How to Learn how to play lead guitar

[redhot777]

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dili mana diha2x dayun. kong mag practice ka 3 to 6 hours a day ma feel nimo ang imong improvement after pila pana ka buwan or even years. depende rapud kong unsa imong gi practice. if chords lang gani sayun raman. pero if solo2x na or shredding mag lisod gyud ka ana kay maka agi pakag sangit2x.

[dEaNmOnIx]

Praktis scales bai. Anam² lang speed, bahala'g di magkadimao imong kamot ig una, padayona lang. Hehe. Nya gahin la'g at least 1 hour a day para's imong gitara. xD

[st.anger]

practice,practice,practice...and you also have to know what your doin with the notes....taking lessons on music theory, learning how to read notes and all that stuff would be a BIG BIG help,that way you're not just playin' shapes and patterns,you actually "know" what your doin....but speed,licks,techniques?..you have to learn that through practice....

I agree...

[emailroy2002]

sige ko practice maka hurot man energy maka frustrate.. unsaon pag praktis na di ma frustrated hahaha...

[emailroy2002]

ma biyaan ko permi sa backing tracks if mag solo.. nya sahay di mahuman kay lisod na igka hapit ending.. puro naman licks og finger taping lisoda sad ani guitar solo oi. hahaha.

[kaiserflame]

Practice!

SORRY KUNG TAAS NI HA! NAGTINARONG LANG KO. I WANT TO HELP FELLOW GUITARISTS.

You don't need a teacher. I'm 19 years old and I've been teaching myself guitar for 5 years now (synth for 3 years) and I'm not tired of practice rather it's more satisfying and you get to create your own sound.

1. Are you sure guitar is for you?

Anyone can play guitar but not everyone loves the guitar. You will learn that not everyone will push through after learning basic chords (these include 1-5 fret chords (basics) and power chords). Learning guitar only takes a few months. Harnessing and progressing takes a lot more (some cases 2, 4 or even 20). You have to be prepared to pour blood, sweat and tears for your guitar.

2. What's your goal? (you can skip my references if you're not interested)

Set a goal for yourself. If your goal is to play songs by MCR, Greenday, Red Jumpsuit Apparatus and only up to that point then put down the guitar and don't bother. I'm being honest. Anyone with a guitar in hand and a sense of tone can play those songs. EVEN THE GUITARISTS THAT PLAY FOR MONEY IN THE STREETS PLAY BETTER. Think this through carefully.
You can choose to become a general melodic, powerful and passionate guitarist;
Carlos Santana, Joe Satriani, Michiya Haruhita, Kotaro Oshio, Steve Vai, Slash, Hide, Andy Mckee, so on and so forth.
You can become a powerful speed demon where finger shapes and scales are your forte;
Dimebag, Zakk Wylde, Yngwie Malmsteen, John Petrucci, Circuit V. Panther, Michael Romeo, Takayoshi Ohmura, Syu, JANI LIIMATAINEN and the rest.
You can be both but you will be known for one. Most probably the latter. The 1st one is the hardest to get across.

3. You are you

I'm sure other guitarists have gone through this phase at one point or another. WHY CAN'T I PLAY LIKE HIM/HER!? HE/SHE SO YOUNG YET THEY'RE SO MUCH BETTER! or I'VE BEEN PLAYING FOR SO LONG YET I CAN'T DO WHAT HE'S DOING! They have their sound and you have your sound. Your goal is to be able to do what they're doing but know that there's no way you can learn "Vivaldi's Four Seasons - Summer" as quickly as some other people. Practice at your own pace and learn DON'T IMITATE unless you're doing a tributary.

4. Basic music theory

Now I know this is tiresome but knowing which notes go along with each other, finger shapes and scale boxes help you a lot. Now I know a lot of people say "music theory limits you into doing what the theories say and not playing from 'The Heart'". In actuality, music theory helps us enhance our playing. Look at it this way. When you're playing around with your guitar and find out "WOW! This is a really cool riff!" or "I could totally use this in a solo". Later, these sounds are put together to make a song and the song affects the audiences mood. Now imagine not accidentally but on purpose, you are able to create that beautiful feeling you gave the audience in one song in another song or solo? Music theory lets you recreate these feelings and sounds over and over again. That way you don't just say "chamba raman na" into "kamao gyud siya sa iyahang gibuhat"

5. Scales and Modes

Scales are an important part in music theory. You'll realize how songs are put together from a scale. Here is a list of my personal favorites.

a. Major Scale (this where you find all your happy, jumpy songs)
b. Minor Scale (sadder and more dark, quite the opposite of the major scale in terms of sound)
c. Petatonic Major
d. Harmonic Minor
e. Chromatic
f. Arrpegiated

There are many scales but you'll find yourself using scales a, b and c the most (I use all of the ones listed though my top would be Harmonic and Major).

