Need To Learn Some Lead Guitar

[Daniel Sorbera]

ok so earlier my friends got together to jam. At one point I asked my friend if I could play his electric for a sec. So hees like "ok, wahtever" so after about 5 minutes of my playing around he goes "your not much of a lead player are you?" and I'm like," umm no I'm not". So I REALLY need to learn some lead.

Whats the best way? Is there like an online site? Is there any good books? Do I need a teacher?

I really need to improve my skills so insted of "your not that great" I wanna hear "wow that was awesome"

And help would be appreciated!

[GregP]

<shrug>

Lots of great rhythm players and songwriters can't play a lead. I mean, I suppose if you really WANT to be a lead player, it's a good idea; however, I wouldn't do it just because you feel you need to prove anything to anybody.

I'm not much of a lead player, either, though I guess when I step back and look, I'm better than some lead guitarists in some bands, so I can't be absolutely horrible.

Therefore, I don't know how much my opinion will count, but I basically learned patterns at first. That got me confident enough and gave me a "crutch" to fall back on when my solos started to flounder, so that I could say, "Shoot, I'm losing it... well, back to the box." After a while, I learned box shapes all around the neck, and now I don't really need to stick to just one box anymore and the fretboard is pretty open to me as long as I stick to certain keys.

If all you want to do is play the occasional lead and be able to jam, just learn some boxes. <chuckle>

On the other hand, there are better ways. It'll bear more fruit, if you ask me, to get actual lessons from an actual teacher who can show you not only boxes (I think most of us have to admit that we use them) but also proper theory, and they'll (if they're a good teacher at least) get you to identify notes across your whole fretboard.

I'm very limited by knowing, "OK, this is where I can put my fingers while playing in E" but NOT knowing, "OK, this is where the G is, so I can flat the G to take this into a different modal direction" or whatnot. I'm a pretty generic lead player, that's for sure, and I think formal lessons would be handy.

Greg

[Southpa]

LOL, that reminds me of when I used to jam with a buddy who was much better at picking melodies than me. However, he couldn't strum worth beans. Every time we get to a point where solos trade off he would say, Take it, AL!" And I would say, "Take it where!!??"

By and by I began to learn my pentatonics etc. like Greg says, learn the scale progressions in the little boxes, basically connect the dots all the way up the neck. Its NOT going to happen overnight and take lots of memory, hearing and dexterity training. Knowing the scales is one thing but expressing them is an entirely different matter. So along with all that memory and ear training comes hammer-ons, pull-offs, bending, vibrato, pinched harmonics and whatever else you can mix into the repertoire. Just try to make it a fun ride.

[Daniel Sorbera]

I found this one site that has all kind of usful info and solos and such. I already learned (after about 2 hours of toiling) the solo from the metalica song "I am evil".

I know I CAN learn lead as I already know a few solos and patterns but I just need a way to learn all I can. I think I will take lessons... Mabye I'll see if my friend will help me out on thursday (we always jam and play around on thursday)

basicly right now I am learning boxes and such on my own. but I want to know more than that.

Edited April 3, 2005 by Godin SD

[thedoctor]

Godin, you are very lucky. Most of the current crop of "artists" are one-ride-pony lead players. They stare at TAB for a week and memorize it. If you play decent rythme(spelling) you have the hardest and most often ingnored part figured out. Knowing the progressions and alternative fingerings for chords are the hard part. You are going to have to find a tutorial that builds on the lead scales you already know (whether you know it or not) and practice, always with music you know really well. Nobody is watching and you can screwup all you want. You ain't gonna be good next week but you will be next year!

[sepultura999]

I think I will take lessons... Mabye I'll see if my friend will help me out on thursday (we always jam and play around on thursday)

why not? 20 bucks a week for half an hour to an hour isn't so bad unless you don't have a job or a mom or dad to fund you lol. The host on cyberfret even said it's best to learn through a teacher then online or anything.

What about learning classical stuff, wouldn't that help your leads?

I don't know what to look for in a teacher, but a lot of people suggest that if he/she has lots of students its best if he/she has a notepad to keep track of where you are. Also, you can learn grade style if you want. A lot of guitar teachers around here just teach whatever you want to learn, but in the end i think that might just leave you in the middle of nowhere - you can't remember how you got there, and you don't know if you can go forward, which is what happened to me and in the end I have improved my speed but I only know two scales, basic barre chords and open chords (which i taught myself) and the only theory I have learned (.001 percent) is from guitar pro 4 demo. Maybe my teacher was just inexperienced.

I'm thinking of taking lessons and I found one guy who teaches grade style exactly from the Royal Conservatory of Music here in Toronto, of course I'll be learning on a classical guitar but I can always work my way to the electric. There's something like 10 grades and you can go beyond that by taking some kind of exam at the conservatory and then you start to do jams and concerts with other conservatory musicians. I think in the end it's best for me to go that way because a lot of the teachers I have found around here teach you songs to keep you interested, but I don't want that. I don't care how tough it is I'm going to stick with it. Hope this helps. Any thoughts on whatever I just said is appreciated lol.

