How To Play Lead Guitar With This Simple Technique - By Keith Gilbert
June 11, 2007
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By Keith Gilbert
If you’ve seen good guitarists, you probably wonder how they play lead guitar so well. They make it seem so easy. It’s like they’re displaying their emotion through the guitar and they’re just speaking through it.
That is what you should eventually aim toward: unison with the guitar. It needs to be a part of you. You need to feel complete control and completely “at home” with it. This sounds very hard at first, but trust me: it will come with time!
Now for what you came here for… how to play lead guitar. A large part of guitar soloing is using what are called “pentatonic scales.” They are like regular major and minor scales, but they leave out some notes of each scale.
This results in the scale having a very open sound. They sound better even if you’re just playing around with them and not knowing exactly what notes you’re playing. They’re also easier to play since they have fewer notes. (This is maybe why it looks so easy when good guitarists do solos!)
There are three basic kinds of pentatonic scales: the minor pentatonic scale, the major pentatonic scale, and the blues pentatonic scales. You can get a playable pattern for all of these scales and move them up and down the fretboard to play in different keys. You can get these patterns (and tons more!) at http://www.FreeSoloBook.com.
Once you have these pentatonic scale patterns, all you need to know to solo with a song is the key that the song is in. Pentatonic scales are easy to solo in because most notes sound fine no matter where you play them. But don’t take it for granted and just play randomly – study good guitarists’ techniques and try to adapt them into your own style. You can get a really great sound with just these scales.
This will get you started! Remember to have fun with your guitar playing. Don’t be jealous that you’re not as good of a lead guitarist as someone else. Just focus and practice a lot and you will eventually learn how to play lead guitar.
Want free patterns for playing pentatonic scales? Get the 40-page eBook and Amazing Guitar Secrets course now at http://www.FreeSoloBook.com.
Keith Gilbert is a hobbyist musician who plays electric guitar, acoustic guitar, and piano. He recommends visiting http://www.FreeSoloBook.com for guitar lessons.
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Guitar Lesson: Play Country Guitar Licks In A - By Peter Edvinsson
June 3, 2007
By Peter Edvinsson
You can play these licks using a pick or with your right hand fingers. You can also combine the pick with the use of a couple of more fingers like the middle finger and ring finger. This is commonly called hybrid picking. Having a few fingers at your disposal makes it easier to play licks with a lot of jumping between strings.
You will use a form of guitar tablature I have found suitable for articles like this one. The notes you will play are notated with the fret to play before a slash and the string after the slash. An example:
2/4
This means: Play the second fret on string four!
You will start with an A-major scale with some ringing open strings.
We will use hammer-ons in this scale. I will notate them with the letter h between the notes:
0/5 7/6 4/5 0/4 7/5 4/4 h 6/4 h 7/4 0/2 6/3 3/2 0/1 7/2 4/1 h 5/1
You will now play this scale descending. This will require you to replace the hammer-ons with pull-offs notated the same way with a p between the notes. It will look like this:
5/1 p 4/1 7/2 0/1 3/2 6/3 0/2 7/4 p 6/4 p 4/4 7/5 0/4 4/5 7/6 0/5
Your first country guitar lick will take you from E7 to A. We will use hammer-ons and pull-offs even in this lick. The suggested chords to play with the lick is in parenthesis:
(E7) 0/6 3/6 h 4/6 0/4 2/4 p 0/4 4/5 0/4 2/5 p 0/5 3/6 h 4/6 (A) 0/5
It is easiest to play in the second position. This means that you play the notes on the second fret with your index, the note on the third with your middle finger and so on.
In your next lick you will also use slides. I will notate this with an - between the notes:
4/3 - 5/3 3/2 0/1 3/2 5/3 - 4/3 0/2 2/3 5/4 - 4/4 0/3 2/4 p 0/4 3/5 h 4/5 0/5
The following country guitar lick uses a bend up a half note. It is notated (1/2b) before the note:
(E7) 3/1 h 4/1 0/1 3/2 p 0/2 2/3 0/3 h 1/3 2/4 p 1/4 p 0/4 (1/2b) 3/5 (A) 0/5
My intention with these licks is that you will learn them by heart as soon as you can. Play a couple of notes or so at a time until you know them by heart and add a couple of more notes. The notation is not important. It’s just a means to convey the lick.
As soon as you know the lick by heart you can experiment with it and change it as you like.
Country guitar licks are often played in a way that creates a rapid succession of notes using a minimum of energy. This is accomplished by the following means:
1. Using a pick and two more fingers or only using the fingers with maybe a thumb pick.
2. Using as much open strings or strings ringing together as possible.
3. Using slides, hammer-ons and pull-offs and of course bends.
There is a risk with this type of licks. The ultimate goal is of course to play them fast and fluid, creating this nice cascades of notes that you can hear from a good country guitarist. To reach this goal you really have to practice these licks slowly using as little tension as possible as you play.
If you are that type of person that wants to learn things fast I guess you have to remind yourself that the fastest way to learn to play fast is to play slowly. It is as easy as that.
Peter Edvinsson invites you to download your free sheet music, guitar tabs, ebooks, guitar lessons and read his music blog at http://www.capotastomusic.com
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