Question: Lead guitar technique!?
Hi there, I just wanted the opinions of some other guitarists on the proper way to play lead, i've been playing guitar for 2 and a half years and having got 4/5s of the way through learning the Sweet Child O Mine solo I began questioning my technique after watching a Justin Sandercoe lesson and videos of Slash and other people soloing!.
These are the rules i tend to use when playing:
Stay in one position as long as possible
Use one finger per fret where possible
Perform bends and vibrato with as many fingers as available (e!.g!. if i'm playing a note with the pinky i'll put down the other fingers behind it)
This works for me but I'm wondering if there are drawbacks/disadvantages later on or if I'm simply doing lead wrong!.!. Your thoughts would be greatly appreciated!.Www@QuestionHome@Com
Best Answer - Chosen by Asker:
Just one thing - don't use your pinky for bends and vibratos!.Www@QuestionHome@Com
In general, those techniques sound pretty reasonable to me!.
You might experiment with the "stay in one position as long as possible" rule -- the same musical phrase will sound different played in different positions on the fingerboard depending on whether you're using open strings or not and so on, so you can choose how and where to play a phrase based on what sounds best to you!. also look ahead in the solo to see where you need to get to for the next musical phrase -- it may make sense to shift hand position sooner than you need to in order to avoid sudden dramatic leaps up and down the fingerboard (that you will almost certainly miss when playing under pressure)!.
One finger per fret is a good rule, and so is using as many fingers as you can on bends and such!.Www@QuestionHome@Com