Lead/Solo Advice Needed

[ridger]

I've been mostly a rhythm player and trying to learn more lead/solo runs. I'm tired of jamming with a group and not being able to "take a turn" on the lead part. I play mostly blues, country, classic rock. I live in a rural area, so guitar teachers are few and besides I haven't had much luck when I did take a few lessons. Is lead/solo all about learning scales? If so, what scale patterns would you consider "essential"? Any advice you offer will be appreciated. Also, I liked the "lesson" threads that many of you posted, but haven't seen them in a while. Hope they continue, they were very helpful. Thanks.

[A String]

Yes. Scales are the way to go. The three I would recomend you learning for your style is Blues, Major and Minor. I would start off with the Blues scale. Once you have it, there is a "cheat" you can use to get a quick version of the major scale. You just move the blues scale down three frets. This will get you twos scales you can play with very quickly. Also, try emulating other peoples riffs. Don't get hung up on them, but listen to notes that they bend and notes that the stop on. Most of all, good luck and have fun!

[Billster]

Right! Get your scale forms under your fingers. One of the more recent GP magazines (after the redesign) had a column with the five forms of pentatonic scales. Knowing all five positions will let you find any key in any position.

 

Similarly, there are the "Segovia Scales" which are the major scale forms with the root note on either the fifth or sixth string, beginning with your first, second or fourth finger on the left hand. As I recall, these scales begin on page 60 of Volume I of the Bill Leavitt Guitar Method books from Berklee. I beat six forms of major scale into the ground for 15 minutes a day as a way of keeping my coordination together when I don't have time for "real" creative playing.

 

Know your relative minors and majors (See A String's post) For example, if a song is in C major, you can safely play an A minor scale form. Vice versa, a song in A minor can take a C major scale.

 

From the Segovia Scales, you can easliy find major chord arpeggios (1,3,5,7)

[musicalhair]

The scales are important so you know what is available to you, and to develop picking technic. There is another thread here where the guy askes specifically about the technic. Take a look there too.

 

Learn melodies, understand melodic contour, tension/release, sequences. Learning to play scales is one thing, but learning how to use which ones over which chords is like the next step.

 

I've always felt that good rhythmn playing is the key to good lead playing. See the notes that make the chord changes and focus on lines that will accentuate that without scarificing your melodic ideas. Youve got two things to think about, developing a melodic idea so that your solo goes somewhere and says something, and telling a story (in a manner of speaking) that makes sense with the scenery provided by the song's chords.

[shredmasta666]

Scales essential for getting good and basic picking styles. Penatonic scales can break off and go into so many different things, so I would learn them.

It is also good to develop your own style after you have the basics down, then you can make your own solos with the different scales you learned.