Practice Routine and Grade 4 Consolidation

Welcome to the consolidation point: Level 6 corresponds to Grade 4 in the traditional UK grading system. (Quick map: the beginners course splits grades zero to two across its levels, and this intermediate course covers grades three, four and five — three levels per grade, which is why Level 6 lands on Grade 4.) This lesson is the full audit: every scale, chord type, rhythm skill and technique you should be able to demonstrate at this point, all listed below with links back to the lesson where each was covered. Then we turn it into a practice plan — one that starts with an assessment of where you're weakest, because consolidation is exactly the wrong time to only practise what you're already good at.

How the levels map to grades

The Beginners Course spreads grades zero, one and two across nine levels — with level zero as a gentle introductory grade so total beginners aren't overwhelmed. This Intermediate course covers grades three, four and five, again three levels per grade. So completing Level 6 means consolidating Grade 4: Solid Intermediate Rhythm Guitar, Solid Intermediate Lead Guitar, and — the real test — putting both together at once. Anything unfamiliar below has a direct route to revision.

The scales checklist

E Minor Pentatonic Superhighway:

E Minor Pentatonic Superhighway for Riffs and Rhythm

E Minor Pentatonic Superhighway Continued - The Hendrix Roadmap

E Minor Pentatonic Superhighway - Full to The 15th Fret

A Minor Pentatonic + Extensions:

A Minor Pentatonic Extensions

A Minor Pentatonic - 3 Note Pattern

A Minor Pentatonic Superhighway

Major Pentatonic

Major Pentatonic Shape 5 - 2 Octaves and Extensions

Blues Scale

The Blues Scale (think Sunshine of Your Love)

Major Scale

Major Scale Position 1

Major Scale Intervals

Major Scale Position 1: 3 Note Pattern

Natural Minor (Aeolian)

Natural Minor Scale Shape 1 (Aeolian Mode)

Natural Minor Scale (Aeolian Mode)

Natural Minor vs Harmonic Minor vs Melodic Minor (finally explained properly)

Dorian mode

The hybrid sound in this level's legato licks.

Finger Gym 6: Three Steps to Super Lead Legato Speed

Harmonic minor

Introduced at the last level, and it's the "vibe" behind lick 3 in this level's Finger Gym.

Natural Minor vs Harmonic Minor vs Melodic Minor (finally explained properly)

We'll look more at this from Grade 5 (Level 7)onwards.

Mixolydian, the full modes and the five scale positions

Grade 5 territory. If you've heard these terms and worried, don't, we'll go over them in the coming levels!

The chords checklist

Major sevenths

Dominant sevenths — covered through song work; your Smiths material is the reference point

Triads and partial chords in C, D, G and A

Why You NEED to Learn Triads

String 1–3 Triads in C Major

String 1–3 Triads in D Major

String 1–3 Triads in G and A Major

Barre chord foundations

Barre Chords: Index Finger and Hendrix Method

Root 6 and Root 5 Barre Chords: Major and Minor

Double stops

That classic Hendrix flavour found in songs like Hey Joe and The Who songs like My Generation and Substitute.

Rhythm and technique

16th-note grooves — Rhythm Subdivision: 16ths Jam Track

Syncopated grooves

The Charleston Rhythm aka the Can't Buy Me Love Beat

The Clave Rhythm: The Gateway to Syncopated Lead and Rhythm Patterns

Tresillo Rhythm - aka 'The Shape of You' Beat

Triplet shuffles

Faster alternate picking

Picking Hand Warmup: Alternate Picking 1

Jam Track: Alternate Picking

Bends in tune

String Bending (whole & ½ step)

What Is Intonation? AKA (why your bends still sound bad)

Hammer-on / flick-off vocabulary

Finger Gym 1 - Two Finger Hammer-On Combinations

Finger Gym 2 - Finger Flick-off Combinations

Finger Gym 3: 2 Finger Flick Off / Pull Off Focus

Finger Gym 6: Three Steps to Super Lead Legato Speed

Vibrato control

Basic Vibrato

Slides

Slides - Rockin' In A Jam Track

String skipping and prebends

None of this is new at Level 6. What's new is being asked to prove all of it.

Building the routine

Use the routine model from Level 5, Lesson 12: Practice Routine as your frame, but this level demands honest self-assessment: look at the whole checklist above, find your weakest areas, and weight your time towards them — consolidation is exactly the wrong time to only practise what you're already good at. Two fixed points stay in place.

X's up the fretboard remains the number one warm-up, and the legato flick-off combos from Three Steps to Super Lead Legato Speed deserve the biggest single share of your practice time, because they're the slowest skill to build.

Keep the triad shapes ticking over too: they're the doorway to the CAGED system and the Dire Straits, Stevie Ray Vaughan, Hendrix and John Mayer material coming later in the course. And use the jam tracks as your measuring stick — they're where improvisation starts, and they'll tell you the truth about where you're at.

Good luck and have fun!