Subject: About lead guitar...
You are getting this e-mail because you subscribed to it on www.learn-to-play-rock-guitar.com. If you don't want to receive these e-mails any longer, go to the bottom of this message and click on "unsubscribe." Hey there Friend, I thought I'd switch things up this week and talk a bit about playing lead guitar. There is a natural progression players take with guitar outside of traditional musical training. Get your major and minor chords learned, then add barre chords so you get some experience moving up the neck, then start learning lead techniques.Everyone wants to be the lead guitarist. That's the flashy guy/gal burning up the guitar neck with memory inducing riffs and stage performances. They take the spotlight, get all the attention and rev the crowd up, second only to the lead singer. Isn't that one of the reasons you wanted to start playing guitar in the first place? So what does it take to climb that pedestal to become a lead guitar player? What kind of work are you going to have to put in to make that climb? This pursuit can be quite a journey, as there are almost unlimited techniques and styles to explore. For example, you could begin with simple pentatonic box patterns and never move away from this scale. In fact, many players never do. That's where I started back in the day, learning the blues pentatonic scale in order to play the guitar solo from "Lights", by Journey. Or you could seek out scales from other cultures and musical styles to build a sound completely unique to you. There are truly millions of tonal possibilities to choose from to keep your sound fresh, so there really aren't any excuses for not coming up with original ideas. Players like Joe Satriani, Steve Vai, John Petrucci, Uli Jon Roth and Marty Friedman are well known for breaking out of the pentatonic box and incorporating exotic guitar scales in their work. Lead guitar playing is about awareness. Awareness of the rhythm and beat of the song. Awareness of timing. Awareness of the feel of the song. Knowing when to play, knowing when to let notes hang on forever and knowing when NOT to play. Does the song have a fast metal pace and feel, or is it a ballad? Obviously your solo is going to be heavily influenced by the tempo of the song, by the chord progression and melody, even by the other instruments being played. Writing interesting guitar solos is not about playing as many notes as possible in the allotted bars. Lead guitar is more about finding a unique and interesting combination of notes, riffs, and space to create something memorable. Playing fast just for the sake of playing fast tends to be more about showing off rather than enhancing the music. It doesn't really do anything to make the listener remember what you played. As cool as it is to be able to play fast, if the solo doesn't tie the song together well or have a memorable hook, there's a good chance the whole song won't be remembered. "Don't Tell Me You Love Me", by Night Ranger is a good example of a memorable guitar solo that keeps the energy of the song high with a lot of flash and speed, yet has good pauses in the right places. The solo also has the effect of building tension in the song. The singer gets you to a point in the story and the guitar solo kicks in to take the listener to the next emotional level. In many cases the lead guitar builds up tension that naturally sets the singer up to resolve that tension in the final verse and chorus. Here is a list of topics that deserve to be studied as you pursue any lead guitar training. This is not an exhaustive list, but more a guide to the different aspects and resources that can help you develop your lead playing. There is no set order of techniques to study, although it will be easier to incorporate some techniques after you have learned to do others. However, I have listed out a general order to at least get you started:
That's what is nice about guitar. It is never boring, unless you allow yourself to get in a rut. You will never master everything, so there's opportunity to always be learning. The better you learn and play, the more inspiring guitar becomes to you and others. "Pick up your guitar and play." - The Who (Won't Get Fooled Again) Rock on, good people! Peace~ Dave Dave "Eddie" Vance is a rock guitar enthusiast and gear nut. He has been playing guitar for over 30 years and enjoys tormenting the neighbors every chance he gets. When he's not slaving for the man, you can find him rocking out with his B.C. Rich Bich guitar, a cold beer and some sweet tunes. He also runs Learn-To-Play-Rock-Guitar.com, but you knew that already! Follow Learn To Play Rock Guitar:I welcome your feedback! Did you like today's message? What other topics would you like to see covered in my e-mails? Please let me know at: dave@learn-to-play-rock-guitar.com As always, please feel free to forward this email to a friend! I review products before recommending them. If you buy a product based on my recommendation, I will receive a commission. However, my emails also contain links that don’t require any investment on your part and are jam-packed with "juicy, guitar learnin' tastiness". We don't rent or share your name with anybody. Feel free to forward this issue to any friends you think would enjoy its contents. They will thank you. So will I.
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