Licks

Blues licks

• The ♭3 bend week 2Push the ♭3 up toward the major 3rd and resolve to the root — the sound people mean when they say blues.
• The descending answer week 3A box 1 descending run that answers a call and lands on the root — the most useful blues lick there is.
• Target the 3rd over the IV week 5A phrase that lands on F♯ as the D7 arrives, so a listener can hear you following the changes.
• The double-stop shuffle week 6Two notes at once out of box 1, the way a single guitar covers both the comp and the fill.
• The turnaround week 8The descending figure over the last two bars that pulls the form back round to the top.

Rock licks

• The whole-step bend week 2A full-tone bend on the B string with hard vibrato at the top — the rock exclamation point.
• The legato run week 3Hammer-ons and pull-offs across box 1 so the line pours rather than being struck.
• Fifths and the low riff week 4Stacked fifths on the bottom strings — the two-note shape that carries a riff under distortion.
• The sequence in fours week 6Box 1 run in groups of four for the mechanical, relentless motion rock lead is built on.
• The unison bend week 8Two strings bent to one screaming pitch — pure pitch accuracy, and unforgiving when it is off.

Capstone solos

Composed pieces assembled from the licks above — fixed, memorised and repeatable. Improvisation is not demonstrable; these are the thing you can actually play for someone.

• First chorus: four bars in AA four-bar blues phrase using only week 1-4 material: box 1, one bend, and silence where it belongs.
• First riff: four bars over the Am vampA four-bar rock phrase from week 1-4 material: box 1, palm-muted fifths, and one bend.
• Eight-bar chorus: call, answer, turnaroundEight bars of blues in A using week 1-8 material: double stops, a target 3rd over the IV, and a turnaround to finish.
• Eight bars over the Am vampEight bars of rock lead from week 1-8 material: legato, a sequence, a unison bend and a resolution.
• Signature solo: 12-bar blues in AA composed 12-bar blues solo in A: opens low and simple, targets the 3rd over the IV, peaks on a whole-step bend, and resolves through a turnaround.
• Signature solo: Am rock vampA composed eight-bar rock solo over the Am–G–F–G vamp: a singable hook, the ♭6 over the F, a legato build and one bent peak.