-Jamie

[Marzocchi705]

I get taught in the grade style, im currently at grade 5. Its goos at it teaches you techniques you other why wouldnt have thought of. I also will just ask him to teach me a certan song if i get a bit bored doing the grade peices. Learning your scales and getting your picking up to speed will be a good place to start i think. Pinced harmonics can never go a-miss tho. An heres another peice of (useless) advice, when your stumped for a solo, add a wah pedal, lol.

[borge]

something that helped me was once i knew the minor pentatonic shape (root on 6th string) adding the 2nd and flat 6th gives the aeolian mode eg e minor pentatonic = EGABDE

add the 2nd (F#) and the flat 6th © and u have the e aeolian mode = E F# G A B C D E

these are also the samenotes in G ionian (major) think paradisecity

a dorian (minor) think sandman (e dorian)

b phrygian(minor)

c lydian (major)

d mixolydian (major)

(f# locrian very uncommon (read usless))

if u get what i mean

modes seemed very confusing to me to begin with once i understood that they are all based on starting the major (ionian) scale on a different note to get a different mode it became clear and i could solo in any mode anywhere on the neck and it would sound fitting as long as i chose a mode that fitted the progression/riff

(unless its some weird jazz progression)

practiceing improvising over a continously looped riff/progression is really good too

but it is really easy to sound boring and monotonous

some thing i look for in a solo are: direction

climatism (i hope thats a word)

feeling

the perfect opening and closing notes/licks

hope this helps

[borge]

yeah wah pedals instant greatness

play the enter sandman lead without a wah and might know what i mean

[GregP]

Personally, I've always been able to understand how modes work when isolated... but I've never been able to figure out which songs they should fit into and when writing my own songs, which chords go with which modes.

Connecting chord and accompaniment to mode has always eluded me. Someone on this forum gave a pretty thorough explanation of modes and so forth, but it STILL eluded me.

I think I'm just thick.

Greg

[Marzocchi705]

Yeah man, it took me a while to get used to using the wah, you have to 'feel' it more that use it.

[sepultura999]

be the wah, BE THE WAH

[1nf1d3l]

man.. i have the SAME exact problem.. i cant play leads worth a Sh**, but im probably one of the better rythm guitarists in the area. i really wish i could play leads though... DAMN MY FINGER SPEED...

i can play fast rythms without a prob, but as soon as i need to blaze a little sheddy stuff, i cant do it...

[ooten2]

Try this:

http://www.harmony-central.com/Software/Wi.../easyscale.html

When playing lead, be very expressive, and you don't have to know alot of notes or be really fast.

Learn things like good string bending techniques; that is, use your fingers to bend, use your wrist to bend, use your elbow to bend, they all sound different. Bend strings slowly, or quickly, or combinations of both. Use vibrato by bending both vertically and horizontally on the fretboard.

When you pick, move your picking hand closer to the neck, or even on the neck, or maybe closer to the bridge, to get different harmonics. Choke up real close with your thumb on the pick, and bounce your thumb off the string after picking to get harmonics. (Billy Gibbons squawk thang).

Be very expressive with each note when you play, and make it your own. It helps give you your own identity.

EDIT: Oh yeah, I almost forgot. Don't think that lead guitar means you have to play one note at a time. Use your rythmn guitar knowledge to play leads that consist of chords. Vibrato those chords too.

[Daniel Sorbera]

Use your rythmn guitar knowledge to play leads that consist of chords. Vibrato those chords too.

Now thers one thing I CAN do No but seriously, I am better at playing lead out of a chord (esp. on acoustic...) Than anyone I know.

I'm auccually way better at acoustic than electric but thats probally just because I've been playing it for 4 years and electric for only like 5 months...

What I do to speed up my learning of lead riffs and rythem stuff is to play it on my acoustic first until I can play it perfectly. Than I move to electric and it's sooooooo easy and it sounds really good. I think it really helps build your hand up to play it first on acoustic. Sure it takes longer but IMO it's worth it because it doesn't sound sloopy when you move to electric. It sounds really clean and together.

There was my hint for the day

Now it's time to get off the computer and go practice

Edited April 4, 2005 by Godin SD

[Gorecki]

You got the right idea Godin, fretboard proficiency is a result of practicing as much as humanly possible. As you have discovered, there is tons of information on the internet but none of it is any value without the practice.

[Sindlei]

yea, playing leads that way, using chords and such, is the basis of rhythm lead...stuff like GnR did, or whitesnake, pretty much all the good 80s style bands. being expressive is great when playing leads, but being fast is important too. now you don't have to be fast all the time, but it's a very good thing to be able to play fast when the music calls for it, because if you play slow during that part, it will either sound good, but not great...or it will feel like something's lacking. i love music that has real slow parts in it, also love music that is so fast i can't decipher it in the first 100 listens. trick is to mix these styles, and to develop this technique, starting from nothing, is just know your scales, and then shred the chromatic scale, that'll work out all your fingers, just do it when you warm up...you know that technique where it's like:

---------------------------------------------------1-2-3-4-2-3-4-5-----------

-----------------------------------------1-2-3-4---------------------2-3-4-5-

-------------------------------1-2-3-4-----------------------------------------

---------------------1-2-3-4---------------------------------------------------

-----------1-2-3-4-------------------------------------------------------------

-1-2-3-4-----------------------------------------------------------------------

etc..etc..

do that, in that direction, then reverse it so it's going 4 3 2 1 4 3 2 1 etc etc, then mix and match all ways you think you can, until it's fairly fluid... now you don't have to do this so religously, once you feel the coordination, go off and noodle into your own improvisations in whichever scales/positions you feel like, it's about fun, not boredom.

