[Giga Hertz]

Loving the feedback, guys. I'll definitely listen to those clips ASAP. Thanks, Dave.

[gtrdave]

Originally Posted by Giga Hertz

Loving the feedback, guys. I'll definitely listen to those clips ASAP. Thanks, Dave.

Cool. I hope that they're helpful.

[Ben Toast]

There are also tools you can get for strengthening your fingers. These are going to be important to your stamina.

[metropolis4]

Originally Posted by Robbiek1013

I remember reading in a guitar magazine, I think it was Guitar World, Kirk Hammett was giving a lesson on string skipping I think. He mentioned to the readers that although it's an interesting technique, like anything, you don't want to overuse it. Honestly, I couldn't agree more. If a player overuses the same technique over and over, it does become boring.

Yeah, any kind of flourish like that needs to be icing on the cake. It's good to develop a bag of tricks to pull from, but more important to get the meat and potatoes of it, which is going to be learning your fretboard like the back of your hand, and developing a good sense for melody and harmony. Those are the tools that will allow you to hear and create a good lead. Technique without these means nothing.

I think the best thing to do is to listen to some leads that you like and try to learn them - preferably by ear without using TAB. I'm assuming it sounds like solo's are specifically what you're talking about. Listen to someone who is a master of crafting leads like Steve Morse. Think about the way that person is playing. The way their lines fit over the progression, the way they navigate the changes, the choice of notes over certain cords, the flourishes, dynamics, places they use more speed/notes, places they use less speed/notes, the melodic quality of the solo and how it fits the song. Record a backing track for yourself of some simple changes, then, thinking about a couple of these concepts start to play some solo's over your progressions. Start simple, never just play, always think and be conscious of yourself. Take one idea at a time and be intentional about using it in your improvisation, then when you feel comfortable with it, learn another one.

[Giga Hertz]

Originally Posted by metropolis4

I think the best thing to do is to listen to some leads that you like and try to learn them - preferably by ear without using TAB.

Yeah. There was one C3 song that I had chords for, but they hadn't had the lead part tabbed/notated out, so I had to work that one out based off the key. It was actually remarkably easy, as it just followed the scale.

I'm assuming it sounds like solo's are specifically what you're talking about.

Actually, not really (I mean, they're good to know). At this stage, I really want to get good at just adding to the layers of music.

Listen to someone who is a master of crafting leads like Steve Morse. Think about the way that person is playing. The way their lines fit over the progression, the way they navigate the changes, the choice of notes over certain cords, the flourishes, dynamics, places they use more speed/notes, places they use less speed/notes, the melodic quality of the solo and how it fits the song. Record a backing track for yourself of some simple changes, then, thinking about a couple of these concepts start to play some solo's over your progressions. Start simple, never just play, always think and be conscious of yourself. Take one idea at a time and be intentional about using it in your improvisation, then when you feel comfortable with it, learn another one.

Sounds like good advice, thanks.

[MaduraMi]

My best advice is to learn various scales. Then use some backing tracks and try to implement them by playing over the backing tracks. Scales alone wont get you there. One of the things I've learned over the years playing is that speed isn't everything. It's good for showing off once in a while but expression is so much more important. Holding a note with a slow bend is often times much more musical than trying to cram as many notes as you can into a measure.

Playing the riffs such as the intro to Fireflight's Unbreakable just takes practice. You can usually find tabs but be careful about those. They are often a decent starting point but many aren't correct.

Paul

[Bushman]

gtrdave had a great post. Note that he was playing off the melody line.
I think starting off playing melody lines and adding to them will get you closer to where
you want to go.

[tele4tone]

I'm new around here, but I want to point something out that I think hasn't been mentioned.

When you study Jazz, a teacher will tell you to listen to a lot of soloists to learn how to solo/Improvise. The scales and theory are important to keep you on the right track/key. You need to fill your head with a melody/lead vocabulary. That means listening to everything you can. Keeping the listening diverse will help you from sounding like you just regurgitated Lincoln Brewster or Stevie Ray....

I do well for myself because I don't try to sound like anyone else, yet it all feels familiar to the listener. Avant garde players have more difficulty getting fans.

T4t

[gtrdave]

Originally Posted by tele4tone

I'm new around here, but I want to point something out that I think hasn't been mentioned.

When you study Jazz, a teacher will tell you to listen to a lot of soloists to learn how to solo/Improvise. The scales and theory are important to keep you on the right track/key. You need to fill your head with a melody/lead vocabulary. That means listening to everything you can. Keeping the listening diverse will help you from sounding like you just regurgitated Lincoln Brewster or Stevie Ray....

I do well for myself because I don't try to sound like anyone else, yet it all feels familiar to the listener. Avant garde players have more difficulty getting fans.

T4t

See post #8 and again in my first post.

And I agree: Listening is a much-missed part of learning music, imho. It's easy to dish out scales and to pick up on internet tab, but using our ears to help us to learn and then discern what we and others are playing is an invaluable discipline that requires us to think and act inside and outside of ourselves. Listening can help us to remain in-context in regards to tone, volume, song style, room acoustics, etc...and helps us to best judge when and what to play and when and what not to play.
There's no crime in learning from others who have gone before us, emulating them to a degree of even copping their technique and licks.
Shoot, Chet Atkins used to say that he "borrowed" everything that he knew in playing the guitar.
If it was good enough for Chet...