Sunday, November 30, 2008

7 Tips To Help When Playing Lead Guitar

By Joss Schuyler

For you to learn how to play lead guitar you need to know that it not only takes natural talent but you also need to understand the theory and technique with regard to playing the instrument. There are many people who already play the lead guitar and would like to play it even better. For some people this is easier said than done. Below we provide a few tips which can help improve your playing lead guitar in the future.

Tip 1 - For you to learn how to become a great lead guitarist you have to learn the basics of playing it first. Although the basics of guitar playing may seem boring and not worth bothering about, then you need to rethink what you consider is important. If you don't learn the basics then when it comes to playing lead guitar well you find it is very difficult indeed.

Tip 2 - Although you would like to start playing the lead guitar stood up or jumping around, this really isn't the best way to learn. You will find it a lot easier if you practice your playing when sat in a comfortable chair. This way you will find that you are more and so can retain things much more easily and also you won't become so tired so quickly when you are practicing.

Tip 3 - It is important that you discipline yourself to keep up with your practice. So if you make the decision that each day you will spend 45 minutes practicing playing lead guitar you should and not slope off early just because you feel like it.

Tip 4 - Even though economy picking is easier to improve your lead guitar skills you need to learn alternate picking as well. If you cannot use this technique then playing more complex techniques or faster pieces will prove more difficult for you. It is through alternate picking that you learn how to move more effectively between the up and down strokes on the guitar. Although learning this technique may take time you will be able to play them automatically and picking the strings becomes a lot quicker.

Tip 5 - You have to dedicate time to learning the various different techniques for playing lead guitar. So you need to spend time learning how to play bends, slides, vibratos, pull offs, hammer ons as well as the kinds of tricks that other lead guitarists use. Through learning these techniques you can make your lead guitar playing more colorful and so make it more expressive.

Tip 6 - To play guitar solos of any kind you need to learn the scales and learn how to play them repeatedly. The scales that are most commonly used by guitarists these days are the E Blues and Pentatonic scales. If you can learn these you can then use them as a framework for your playing and also can help you to create your own music.

Tip 7 - This final tip for playing lead guitar is of course for many the most important and is the one that says that you should practice, practice, and practice. The more time you spend on practicing a piece then you will find it much easier to remember and over time you will find them much easier to play. It is best when you start learning to play each piece you do so slowly at first and then build up the speed of playing them using a metronome. - 16747

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