Playing leads

[Guitarist+]

Pretty much the bulk of my guitar playing (2.5 years) has been devoted nearly strictly to rhythm playing.

 

I wanna play leads damn it!

 

But I don't know where to start...

[Christhee68]

I asked this same question a few months ago (except I've been playing rhytm for 30 years).

 

The answer was to learn some scales. Minor pentatonic first.

 

You can play a lot of solos with just five notes. I'm still learning, but at least I'm not afraid of playing beyond the first three frets anymore!

[Guitarist+]

I already know a couple scales, pentatonic minor, the major scale, and the harmonic minor scale

[the new guy]

If you are looking for actual lessons, this guy is pretty good, and it's free......although donations are accepted

 

http://www.justinguitar.com/index.php

[aenemated]

[video=youtube;-9CynvMlFyo]

[Guitarist+]

No I mean like... songs I should learn or techniques I need to master

[Burgess]

I've always told guys this. I doubt they ever listen but nevertheless...

 

Go listen to some old Bad Company records. They play all the classic riffs but slow enough for you to hear and pick out. Steal everyone you can and by then you'll not only have an excellent grasp of pentatonics but how to use them. Please don't be one of those guys that just play the notes of the scale like it's some kind of practice exercise.

[billybilly]

Try playing lead to songs you like. It's fun and you will get good at it.

 

I agree with Burgess in learning licks, mixing them up and making them your own.

 

If you dedicate only 30 minutes a day to this, in 6 months you will be amazed how far it gets you.

 

If you have never done vibrato before, it's not easy to master. It's easier to use your wrist rather than finger. There are useful examples on youtube. To get mine working, I practiced 5 minutes a day for a couple of months before I was really getting places. Yep, a boring 5 minutes every day just working vibrato (different fingers though) .

[poolshark]

I started off learning leads to songs I liked. Use those to steal some licks and get a 'feel' for soloing, then apply that to your knowledge of scales. Badabing, badaboom.

 

Yes, I'm posting in a Guitarist+ troll thread.

[Jersey Jack]

A few suggestions, in no particular order:

 

1. Learn to play the melodies of songs. Just the melody. Guitar solos became popular because they can emulate the human voice. Start by doing just this. Then start embellishing the melody, rearranging the notes a bit, or adding some notes, etc.

 

2. Start with the minor pentatonic, and at first concentrate only on the first three or four strings. (Yes, you will of course eventually use all six strings, but the great majority of lead work is done on the first few strings, and setting aside a few strings simplifies things enormously.)

 

3. Silence is as important as sound. Make your lead playing spacious, melodic; you don't need to fill every moment with shred, twang, mournful wail, etc.

 

4. For blues playing, I find the five "blues boxes" (again, on the first three or four strings) crucial; for country playing I think of chord shapes and use the little riffs I play inside first position cowboy chords as the basis for improvisation.

 

5. Play along with recorded music. A lot. Backing tracks are fine, but be sure to play along with songs you love. (It turns out that Merle Haggard doesn't mind at all when I play over his vocals. )

[Help!I'maRock!]

if you can hear it, you can sing it. and if you can sing it, you can play it.

[photon9]

 

I already know a couple scales, pentatonic minor, the major scale, and the harmonic minor scale

 

 

One huge thing that will open everything up is this realization:

 

Minor pentatonics, and major pentatonics are the same thing! The same 5 box shapes, everything. The only difference is what chord you're playing over. Whatever pentatonic you're playing the box shape should fit into the chord shape. This is why a 'minor' pentatonic in position I is perfect for a chord played in position III.

 

The easiest way to see this is play a G major chord. Now play an E minor pentatonic starting with the open low E. You should recognize that the E minor pentatonic "fits" the G major chord perfectly. When played simultaneously you can hear that it sounds 'right'.

 

Now the 5 box shapes fit eachother like a puzzle. The end of one box is the beginning of the next box. When you learn how they all connect you can play your E "minor" pentatonic all the way up the neck, and it will sound perfect with your G major chord.

 

Another thing to consider is that Box #2 of your E minor pentatonic is actually the G major pentatonic!

 

All of this stuff I'm saying is something that will just sound 'right' to you probably immediately. In fact you're probably doing it already without realizing it. Hopefully this helped you more than it confused you. It took a while for it all to click with me too. Most of it was understanding "why" a particular lead sounds "good" in a particular progression, even though I kinda knew instinctively that it did sound good. It really just gives you a nice starting point for your lead and you can kinda just go from there as you become more comfortable with it.

[Selsaral]

It's definitely useful to learn other people's solos as an educational tool. Learn the solo to Stairway, Comfortably Numb, Pride and Joy, etc.

 

On the topic of scales: the minor pentatonic scale with just 5 notes can sound generic and dull, and it can sound incredibly good too. It's amazing what you can do with just 5 notes. You don't need to be a jazz/prog guitarist with tons of obscure and intricate scales at your fingertips to sound good. IMHO, playing rock and roll, you'd get much more out of your time learning how to be melodic and stylish with just a few important scales.

 

It's harder than it sounds. Look to the pros to see how they do it.

[bsman]

Go listen to some old Bad Company records. They play all the classic riffs but slow enough for you to hear and pick out. Steal everyone you can and by then you'll not only have an excellent grasp of pentatonics but how to use them. Please don't be one of those guys that just play the notes of the scale like it's some kind of practice exercise.

 

Interesting... My wife has ALL the old Bad Co. stuff, and I usually hit skip on my iPod when it comes up. I'll have to give it a listen!

