Lead Guitar Solos: Some Essential Facts

If you've ever heard Michael Jacksons "Beat It"

, guess who plays the guitar solo? Eddie Van Halen. While it may seem glamorous to be able to play lead guitar solos in a band, it is important to know what function you're actually playing in order to effectively contribute to the performance of your group. In this case, Eddie was contributing to Michaels' project with his solos.

Now Eddie as been a great lead guitarist. Lead guitar is different than rhythm guitar and you need to distinguish the two from each other. Rhythm guitarists are the ones who provide structure to the song with support to the lead singer's vocals. They also are contributors to the band's songwriting process with their mastery of rhythm. On the other hand, lead guitarists, like Eddie, play solos for songs and use the rhythm guitarist's work as a background foundation for their own.

Let me give you an example. Take lead guitarists like Paul Gilbert, Greg Howe, George Harrison of the Beatles and Jimmy Page. Here are a few rhythm guitarists. Keith Richards of the Rolling Stones, Eddie Vedder of Pearl Jam and John Lennon of the Beatles. Singer-songwriters such as Bryan Adams, Avril Lavigne, and Bono of U2 are also known lead guitarists.

The playing styles of lead guitar solos also differ in a huge way from the rhythm guitar solos. Rhythm guitarists pretty much use chords and strum their guitars as lead guitarists focus on solo-string playing and play solos using picking. The better guitarists are able to play both roles in the band. And particularly so, if they are also the lead singers.

When learning how to play lead guitar solos it is essential that you master the basic scales, since these notes will be the building blocks that you will use for improvisation. The major scales that you need to learn are the Pentatonic Scales and the Blues Scale. You should also study the styles of lead guitarists you admire, get inspiration until you begin to develop a style of your own.

One cool exercise for noob lead guitarist is download a MIDI file of a song that has a strong guitar solo, such as "Jump" by Van Halen or "Sultans of Swing" by Dire Straits. Then mute the solo guitar track and record your own playing over it. Practice the solo over and over again until you feel that you're no longer just imitating the original but playing the solo in your own style.

by: Soudai Kunai

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