It’s important to always remember that music is a form of communication. Through music, one should try to convey a feeling, an emotion or a message. And usually, one tries to do this in a manner where the listener doesn’t get bored. We vary the speed we talk at, our tone of voice, our volume and even the rhythm. We all know what it is like to speak to someone who is completely monotone and lifeless. A common first thought is ‘please shoot me’, followed by, if we’re trying to be polite, by occasional ‘uhuhs’ and ‘yeahs’. And then we walk away and forget about the whole conversation immediately.
There is absolutely no difference in music. A solo can be viewed as a speech to an audience. All too often I see musicians or bands playing for the sake of playing or to show off, such as guitarist simply playing as fast as he can, with no definition, no melody, and no meaning. It’s not meant to be about showing off, but rather one should try to say something that the listener can relate to.
So here are some tips on how to create some variety in your lead guitar playing to make your playing more expressive, creative and generally more appealing to the listener. You can try, as a start, to just vary one aspect at a time. Once you get more comfortable you should try to vary multiple aspects simultaneously. This is very useful when one has to play lead for a longer period of time. If one constantly plays around the same idea, the listener will eventually get bored. So it’s good to change things up.
Rhythm/ Speed
Try not to play at a constant rhythm at all times. Try starting off your solo with some slow phrases and build it up into something fast. Or try it the other way around. While many people may think that simply playing fast will impress people, (and it may impress them for a few seconds) but once they start listening they will get bored very quickly.s
Dynamics/ Volume
By changing the volume you play some phrases in, you can really draw the attention of the listener. Try to imitate yourself whispering a secret to someone so that they lean in closely to hear what you are saying. Get their attention and once you have it build the suspense until you break out with a screaming lead.
Register
By simply varying the register (either high notes or low notes) you play in, one can get a lot of shape to ones lead playing. Any solo that lasts longer than 20 seconds and just uses a few notes from an octave will quickly get boring. Also, remember that even if you do play the same notes, the timbre from playing the same notes on different strings can have a large effect on how it sounds. It’s the same as saying the same words in either a husky voice or a clean voice.
Scales/ Arpeggios
Mix up your playing by following the rhythm chord changes and arpeggiating them. This will give your lead more direction than just constantly playing within one scale.
These are just a few basic ideas of how you can mix things up. There are many more aspects and one can go into a lot more detail about each aspect, but try these out first and then get creative and think of other ways that you can change things up.
Check out these links of some great guitar solos!
Marty Friedman ( Ex – Megadeth ) and John Petrucci ( Dream Theater )
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