# From rhythm to lead, the endless journey



## Cartcanuck (Oct 30, 2012)

I've been playing for about 5 years and am a capable rhythm player (I think). But I want to play more lead. Not screaming solos or anything like that. I mostly play at church, so it would be lead guitar as a supporting instrument for the worship team.

But I'm up against a brick wall.

I practice scales - to a metronome and sometimes to a backing track or drum track just for variety. I try to improvise some lead stuff after a while, but it really sounds lame. 

I have average to slightly below average theory understanding.

Why does this seem so much more difficult than the past 5 years. What am I missing. I look at tab, try working through it and end up getting frustrated. I've looked at a few online lessons but for whatever reason, it hasn't stuck in my brain or reached my fingertips.

Do all you Claptons, Hendrixes, and Stevie Ray's have any insight? 
Clips or links to lessons or tools that you found helpful? 
Know of a site for downloadable talent that I can then I upload to my fingertips?


Thanks!


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## Chito (Feb 17, 2006)

Learn different licks. Play them different ways like changing your phrasing. Then incorporate it into your solos. Keep learning and adding new ones. Now if you are lazy like me, I tend to play the same ones over and over. LOL


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## Guest (Sep 20, 2014)

Cartcanuck said:


> Know of a site for downloadable talent that I can then I upload to my fingertips?
> 
> 
> Thanks!


Get one of these. lol.


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## dradlin (Feb 27, 2010)

Go take lessons.

Seriously.

You can waste a lifetime stumbling through things that a good teacher will guide you through in much less time, with greater understanding, and with less frustration.


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## bw66 (Dec 17, 2009)

dradlin said:


> Go take lessons.
> 
> Seriously.
> 
> You can waste a lifetime stumbling through things that a good teacher will guide you through in much less time, with greater understanding, and with less frustration.


This. (But I'm biased.)

And forget about Clapton, etc. Go listen to live recordings of someone like Luther Perkins. (The first prison concert with Johnny Cash would a great place to start.) Learn a couple of licks that work with each of the chords in the key of G. Maybe start with some arpeggios. Once you can add some flair in the key of G. Do the same with the key of D. Then A. Then E. If your church is like ours, those four keys will cover at least 90% of your tunes.


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## Robert1950 (Jan 21, 2006)

Rhythm players are VERY under rated.


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## zontar (Oct 25, 2007)

What did it for me, to "get" playing leads & solos, was a transcription of Albert King's solo to Crosscut Saw--those first four notes just clicked & it made sense.

Then I heard the actual song and realized I wasn't playing it correctly, but it didn't matter--I was developing my style.


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## Kerry Brown (Mar 31, 2014)

Record some of your rhythm playing then record some lead along with it. Be sure to use a metronome for the rhythm. Listen to the lead you recorded with a very critical ear to figure out what worked and what didn't. Repeat the procedure with the same rhythm track. Once you've got that one nailed record another rhythm track. Try playing some lead to some mp3's or youtube of some songs you like. I prefer youtube over just audio because you can watch the band and pick up visual clues. Lastly jam with other musicians live. Band practice doesn't count because even though its a learning experience you are trying to learn how to play a song not how to improvise.


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## Diablo (Dec 20, 2007)

Cartcanuck said:


> I've been playing for about 5 years and am a capable rhythm player (I think). But I want to play more lead. Not screaming solos or anything like that. I mostly play at church, so it would be lead guitar as a supporting instrument for the worship team.
> 
> But I'm up against a brick wall.
> 
> ...


just letting you know youre not alone.
I have a hard time turning scales into solos as well...so I tend to break out sections of the scale into a riff, or "box"....do that in a few places, put the boxes together and you have the makings of a solo, more or less. Maybe you need some ideas on some commonly used solo fills....have a close listen to Hotel California. they've included almost every one known to man.


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## jeremy_green (Nov 10, 2010)

Learning to solo comes mostly from developing a vocabulary. Vocabulary is something you learn from playing lots of solos. You don't need more scales, you need more lines and ideas to work with. There are lots of good blogs and lesson places that can assist you. I have a blog where I cover a lot of this stuff and do note for note(ish) solo videos. Not usually one for shameless self promotion but you did ask. Here is a link: http://sixstringobsession.blogspot.ca

Learn solos by the boatloads. But don't BS your way through them - learn all the notes and phrases. Then go back after and look at what chords the solo is played over. Before long you will begin to see patterns and from these observations your style is eventually formed.


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## dradlin (Feb 27, 2010)

jeremy_green said:


> Learn solos by the boatloads. But don't BS your way through them - learn all the notes and phrases...


Some good advice right there...


