Lead box 1 to a phrase
The lead gym: box 1, articulations, phrasing, arpeggios and the motions that colour a line. A lead line is still not a fast line — it is a short idea, then a rest long enough for someone to notice. The picking families, legato and tapping each have their own lesson pages; this page puts them into phrases.
Why it matters: most beginners can already play more notes than they can place. These drills work on placement first, then on how the pick and left hand get from note to note. Box 1 stays the home shape so the left hand is not a second problem. Where a drill is a shape or a picking pattern, TAB sits next to the explanation (high e on top). How to read it: Foundations · TAB.
One drill sounds at a time. Play becomes Stop on the same button. No jazz vocabulary here, and no copied licks — these are motions, and the phrases you build from them are yours.
Suggested order
- Box 1 up and down.
- Box 1 in pairs — the first bit of sequencing.
- Three-note cell with a rest.
- Hammer-on and pull-off, then the trill.
- Slide.
- Half-step bend.
- Land on the root.
- Call and response.
- The flat five, sequences of four, double-stops.
- Whole-step bend and a vamp over Am.
- Tremolo picking; for the picking families use their own pages (Alternate · Economy · Sweep).
- Arpeggios, then harmonics and octaves.
- Variants — box 1 on any root.
- First pieces — solo over a loop, no copied licks.
The box
A minor pentatonic at fret 5: index on 5, ring on 7, pinky on 8. Squares are A, the root. Same shape you met on Rock drills.
e|---------------5-8-| B|-------------5-8---| G|-----------5-7-----| D|---------5-7-------| A|-------5-7---------| E|-5-8---------------|
1 · Up and down
One note per click, low E to high e and back. No speed. The only goal is that the last note of the descent is 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---------------------
2 · 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 — and it forces the picking hand to keep working while the left hand overlaps.
E|-5-8-8-5- then A 5-7, 7-5, …
Articulations
Four ways to get from one note to the next without picking twice. Every lead line you like is mostly these.
3 · 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 in the drill; it is the drill. Say the cell out loud in the rest.
e|----------------- B|--------5-------- G|-5--7------------ D|----------------- then a full beat rest A|----------------- E|-----------------
4 · Hammer-on and pull-off
Pick the G string at fret 5, then hammer the ring finger onto 7 — hard and straight down, no pick. Pull off by flicking the ring finger sideways off the string while the index still holds fret 5. Only the first note is picked.
G|-5h7p5-| pick, hammer, pull
5 · Trill to the click
The same hammer-pull, four per click, on one pick attack per beat. Left-hand strength, and the first thing that sounds like a real solo. Keep the index anchored.
G|-5h7p5h7p5h7p5-| one pick per beat
6 · Slide
Pick fret 5 on the G string and slide to 7 without lifting the finger or re-picking. Then the other direction, 7 back to 5. Keep the pressure constant — most slides die halfway because the hand relaxes.
G|-5/7-| then |-7\5-|
7 · Half-step bend
B string fret 8, ring finger, with index and middle behind it for support. Pick, then push the string toward the ceiling until the pitch matches fret 9. The model plays the start note, then the target — match it by ear, not by how far your hand moved.
B|-8b9-| match fret 9
Wide bends (a whole step and beyond) live under Past the box.
Phrasing
8 · Land on the root
Run four notes of the box and stop on an A — low E fret 5, D string fret 7, or high e fret 5. Ending on the root is why a phrase sounds finished. Try the same four notes ending somewhere else and hear the difference.
e|-5------- A B|--------- G|--------- D|----7---- A A|--------- E|-------5- A
9 · Call and response
The model plays two bars, then leaves two bars for you. Answer with something similar but not identical — same rhythm, different ending note is a good first answer. Keep the metronome running through your turn.
| model | model | you | you |
Past the box
10 · The flat five
A minor pentatonic plus E♭ — the blues note. In box 1 that is G-string fret 8 (or D-string fret 6). Use it as a passing tone, then resolve to D or E. Not a jazz altered scale.
e|----------------- B|----------------- G|-5--8--7--------- A Eb D D|----------------- A|----------------- E|-----------------
11 · Sequences of four
Notes 1–2–3–4, then 2–3–4–5, up the box. Heavier sequencing than pairs. Still one shape; the ear starts to hear groups instead of a ladder.
E|-5-8-5-7-| then shift the four-note window
12 · Double-stops
Two strings at once — G and B at fret 5, then 7 and 8. Fourths and a pentatonic dyad. Hold them; they are the start of a rhythm-lead fill, not a chord.
e|-------- B|-5----8- G|-5----7- D|-------- A|-------- E|--------
13 · Whole-step bend
B string fret 8 bent to match fret 10 (A to B). Same support fingers as the half-step. The model plays start, then target. Do not go past it.
B|-8b10-| match fret 10
14 · Target the chord tone
Four notes of the box, then land on a tone of Am, G, or Em in turn. The last note is the sentence. Same idea as drill 8, now moving with a three-chord map.
land A (Am) · G (G) · E (Em)
Picking
The pick is a percussion instrument. The picking families are taught on their own pages; what stays here is the one lead motion none of them covers.
The picking families have their own pages
Alternate, economy, sweep and hybrid picking are each a full lesson ladder with TAB, a neck and Play on every step. Use one of them as today’s picking slot, then come back here and put the motion into a phrase.
- Alternate — down-up, outside and inside, up to 4NPS.
- Economy — one stroke across a string change.
