Learning to Play Lead

SKasak44

Does anyone have any suggestions on how to learn to play lead? Whether in the form of advice, books, DVD/VHS, or websites, I'm looking for the best way to learn to play lead because it pretty confusing.

I have some books on scales and modes but I cant even figure out on what they mean by the "roots" and stuff like that because it just gives the tab but doesnt explain why it is that way.

Can anyone help?

heave

The P.T. wrote:

The Guitar Grimoire. A great resource book for intro theory and damn near every scale you'll need.

nice, i'll have to check that out myself!

Thanks!

BinFrog

Learn the major scale in multiple positions and fingerings. Then figure out how your basic chords are forms using the major scale, and then how pentatonics and minor pentatonics fit into the equation.

heave

sweet! thanks!

BinFrog

I've been playing for 10 years but only very recently started taking lessons. Best $20 a week I have ever spent in my life. We are filling in the gaps right now, and the stuff I just talked about is the stuff I am really digging into: Major scales all over the place, intervals, chord structure, figuring out keys, etc etc. It's only been 6 weeks but lightbulbs are going off in my head all over the place when I practice now...it's crazy.

MissYouAllDay

That sounds like some very convincing testimony. I have got to the point now ehere I think I need lessons. Or 10 hours of practice a day. Only one of these is a realistic option.

SO they are really cool eh? What does ur guy teach you? Like how did they start the lessons? By asking you what you can play?

BinFrog

He pretty much started out just figuring out what I knew, what my musical tastes were, and what I wanted to get out of the lessons. He figured out I knew a lot of basics and a few more advanced things, but that my knowledge was like swiss cheese...I had to fill in a lot of gaps. So we do get sidetracked from time to time, but for the most part we're trying to get me to the point where I have a solid foundation and we can really build from there. The first couple of weeks were very basic. He'd tell me to play something I liked, or to play a lead over a simple progression he laid out. The only thing he had me work on for the first couple of weeks was just changing my rhythm sense a little bite. I was working on hitting the strings at different intervals during a 12 or 16 bar song. I.e. not just strumming a simple 1 2 3 4 pattern, but maybe x x x 1 x x 2 3, etc.

But now we're getting to the good stuff. Scales, fingering practices (different scale runs like 1 3 2 4 3 5 4 6 5 7 6 8 instead of just 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8). I'm figuring out what chords work when they do, and what chords work well with different roots. I'm also figuring out when to apply major scales to a solo and when to use minor scales. I know some of that is basic stuff, but before I had a foundation all I knew was stuff I learned on my own as well as from friends and online sites.

I can't tell you how great it feels to learn something, like how intervals work all along the neck, and then just 'get it'...and finally understand some of the stuff I had been trying to learn on my own or have friends show me. It's unreal.

heave

i took a couple lessons.... but that was it... just learned the basics when i was starting out

niksa

oh no no, you've all taken for wrong. You don't need lessons from anybody, you gotta learn it by yourself...no need of school for it, "street" guitar playing is the real rock quality

niksa

goodbye cruel world

exhausted

niksa wrote:

goodbye cruel world

way to be weird.

BinFrog

niksa wrote:

oh no no, you've all taken for wrong. You don't need lessons from anybody, you gotta learn it by yourself...no need of school for it, "street" guitar playing is the real rock quality

No, that will just get you to sound like The Strokes or Jet. God knows we don't need more of that crap around.

nick1977

niksa wrote:

oh no no, you've all taken for wrong. You don't need lessons from anybody, you gotta learn it by yourself...no need of school for it, "street" guitar playing is the real rock quality

I strongly disagree. While it is true that great guitarists "have a feel for the music" or just "play what they want to," it is also true that they are strongly grounded in music theory. Becoming a great guitarist also involves building a strong foundation in music theory.

In order to learn that, you must either buy method and theory books and teach yourself by way of the book, or take lessons. Those who "play what they feel like playing" and make it sound good know the scales backwards and forwards, now the chords and their inversions and variations. Music has a framework within which the artist works. If you do not know that framework, you can never hope to be a great guitar player.

So, either read and learn from a book, learn from other musicians, or take lessons. It does not have to last indefinately, but you must build that strong foundation.

nocode198

nick1977 wrote:

I strongly disagree. While it is true that great guitarists "have a feel for the music" or just "play what they want to," it is also true that they are strongly grounded in music theory. Becoming a great guitarist also involves building a strong foundation in music theory.

In order to learn that, you must either buy method and theory books and teach yourself by way of the book, or take lessons. Those who "play what they feel like playing" and make it sound good know the scales backwards and forwards, now the chords and their inversions and variations. Music has a framework within which the artist works. If you do not know that framework, you can never hope to be a great guitar player.

So, either read and learn from a book, learn from other musicians, or take lessons. It does not have to last indefinately, but you must build that strong foundation.

He's completly right, Guitarists need freedom to express themselves, but without the basic framework and knowledge of how to express themselves, sooner or later they become very stuck and short for ideas.

SKasak44

Thanks a lot guys, you've all been a huge help! I dont think i have money for lessons (nor the time) So i'll look into some highly acclaimed method/theory books/DVDs if I can find them. Anymore advice you guys have would be welcome.

BinFrog

Fortunate Sean wrote:

Thanks a lot guys, you've all been a huge help! I dont think i have money for lessons (nor the time) So i'll look into some highly acclaimed method/theory books/DVDs if I can find them. Anymore advice you guys have would be welcome.

Try the Karl Aranjo books

Pearl Jam and toast

i maintain that books (especially guitar theory) kill passion for music altogether.

lead is from the soul man. learn the penatonic scale up and down the neck and go for it.

BinFrog

Pearl Jam and toast wrote:

i maintain that books (especially guitar theory) kill passion for music altogether.

lead is from the soul man. learn the penatonic scale up and down the neck and go for it.

If all you know is the pentatonic scale, you won't be able to fully express yourself unless you just want to keep playing the blues your whole life.

There's nothing wrong with theory and knowing all sorts of scales and chords...as long as you don't just start playing runs of scales all the time. You have to integrate the knowledge with your creativity. When you get to the point where new scales and chords become second nature, then you're getting somewhere.

nick1977

BinFrog wrote:

If all you know is the pentatonic scale, you won't be able to fully express yourself unless you just want to keep playing the blues your whole life.

There's nothing wrong with theory and knowing all sorts of scales and chords...as long as you don't just start playing runs of scales all the time. You have to integrate the knowledge with your creativity. When you get to the point where new scales and chords become second nature, then you're getting somewhere.

Well said. There is nothing wrong with the pentatonic scale. It is a great starting point. However, if you know only one or two scales, you will get stuck in a rut. You must play currently with what you know. However, you must be in constant pursuit of new knowledge...you must stretch yourself in order to grow, and that means studying some theory and looking through books, and playing with musicians who are more knowledgeable than yourself. If you just play from the soul and do not attempt to learn new things, you will quickly find yourself in a rut, unable to escape. If you stretch your knowledge, and learn new scales, chords, and chord variations, and then incorporate that knowledge into your playing as soon as you are comfortable with it, you will find yourself playing with more soul than you ever would have imagined.

Knowledge and soul go hand in hand. They cannot be divorced without losing something in your music. With soul, you can hear what you want to play in your head, and feel it in your body. With knowledge, you can take that tune, melody, or harmony that is within you and make it a reality. It takes knowledge and soul. As knowledge grows, so does the soul.

MissYouAllDay

must...find...20$