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## deadear (Nov 24, 2011)

If you study great solo's and understand what notes are being used you will find out they contain more than the standard Minor and Major scales.


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## dolphinstreet (Sep 11, 2006)

It's all about phrasing. Listen to a solo by for example Albert King. Memorize *the rhythm *of the licks. The notes are often secondary - it's the rhythmic phrasing that really matters.

Then, apply these phrases/licks to the song you are working on. Now, the tempo and meter and type of groove will of course matter, but the principle is there. 

Scales are just a tool, it's what you do with them that matters. Learn phrases by listening to them over and over, and sing along to them. If you can hum along to a complete solo by Albert, Clapton, Hendrix, you name it - then you have a very good chance of playing a great solo yourself! All you need to do is to "move" what you're humming onto the fretboard, and you'll sound great.

I recommend listening to a great solo (not too advanced) over and over in the car, until you have it memorized, until you can "sing it' at anytime. If you can do that, you can learn to play it too, fairly easily. From there, you can make some variations to the solo, by changing a phrase here and there, and eventually you'll develop your own sound and style from all of this work. It works, trust me!


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## zontar (Oct 25, 2007)

dolphinstreet said:


> It's all about phrasing. Listen to a solo by for example Albert King. Memorize *the rhythm *of the licks. The notes are often secondary - it's the rhythmic phrasing that really matters.


That's one thing thta really helped me, and I still need to work on my phrasing...
But it helped--as I mentioned earlier--my attempts at playing the Crosscut Saw solo sounded nothing like it--but learning it helped.
And listening does as well.


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## georgemg (Jul 17, 2011)

A good lesson I learned about soloing was oddly enough from an episode of The Adventures of Young Indiana Jones, The Mystery of the Blues. The character wanted to learn how to solo and his mentor told him to learn the melody of a song first and then build off of that. It helped me in how I approach it. The whole episode is on YouTube - I attached a clip where they discuss getting started with soloing (the discussion starts at the one minute mark). It's pretty good to watch.

[video=youtube;o4kaRnlfME8]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o4kaRnlfME8&amp;t=1m2s[/video]


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## doriangrey (Mar 29, 2011)

jeremy_green said:


> Learning to solo comes mostly from developing a vocabulary. Vocabulary is something you learn from playing lots of solos. You don't need more scales, you need more lines and ideas to work with. There are lots of good blogs and lesson places that can assist you. I have a blog where I cover a lot of this stuff and do note for note(ish) solo videos. Not usually one for shameless self promotion but you did ask. Here is a link: http://sixstringobsession.blogspot.ca
> 
> Learn solos by the boatloads. But don't BS your way through them - learn all the notes and phrases. Then go back after and look at what chords the solo is played over. Before long you will begin to see patterns and from these observations your style is eventually formed.


Good advice...the only thing I would add to this would be don't waste your time on licks that don't feel good to you...when learning solos I used to waste my time trying to learn a phrase that didn't work well for me and my playing style...it's better to find licks that feel right to you and build your vocabulary with stuff that fits your style...


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## Adcandour (Apr 21, 2013)

I'm the last guy who should be giving advice, cuz I'm embarrassed about what I produce, BUT, I do know that the pedal I use at the end of this pedal board Demo I did helped me express myself better. 

So, perhaps dabble in sounds to produce cool leads. That's all I got.

http://youtu.be/SreldaMdjr4

(Please ignore the errors, it was improvised)


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## Axe Dragon (Aug 21, 2013)

adcandour said:


> I'm the last guy who should be giving advice, cuz I'm embarrassed about what I produce, BUT, I do know that the pedal I use at the end of this pedal board Demo I did helped me express myself better.
> 
> So, perhaps dabble in sounds to produce cool leads. That's all I got.
> 
> ...


What pedal is that?


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## Adcandour (Apr 21, 2013)

Axe Dragon said:


> What pedal is that?


It is a boss ps-6. It's a very versatile pedal (light chorus, flange, harmonizer, and whammy)


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## PaulS (Feb 27, 2006)

Been said many times, if you stick to the melody you can't go wrong. As what was posted by georgemp learn the melody of the song first, then build off that.


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## Adcandour (Apr 21, 2013)

Does anyone know of any good examples from well known artists? I'm trying to remember where I've heard the above method used and nothing is coming to mind.


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## Option1 (May 26, 2012)

adcandour said:


> Does anyone know of any good examples from well known artists? I'm trying to remember where I've heard the above method used and nothing is coming to mind.


Not exactly what you're after I think, but in the second half of this instructional vid he does talk about (and demonstrate) how the lead fills are based off the rhythm chord shapes: 

[video=youtube_share;AqKQZArpRlo]http://youtu.be/AqKQZArpRlo[/video]

Neil


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