- Sweep — one motion through a triad shape.
- Hybrid — pick plus middle and ring fingers.
- String skipping — Alternate, lesson 9.
16 · Tremolo picking
Alternate sixteenths on one pitch (G fret 5). Not a metal chug — the note rings, the pick is small. Add bpm only when a full minute is even.
G|-5-5-5-5-5-5-5-5- ↓↑ ringing
Arpeggios
An arpeggio is a chord played one note at a time — the same idea as classical pima, now with a pick. These are triads in the box-1 neighbourhood, not a CAGED course.
17 · A minor triad, picked
A C E across the neck at fret 5–7. Alternate pick, one note per click, then eighths. This is the slow version of the sweep above.
e|----------------5- B|-------------5---- G|----------5------- D|-------7---------- A|----7------------- E|-5---------------- A E A C E A
18 · C and Em triads
Same neighbourhood. C: C E G. Em: E G B. Play them as slowly as Am. When a backing chord changes, land on a tone of that triad — drill 14 with names.
C Em e|-------------8- e|-------------7- B|----------5---- B|----------8---- G|-------5------- G|-------4------- D|----5---------- D|----5---------- A|-3------------- A|-7------------- E|---------------
19 · Arpeggio sequence Am–C–Em
One triad per bar, eighths. The left hand shifts a little; the right hand does not panic. This is how arpeggios become music instead of a shape exam.
| Am arp | C arp | Em arp | Em arp |
More technique
Legato and tapping
Both are left-hand (and tapping-hand) motions with their own lesson ladders. Learn them there; use them here inside a box-1 phrase.
20 · Palm-muted lead
Same as rock mute, on a single-note line. G 5–7–5–7, short. Staccato lead, not a chord chug. Release the palm on the last note so it sings.
G|-5-7-5-7-| P.M. then last note open
21 · Natural harmonics
Touch the string lightly over the fretwire (do not press to the fretboard), pick, then lift. Twelfth fret is the octave; seventh is a fifth above that; fifth is two octaves. High e: 12, 7, 5. The model plays the sounding pitches — your hand supplies the harmonic trick.
e|-<12>--<7>--<5>- harmonics
22 · Unison bend
High e fret 8 rings A. B string fret 8 bends up to A (fret 10). Two strings, one pitch. The unbent note is the target the bend must match.
e|-8------ B|-8b10--- both sound A G|-------- D|-------- A|-------- E|--------
23 · Bend and release · pre-bend
Bend and release: pick, bend to the target, come back without picking again. Pre-bend: bend first, then pick, then release — the note starts already high. Two different sentences.
B|-8b10r8-| then |-(b10)8r8-| pre-bend
24 · Octaves
Root and the same letter an octave higher: A on low E fret 5 with A on D-string fret 7. Mute the A string in between. Move the shape — two notes, one letter.
e|--- B|--- G|--- D|-7- A|-x- E|-5- A + A
25 · Pedal tone
High e fret 5 (A) repeats while the G string moves 5–7–5–8. The repeated A is the drone; the moving notes are the line. Classical independence with a pick.
e|-5---5---5---5--- B|----------------- G|---5---7---5---8- D|----------------- A|----------------- E|-----------------
26 · Crosspicking
Repeating three adjacent strings, usually D–G–B, with a rolling pick. Country and mandolin colour. Pattern: D5, G5, B5, G5. Not a strum — one string at a time.
e|---------------- B|--------5-----5- G|-----5-----5---- D|-5-------------- A|---------------- E|----------------
27 · Chromatic approach
Walk into a chord tone from a fret below (or above). G 4–5, then G 6–5, landing on A (G-string fret 5 is C actually — use G 7 as D, approach 6–7). Approach D: fret 6 then 7. Generic Berklee-style approach, not a jazz enclosure study.
G|-6-7-| then |-8-7-| into D
First pieces
A first solo is four bars over a loop you already know, not a transcribed famous solo. We do not print Comfortably Numb, Sunshine of Your Love, or any other recorded line. The backing is on Play along; the notes are yours.
How to start
- Pick a loop. Hum a two-bar idea before you touch the guitar.
- Play that idea in box 1. End on the root or the chord tone of the bar.
- Leave two bars empty. Repeat. That is a piece.
Backing maps (titles only)
| Recognition | What to play over |
|---|---|
| Minor-key ballads · many slow rock outros | Em–C–G–D · Am folk |
| 12-bar rock and roll / blues-rock solos | 12-bar blues · box 1 + flat five |
| Four-chord radio tunes (play fills, not the vocal) | Four-chord song — land on G, D, Em, or C |
| Hard-rock E–A–B vamps | E–A–B7 · box 1 moved is later; stay in A or use open E pentatonic ideas from the same shape at fret 0 / 12 later |
If you can sing a famous solo, do not tab it here. Steal the shape of the phrase (short, rest, land) and put new notes under it.
Variants — any root, any sequence
Box 1 moved to any root and played through the same sequence engine as Scales: pairs, thirds, groups of four.
Practice note
How long: 12 minutes. Two on the box, four on one picking family or articulation, four on call-and-response or an arpeggio, then one first-piece chorus. Do not stack sweep, tap, and tremolo in the same sitting.
Listen for: the hammered and pulled notes being as loud as the picked ones, and bends arriving in tune and on time rather than sliding up late.
Common mistake: never resting. If you cannot hum what you just played, it was too many notes. Play half as many and hold the last one.