Guitar Noise

Let’s examine the “mystique” of the lead guitarist. Chances are very likely that you took up the guitar with the fixed mental image of yourself playing soaring, blistering solos in front of hundreds of thousands (we really do build the biggest stadiums in our minds, don’t we?) of screaming, adoring, amazed fans. You’d play the fastest riffs, every note right in its place. Whole new generations of guitarists would crop up, hoping to be the next you.

But how do you reach this point? Players just starting out will hear leads and usually react in a typically paradoxical manner. They can’t wait to play like that but they’re afraid to try because they know there’s no way they will sound remotely like it. But even the greatest of lead players have to start somewhere. Don’t they?

Anyone who has ever played with me will be happy to report that I am no lead guitarist. Don’t get me wrong, when given my chance to do a solo I can usually hold my own, unless I try to do something I know my fingers can’t do, something really outrageous. But I usually don’t embarrass myself (at least not anymore – when I first started soloing, well, let’s just say it’s a good thing to play with friends who are willing to overlook things) and that’s usually all I tend to worry about when given a chance to solo.

Okay, it’s not the only thing about which I worry. As I’ve grown as a guitarist, I’ve learned a lot about leads and fills from all sorts of sources, hands-on and researched. What we’re going to do today is to go over how to start developing your skills as a soloist. We’ll examine things you should know and dispel some of the mystique that might keep you from even trying to attempt to “soar.” We’ll also construct a solo from scratch to show you not only how it’s done but also, more importantly, to show you how to start thinking about how it’s done.

I will warn you outright – my “methods” might strike a number of you who have been playing a while as a bit unorthodox. But if you remember that my basic philosophy is to get you to think about the “how” in order to accomplish the “what,” then I think you’ll see we’ll eventually wind up at pretty much the same place.

Before You Even Pick Up Your Guitar…

(“Don’t touch that dial…”)

There’s something that you may already know, but it’s very important to fix in your brain. The “solos” you hear on your CDs are NOT spontaneous, just off the top of one’s head creations that are laid down on disc (vinyl, tape, whatever) in one take. To think so is to put yourself into a huge disadvantage from the start. Most solos are the result of (gasp!) planning. The guitarists involved know how many measures are involved or what chord changes are taking place underneath the solo. The good lead guitarists will construct a solo, giving it the same qualities of a well-written song – a beginning, a middle and an end as well as points of dynamic tension and release. Of all the guitarists I know there is maybe one or two who are capable of a quality lead at the drop of a hat. Don’t get me wrong, there are a zillion who can improvise a spur of the moment solo (usually based on scales) that will sound great and, more often than not, fit the mood of the song. With a fair degree of practice and a backlog of riffs, just about anybody can do this. I’m not kidding.

Leads generally fall into one of the following categories: “rhythmic,” “melodic,” “slashing” and “effects.” They’re pretty self-explanatory. And they can overlap – you can have “rhythmic/melodic” or “melodic/effects” and so on. A rhythmic lead usually is a rhythm guitar part brought to the fore. The start of the solo in Proud Mary is a great example of this. The second half of that solo is a melodic lead.

The difference between a melodic and a slashing lead is can be best seen (okay, heard) in the two solos in the Pink Floyd classic, Comfortably Numb. The first solo, between the verses, is truly gorgeous (and the solo on Mother from the same album would fit this description as well). The “melody” carefully follows the chord changes. You really can “sing” it, if you wanted to. The lead at the end of Comfortably Numb is more harsh – full of jarring runs of blues and rock riffs strung together. It’s the sort of thing that makes you drop everything and grab your air guitar off its air guitar stand and play along. Slashing leads are more concerned with scales and flashy guitar “tricks” which could include anything from a simple bend to a complex series of tapping. A melodic solo will follow the path laid out by the chords of the song; the slashing solo will say, “Here’s my scale!” and stick to that, letting the chords of the song fall where they will.

An effects lead is precisely that, a solo built out of an effect or multiple effects. Usually, an effects lead is combined with a melodic or slashing lead but it can stand on its own. One of the inherent problems of an effects lead is that it relies solely on the electronics to accomplish its task This is why some bands sound so much different live on stage than they do on record. Innovations in effects are rapidly changing this, however.

For the beginner, the melodic lead is the best place to start. Way too often guitarists learn to solo simply by copying other solos. You learn various riffs and “tricks” and then string them together in the appropriate key. This is a tried and tested method and while it will get you off to a fast start, it will not make you a good soloist. It will make you a good imitator. If you start out with discovering and developing your own style, it is easier to adapt other guitarists’ styles to fit yours. I’m not saying don’t learn solos note for note (more on that later), just wait a little and give yourself a chance first. Become someone else later if you want to.

Another good thing about melodic leads is that, again due to the nature of the solo, they can be studied and learned on any guitar, whether electric, acoustic or classical. Never con yourself into thinking that “solo” automatically implies “electric guitar.” Any song arranger or soloist worth his or her salt will explore not only different types of instrumentation when constructing a lead, but also the ever-growing array of devices through which to play them.

Starting Out Nice And Easy

(“…we never do anything nice and easy…”)

Most of you have heard of the three “r’s” of education. For the beginning soloist, appropriately enough, there are three “s’s:” short, slow and simple. I also like to add “singable” to that list. Anyway, just as in all our other studies, our object is to start out with things that we can handle and then branch out to more and more difficult problems.

I prefer to work with actual songs but you can also work out solos off of chord progressions. If you decide to use a song, pick something that you know pretty well. It will help immensely if it is slow or moderately paced and it helps even more if it doesn’t have a lot of chord changes. I also find that it helps to choose a song that doesn’t already have a “famous” solo because I don’t want to have that in the back of my head when I’m trying to come up with something myself. I also don’t want to start with something very long – four to sixteen measures tops. When I get good at this I may never have enough time for a solo, but for right now half a verse, a verse or a chorus is more than enough.

So now I take up my guitar and I make a recording of my song. Nothing flamboyant, you understand. Just me playing, singing, whatever on a cheap cassette – making certain that I’ve got a good steady rhythm guitar part where I intend to solo. I may put on a number of songs on one tape so that I have a few things to work on. And, thinking about it first, I will definitely begin the tape by simply playing the open strings one at a time so I have something to be in tune with (it pays off to think of these things in advance). Instead of songs, you can also lay out a tape of chord progressions. Again, I encourage you to keep it short and simple to start with. Also make sure you have a definite pattern. Songs follow patterns; therefore, leads should as well.

Okay, if you’re with me up to this point, then you’ll understand that I have to switch to a concrete example. It’s all fine and dandy to speak in generalities up to a point but I think that you’ll get a lot more out of things if we have something specific to examine. For the sake of simplicity, I’ll pick Dylan’s Knocking On Heaven’s Door. It fits the “s” criteria – short slow and simple. A single verse is eight measures. Tempo is moderately slow. Chords are as follows:

Repeat this sequence of four measures twice and you’ve got a verse. Definitely qualifies as simple. Without meaning to, I’ve actually tipped my hand to the next step. I need to do a quick analysis of the chord structure over which I’ll be soloing.

As you can see, these are all standard chords in the key of G (which is the key of the song):

No surprises here – it’s almost as if someone planned it that way! The reason for going over this is to see which notes will work and which will not. In other words, I’m figuring out which scale or scales I’ll use. And that’s all we’re going to say about this topic for now…