Stage 9 milestone
Milestone: The Peaks of Expression
Review, practical challenge and self-assessment to close the stage with everything you learned.
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Stage 9 milestone
Review, practical challenge and self-assessment to close the stage with everything you learned.
You have climbed to the peaks of expression. When this stage began your solos were correct: scale notes, in order, without mistakes. Now they have a voice: bends that land exactly on pitch, vibrato that breathes in time, double stops, two pentatonic colours, a well-measured blue note and, above all, phrases that know where they're going. From up here you can see the road behind you; before heading down into the next valley, you'll put it all together in a complete blues solo.
| Stop | The essentials | In the challenge you'll use it for… |
|---|---|---|
| Bending in tune | Half and whole steps up to the target; , , | The notes that "sing" and the bent landing on G♯ |
| Vibrato and double stops | Even, in-time ; thirds, fourths and sixths | Bringing long notes to life and adding weight to bars 1, 2 and 7 |
| The major pentatonic | Same shape three frets lower; major over the I, minor over the IV | The sweet colour over A7 and the ♭3 to 3 move |
| The blues scale | ♭5 as a passing note; quarter tone on the ♭3 | The chromatic drags in bars 4 and 8 |
| Phrasing and target notes | Thirds on beat 1 of every change; call, response, silence | The structure of the whole solo |
An original 12-bar solo over a shuffle blues in A, in three levels. All three share the same skeleton: they land on C♯, F♯ and G♯ at the changes. Pick the level you can play cleanly in time; once you master it, move up.
Few notes, all with intent: in-tune bends, vibrato and the thirds in place. Top priority: intonation and in-time vibrato.
Add double stops at the start, the major colour over A7, the passing ♭5 in bar 4 and a half-step bend with release over the V.
More rhythmic density without losing the skeleton: triplets with the ♭5, a unison with release, the low lick with the blue note and the triplet closing run in bar 11.
Two weeks, 20 to 25 minutes a day. Each session mixes a bit of everything (interleaved practice sticks better than drilling one topic), and each day you raise the standard, not the amount.
| Days | Warm-up (5 min) | Technique (8 min) | Music (8–12 min) |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1–3 | Bends against the drone | Rhythmic vibrato at two waves per beat | Challenge, level 1 |
| 4–6 | Unisons and pre-bends | Double stops in thirds and sixths | Challenge level 1 from memory; level 2, bars 1–4 |
| 7–10 | Major and minor pentatonic over the drone | Paths of the ♭5 | Challenge, full level 2 |
| 11–14 | Line of thirds over the backing | Closing lick and landings | Level 3 in blocks and free improvisation |
Alternate the fretted target and the bend: 3rd string fret 7 (whole step), 2nd string fret 8 (whole and half step), 1st string fret 8 (whole step). Finish each bend with two beats of in-time vibrato.
Goal: Eight bends in a row (four whole steps, four half steps) with no audible beating against the drone.
Four minutes of rhythmic vibrato (two waves per beat, then three) and four minutes of double stops over the backing. Raise the metronome five BPM every two days if everything is clean.
Goal: Even vibrato at two waves per beat with fingers 1 and 3, and the three blues double stops (A7, D7, E7) changing right on beat 1.
Play the challenge at your level. Then, without the tab, improvise a chorus of your own with this mental checklist: two-bar phrases, silence between them, at most one blue note per phrase and a landing on the third in bars 5, 9 and 11.
Goal: Play your level of the challenge for two choruses in a row with the backing, then improvise a chorus that lands on all three thirds.
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