[LesPaulFetish]

I've always told guys this. I doubt they ever listen but nevertheless... Go listen to some old Bad Company records. They play all the classic riffs but slow enough for you to hear and pick out. Steal everyone you can and by then you'll not only have an excellent grasp of pentatonics but how to use them. Please don't be one of those guys that just play the notes of the scale like it's some kind of practice exercise.

 

Never head that, I'll look into it.

 

As for what to master, learn to bend all over the place in tune, half step whole step on the G, B and E strings. Also work an your vibrato, that should come with time. Those are the very basics, but make all the difference.

[slvrsrpnt]

I tried to do these lead things and found out that I really should stick to watching TV

[RevRomansky]

Here's kinda what I taught myself. Still don't know the diff between pentatonic and diatonic. All I know is one is happy, one is sad/one is country, one is blues.

Also, hang out with someone who knows a little lead, they'll be able to help you over the hump.

 

Here's the site, great charts for scales. http://www.myguitarsolo.com/scales.htm

 

Remember, great lead playing isn't about speed, it's about style. The best way to learn lead is with your guitar unplugged, not overdriven so much you can't hear your goods and your bads.

 

God bless you, now you're ruined for life. Been playing lead for 42 years, and I'm still learning...

[Guitarist+]

Thanks for the tips guys

[ashasha]

I learned a few leads from songs note for note early on, but it gets boring and unless you are playing those songs you really don't know how to apply them to other things. I mean stealing licks is really part of it, but where I personally feel that I made my biggest progress was by going to the sticky jam threads and just playing along with those backing tracks and working out something that sounded good. Once I came up with a basic melody I'd start to work on the feel and then changing positions, starting the phrase at a different note in the run, etc. The thing is that I started to develop my ear and come up with my own style and feel comfortable playing over a broader range of styles. I mean stuff like jazz still baffles the {censored} out of me, but for most music you start to hear some kind of melody in your head.

 

And I can't recommend recording it enough. I've gotten lazy about it, but it's really good to hear yourself because when you are playing you tend to be in the moment and not subjective. You can critique technique, but it's also really good to go back and measure how far you've come. There are things that I played in the past that I thought was great and I feel like I took a step backwards only to find out that not only was it pure crap I've actually become become better. I imagine it's because I've become more discriminating about note selection.

 

The singing thing is a great tip although I can't sing at all. But when I play I try to emulate a voice or a horn or possible a violin in order to make it more fluid. That is only an effect, but if you work on making it sing you'll get the vocal aspect to it down and things like vibrato actually come along naturally. It's about control and once I figured out that I should try to concentrate on what I was hearing and not what I thought should fit I was much happier.

 

As far as learning scales and stuff that's cool, but to me the CAGED system leaves a basic layout of all the notes in a given chord and you adjust to what sounds right. I mean most of the time if you are in the right position the difference between a bad and a good note is usually a half or whole step away or you can bend your way out of trouble. That's where the discovery comes in.

 

Of course with all that said I'm probably the last person to listen to.

[tantamo]

I forget how I learned to play leads. I think mostly I just messed around with guitar scales playing over clapton and hendrix albums.

 

It's really not all that hard, get used to messing around and copy stuff you hear that you like. It takes a while is all.

[mnewb1]

 

[grunge782]

youtube paul gilbert and his lessons.

[honeyiscool]

Don't play scales, man. Play melodies. Think of them, sing them, then play them. That's lead guitar. Eventually, try to work on adding bends, double stops, and other techniques, but play melodies.

[shinsengumi]

Don't play scales, man. Play melodies. Think of them, sing them, then play them. That's lead guitar. Eventually, try to work on adding bends, double stops, and other techniques, but play melodies.

 

This is possibly the best advice here. I sort of fall in the middle. I tend to think of melodies in certain scales and play those out. At least, when I'm not being super lazy and just noodling around

[greatmutah]

Scales are great for building up your speed, dexterity and accuracy. And they do come in handy eventually but if you're just starting to play leads, look it melodies. I started playing leads by {censored}ing around with the minor pentatonic scale. Those 5 notes do enough to not clutter you with a {censored} ton of notes, but are flexible enough to work with. Get a feel for those notes and how they interact. By all means listen to melodies from songs and look up the tabs to learn them. Licks too. Work on bends and vibrato (which can be tough. I pigeon-holed myself into using a finger vibrato for years. Over the last year or so I started making myself learn how to do a wrist vibrato. It's still not perfect or text book but I have much more control). Doing bends on the B and e strings where you hold a note on the high E and bend up to it on the B will help you learn how to bend on tune, same with the B and G strings respectively. Like this:

 

e---8

B---11b13

 

Hold the 8 with your index finger and use your ring AND middle fingers to bend up from a step down. You have more strength with two fingers than just one. Move that shape and try it in different places and make sure the tone you bend to is unison to the one you're holding. For leads that won't kill you but are tasty and fun, Mississippi Queen by Mountain is a fun one. Bad Company has some good ones, and I always recommend Sabbath as you get a better handle on what you're doing. With Warpigs I used to start the melody like Tony did and when the guitars split I improvised my own {censored}. Made some mistakes but learned what I was doing too. I still recommend learning that solo properly, but learning how to improvise will help you beyond just learning a solo note for note. Arpeggios will help immensely too. You don't have to be doing sweeps on day one, but you can play some connect the dots stuff with them and use that to chain between phrases and melodies.

 

If you feel you should take lessons, then by all means do so. Having a teacher help you through some tough techniques and helping explain what you're doing will help. Just make sure you get a good teacher if you do. I had the luxury of having an amazing teacher who also lived by me while I was growing up. I heard him playing out of his house all the time, so that lead me to take lessons from him. It also helped that he was an excellent teacher who taught me more to develop my own voice than sound like him or what he had me play.