Lead Guitar Solos: Essential Facts
Great guitar soloists are always in demand. Take Eddie Van Halen. He played on Michael Jacksons “Beat It”. Everyone pretty much agrees that its cool to play solos in a band. But you should know what your role in the band is too. You want to contribute to the band performance. In this case, Eddie was adding something to Michaels project with his lead guitar solos.
Of course, Eddie was playing Lead. Lead guitar should be distinguished from rhythm guitar. Rhythm guitarists are the ones who provide structure to the song by supporting the lead singer’s vocals; they are also usually major contributors to the band’s songwriting process due to their mastery of rhythm. Lead guitarists, on the other hand like Eddie, provide solos for songs and use the rhythm guitarist’s work as a foundation for their own.
Let me give you an example. Take lead guitarists like Paul Gilbert, Greg Howe, George Harrison of the Beatles and Jimmy Page. Here are a few rhythm guitarists. Keith Richards of the Rolling Stones, Eddie Vedder of Pearl Jam and John Lennon of the Beatles. Singer-songwriters such as Bryan Adams, Avril Lavigne, and Bono of U2 are also known lead guitarists.
And with every soloist, there is a different style of playing from the rhythm players. Rhythm guitarists mainly use chords and strum their guitars while lead guitarists focus on solo-string playing and do solos using plucking. The best guitarists should ideally be able to play both roles in the band, particularly if they are also the lead singers.
When picking up the techniques for how to play lead guitar solos it’s key that you master the basic scales. After all, these notes will be the building blocks that you use for improvisation. When it comes to scales, the scales to learn are the Pentatonic Scales and of course – the Blues Scale.. Its also really important to study the styles of lead guitarists you admire, and build your inspiration until you begin to develop a style of your own. Even mimic their style for a short bit if necessary.
One good exercise for aspiring lead guitarists is to download a MIDI file of a song that has a strong guitar solo, such as “Jump” by Van Halen or “Sultans of Swing” by Dire Straits. Now mute the solo track and record your own playing over it. Practice the solo over and over again. Do it until it becomes a part of you. Do it until you are playing the solo in your own style.
Learn more about Lead Guitar Solos. Stop by Soudai Kunai’s site where you can find out all about lead guitar lessons and what they can do for you.
