I'm officially the lead guitarist of a highschool band

[EricFoss]

That was awesome! One of the funniest things I've seen in weeks. I had tears in my eyes from laughing.

I want to show it to my wife when she gets home from work. Unfortunately, she would likely say, "What's so funny?"

['s mel gibson]

i never been in a band where someone plays rhythm and someone else plays lead almost exclusively. Always just shared parts, different people with different approaches to parts helps makee songs more interesting. If I spoke to someone who refered to themself as a "lead" or "rhythm" guitarist I'd find it hard to take them seriously. If you can't do one well, you can't do the other well, it's impossible to play lead lines if you have no sense of rhythm or how a melody line will fit with the rhythm guitar.

 

 

Well,...BB King doesn't seem to play much rhythm. Some people have told me he can't and when he's singing he isn't playing either.

[sfarfsky]

Well,...BB King doesn't seem to play much rhythm. Some people have told me he can't and when he's singing he isn't playing either.

bingo

 

 

Yo OP. You need lessons fast. Don't buy into that self taught nonsense. Most self taught guys suck

[Stricken]

The kid who got me into this got me really pissed. I told him when he asked me to join that I have no idea on how to write songs. So he says "oh man don't worry, I write all our songs." And I'm thinkin "right..."

This kid doesn't know theory either. He was talking about lyrics. He told me "just use chords and {censored} from other songs and we'll be all good to write our own songs"


Because that won't make every song sound EXACTLY the same at all...

I'm gonna start taking tips from other *musicians* in my school about theory.
I've been playing since 9th grade (11th now), all I do is learn songs I like.

I don't understand how people just make a song. It always confuses me. How can you decide what root to start on for scales? And then, how do pick from those several types of scales? Then what about chord progressions? How do you know what a key is? I have lots of googling to do

This band consists of two guitarists, a bass guitarist, a drummer and a piano/synth guy. I suppose we're all going to be contributing to vocals...

ALSO
Does anyone know who or what "Euroda" is? Someone suggested a band name "Euroda's Guild" and I have no clue wtf it's supposed to mean. I tried googling that but I didnt see anything important...

[sfarfsky]

The kid who got me into this got me really pissed. I told him when he asked me to join that I have no idea on how to write songs. So he says "oh man don't worry, I write all our songs." And I'm thinkin "right..." This kid doesn't know theory either. He was talking about lyrics. He told me "just use chords and {censored} from other songs and we'll be all good to write our own songs" Because that won't make every song sound EXACTLY the same at all... I'm gonna start taking tips from other *musicians* in my school about theory. I've been playing since 9th grade (11th now), all I do is learn songs I like. I don't understand how people just make a song. It always confuses me. How can you decide what root to start on for scales? And then, how do pick from those several types of scales? Then what about chord progressions? How do you know what a key is? I have lots of googling to do This band consists of two guitarists, a bass guitarist, a drummer and a piano/synth guy. I suppose we're all going to be contributing to vocals... ALSO Does anyone know who or what "Euroda" is? Someone suggested a band name "Euroda's Guild" and I have no clue wtf it's supposed to mean. I tried googling that but I didnt see anything important...

you need lessons, bad

[Stricken]

Thanks, we've established this.

[paulisme]

 

 

Of course this sounded horrible. The guitar player wasn't playing a Strat like in the original.

[curseoftruth]

Eudora - it's an email program haha

 

Its one of the nymph sisters in mythology that brings rains...

 

I don't know theory, scales, or chord names (just the basics like E, A G, etc. and I know a basic blues pentatonic). I've been in bands for 27 years. I'd suggest to learn/take lessons, but push yourself, especially in writing. There is a really simple formula - I consider myself a riff writer. I am always striving for the coolest riff on the planet. I like to follow The Beatles song writing structure (not always but its a good way to start off):

 

1. Opening riff

2. Verse which is sung over a complementary riff, usually more rhythmic as to not over power the vocal lines

3. Chorus - a different riff or variation of one of the other riffs

4. Bridge - (often called the breakdown by young uns) which a solo can be played

 

Repeat opening riff, verse, chorus

 

Then I come up with an ending riff, something more powerful but flows well with the rest of the primary riffs.

 

There is no real formula.

[Stricken]

But since you don't know theory, how can you be a riff writer? You just build your riffs off that blues penatonic?

[Bun-Bun]

But since you don't know theory, how can you be a riff writer? You just build your riffs off that blues penatonic?

 

 

I make up riffs all the time... I know very little thoery and havent written a complete song but I make up riffs and licks all the time. Two typical situations...

 

1. I'm playing a song I like and either make a mistake or get bored and try something different and go hey! lets try this...

 

2. I'm wankering around on some scale or chord progression and stumble upon something that sounds neet and build on it...

 

Take a chord progression, change the position, change the rhythm, try different chord shapes, take ideas from different songs and put them together. I can take the same 3 chords and play them 6 different ways and sound completely unique to one another.

[Brewski]

And I don't know jack {censored} about lead guitar. Or rythm guitar for that matter. Or music theory.

so you've got three guitars and have post 818 times here but don;t know anything about guitar?

c'mon!

[Stricken]

so you've got three guitars and have post 818 times here but don;t know anything about guitar? c'mon!

Didn't realize I passed 800

As I said, all I really do is learn songs I like. I know basic chords and stuff. I couldnt tell you what the hell a latin chord is. I don't know what an augmented 5th or 7th or 9th or whatver is. I don't know what a key is, or how to determine it. All I know is how to play a guitar, tune it, and how to set one up.

[curseoftruth]

 

But since you don't know theory, how can you be a riff writer? You just build your riffs off that blues penatonic?

 

 

Go to my band page in my sig -- I wrote all or most of those songs, arranged them, etc. Why do you need to know theory to know what sounds good and move your fingers around a fret board to see what works and what doesn't? It's called feel. I don't discount it at all, but hey, so far so good after many, many years. There are more rock musicians like me than not.

 

I think you are WAY over thinking this. When I started out in bands in 1981, I didn't know squat, but I just went for it. I wasn't a very good writer either, but I think the best thing for me was to be in a cover band (almost all bands in those days were cover bands). Being in a cover band you learn tons of styles from various players and genres. I formed my own style after a few years and have continued to tweak it. Now I started off on bass and did that up until 2000 when I switched over to guitar and basically I just started writing my own stuff until I had enough to start another band. I was still the main song writer as a bass player in many of my old bands, I wrote the riffs, arranged, and even wrote lyrics back in those days. Can't explain it other than I just did it and as I already stated, there are thousands of musicians just like me. All the guys in my band are the same.