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Q. I want to become good at lead guitar and guitar in general. Right now im really good at power chords and stuff but i think its time to go outside the box and do what i aspire to do- lead guitar. however i dont know what to practice. Help me out? Thanks
Answer
Saxaphone.
Seriously, listen to some great blues sax players. They are great at improvising. If you can play your guitar and make it sound like a saxaphone you'll know you've got some skills. You said you wanted to get "outside the box".
As for guitar, the best thing you can do for playing lead is to know your scales inside out and upside down in all 5 positions. With my more advanced students I like to just play a chord progression and tell them what key to play in and have them improvise. After a minute or two I'll tell them to modulate to another key and see how well they can get there. You really have to know your scales well though. It's not that difficult really if you know the patterns in the 5 box positions. Get a good scale book and just work on for an hour every day.
Also, get a looper pedal so you can lay down a rhythm loop and jam over it. I use my iPad for this but a looper pedal would be good. I also have a drum machine on my multi-effects pedal, so I usually have that going when I'm practicing just to keep a steady beat. Keeping on beat is very important as well for playing lead.
Playing good lead guitar isn't necessarily so much about technical skill as it is about knowledge of the guitar and a good feel for music. You have to know what you want to play and where to play it on the neck. If you can't sing what you want to play you won't be able to play it. When you listen to a song, try singing a lead part (using "bops" and "beeps" or something like that). When you get something you like, figure out what notes on the guitar those bops and beeps are. A lot of great lead players either do that out loud or in their heads while they're playing. Otherwise, your leads are just random runs up and down scales and sound very mechanical, not musical.
Saxaphone.
Seriously, listen to some great blues sax players. They are great at improvising. If you can play your guitar and make it sound like a saxaphone you'll know you've got some skills. You said you wanted to get "outside the box".
As for guitar, the best thing you can do for playing lead is to know your scales inside out and upside down in all 5 positions. With my more advanced students I like to just play a chord progression and tell them what key to play in and have them improvise. After a minute or two I'll tell them to modulate to another key and see how well they can get there. You really have to know your scales well though. It's not that difficult really if you know the patterns in the 5 box positions. Get a good scale book and just work on for an hour every day.
Also, get a looper pedal so you can lay down a rhythm loop and jam over it. I use my iPad for this but a looper pedal would be good. I also have a drum machine on my multi-effects pedal, so I usually have that going when I'm practicing just to keep a steady beat. Keeping on beat is very important as well for playing lead.
Playing good lead guitar isn't necessarily so much about technical skill as it is about knowledge of the guitar and a good feel for music. You have to know what you want to play and where to play it on the neck. If you can't sing what you want to play you won't be able to play it. When you listen to a song, try singing a lead part (using "bops" and "beeps" or something like that). When you get something you like, figure out what notes on the guitar those bops and beeps are. A lot of great lead players either do that out loud or in their heads while they're playing. Otherwise, your leads are just random runs up and down scales and sound very mechanical, not musical.
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