# Learn Guitar — Lead > Interactive page: [`drills-solo.html`](drills-solo.html) · Hands: [`drills.md`](drills.md) The lead gym: box 1, articulations, phrasing, arpeggios and the motions that colour a line. A lead line is still not a fast line — a short idea, then a rest. 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. Placement first, then *how* the pick and left hand travel. Box 1 stays home 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](foundations.md). On the HTML page, Play becomes Stop on the same button. ## Suggested order 1. Box 1 up and down 2. Box 1 in pairs 3. Three-note cell with a rest 4. Hammer-on and pull-off, then the trill 5. Slide 6. Half-step bend 7. Land on the root 8. Call and response 9. The flat five, sequences of four, double-stops 10. Whole-step bend and a vamp over Am 11. Tremolo picking; for the picking families use their own pages ([Alternate](alternate.md) · [Economy](economy.md) · [Sweep](sweep.md)) 12. Arpeggios, then harmonics and octaves 13. Variants — box 1 on any root 14. 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 as [Rock drills](drills-rock.md). ``` 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. The last note of the descent should be as clean as the first of the ascent. **2 · In pairs** — notes 1-2, 2-3, 3-4 up the box. Sequencing is how a scale starts sounding like music. Then try threes. ## Articulations **3 · Three-note cell with a rest** — G string 5, G string 7, B string 5, then wait a full beat. The silence *is* the drill. ``` B|--------5-------- G|-5--7------------ ``` **4 · Hammer-on and pull-off** — pick G string 5, hammer the ring finger onto 7, then flick it sideways off the string while the index holds 5. Only the first note is picked. ``` G|-5h7p5-| ``` **5 · Trill to the click** — the same hammer-pull, four per click, one pick attack per beat. Keep the index anchored. ``` G|-5h7p5h7p5h7p5-| ``` **6 · Slide** — pick G string 5, slide to 7 without lifting or re-picking. Then 7 back to 5. Constant pressure — most slides die halfway because the hand relaxes. ``` G|-5/7-| then |-7\5-| ``` **7 · Half-step bend** — B string fret 8, ring finger, index and middle behind it. Push until the pitch matches fret 9. Match it by ear, not by how far the hand moved. Wide bends come later. ``` B|-8b9-| ``` ## Phrasing **8 · Land on the root** — four notes of the box, stopping on an **A** (low E 5, D string 7, or high e 5). Ending on the root is why a phrase sounds finished; try ending elsewhere and hear the difference. **9 · Call and response** — the model plays two bars, then leaves two bars for you. Same rhythm, different ending note is a good first answer. Keep the metronome running through your turn. ## Past the box **10 · The flat five** — A minor pentatonic plus E♭ (G-string fret 8). Passing tone, then resolve to D or E. ``` G|-5--8--7-------- A Eb D ``` **11 · Sequences of four** — 1–2–3–4, then 2–3–4–5, up the box. **12 · Double-stops** — G and B together at fret 5, then 7 and 8. ``` B|-5----8- G|-5----7- ``` **13 · Whole-step bend** — B string fret 8 bent to match fret 10. ``` B|-8b10-| ``` **14 · Target the chord tone** — four notes, then land on a tone of Am, G, or Em. **15 · Vamp over Am** — two bars of Am, two bars for you. Twins: [Am folk](songs.md), [Em–C–G–D](songs.md), [12-bar](songs.md). ## Picking These are short family seeds — pick one per session. The full lesson + lab for each motion is [Alternate](alternate.md), [Economy](economy.md), and [Sweep](sweep.md). Open-string alternate also lives on [Drills home](drills.md). **16 · Tremolo picking** — alternate sixteenths on one pitch. ``` G|-5-5-5-5-5-5-5-5- ``` ## Arpeggios Triads in the box-1 neighbourhood — not a CAGED course. Same idea as [classical pima](drills-classical.md), with a pick. **17 · A minor triad, picked** — A C E, alternate, then eighths. Slow version of the sweep. ``` e|----------------5- B|-------------5---- G|----------5------- D|-------7---------- A|----7------------- E|-5---------------- ``` **18 · C and Em triads** — same neighbourhood. ``` C Em e|-------------8- e|-------------7- B|----------5---- B|----------8---- G|-------5------- G|-------4------- D|----5---------- D|----5---------- A|-3------------- A|-7------------- ``` **19 · Arpeggio sequence Am–C–Em** — one triad per bar. ## More technique **Legato and tapping** have their own lesson ladders: [Legato](legato.md) (hammer, pull, trill, then runs across strings) · [Tapping](tapping.md) (one tapped note, the classic cell, then moving shapes). Learn them there; use them here inside a box-1 phrase. **20 · Palm-muted lead** — staccato single notes, last note open. ``` G|-5-7-5-7-| ``` **21 · Natural harmonics** — touch over the fretwire at 12, 7, and 5. Model plays sounding pitches. ``` e|-<12>--<7>--<5>- ``` **22 · Unison bend** — e 8 rings A; B 8 bends to A. ``` e|-8------ B|-8b10--- ``` **23 · Bend and release · pre-bend** — pick-bend-release vs bend-then-pick-then-release. ``` B|-8b10r8-| ``` **24 · Octaves** — A at E-string 5 with A at D-string 7. Mute the string in between. ``` D|-7- A|-x- E|-5- ``` **25 · Pedal tone** — high A repeats while G-string notes move. ``` e|-5---5---5---5- G|---5---7---5---8- ``` **26 · Crosspicking** — roll D–G–B–G, one string at a time. ``` B|--------5-----5- G|-----5-----5---- D|-5-------------- ``` **27 · Chromatic approach** — a fret below or above, then the chord tone. ``` G|-6-7-| ``` ## 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. - **Beginner** — three-note cell + rest over [Am folk](songs.md). Land on A. - **Intermediate** — call and response over [Em–C–G–D](songs.md). One bend per chorus. - **Advanced** — [12-bar blues](songs.md): one idea per four bars, one new technique from Picking or Arpeggios, rest on the turnaround. **Backing maps (titles only):** minor-key ballads → [minor](songs.md) · [Am folk](songs.md) · 12-bar rock and roll → [blues](songs.md) · four-chord radio fills → [four-chord](songs.md) · E–A–B vamps → [E–A–B7](songs.md). If you can sing a famous solo, 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 start fret, played through the same sequence engine as [Scales](scales.md): up and down, 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:** hammered and pulled notes as loud as the picked ones; bends arriving in tune and on time. **Common mistake:** never resting. If you cannot hum what you just played, it was too many notes.