Using your instrument

(or: What goes where? And how? And when? ;-)

Lead / rhythm guitar issues

Knowing how to really play the guitar is the first step. Once you can follow a chord sheet, play the chords, and string them together in a meaningful way, you are at the bottom of the stair-case. There is a long way to go to get to the top. The target is to learn how to use the guitar in context.

For instance, you can play a standard A-E-D or C-F-G sequence in hundreds of different ways. Once you have the changes down you can start looking for contrasting ways to attack the chords. Try different sounds [if you use an electric guitar with effects], or strumming patterns, legato or staccato, make each note stand out or play them all at once, a brighter or a warmer sound / tone, open chords or play higher up the neck - so many possibilities. Which one/s you use depends entirely on context.

This breaks down into three areas of concern: 1. The sound you will use 2. Which inversions of the chords you will use, and 3. The way you will play those notes / chords

But you have to have a reason for which methods you use because merely playing along mindlessly has no point. At all.

Rhythm guitar

The rhythm guitarist bridges the gap between the rhythm section and the melody, and therefore forms an integral part of any guitar-band’s sound. If he cannot hack it the band will sound bad. The rhythm guitar however must keep the background moving continuously, he’s constantly on the front line, and must know what he’s doing if he wants to maintain credibility. Accurate chord work, tight chord changes, perfectly timed breaks are part of his standard repertoire - without any of which the band sound suffers.

There are good lead and good rhythm guitarists, and often a good lead player cannot hold things together from a rhythm perspective [B.B.King never plays chords!] and vice versa. One should focus on becoming well rounded in all areas.

Lead guitar

There are some lead guitar players who want to get up there and blast away on lead all night - this does not make for good listening and will destroy a bands sound. Aggression is good, but so is finesse, and when it comes down to it remember that tasteful lead playing is mostly a case of ‘less is more’.