Song Recommendations - Int Elec Level 5

Every song on this list is here for a reason. Once you're comfortable with the exercises in the practice routine, start swapping that practice time for songs that work on the same things — because applying technique to real music is what locks it in for good. Here's how I'd approach it.

Pentatonic Superhighway and Fretboard Navigation

E minor pentatonic:

• Purple Haze — Jimi Hendrix

• Hey Joe — Jimi Hendrix

• Voodoo Child — Jimi Hendrix

A minor pentatonic:

• Black Dog — Led Zeppelin

• Stairway to Heaven — Led Zeppelin

Pick the one that excites you most and go deep on that first — you don't need to learn all five.

Bending, Intonation, and Phrasing

• I Won't Back Down — Tom Petty - easiest starting point

• Gravity — John Mayer

• Comfortably Numb — Pink Floyd - benchmark

• Another Brick in the Wall — Pink Floyd - benchmark

David Gilmour is the gold standard for this style — working on either Pink Floyd solo will push your lead playing forward faster than almost anything else at this level.

Natural Minor Scale in Action

• Do I Wanna Know? — Arctic Monkeys - clearest example

• 505 (lead parts) — Arctic Monkeys

• While My Guitar Gently Weeps — The Beatles

• Zombie (descending section) — The Cranberries

• The Trooper — Iron Maiden

Harmonic Minor

• Crying Lightning — Arctic Monkeys

• Plug In Baby — Muse

Both are modern and accessible — the raised seventh is unmistakable once you know what to listen for.

Chromatic Technique

• Born to Run — Bruce Springsteen - headline example

• When You Were Young — The Killers

• Metallica chromatic down-picking riffs - for heavier playing

Pick three or four songs from across these categories, learn them properly, and keep your favourites from previous levels in rotation alongside them. When you're confident with those, I'll see you at Level 6.