[PatientZero]

http://projectguitar.ibforums.com/index.ph...topic=15658&hl=

[x189player]

You said lead guitar. Does that mean playing fast? Shredding is what it is, but it isnt' everything.

THink about it, players like Page and Hendrix and B.B. can rip you in half with a single wailing note. How? not by playing it and just letting it ring without bending. Playing lead with great tone means great control over bending, and that in turn leads to vibrato.

And you need to listen to the roots of lead playing, which is old blues. I'd suggest you get an album like this-

check out disc two track two:

http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/detai...=glance&s=music

or this great (cheaper) collection:

http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/detai...=glance&s=music

and teach yourself at least one song from it. they're not hard, its' like early stones only even simpler- yet they scream, Muddy is a monster.

It's easy to fumble too fast through licks and fall flat. Much easier to bend and wail and grind in the dirt and howling of blues- and then people will call you a lead player. it's all about tone and feeling that gives you credibility. To heck with playing fast.

[GregP]

It's also all about musical context, though. There's a place for Shreddy McWailerson solos, too, and it's false that you can't play speedily AND with feeling.

I dig what you're saying about the blues, and I'm an enormous B.B. and Buddy Guy fan; however, I suspect that Godin and his buddies vibe to the speedy licks from time to time, too.

Greg

[x189player]

oh yah and i don't put downt he speedy licks either- just that blues helps you work the speedy licks into context better, at least it did for me.

[Sindlei]

blues never did anything for me in regards to playing leads, but jazz rock fusion did. however, there's no certain music you "need" to listen to to develop this technique, practice just that...the technique, then find music that inspires you, if it doesn't inspire you, don't force yourself into listening to it.

[mledbetter]

learning to play.. (i'm an ear player.. no lessons) my brother taught me the pentatonic minor scale and spent about 10 mins showing me how you could listen to practically any rock/blues/country song and overlay that pattern in there. And with the exception of the progressive stuff, it's still true today.

Just to get a quick start.. if you like to figure things out for yourself, learn the pentatonic minor shape and then learn a pentatonic minor run.. Now, i pretty much can solo anywhere on the board, using segments of the run to get from point a to point b and generally know how the shape morphs as you change positions.. It just kind of grows on you.

A buddy of mine too from a theory based teacher and had great results.. you really need a teacher to learn it that way though IMHO. He learned scales first, then chord theory based on those scales, and he can play just about anything after a year of lessons. and he was 30 like me.. it's hard to learn new stuff the older you get

[ooten2]

Mledbetter, I can relate to your post. I have pretty much the same background. No formal lessons, only my older brother showing me his "blues" scale, which I later figured out was a pentatonic minor scale. He also showed me a major scale, and between those 2, I was able to wing through 99% of every improvised lead situation I encountered.

And I believe it's true, the older you get, you have to work harder to learn new things. It's like the neurological pathways in the brain have been routed a certain way, and it's hard to re-rout them. I'm 41, and it's REAL EASY to fall into the old habits, and get into a rut as far as playing.

A good source for learning is in the "Lessons" section of Guitar Player magazine. Since I'm basically a blues/rock guy, I like to check out the jazz or metal or fusion or country or whatever lessons to expand my horizons. I've learned alot of new stuff that way, and I apply what I learned from those styles into my own. They have an "easy street" lesson every month, which might be helpful to someone just starting to learn leads.

[mledbetter]

Mledbetter, I can relate to your post.  I have pretty much the same  background.  No formal lessons, only my older brother showing me his "blues" scale, which I later figured out was a pentatonic minor scale.  He also showed me a major scale, and between those 2, I was able to wing through 99% of every improvised lead situation I encountered. 

And I believe it's true, the older you get, you have to work harder to learn new things.  It's like the neurological pathways in the brain have been routed a certain way, and it's hard to re-rout them.  I'm 41, and it's REAL EASY to fall into the old habits, and get into a rut as far as playing.

A good source for learning is in the "Lessons" section of Guitar Player magazine.  Since I'm basically a blues/rock guy, I like to check out the jazz or metal or fusion or country or whatever lessons to expand my horizons.  I've learned alot of new stuff that way, and I apply what I learned from those styles into my own.  They have an "easy street" lesson every month, which might be helpful to someone just starting to learn leads.

←

Cool. Yeah i look at those things some times. It's funny, i used to be proud of the fact that I never took lessons. But i wish I had.. I'll play a solo or something and get all kinds of compliments but I know it could be a whole lot better. Now i don't memorize licks.. I play everything improv and never the same way twice.. but i'm locked in a box.

But, i can play and it's brought me 15 years of enjoyment so i can't knock it..