Week 28: play it with a person

Week twenty-eight of a 32-week guitar practice path and a checkpoint: playing your second piece with somebody else, or over something you have never heard.

Week
28 of 32
Days
7
Played as
blues or rock

A metronome forgives everything and teaches you nothing about listening. The checkpoint is playing with something that will not wait for you, and there are two routes to it. Another player at any standard, or a jam night, is the better one. A backing track you have never played over is the other, and it does the whole week on its own.

What you bring is the piece you have spent the month on, and being able to name its key, its tempo and its form is what lets somebody else play it with you inside a minute. Then the order matters: whatever you found solos first, and you hold the rhythm behind it for a full chorus before you play a note of lead. Going first is the easy job. Comping first is how you find out whether the last four weeks went in.

Blues treatment

Play the second piece with somebody, or with a recording of somebody

Your choice of keyShuffle · ♩=92Not the metronome

A metronome forgives everything and teaches nothing about listening. Two routes and both of them work: another player in a room at any standard, or a jam night, is the better one. A backing track you have genuinely never heard does the whole week on its own, and the only rule is that it is unfamiliar, because one you have practised with is a metronome in a costume.

Bring the piece you have spent the month on. Naming its key, its tempo and its form is enough for somebody to play it with you inside a minute, and it is most of being easy to play with. Then let whatever you found solo first and comp behind it for a full chorus before you play a note of lead, and trade fours against it before you take a chorus of your own. Going first is the easy job; comping first is how you find out whether the last four weeks went in.

The daily session · ~26 min

  1. Warm upHands, then the piece4 min
  2. Find what you are playing withA person, or a track you have never heard5 min
  3. Comp for a whole chorusSomebody else goes first6 min
  4. Trade, then take oneYour chorus6 min
  5. Jam, and bank itCheckpoint5 min

Check yourself

Reference

Rock treatment

Play the second song with somebody, or with a recording of somebody

Your choice of keyStraight · ♩=108Not the metronome

A metronome forgives everything and teaches nothing about listening. Two routes and both of them work: another player in a room at any standard, or an open jam, is the better one. A backing track you have genuinely never played over does the whole week on its own, and the only rule is that it is unfamiliar, because one you have practised with is a metronome in a costume.

Bring the song you have spent the month on. Naming its key, its tempo and its sections is enough for somebody to play it with you inside a minute, and it is most of being someone people want to play with. Tune carefully, because under gain two guitars out of tune with each other is unlistenable. Then let whatever you found take the first lead and hold the riff behind it for a full section before you play a note of your own.

The daily session · ~26 min

  1. Warm upHands, then the song4 min
  2. Find what you are playing withA person, or a track you have never heard5 min
  3. Play rhythm for a whole sectionSomebody else goes first6 min
  4. Trade, then take oneYour section6 min
  5. Jam, 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 28 means the same thing in both.

Start today's sessionSee the whole path