a tune, one wrong or missed note is one measure in which the chord is wrong, late or not played.

In this programme that holds in the Shuffle Blues, a strummed piece. In the Slur Study a wrong or missed note is one note; a slurred note that cannot be heard on the recording is a missed note.

Now write three answers for the piece you will play from memory: its key, its time signature and two techniques it uses. Then check them against the Key, Time and Techniques lines printed with it, in Session 20 for the Shuffle Blues or in Session 23 for the Slur Study. Write the other piece’s three answers on your last practice day, when you mark the take.

Segment 5 — Review and Practice Plan (5 minutes)

What You Achieved in Phase 4

The four-string F shape, pressed at fret 5
The shuffle and the clapped triplet count
The fifth position, with two scales in it
Slurs between fretted notes, and staccato
Two complete pieces, and a chorus of your own over your own backing

Common Mistakes

A stop inside a piece is patched and the take goes on — What a stop is, and that a take with a stop ends at the stop, are under “Marking Your Take” in Segment 4. Keep the count through a slip and come in on the next beat 1: the notes you missed are strokes on your sheet.
The 30 seconds of study are spent playing — Do not play in the 30 seconds: look at what step (2) of the routine lists.
The pentatonic runs ahead of the click in eighth notes — Set the metronome to 40 first: two notes per click at 40 is exactly as fast as one note per click at 80. Say 1 & 2 & aloud as you play.

Self-Check Questions

Record the programme in one take, each piece alone from your own count-in to its written ending, one of the two from memory: the Shuffle Blues in A, then the Slur Study in A minor. Check: listen to the take once for each piece with its page in front of you and make a stroke for every wrong or missed note. Pass: no stop, each of the 2 pieces reaches its written ending, and at most 3 strokes in either piece. If not: work for two days in the Programme row on the piece that failed, four measures at a time with the metronome and inside the day’s slur minutes for the Slur Study, then record one new take, under “Marking Your Take” in Segment 4, and try again after those two days, and before you take the checkpoint.
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 “Over Your Backing” in Segment 4, and try again the next day, before you take the checkpoint.
By the end of this week’s practice: play A minor pentatonic in fifth position up and down in eighth notes at 50 BPM, and the A blues scale up and down in quarter notes at 80 BPM, and record them with the metronome sounding. Check: follow each recording on the scale’s TAB and mark every wrong note. Pass: 2 runs in a row of each scale, with 0 wrong notes. If not: take the scale that failed 5 BPM lower for two days, and take the step again only after three runs in a row with no wrong note, under “A Minor Pentatonic in Eighth Notes” in Segment 2, and try again after those two days, before you take the checkpoint.
Play the practice-day TAB passage at 55 BPM by the routine: 30 seconds of study, one measure of count-in, once through, recorded. Check: follow the recording on the TAB and count the wrong notes. Pass: 4 measures with no stop and at most 1 wrong note. If not: read the routine again and play passage A by it once more, saying the count aloud, under “Unseen TAB” in Segment 3, and try again at the checkpoint, on a new passage: this one is no longer unseen.
On its day in the “Checkpoint items” row: strum the practice-day chart at 65 BPM by the routine: 30 seconds of study, one measure counted aloud, once through with one strum on each chord, recorded. Check: follow the recording on the chart and count the chords. Pass: 4 measures with no stop, and each of the 5 chords falls in its measure. If not: say the five chord names aloud in time with the metronome, without the guitar, then strum chart A by the routine once more, under “Unseen Chart” in Segment 3, and try again at the checkpoint, on a new chart: this one is no longer unseen.
Shuffle your pile of theory cards, draw ten, and answer each aloud before you turn it over. Check: turn each card over and read the answer on its back. Pass: 8 of 10 cards. If not: read aloud the backs of the cards you missed, once a day, under “Cards and the Triplet Count” in Segment 3, and try again after two days, before you take the checkpoint.
By the end of this week’s practice: pass the change test (Beginner Session 3) for C and G7, a new chord every 2 beats at 75 BPM, and for D and Bm (four strings), a new chord every 4 beats at 80 BPM. Check: the metronome clicks the beat; each chord lands on its click with every string that should sound ringing. Pass: all 8 chords, twice on the same day, for each of the 2 pairs. If not: take the pair that failed 10 BPM lower and climb back 5 BPM at a time, under “Warm-Up” in Segment 1, and try again the next day, before you take the checkpoint.

