Repertoire · Advanced · 8 min
Night Drive, an E Minor Etude
An original sixteen-note melody with long and short notes, played in time.
How to play it
- Learn it in Practice mode, one note at a time.
- In Play mode, let the long notes ring their full length. Rushing them is the mistake to catch.
- Add vibrato to the held notes once the timing is solid.
What the coach checks: Pitch of each note and when it lands.
Tab player
Hear the line
Tap any number to hear it. Four clicks count you in.
100% is the goal tempo, 88 BPM. The speed presets climb from Learn to Goal about 10% at a time, and the practice slider below uses the same scale. Build a full ladder to your goal
Your practice room
Find each note
Single-note pitch feedback. Practice waits for each note; Play checks the sequence at your chosen tempo. This does not assess chord quality or fret buzz.
This checkpoint needs 88 BPM or faster and the required accuracy. Slower Play attempts still produce practice scores.
Exercise map · 16 targets
- 1. E4Bar 1 · beat 1 · string 2 · fret 5
- 2. G4Bar 1 · beat 2 · string 1 · fret 3
- 3. B4Bar 1 · beat 3 · string 1 · fret 7
- 4. A4Bar 1 · beat 4.5 · string 1 · fret 5
- 5. G4Bar 2 · beat 1 · string 1 · fret 3
- 6. E4Bar 2 · beat 2 · string 2 · fret 5
- 7. D4Bar 2 · beat 3 · string 2 · fret 3
- 8. E4Bar 3 · beat 1 · string 2 · fret 5
- 9. G4Bar 3 · beat 2 · string 1 · fret 3
- 10. A4Bar 3 · beat 3 · string 1 · fret 5
- 11. B4Bar 3 · beat 4 · string 1 · fret 7
- 12. C5Bar 3 · beat 4.5 · string 1 · fret 8
- 13. B4Bar 4 · beat 1 · string 1 · fret 7
- 14. A4Bar 4 · beat 2 · string 1 · fret 5
- 15. G4Bar 4 · beat 3 · string 1 · fret 3
- 16. E4Bar 4 · beat 4 · string 2 · fret 5
Chord names and stroke directions are visual guidance. Rhythm scoring measures attack timing.
Play one note at a time.
Tune first. Audio stays on this device.
Why this drill
Drills build parts; pieces build playing. This short original melody mixes held notes with quick ones, so it tests phrasing and time together.
Common mistakes
Cutting the long notes short
Fix: B in bar 1 lasts a beat and a half, and D in bar 2 lasts two full beats. Count through them and keep the string ringing until the next note.
Snatching the eighth notes
Fix: Bar 3 ends with B and C as two eighth notes on string 1, frets 7 and 8. Place them evenly inside beat 4 instead of rushing into bar 4.
Playing notes instead of a melody
Fix: Shape it. Bar 1 climbs to B and bar 3 climbs higher to C, the peak. Give C a little more weight, then let bar 4 fall back to E.
Tempo plan
100% is the goal tempo, 88 BPM. Each rung sits about 10% above the one before it, so every step up is one you can hold. The speed presets in the player above use the same rungs.
- Learn 66 BPM · 75%Practice mode first: learn the sixteen notes and their frets.
- Build 73 BPM · 83%Switch to Play · full check and count every beat out loud, especially through the held D.
- Push 80 BPM · 91%Switch to Play · full check here. Two clean passes in a row earn the next rung.
- Goal 88 BPM · 100%Sixteen notes over four bars, every long note held its full length. A pass at 80% accuracy or better clears the drill.
- Stretch 97 BPM · 110%Run a few passes here, then return to the goal. Time above the goal makes the goal feel settled.
Build a full ladder to your goal with holds and back-off sessions, starting from the tempo you can play today.
Make it music
It works as a short intro or outro. Record an E minor chord ringing, loop it, and play the melody over it with vibrato on the held notes. The melody stays on the top two strings between fret 3 and fret 8, so you can also pick the open low E on each bar's downbeat as a drone underneath it.
Variation
Play it an octave lower in open position: E on string 4 fret 2, G on the open string 3, B on the open string 2, A on string 3 fret 2, D on the open string 4 and C on string 2 fret 1.