Lead Guitar Lessons

Lead guitar lessons for beginners, you say?  Doesn't that seem a little counter-intuitive?  Lead guitar is supposed to be for the expert, flying through lighting fast solos and tapping out arpeggios like Eddie Van Halen, right?  Well, it is true that the lead guitarist is usually showcased because of his (or her) expert level technique, but they had to start somewhere.  Lead guitar lessons for beginners should simply include a focus on the techniques used in playing lead as well as covering the other basics of learning to play guitar.

There are a number of simple techniques that the beginner student can learn to make even a simple and fairly non-technical solo sound great.  One technique you can use for your own early solo efforts is the note bend.  Simply move your finger on the fretboard while pressing the string, making the string tigther and raising the pitch of the note.

Another popular and easy technique that the beginner lead guitar player can easily master is the hammer on and pull off.  Without actually plucking the string with your pick, strike the string at the fret you like.  If you do this correctly the note will sound, and it will carry a different type of sound than it does when you use the pick.  When you remove your finger from the fret, do it in a sideways motion so you actually pluck the string as your finger leaves the fret - this will again make the string vibrate without using the pick.  Angus Young of AC/DC makes great use of the hammer on and pull off in their classic song "Thunderstruck."

No one can play lead guitar without learning how to solo, and the root of soloing lies with learning scales and modes.  A good lead guitar lesson package should spend a lot of time teaching you to learn the various scales in modes in many different positions.  Practicing the variety of scales and modes from different spots on the fretboard will make you much more comfortable improvising in your solos, because your fingers will be used to all the different patterns already.

As you can see, learning to play lead guitar is not necessarily just for advanced students - the key is in the particular ideas and techniques that the lessons focus on.  You can find out more about lead guitar lessons for beginners by visiting my beginner guitar courses web site.  Good luck and happy shredding!