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Tips on Playing Lead Guitar

Imagine a famous band playing on stage when suddenly, the lead guitarist's instrument shut off. Everything becomes a blur because the lead guitar provides the main sound in a melody. The drummer, bass, and other musicians are often accompaniment to the lead guitarist.

There are also basics required when playing lead guitar. First, make sure the pick brings out the highest tone. The tones differ with the kind of stroke used.

Down strokes give a fiddle tone that's considered the best since it's derived from simple strokes of the muscles. You might have noticed that slow songs sound better because they use down strokes with over tones.

Timing is important, of course, as it gives life to the music played. An easy way for a player to know whether or not his timing is bad is to record the piece and listen to it and identify where there is bad timing.

It might be that the timing isn't off for the entire song, but it might occur at just one break -- that's when there's a small interweave of beats right after a wrong push. Practice to avoid the same mistake.

One belief is that lead guitar players are fast and the faster the player is, the better the audience believes he is. However, the truth is, if they can't play smoothly it's useless and probably would end up sounding like a tin can.

The speed can also depend on the pick used. A white, thick, big nylon pick gives a nice lead sound, but this is hard to use if the player is more interested in speed.

The melody of a song should always be visualized prior to playing. A lead guitarist should also ensure the lead sound matches the song and fit its rhythm. True artists call this the “T” in lead guitar playing. The break should be taken into consideration as a whole and not with every single note played.

Try playing a gig with better musicians -- this way your talent is enhanced since there's the pressure of keeping up with superior musicians. These musicians can teach you many techniques without even doing a "one on one" session -- just by watching how smoothly they play the music is enough for you to grasp the "T".

Avoid playing licks. Concentrate and play smoothly and remember that the simpler the tone, the better.

Choose an idol -- it could be a fiddle, banjo, mandolin, saxophone, or piano player, who you can listen to in order to pick up points and ideas on how to improvise. Listen to the real sound of the instrument and feel the beauty of the sound.