Hey Friend,
There's a trap that's easy to fall into for newer lead guitar players. The feel like they need to be filling up each measure of their lead with lightening fast runs and flashy licks. It's impressive when you see fingers flying up and down then neck in melodic sweeps and intricate tapping riffs. I mean, that's what good lead guitarists do, right?
Hey, I love my 80s hair metal as much as anyone, but...
There's a lot more to impressive lead guitar playing than flash and awe.
One thing you can do to improve your lead technique starting today is slow down and let the notes breathe.
In fact, this is something EVERY guitar player should be aware of, regardless of whether you aspire to shred or be a mellow Blues player.
What do I mean by "let the notes breathe?"
Sometimes you need to let a note stand on its own and ring out. Let that single note hold the spotlight for a beat or two for effect.
Sounds easy enough, right? Not so fast.
Getting a note to ring out and last through two beats or through a measure is more than just having your fingers on the string and plucking the note. You have to learn how your fingers interact with the fingerboard and how to maximize the tone generated by your fingers.
In fact, it's more than just how your fingers connect with the wood and frets on the neck. There's the fine tuning of your pick attack (how hard or soft you pluck the string), pick angle (the angle at which the pick hits the string).
Then there's the matter of developing your vibrato. Vibrato is the act of moving the string at the fretted note up and down slightly to maintain the note.
All these factors contribute to what we call "sustain." Sustain is the ability to keep a note going for as long as you want. And learning how to sustain notes is a huge part of developing your tone.
You may have heard it said that tone is all in the fingers, and that's absolutely true. I think all guitar players have a weakness for wanting new gear,thinking a better guitar is the secret to getting better tone. We're drawn to the expensive and vintage gear because all our heroes have played these classic Les Pauls and Strats, and it's natural to think that the gear is what makes the music sound so awesome.
But you could hand any guitar hero a cheap knock-off of a vintage guitar and they'll make it sound awesome - because they've developed their tone. You could also hand a $10,000 Les Paul to a beginner guitar player... How do you think they're going to sound? That's right, like a beginner.
A good umbrella word for all this talk of sustain and tone would be control - which of course ties back into muscle memory and practice. The more you practice, the better your control over what your fingers are doing. It becomes easier to make any necessary adjustments in your technique as you gain control of your fingers.
I'd like you to take one of the scale patterns I gave you and practice playing each note by itself for four beats. So instead of advancing up the scale one note per beat, set up your metronome and simply play one note for every four beats. Pluck the note and see if you can sustain it until the next note.
Since vibrato and developing your tone are such critical components of becoming a good lead guitarist, you can be sure they're covered throughout the lessons at ArtistWorks. The courses there are great opportunities for you to either supplement your local lessons or get access to artists that are both pro musicians and great teachers.
Peace~
Dave | 
