Progress

Rated 2026-09-21 · target 31 Dec 2026 · 101 days left · now: Clean hands (weeks 1–2)

The four that fix the gig

Lead lines hit other strings, fingers slow, guitar unheard. Not a theory problem. These four nodes are the whole job until they’re at 3.

5. Muting: clean single notes at gain1 → 3
gate: One note, drive patch, nothing else rings, recorded
6. Alternate picking to a metronome1 → 3
gate: Frets 1–12 one string, 60 BPM × 4, clean; then +5
7. Triads up the neck (top 3 / middle 3 strings)0 → 3
gate: Verse on open chords, chorus on triads up the neck, same song
8. Dynamics 30 / 60 / 100 from the hands0 → 3
gate: Same 8 bars at three levels, recorded, a listener can tell

Scale

  1. never tried
  2. tried, can't
  3. slow, alone
  4. in a song at tempo
  5. on stage, no thought

All twenty

1. Open chords, changes4 → 4
—
2. Bar chords without cramp2 → 3
Full song in B or F#, no cramp, thumb behind the neck
3. Fretboard: E and A strings3 → 4
Any natural note in under 3 s, no counting
4. Fretboard: all strings via octave shapes0 → 2
Any note, 5 places, under 5 s
5. Muting: clean single notes at gain1 → 3
One note, drive patch, nothing else rings, recorded
6. Alternate picking to a metronome1 → 3
Frets 1–12 one string, 60 BPM × 4, clean; then +5
7. Triads up the neck (top 3 / middle 3 strings)0 → 3
Verse on open chords, chorus on triads up the neck, same song
8. Dynamics 30 / 60 / 100 from the hands0 → 3
Same 8 bars at three levels, recorded, a listener can tell
9. Minor pentatonic pos 1, named and rooted2 → 3
Play it in G, E, C, F from the root, naming notes aloud
10. Minor pentatonic pos 2, joined to pos 10 → 2
Slide 1 → 2 → 1 over a loop without stopping
11. Bends in tune1 → 2
Whole-step bend matches the fretted target 10 of 10
12. Vibrato, controlled0 → 2
Slow and wide, starts after the note speaks
13. Volume swells with the pinky0 → 2
Swell into a held note on the ambient patch, attack gone
14. Dotted-eighth delay: play less0 → 2
4 bars, delay on, half the notes, no mud
15. Nashville numbers0 → 3
Transpose a chart G → E on the spot
16. Recovery: play through mistakes, no chart3 → 3
Full song standing, no chart, no stop
17. Record one song a week0 → 4
One recording a week in the log
18. Major scale / G hexatonic0 → 1
After pentatonic
19. Modes by ear (Mixolydian, Dorian)0 → 0
After the major scale, 2027
20. Build my own HX Stomp patch0 → 0
Parked

Bar: faint = where I started, gold = now, tick = goal for 31 Dec.

Phases

WeeksPhaseNodesResult the band hears
1–2Clean hands5, 6, 17A lead line that hits only the note
3–6Build energy7, 8, 2Chorus on triads up the neck, verse quiet
7–10Lead voice9, 10, 11, 12One clean fill with one in-tune bend at the peak
11–13Texture13, 14, 15A swell under a quiet moment; transpose on the spot
14Prove it16One full song recorded standing, no chart

Why this order

  • 5 and 6 first. The lead lines fail because other strings ring and the picking is uneven. Two weeks of muting and metronome picking and the same lines come out clean.
  • 7 and 8 next. Same notes on different strings, and dynamics from the hands. The fastest way for an electric to get heard without playing more.
  • 9 to 12 after. One pentatonic box rooted properly, then bends. A clean fill with one in-tune bend beats a fast sloppy run.
  • 13 and 14 late. Swells and delay need muting and dynamics under them.
  • 15 anytime. Nashville numbers are five minutes a day reading a chart as numbers. No guitar needed.
  • 18 and 19 after 31 Dec. Scale theory stacked on a shaky pentatonic is the classic mistake.