Solo exercises

A minor pentatonic at fret 5: index on 5, ring on 7, pinky on 8. Squares are A, the root. These are gym-length box-1 cards; phrasing expands on Solo drills. Scale and mode maps live on Scales and Modes.

Technique path: Drills · Exercises · this page

Each card has pedagogy, TAB (high e on top — see Foundations · TAB), and Play. One model at a time; Play becomes Stop. Tempo follows the metronome.

Sources (two-check): conventional minor-pentatonic box-1 shapes · Berklee-style sequencing (pairs, cells, rests). Jazz and CAGED stay out of this gym.

Suggested order

  1. Box 1 up/down.
  2. In pairs.
  3. Three-note cell with a rest.
  4. Hammer / pull cell.
  5. Half-step bend model.
  6. Am triad arpeggio.
  7. Lead box variants — any root × the variant list.

Beginner

Box 1 up and down, one note per click. Last note as clean as first.

Intermediate

Pairs. Three-note cell with a rest. Hammer / pull.

Advanced

Bend model. Am arpeggio. Variants on other roots. Then Solo drills.

Lead · box 1

Same box as Rock drills · pentatonic and Solo drills · up and down. Shape systems: see Scales.

Am pentatonic box 1 up/down

One note per click, low E to high e and back. No speed. The last note of the descent must be as clean as the first note of the ascent.

e|---------------5-8-
B|-------------5-8---
G|-----------5-7-----
D|---------5-7-------
A|-------5-7---------
E|-5-8---------------

Box in pairs

Play notes 1-2, then 2-3, then 3-4, and so on up the box. Sequencing is how a scale starts sounding like music instead of an exercise.

E|-5-8-8-5-   then A 5-7, 7-5, …

Forces the picking hand to keep working while the left hand overlaps.

Three-note cell with a rest

G string 5, G string 7, B string 5 — then wait a full beat. Repeat. That silence is not a gap; it is the drill. Say the cell out loud in the rest.

e|-----------------
B|--------5--------
G|-5--7------------
D|-----------------   then a full beat rest

Deeper: Solo drills · three-note cell.

Hammer / pull cell

Pick G fret 5, hammer 7, pull back to 5. Only the first note is picked. Unpicked notes as loud as the picked one.

G|-5h7p5-|

Left-hand version lives in Exercises · hammer-on cell.

Half-step bend model

B string fret 8, ring finger with index and middle behind for support. The model plays the start note, then the target fret 9 — match the bend by ear, not by how far your hand moved.

B|-8b9-|   match fret 9

Deeper: Solo drills · half-step bend.

Am triad arpeggio

A C E across the neck at frets 5–7. Alternate pick, one note per click. Slow version of a sweep — land every note.

e|----------------5-
B|-------------5----
G|----------5-------
D|-------7----------
A|----7-------------
E|-5----------------

Deeper: Solo drills · Am arpeggio.

Lead box variants

Minor-pentatonic boxes on different roots, plus the same variant engine as Scales (pairs, thirds, sequences…). See also Modes for mode-colour walks.

Practice note

How long: 8–10 minutes. Two on box 1 even, four on one variant or cell, two on a bend or arpeggio at half tempo.

Listen for: even volume, and rests that actually rest.

Then deepen: Solo drills (economy, sweep, tapping, harmonics, four bars over a loop). Maps: Scales · Modes. When box 1 is honest but stale: Break rut. Pick path: Alternate · Economy · Sweep picking.

Exercises home Break rut Solo drills Rock exercises