6. Metronomes

Metronomes are your best friends. What is a metronome? A metronome is a tool musicians use to practice timing but more importantly their speed and accuracy. This is where you have to know 3rd notes, 4th notes, 16th notes, 32nd notes and so on and so forth. A metronome keeps a constant beat and the speed and time signature is adjustable (if you don't what these are, google basic music theory). What you do is start at a low bpm (beats per minute) and work your way higher over a long period of time. This usually takes you weeks, months or years. These can be bought in music stores or you can download a free one off the internet. Set a goal bpm for a certain exercise and watch yourself slowly improve in speed and accuracy.

7. Metronome practice

Start at a low bpm and make sure you can play it cleanly for 1 minute. If you can't, stay at that bpm until you are comfortable and clean. Increase the bpm by 1 or 2 if you're using a wind up one, increase it by 8 (most metronomes increase by 8, starting from GRAVE, VIVACE AND SO ON. Remember, THERE IS NO RUSH. Make it a habit to articulate. Articulation is the term meaning "hitting the note louder as a sort of marker so you don't get lost". John Petrucci expounds his metronome training and finger exercises in his video "Rock Discipline" which is in youtube (if you don't buy the DVD that is). My goal bpm is 216bpm but I'm only at 170bpm picking clean with four notes between beats at the moment and 184bpm dirty so xD even after 2 years of working on my speed I'm still on my way there.

8. Use a guitar pick

Guitar picks differ from playing style, the guitar or the person.

Thin guitar picks are usually for beginners and for strumming (measurement below 0.7mm). Then there are the middle picks which are used for more picking but don't sacrifice the flexibility of the pick letting you strum easier (measurement ranging 0.7mm to 1mm) and finally heavy picks which are used for more precise picking (measurement from 1.1mm to 1.6mm). Anything thicker is of course your choice. There is no wrong guitar pick to use. IT IS A MATTER OF PREFERENCE.
Guitar picks allow your to play cleaner and more precise notes. Most of the time if not always, do up|down picking style or most commonly known as ALTERNATE PICKING. Don't use "down down" picking unless it's for economy picking (you can google that too) or heavy notes (prominent in metal). There are different picking styles but that's for you to learn. That's one-fourth the fun.

Here is a list of my guitar picks:
1. Dunlop Tortext (1mm)
2. Dunlop Ultex (1mm)
3. Ernie Ball (0.72mm)
4. Gibson Jazz III (1.23mm)
5. Gibson Jazz III Jumbos (1.3mm)

9. Practicing and limiting

You might come across people who say "I practice for 6 to 8 hours a day but I'm not getting any better" this is because they're practice schedule isn't very good. You only really need 1 to 3 hours of practice a day.

This is my schedule:
a. 2-5 minutes warm up
b. 20% on metronome training (stuff I can do easily)
c. 40% on metronome training (new stuff or stuff I didn't get done in previous practice)
d. 15% playing songs I know
e. 25% wild card (playing a song you don't know and applying what you learned in an "on the spot" solo). Possibly the funnest part of my practice sessions.

10. Have fun and be creative

It can be tedious and discouraging but all of your practice will pay off. Make your own style and dance around. Band simulations and teeth picking. All these make your practicing more fun. Sometimes practice doesn't involve you picking up a guitar. You can listen to songs of your fave guitar players, watch guitar duels or just mess around when you have time. Jam with friends, look for other guitarists and share information. It's a totally different experience and makes the journey to guitar god more memorable.

I teach free guitar lessons so if ever you "want to learn the ancient secrets of my rock" text me at 09321451427. I'm pretty young but at least I know what I'm talking about xD text me if ever you're interested. I hope I helped.

[noy]

practice,practice, practice the scales ...u can start with the G major scale, and A minor pentatonic scales....also alternate picking,pull offs and hammer on..enjoy!

[lord]

Watch demo in youtube.

[Fri13th]

practice the 5 boxes of blues. and 4 on 4 major scale as an exercise.

[noy]

naay daghan sa youtube ana bai...search lang...nya practice lang jud...