Is it bad to not want to play Rhythm?

Any bands I've played in with another guitarist we have shared the leads.

Well, as i said dont get me wrong. I don't want to be part of a band that just focuses on me...but i'd prefer to be covering both rhythm and lead rather than just rhythm.

But I hear what you're saying - you can't just totally discard rhythm from a band. Its one of the most important segments to a bands sound and setup.

Thanks for all the input guys.

Just do what you want, no one here is going to change who you are. if you want to play lead and that's all knock yourself out.

Personally I feel the same as you do: If I were in a band I'd want to be the only guitar player. However, I actually would probably prefer to be the rhythm player if I was in a band with more than one player (or share the lead role) but that's just me. Everyone has their own tastes, if you do want to be a GREAT lead player though, I would really focus on that: practice scales, licks and solos (even improv if you want to learn to solo on the fly)whereas if you want be both a good rhythm player and a good lead player (sort of like a jack of all trades) than practice everything you want/need to.

That's just what I think, because it seems like you want to play both rhythm and lead, but don't want to restrict yourself only to rhythm.

both John Frusciante and Eddie Van Halen play rhythm in their bands....
Yea I know.

I would say Frusciante is a better rhythm than he is lead. I'm not much of a fan of his lead guitar, but his rhythm is fantastic.

My current band (kinda, I'm still but havent been there for ages) has three guitarist. I only play rhythm, just gives too many headaches to try to get a solo. Downsize was that the soloplayer can only solo over one or two chord loops, so it got boring real fast. Apart from that, do what you want to do.

My $.02 . . . .

If you want to be a great lead guitarist, learn to be a great rhythm player.

A sense of timing and an understanding of how what you're playing works (or doesn't) with the chord structure is paramount to being a great lead player.

Further, the ability to do toss the occasional chord or double-point into a riff does extend your skills considerably.

+$0.01

To throw my two cents into the wishing well, if I were to be in a band I'd want two guitarists who trade off lead and rhythm. Quite a few of my favorite bands have this set up. I'll admit that I'm a huge fan of jambands (rock based bands who go off on improve based jams when playing live) and I can confidently say that 4 of my all time favorite guitarists come from just two bands. Al Schneir and Chuck Garvey of moe. (recently in Rolling Stone's list of modern guitar gods) and Jake Cinninger and Brendan Bayliss of Umphrey's McGee. Each has their own distinct style, each takes a shot at lead and rhythm and, in my opinion they are four of the most talented guys in music today.

I guess all that really boils down to is that if you're looking to be a *great* guitarist, you should be proficient at every aspect of the instrument. Not necessary, a la B.B. but it sure does help.

Oh, and always be the worst guy in your band. If you're the best, every one else is just holding you back :wink:

the best at something will kinda slowly come to the fore, if you want to be main lead guitarist, be the best in the band at it, in time it will just fall to you to do it. but its important to be able to do different things and swap the major roles around, biggest thing is to keep it on freindly ground with the rest of the band, its needs to be enjoyable. im very lucky and enjoy rhythm immensly so lead holds no appeal for me, on the other hand i am one of two people in my band who sings, so at times i need to recognise either, yes its time to let someone else have the spotlight or, like someone else has said, accept the for the quality of the music it would be better for someone else to sing it. its a trade off sometimes. maybe it might be a blow to the ego to realise, yes it makes the song better if i dont play lead this time, but you can use that to make you practice more and harder and get better.

I wouldn't say it's bad.....

Music should not be a competitive ordeal, although many make it that way. I just dont' agree with pecking order in musical ensembles.