When you progress with your beginner to intermediate guitar lessons and become more adept at playing, there will probably come a time when you become tired of being heard in the background as a rhythm guitar player. Many of us would love to learn how to play lead guitar but it does take some practice. The cool thing is, that if you commit to spending the time to do it, you can become very good, and it is very rewarding.
If you're able to successfully learn how to do it, you will quickly become the star of the show and your guitar playing abilities will get even better as a result. There are different things involved with being a lead guitar player as opposed to being a rhythm section kind of guy, but the rewards are worth it.
The first thing that you're going to need to have in order to learn how to play lead guitar is the right kind of equipment. This would include a guitar, amplifier. This is the bare bones stuff. That is what you need to get good. As you become better, you will probably invest in things like effects pedals so you can create the different styles you want. Next comes the part where you're going to have to do some practicing.
It is fairly easy to learn how to play chords on a guitar, but playing the individual notes effectively will take some time to master. This is one of the most important aspects of learning how to play lead guitar, because you will be called on to do this on a regular basis and in front of a wide audience.
You will also need to practice your guitar intervals, so that you can take the lead and play a variety of different solos using these intervals. Here is what is really imporant. Many beginners want to get right in and play very difficult things. The secret to being great is to take the time to learn the simple things and build upon them. Learn to be great at the easy stuff and build up from there. Also, speed is one thing that trips people up. Eric Clapton is called slow hand because he doesn't need to go fast. He can milk the notes from his guitar.
You need to be able to express yourself, and remember that going fast doesn't make you a better player.
Once you're in the right tune and understand the theory you will be able to make things up as you go along, producing your own distinct sound style.
There are a lot of other things that are important to learn for playing the lead guitar, such as bending the strings and using a whammy bar (sometimes called a wang bar, wobbler or tremelo bar) to temporarily adjust the tension of the strings and produce a different pitch than usual. All of these, however, will come in time and you are sure to pick them up quickly as you continue to practice and progress.
Just remember, no matter what, the guaranteed thing is that if you never practice, you will never get good. So pick up your "axe" every day, and make sure you take the time to get good.
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