Week 20: at tempo, and perform it

Week twenty of a 32-week guitar practice path and a checkpoint: finding the tempo the piece lives at, then playing it for someone without stopping.

Week
20 of 32
Days
7
Played as
blues or rock

First the tempo. Up four at a time, and back off eight the moment anything smears: your real tempo is the fastest one at which the hard bar is still clean, not the fastest one you can scramble through. Above it you are not building speed, you are rehearsing a fast mistake.

Then playing alone and playing for someone are different skills, and only one of them is the reason anybody learns a piece. One take, no stopping, whatever happens. Listen back once and write down exactly one thing that worked and one thing to fix — a list of twelve faults is a list you will ignore. Fix the one thing, take it again, and stop at two: second takes beat first takes and fourth takes rarely beat second ones.

Blues treatment

Find the tempo the piece lives at, then play it for someone without stopping

Your choice of keyShuffle · ♩=96At tempo, for someone

Find the tempo first. Move the click up four, play the section that holds the hard bar, and go up again if it survives; the moment anything smears, drop back eight. Your real tempo is the fastest one at which the hard bar is still clean, not the fastest one you can get through, and above it you are rehearsing a fast mistake rather than building speed.

Then playing alone and playing for someone are different skills, and only the second one is why anybody learns a piece. Record it, or get a person in the room, and finish whatever happens. Listen back once and write down one thing that worked and one thing to fix — only one of each, because a list of twelve faults is a list you will ignore. Fix that one thing the way week 19 taught you, take it again, and stop at two.

The daily session · ~25 min

  1. Warm upEverything you need, once4 min
  2. Find the tempo it lives atFour at a time5 min
  3. One take, no stoppingAs if it counts5 min
  4. Listen back, then fix one thingOne of each, then work6 min
  5. Jam, take two, and bank itCheckpoint5 min

Check yourself

Reference

Rock treatment

Find the tempo the song lives at, then play it for someone without stopping

Your choice of keyStraight · ♩=112At tempo, for someone

Find the tempo first. Click up four, play the section that holds the hard bar, and go up again if it survives; the moment anything smears, back off eight. Your real tempo is the fastest one at which the hard bar is still clean, not the fastest you can scramble through, and above it you are rehearsing a fast mistake rather than building speed.

Then playing alone and playing for someone are different skills, and only the second is why anybody learns a song. Record it or get a person in the room, and finish whatever happens — the nerves are the point rather than the obstacle. Listen back once and note one thing that worked and one thing to fix, only one of each. Fix that one thing the way week 19 taught you, take it again, and stop at two.

The daily session · ~25 min

  1. Warm upEverything you need, once4 min
  2. Find the tempo it lives atFour at a time5 min
  3. One take, no stoppingAs if it counts5 min
  4. Listen back, then fix one thingOne of each, then work6 min
  5. Jam, take two, and bank itCheckpoint5 min

Check yourself

Reference

How the week runs

Whichever accent you pick, the material stays the same for all 7 days and the tempo and intent move. Day one takes it slowly, day two chases clean notes, day three brings it to target tempo and into the jam, day four pushes past comfortable, and day five drops back to tempo to record and listen. Days six and seven are yours.

You can switch accent any day without losing your place — it is the same week either way, so week 20 means the same thing in both.

Start today's sessionSee the whole path