Stage 6 milestone
Milestone: The Valley of Sound
Review, practical challenge and self-assessment to close the stage with everything you learned.
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Stage 6 milestone
Review, practical challenge and self-assessment to close the stage with everything you learned.
You entered the valley playing things you couldn't name. You've been down to the very bottom, to a vibrating string and air molecules, and climbed the other side with a new vocabulary: hertz and harmonics, octaves and half steps, sharps and flats, the major scale, keys, the circle of fifths and the staff. From this milestone on, everything you play has a name. Before heading on to The Barre Pass, bring all the pieces together in one challenge and lock them in with a two-week routine.
| Stop | The big idea | On your guitar |
|---|---|---|
| What is sound? | Vibration → pressure waves. = pitch, = volume, = timbre | The 12th fret splits the string in two and gives the octave; harmonics at frets 12, 7 and 5 |
| Notes and the octave | 7 letters; the = ×2; A4 = 440 Hz | Open strings E2 A2 D3 G3 B3 E4; A440 on string 1, fret 5 |
| Whole steps, half steps and accidentals | 1 fret = 1 ; E–F and B–C are neighbours; ♯ ♭ ♮; enharmonics | The chromatic scale on one string |
| Notes on the neck | Maps of strings 6 and 5; inlays; octave shapes | Finding any note in seconds |
| The major scale | W-W-H-W-W-W-H; degrees; tonic | G major in 2nd position and the movable shape |
| Keys and the circle | Key signature, order of ♯ and ♭, relatives, circle of fifths | Power chords round the circle; I-IV-V as neighbours |
| Reading the staff | Treble clef, ledger lines, guitar sounds an octave lower | First-position notes and a tune without tab |
It all connects: the octave (frequency ×2) is divided into twelve half steps (twelve frets); seven of them, chosen with the formula W-W-H-W-W-W-H, make the major scale; each scale defines a key with its key signature; and the circle of fifths orders all twelve keys.
An original piece in G major, in three levels. All of them use the same backing: G, E minor, C and D, chords you already master.
Play the tune with the tab and notation. Every note is in the G major scale you learned, with your hand in second position (finger 1 on fret 2).
Goal: play it all the way through over the backing at 80 BPM, without stopping, ending on the tonic.
Now play the root of each chord on strings 6 and 5, using your neck map. Say each note's name as you play it. If you play with someone, one takes the tune and the other the bass.
Goal: play the bass line saying "G, E, C, D…" and then find each root an octave higher with the octave shape (for example G: string 6 fret 3 → string 4 fret 5).
The same tune, written only on the staff with its G major key signature. Read it without tab. Then improvise eight bars of your own over the backing using the G major scale and ending every phrase on G.
Goal: read the tune without tab at 70 BPM and answer it with a phrase of your own that sounds "home" at the end.
Two weeks, about 25 minutes a day. Mix the blocks (interleaved practice) and repeat every day: neck memory and reading settle with many short sessions, not one long one.
One finger per fret, alternate picking. Add 5 BPM every two days.
Goal: Chromatic on strings 6 and 5, frets 0 to 12 and back, naming every note (sharps going up, flats going down).
Change the order of the list every day. On even days, add string 1 (same notes as string 6).
Scales, arpeggios & fretboardFretboard notesFind any natural note on any string in less than one bar.Goal: 12 random notes on strings 6 and 5, plus their octaves, in under 60 seconds.
Before each key, say its key signature (G: 1 ♯; A: 3 ♯; C: none; D: 2 ♯).
Goal: G major over two octaves and the movable shape in A, C and D, in eighth notes at 80 BPM.
Week 1: levels 1 and 2 of the challenge. Week 2: level 3. Say the names before playing each bar.
Goal: Read one level of the challenge, or the C major tune from the staff stop, without tab and without stopping.
Play random pairs on your guitar (or ask someone to play them) and answer without looking. Check yourself with these:
(A: octave · B: half step · C: whole step.)
Goal: Tell octave, whole step and half step apart at first hearing in 8 out of 10 tries.
Practice blocks ticked: 0 · Self-assessments taken: 0