Learn to play lead guitar

We all want to make the audience go wild when we play guitar and perhaps the best way is with a fret-melting solo or catchy riff or fill. This is usually the job of the lead guitarist. The lead guitar parts are supported by the rhythm guitar which usually plays chords or riffs.

By the way, rhythm guitar is of equal importance and difficulty as lead guitar and as a competent lead guitarist you need to understand what the rhythm guitarist is doing. By that I mean whatever the rhythm player is doing determines to a great extent what is appropriate for the lead guitarist to play. So if the rhythm guitarist is playing chords in the key of ‘A’ then the lead player’s best bet is to play in the same key whether it be a riff or solo.

“Whoah! Steady on – you mean I have to learn some theory and scales?”

It depends on how good you want to be. Most guitarists settle for learning a few scales and that’s it. But the fact that you’re reading this means that you probably want to be an amazing guitarist and so I encourage you to absorb as much knowledge as possible.

The good news is that lead playing isn’t all about soloing and tricky improvisation. It’s also about short licks, riffs and phrases and this is a good place to start. I’ve outlined some simple steps to help you progress as a lead player:

1. Practise constructively. Before you start let me share with you my favourite saying. “Perfect practise makes perfect”. So don’t waste time twiddling about. Practise slowly and accurately. I know you will want to play everything up to speed, but resist doing so until you are ready.

2. Co-ordination. Start by familiarising yourself with basic co-ordinations by learning simple riffs such as the intro to ‘Smoke on the Water’ by ‘Deep Purple’, or ‘the Riverboat song’ by ‘Ocean Colour scene’ etc. There are a lot of bands writing riffs that are ideal for learning such as ‘The White Stripes’ and ‘the Chili Peppers’ and so on. Listen to lots of music and try to learn some of the simpler riffs. You can then move on to simple solos such as in ‘Smells like Teen Spirit’ by ‘Nirvana’.

3. Know your chords. All the time you’re learning new things, don’t neglect your chords as chord knowledge and advanced lead playing ability go hand in hand.

4. Learn as much as you can. Keep on learning new techniques, theory, scales, arpeggios and so on. Don’t get stuck in a rut. Try and discover a new style or a new band or artist.

5. Learn from others. Here comes another of my favourite sayings “Don’t just learn a lick-learn from a lick”. In other words learn other people’s solos and riffs, but try to figure out what they were thinking and where their ideas came from. Are they using a certain scale, triad, interval or arpeggio? By adopting this approach you learn more than just one solo, you also learn to apply new ideas to your own playing.

6. Surround yourself with excellence. Play with people who are better than you. As well as learning from these people you will also have to work harder to keep up.

7. Define your goals and week areas. Work to overcome weak areas and limitations and by defining your goals, create a sense of purpose in your playing. This will help you to keep your practise focused.

8. Listen to more music. More music means more influences can creep into your playing style. And the more influences the more unique you can become.

9. Never stop learning. Music offers more than one person can assimilate in a lifetime. This is a good thing because it means you will never stop learning and enjoying guitar playing.

10. Believe in yourself and never give up. I’ll let Jimi take it from here: “Sometimes you want to give up the guitar, you’ll hate the guitar. But if you stick with it, you’re gonna be rewarded.”-Jimi Hendrix

Article Source: http://articlejoint.com