Practice Plan for Week 24 (each practice day, 35 minutes)

Notes on the rows:

The “Warm-Up” row: on the last two practice days of the week, end it with eight measures of D D U U D U on known chords, at 85 BPM on the first of the two days and at 90 BPM on the second, as the Phase 4 checkpoint asks.
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. One of them a day, in turn.
The “Staff reading” row: read one line a day from the section “Lines for Week 24” of Reading Staff Notation 2.
The “Programme” row: sections on four days and one recorded take on the last, and once in the week, on one of the first four days, the Shuffle Blues with a chorus of your own over your recording, which answers Self-Check Question 2; of its 11 minutes at most 4 a day are the Slur Study, which is the day’s slur work.
The “Scale ladder” row: the pentatonic starts from 40 BPM in eighth notes and the blues scale from 70 BPM in quarter notes.
The “Checkpoint items” row: one kind a day, in the order of “The Checkpoint, Item by Item” in Segment 3. Self-Check Question 4 is answered on the first day, from passage B, and question 5 on the third day, from chart B; for question 6, on the fourth day draw ten theory cards in place of five theory cards and five note-name cards.

Block	Time	Activity
Warm-Up	4 min	Movement warm-up, tune; then C-G7 at 2 beats and D-Bm at 4 beats, eight chords each; 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
Programme	11 min	Shuffle Blues in A and the Slur Study, each alone as written, one of the two from memory: sections on four days, one recorded take on the last; and, for E27, the Shuffle Blues in A once with one chorus of your own over your recorded backing
Scale ladder	4 min	A minor pentatonic at fret 5 in eighth notes; the blues scale in quarter notes
Sixteenth-note strum	3 min	the plain pattern at 50 with the metronome clicking the beat, on any two chords
Checkpoint items	3 min	one of these a day: unseen TAB at 55; an unseen chart at 65; four unseen staff measures at 50; five theory cards and five note-name cards; the clapped triplet count, 1 trip let, for four measures. (Tests 3, 5 and 7 are recorded after this session and marked at the checkpoint.)

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: “Programme”, 5 minutes. Total: 5 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 “Barre presses” (14 minutes). Sitting 2 is the rows from “Programme” to “Checkpoint items” (21 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: take the Phase 4 Checkpoint next, on another day, before you start Session 25.

Any no: take the Phase 4 checkpoint all the same: its own rule decides what happens next.

Guitar Tip — Saga SF-600C-BK

Before the take of your last practice day, tune the Saga again, string by string. Then set the phone where you will leave it for the take, record about 30 seconds of each piece, and play the recording back. The two pieces are not played the same way: the Shuffle Blues is strummed, and the Slur Study is single notes, some of them slurred. If the single notes of the Slur Study are hard to hear on the playback beside the strummed shuffle, move the phone and record the 30 seconds once more. These short recordings are not the take, and they are played inside the “Programme” row. Then leave the phone where it is until the last note of the second piece.

After the session (not part of the 50 minutes)

Read: Phase 4 Checkpoint, the section “How to Use This Checkpoint”. (10 minutes)
Record: the recordings for the Phase 4 checkpoint. Take a 5-minute break before you record. Use the recorded card test (Session 2), but do not mark them this week: you mark them when you take that checkpoint, at least one day later. Test 3, play it back; Test 5, rhythm recall; and Test 7, straight or swung, as Segment 3 gives them. (10 minutes)
Optional: Performing A Programme, the sections “Recording One Take” and “Playing from Memory”. (10 minutes)