Tips for a newbe lead guitar player

[RoCkStAr3417]

Does anybody have any tips or hints for a new lead guitar player? I'm 15 and I've been playing for about 6 months. The best song I can play is Purple Haze - Jimi Hendrix. I need some help for playing gigs, and just all around getting that "feeling" or "soul" when playing. Any help is appreciated!! :) Thanx all

[Pezcore]

this isnt a tip as such, more just what i do.

i dont have fixed lead parts to the songs my band plays, i just keep things within the same key as my rhythm player and... play. once i come up with a basic structure, i stick with it so it sounds recognisably similar but not identical everytime i play it.

et voila.

dont know how much use this has been to you, and the truth is everyone does things differently (i know people who sit down and work out solos on a piece of paper instead of just playing them and working by feel.)

[55'gibby]

I am not a lead player (I do play some lead), what I do is play the melody line and do a improv with that as my basic structure. I have found that listening to sax players and how they phrase things is much like a lead player does. I never liked listening to a rambling lead, so, I prefer to listen to something that adds to a song, not just a solo for a solos sake. Also pay attention to how you attack each note... remember your trying to say something with your playing. and remember SPEED KILLS!! just jokin'

[55'gibby]

I just thought of some more stuff.... everyone has heard 1/128th notes, dive bombs. pick scrapes etc etc etc.... so look for something that will set you apart from the crowd... BE YOURSELF!! I have been listening to lots of young bands lately, and have found most guys playing lead use alot of tricks and speed but never learn touch and feel. I would like to remind you when your on stage your playing for the crowd, so keep it interesting!! most folks would prefer to hear 4 bars of something really good than 32 bars of the same thing over and over!!

[Pezcore]

couldn't agree more, and i feel the best way to distinguish yourself is not to try and copy the styles of other players - let your natural style come through.

theres nothing wrong with being influenced by someone, but try not to imitate people.

for example contrary to the usual rock/blues soloist i play very long drawn-out notes instead of insanely fast riffs. No less demanding, just very different - concentrating on the emotion of a note more than the speed at which its delivered.

eg,
more of a paul kossoff style minimalism

[treyphish]

i'm more of a rythm player but when i do leads i keep it simple like just hitting the root notes with in the structure of the chords were playing more long sustained notes rather than playing as fast as i can.But i couldnt agree more let the soloing come to you. its there it'll come out in ya.

[LaiLoKeN]

I'm also a bit of a newb to lead work, and pretty much a lot of my solos sound the same (usually a minor solo[coz most of my songs are in minor keys!] in the 1st position with lots n lots n lots of bends).

Are there any tips you could give me to soloing? They'd definatly help.

Cheers guys,
-LaiLoKeN

[jazzman15]

First, learn every note on the neck. Yes, you need it. It doesn't matter if Hendrix didn't. Just do it. Then learn your minor, dorian, and blues scales with roots on 5th and 6th strings. Then try adding some chord tones and chromatic notes. Just put on some Santana, Hendrix, Clapton, BB King, etc. and try to improvise over it. Don't try to imitate their solos. Once you can improvise well over basic I-IV-V and II-V progressions (if you don't know what these are you should learn), you should learn some jazz.

This will all take a while. Don't expect for it to come quickly. I've been playing two years and I'm still not as good as I'd like to be.

One last tip: Don't play with a pick if you want speed. Listen to some Mark Knopfler/Dire Straits and play like that with your fingers.

[Smitty]

Originally posted by jazzman15
Once you can improvise well over basic I-IV-V and II-V progressions (if you don't know what these are you should learn), you should learn some jazz.


ok, quick question. I need to learn more about progressions like you have mentioned above. Any suggestions on a good resource? Thanks for the help

[smfulla]

go to basic chord construction on this site, and it'll show you how the scale degrees are used to make chords, and which chords to use in a scale.
Also, if you can comprehend that those roman numerals are chords from a scale e.g. In Cmaj scale, I = C etc
But the formula for chords in a maj scale differ from the notes in the scale, being that the formula is I IIm IIIm IV V VIm VIIdim.
And you can just make a chord progression out of those chords e.g. I VIm IIm V, which in Cmaj scale would equal C Am Dm G

[Smitty]

That makes perfect sense. Thanks for the help.

[ZakNafien]

can you guys just shush now please?

your begining to put me off playing guitar :( all that stuff sounds like going for a masters degree :(

[Smitty]

Heh, well, it kinda sounds tough to me at times as well. Let me give you a little history on my learning. I have been playing off and on for a little over 15 years now. That entire time I concentrated on playing/learning stuff that had already been done. Things I had heard. After all that time I have finally decided to LEARN about what it is I have been playing. After all that time can you believe that I just learned the notes on the neck a week ago?! Sounds sad I know but I never cared how a chord or scale was made. Anyway, sorry for taking you away from your guitar playing :)
<---just trying to learn
(who knows, you may even learn something!)