Time to step it up!

C

Car202

Member
Ok so I think I finally have all of the gear I need....for now!;) I have the Axe 2,MFC,FRFR speakers, 2 Mission Pedals, and a Behringer Mixer. I have played guitar for over 15 years now but have mostly just played Rhythm guitar. I want to get more into lead guitar now, especially after getting all of this great gear. I know there are many talented guitarist on this forum and I would like to know the best/fastest way to learn lead guitar. Is it an effective way to learn by just picking song after song and learning the whole solo? I don't want to go down the scale route if I don't have to. I like playing the classic rock, hair band, and southern rock genres most of the time (If that matters). Any input will be appreciated!
 
You need to at least know your pentatonic scales. Yes, definitely learn a bunch of solos, but that won't teach you to improvise. Improvisation usually comes easier and better when you have the right tools. This means know your scales and arpeggios, and know which chords/keys they belong with. Apologies if you already know all this. :)
 
I started by playing along to songs on the radio. I just found the root notes and noodled my way through. Then I learnt a few scales and some chord theory and that was the start of my playing improving drastically.
 
Pick the tune that you find the most melodical in your world. We all have different musical "flavours", and finding your own will probably go right out in your fingers. And jam along with that the whole night trough.
 
There really isn't a magic bullet to it. I found myself in the EXACT same place a few years back. I didn't consider myself a lead player and didn't know a single guitar solo, but with everything else in music, there's no single defined path to doing it. I've known major scales in every position for 10 years, but never put them to use outside of just mindlessly practicing them. When I started to learn actual solos the lights started to come on, "Oh, I see what they're doing here" kinda thing.

About 5 years ago, I went back to college (my 3rd attempt), and my then instructor finally said something that nobody had ever told me before: Music is a language and like any language, you have to learn from the masters. Learning all the scales and such is like learning to speak by reading a dictionary. Think about how a baby learns to speak. They are surrounded by masters speaking naturally, expressing ideas freely. At first, the child learns one word and keeps speaking it. Then they pick up some other words and eventually phrases. Soon, the child starts to substitute words in for others to start expressing themselves and change the meaning of the phrases they know. If you want to learn to really speak the language, you listen to the masters and attempt to emulate their licks. Then, you take those little pieces and string them together for a solo. Eventually, you re-arrange these pieces to form your own solos.
 
If you really want to be a good lead guitarist here's a few things that are at the top of my list in terms of importance:

1. Learn the fretboard- know all the notes...not just to the point to where you can "figure" out what note it is. You need to be able to instantly know what note you're on without thinking about it.

2. Learn scales- sorry, no getting around it if you want to be a good lead guitarist. Pentatonics, natural minor, and major scales for the genres you listed.

3. Learn intervals- learn to hear the sound of different intervals and their patterns on the fretboard (e.g. a fourth is same fret, one string down such as A to D)

4. Learn arpeggio patterns- figure out what chords are most common in the styles you play and learn the arpeggio patterns across the fretboard.

5. Challenge your right and left hands- work to find which picking and fretting patterns are hardest for you on focus on them.

6. Practice to a metronome.

7. Study licks from your favorite guitarists- don't worry about learning their entire solos. Break it into licks. "Baby steps". Learning new licks challenges your hands and mind to do things you normally wouldn't think of.

8. Improvise- Jam with other musicians preferably. Or, find jam tracks to play along to in various keys using various scales. Or, create your own jam tracks.


Anyway, those are the most important things to me. If all you need to do is whip out the same old licks from time to time you can obviously get by with a lot less. However, being a good lead player simply requires years of hard work. It's quite a challenge, but one I find very enjoyable and rewarding.
 
I really don't think you can avoid the "scale route" in the long run, no matter what you call them or how you refer to them you just gotta have some system to establish some kind of frame or zone. I always recommend learning the "modes" Ionian, Dorian, Phrygian, Lydian, Mixolydian, Aeolian, Locrian. You probably already know much more scales than you think you do, for example the Ionian (the Major scale) .. do, re,mi ....and the Aeolian (the natural minor) so that's 2 down and 5 to go when it comes to the modes.

There are so many excellent youtube lessons on these matters that you will learn it in a week if you put your mind to it, and combined with the pentatonic min / Maj scale you have all kinds of knowledge to scoop from.

:)

Then comes the harder part, try to avoid being a "scale hero solo player" .. (guilty myself a lot of the time) and start to form ideas from a musical point of view,
and break the "rules" and find your own style.

In spite of all that rambling above, I am not a pro and I might not even know what I'm talking about .. just my 2 cents for what it's worth.

:)
 
And concentrate on the notes you don't play - which gives the audience time to actually focus on your next. Vai, Satriani etc. have sold most records to guitarists. Make a broader audience.
 
There is a lot of great info here guys, Thank you so much! Guitarded -it looks like I have a lil ways to go....LOL!!! Thanks again guys for the info, now it's time to formulate a system! One thing I think I have in my favor is that I learned to play guitar on an acoustic so my playing is pretty clean and I have played in a band before so I know I have the capability of memorizing multiple songs.
 
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I have a 2006 PRS Singlecut with #7's in it and a Music Man Sterling. I'm thinking these should work out ok for learning some lead guitar, at least to get started.
 
Car202 here ya go!
Learn alternate picking / economy picking /hammer and pull technique / sweep picking / Some say its a cheesy dvd. But you can download it as soon as you buy it. And Michael holds your hand thru the lessons.
 
yeah he's quick. Ya dont have to play that fast all the time, but he'll show you many types of picking styles for lead work! And you can use the knowledge for your likings :)
 
As someone mentioned earlier... the melodies!
I have heard several bigtime guys (paul gilbert, jaco pastorius, victor wooten...etc) say that learning vocal lines on the instrument will be time well spent!
They will be parts you can easily hear in your head and translate to the fret board, a lot of times without even having to call up the song. Then try it in different keys.
This at least gets you started with some cool stuff that also really help you relate intervals.
 
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