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Playing lead - stuck in a rut

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(@jtb226)
Estimable Member
Joined: 18 years ago
Posts: 106
Topic starter  

so lately, i've been really stuck in a rut when it comes to playing lead and soloing. i usually play in the blues major/minor or pentatonic major/minor and usually play modern rock type music. what would you all suggest to help me out of this rut? i don't have much experience with playing in modes, but what would you suggest to try regarding those? also, any background info you could provide on which mode to play in would be great too. sorry for all the questions, but thanks everyone for your help. :)

"Heavy decibels are playing on my guitar
We got vibrations comin' up from the floor
We're just listenin' to the rock
That's givin' too much noise....
Rock and roll ain't noise pollution"
~AC/DC


   
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(@kingpatzer)
Noble Member
Joined: 19 years ago
Posts: 2171
 

Whenever I see a question like this, I cringe.

The key to great lead work is having a well developed melodic taste/sense and an equally well developed ear. It's not about what scales you use.

If you can go from a melodic idea to playing it, you're there . . . just play what you hear.

If you can't do that, start by singing a simple diatonic melody -- children's songs work well -- and then pick it out on the guitar.

Keep doing that until you can sing a melody and play it at the same time.

Once you get to that point, then break out your mic and start recording yourself singing a lead line without regard to scales or keys. Just make it up as you go. Go nuts.

Now, play the recording back and play what you sang. It most likely won't be something that is limited to one or another scale!

Go back and do that over and over again until again, you can play what you hear in your head.

Scales are NOT the answer. Scales provide some structure around which you can build lines, they're a great tool and it's worth knowing lots of them for all sorts of reasons.

However, scales and modes don't make your solo's more creative or less predictable. That comes from having a musical imagination and being able to translate that imagination back to the fretboard.

"The music business is a cruel and shallow money trench, a long plastic hallway where thieves and pimps run free, and good men die like dogs. There's also a negative side." -- HST


   
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(@jtb226)
Estimable Member
Joined: 18 years ago
Posts: 106
Topic starter  

thanks for the advice. i'll have to give that a try. i usually don't have a problem with imagination, but just seem to be stuck lately. sort of a "writers block" type of thing i guess. i was hoping maybe a new scale or something would just give me a little nudge in the right direction

"Heavy decibels are playing on my guitar
We got vibrations comin' up from the floor
We're just listenin' to the rock
That's givin' too much noise....
Rock and roll ain't noise pollution"
~AC/DC


   
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(@nexion)
Honorable Member
Joined: 18 years ago
Posts: 525
 

Whenever I see a question like this, I cringe.

The key to great lead work is having a well developed melodic taste/sense and an equally well developed ear. It's not about what scales you use.

If you can go from a melodic idea to playing it, you're there . . . just play what you hear.

If you can't do that, start by singing a simple melody -- children's songs work well -- and then pick it out on the guitar.

Keep doing that until you can sing a melody and play it at the same time.

Once you get to that point, then break out your mic and start recording yourself singing a lead line. Just make it up as you go. Go nuts.

Now, play the recording back and play what you sang. It most likely won't be something that is limited to one or another scale!

Go back and do that over and over again until again, you can play what you hear in your head.

Scales are NOT the answer. Scales provide some structure around which you can build lines, they're a great tool and it's worth knowing lots of them for all sorts of reasons.

However, scales and modes don't make your solo's more creative or less predictable. That comes from having a musical imagination and being able to translate that imagination back to the fretboard.
I don't think anyone can say it better!

"That’s what takes place when a song is written: You see something that isn’t there. Then you use your instrument to find it."
- John Frusciante


   
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(@hueseph)
Noble Member
Joined: 21 years ago
Posts: 1543
 

Well the better your vocabulary, the better you are equipped to speak. So yes I can agree to a point but not entirely. The idea of being able to play what you hear is great, but what if all you listen to is rock? You're stuck in the same rut again. Varying your musical library will certainly help. But what if you have no comprehension of how this person is getting from this note to that note? This doesn't necessarily come with practice. I mean sure it can but there are times when it's just easier to be able to go to some sort of referrence and say well I can hear that he's playing in this key and the song is in that key and because some of the notes in the scale sound out I'm having a hard time hearing exactly where they are on the fretboard.

Theory sucks but man it helps a whole lot. There's some great free ear training programs out there. Ones that help you with intervals......uh....I think it's called interval trainer. Google it.

Another thing that could vary your playing is simply trying different phrasings. Don't stick to triplets and quadruplets. Be creative try quintuplets, septuplets, combinations of them. Not just in odd timings either. Try playing odd groupings inside of a standard 4/4 time signature. Again, not as easy as it sounds. In fact because we are so programmed to work in common time, it can be downright difficult at times.

Something Jazz musicians do a lot is work in terms of triads. That is, instead of thinking in terms of scales, think in terms of a triad or a "base chord". This can make your solo sound very arpeggiated without necessarily sticking within the confines of a single arpeggio. So say you are playing a part of a song in the key of D Major. You could play notes within a c major triad( C E G) or G major triad (G B D) A major triad (A C# E ) E major triad( E G Bb) and not necessarily in that order or in any order but the triad groupings help to make sense out of the mess. At any rate that's really just skimming th surface. You could try some minor triads, slide a triad into a scale run. These are things you have to practice to make use of. They don't come natural for most human beings. There are some of course who were raised in a musically immersive environment but those are the icons of music. They are few and far in between.

Many many tools out there to expand your vocabulary. You can't trust in just your own ability. If all musicians did that, there would be no progress beyond sticks and logs. Conversation, collaberation, and communication all help to expand your horizons. Listening is great but everyone listens to music. Not everyone is a musician.

https://soundcloud.com/hue-nery/hue-audio-sampler


   
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(@mattypretends116)
Honorable Member
Joined: 21 years ago
Posts: 530
 

Whenever I see a question like this, I cringe.

The key to great lead work is having a well developed melodic taste/sense and an equally well developed ear. It's not about what scales you use.

If you can go from a melodic idea to playing it, you're there . . . just play what you hear.

If you can't do that, start by singing a simple diatonic melody -- children's songs work well -- and then pick it out on the guitar.

Keep doing that until you can sing a melody and play it at the same time.

Once you get to that point, then break out your mic and start recording yourself singing a lead line without regard to scales or keys. Just make it up as you go. Go nuts.

Now, play the recording back and play what you sang. It most likely won't be something that is limited to one or another scale!

Go back and do that over and over again until again, you can play what you hear in your head.

Scales are NOT the answer. Scales provide some structure around which you can build lines, they're a great tool and it's worth knowing lots of them for all sorts of reasons.

However, scales and modes don't make your solo's more creative or less predictable. That comes from having a musical imagination and being able to translate that imagination back to the fretboard.

Keep in mind that this could take years to develop...think long term.

"Contrary to popular belief, Clapton is NOT God. The prospect that he is God probably had a large hand in driving him to drugs and booze. Thanks everyone."

-Guitar World :lol:


   
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(@mrjonesey)
Honorable Member
Joined: 18 years ago
Posts: 470
 

Before getting too deep into different modes, try just expanding what you already use a little. Just by adding a couple of notes you can play a mixo-blues (hybrid blues and mixolydian) scale. Very common in rock and blues music. It's a quick way to add just a little more flavor.

"There won't be any money. But when you die, on your death bed, you will receive total conciousness. So, I got that going for me. Which is nice." - Bill Murray, Caddyshack ~~ Michigan Music Dojo - http://michiganmusicdojo.com ~~


   
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