Bear

In my humble opinion I would say never stop climbing. In all the lead books I've played you must have a consistent F/G. Sure, every now and then there are double C's and whatnot and usually these notes are bracketed as an option note. In our present day we have highnote "screamers" and lead players as Chet alluded to earlier... I think if you truly want to "own" that register then you gotta be able to play that note loud, soft, short, long, ascending to it, right on it, etc... The best way to do that is to hit it every day with scales, methods, leaps, etc. All this has already been said in previous posts. I'm just summarizing.

There is also way more to becoming a respected lead player than "being able to hit the notes". Ya gotta swing, have the style downpat. One of the biggest problems I notice today is that ya need to be great at sightreading. You need to lay down a chart the first time you see it cause as a lead player the rest of the band is following you and the rhytmn section for it's cues, lead ins, dynamics, style, etc. You also need a good ear. Go get tons of recordings and listen to the pros do their stuff. Find your own voice. Above all, always practice. Last thing, don't be a #$% and depend on a mic for volume... one of my pet peeves.

One day I hope I'll be able to audition/win a lead gig. Until then, I just gotta graduate college! LOL. Take care all.

Tim a.k.a "The Bear"