Hi all,
I have been playing for about ten years now and can strum chords like nobody's bussiness but I can't seem to break through and learn to solo. I practice everday but never really know what to practice to get better. Where do you guys suggest to start learning the art of lead playing. Please help!! what are some things I can do to practice more effectively and get the most out of it?
Thanks
jeff

I learned to play lead by recording a rhythm track and playing along to it. My first one was Johnny B. Goode and I learned the soloing for it. That definitely lead to greater things.

Thanks motionblur, I'll give that a shot. Anyone else?

Learn the solos of songs you really like (keep em simple at first) then eventually you'll get the idea of lead playing... learn scales and start improvising when you feel ready.

Try some of the "warmups" out here in the "net". Practise slow and accurate, preferred with a metronome, and raise the speed only when you feel comfortable with it :P

Something I found that is fun to do, is to put on a song from a style you would like to play, and just try to copy the licks as you hear them. Do not worry if it doesn't come out exactly the same as on the song, or if it's some amazingly fast run, just try to play something that sounds as close to what you heard as possible, try to to get the same feeling. If you miss something or fluff it don't stop just carry on. This will over time improve your ear training as well as give you a feel for playing appropriate lead work and solos for a song. Hope this helps :)

How about maybe taking some lessons? I find that when I get stuck in a rut taking a few lessons from a teacher helps no end.

Hope this helps.

I would recommend getting the Guitar for Dummies book. It is very informative and will help you get on to playing all sorts of lead guitar styles.

1st break down each of minor ,major and/or dominant 7 chords .just start with one key.c minor,cmajor,c7 .you can start with blues scale on minor or dom.chords.learn to play the full 7th chords this will help your rock or blues playing.dont practice to power chords.a while back i would take one chord and loop a backing track or something and keep playing without repeating the same lick 2-3 times.do this for an hour straight.you start dropping your comfort licks and start creating.also think of every note your going to play.you can also start transposing your fav licks to keys and positions you never play in.

Start with really simple solo's like something from rhcp or something, get the basics right , download some bt's and when you've mastered one solo you go on to the next and the next.....

And you should devide solo's in little pieces, practice one section untill you've mastered it , then go on with the next section when you know that, put them both together etc..

I suffer with this aswell, cant change scales from being excercises in fingering to actual licks and the such... argh!

Where is a good place to download backing tracks from?
Thanks

smokin joe

playing melodic solos has been for many years my quest. To finally get there I could tell you many thing but I 'll break it up to parts.

1. Theory

You do need to now about scales and chords. Just the basics. Which chords belong to which scales. If you stick around Phrydom will get there in his thread soon enough.

2. Learn the pentatonic (or ever better the diatonic) scale on 2-3 positions on the guitar. This doesn't mean start practicing scales day in day out. Just practice VERY SLOWLY some scale patterns until you feel comfotable that you can "see" the positions on the guitar without even playing.

3. Basic techniques

A. sliding (move from one note to another by sliding rather than picking both notes)
B. Bending ( play one note and bend the string to reach the next note rather than picking it)
C. Vibrato (finish every phrase by playing a note swinging the string up and down gently rather than leaving the note play off)

The three foundamental techs give color to your soloing.

4. Learn the chords on every position on the fretboard. Why does this help?

When you solo there is a very "secure" rule to help you sound melodic: Play the notes of the chord. For instance when playing over the chord G, soloing the notes G B and D match with the chord properly and create harmony. So if you know every position of every chord on the fretboard helps you know which place to strike the string.

If you study famous licks from famous guitar players you will see that this is the idea behind them.

5. Ear practicing

An extremely important factor. An experienced guitar player doesnt need to look at the fretboard or think of shapes. His ears guide him to choose the proper notes that match the chord. How do you practice this? There are many ways. My best is to play the melody of songs you know very well. Find karaoke or backing tracks that dont have the vocals and play along with the song taking over the singing.

6. Licks

Licks are musical phrases, a pack of notes, which fit together very well and fit with the chord played. Dont try to find your own licks(it would be great if you did), people have done that for you. Just study, WITH YOUR EARS NOT WITH TABS, solos of songs you know. Of course start with easy and slow stuff.

Hope I make sense for you (or anyone interested) and hope I will help. Please remember that there isnt an easy way and there isnt a best way. Just go your own way.

well what i say is because you know your chords your hands will be pretty strong from all the chordal work so i recon a few right exercises and youll be shredding melodically in no time. also if you have been learning your chords the correct way and learning the notes and how the chords are made up and used in conjuction with what mode, scale, sound, than i think you should be okay dude :)

The easiest way to start soloing without getting to deep is to throw on some blues backing tracks and go for it. You only need a penatonic scale which you probley already know and figure out the key signature (just move up the fretboard 'till it fits).
Almost everything you hear is based off the blues, start at the roots.

Ten years of rhythym should make it quite easy for you to pull off some soloing. You already know positioning on the fretboard, you'll just have to practice getting those fingers used to moving around while you're picking!! :)