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Location: Chicago | I've always wondered: "Where do great leads, improvised melodies come from?" The question has little to do with speed or technique or theory.. Some of the BEST leads involve just a few notes, like well-known solos by Neil Young or Paul Kossoff of Free. So, how do YOU approach the moment when you are "up front and center"? Do you hear or feel some sort of melody you reach for? Do you think of the key? or chords? Licks that get you going? Ingrained patterns? Some sort of visualization on the fretboard? Is it more a "head" thing or "hands"? "Seat of the pants"? |
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Location: Latitude 39.56819, Longitude -105.080066 | poorly  |
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Location: SoCal | I was going to post a snide comment, but what T28 said covers me too...... |
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Location: south east Michigan | If I'm up two goals or more I play dump & chase and try to keep the shifts short. |
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Location: Boise, Idaho | I don't. I've been taking lessons for over a year now to try to answer exactly that question. I've learned that the answer is complicated. |
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Location: Denver, CO | I don't play well enough to play leads live but when I'm recording I go purely on emotion. I try to find a simple riff that reflects the soul of the lyric. I will find 4 or 6 notes that complement the chord progression and melody, and build off that. |
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Location: The Great Pacific Northwest | legend74 - 2013-05-13 2:48 PM
"Where do great leads, improvised melodies come from?"
This actually sounds like TWO questions to me. "great leads" and "improvised melodies"
On my songs, leads have come from usually hours and hours of just playing what I feel compliments the rest of the song. Once I lock it in... I record it and learn it and always play it the same or close to the same every time.
I have a limited bag of tricks for "jamming" and prefer not to. If I don't feel the song, I can't just play a lead over it. Many people can, I'm not one of them.
As far as other peoples music, I generally do my version of the lead, or I just do it note-for-note how the original artist did it, whichever is easier... Again tho, if I don't feel it... nothing interesting comes out. |
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Location: Sunshine State, Australia | "Great leads" and "improvised melodies"....
I wish.... |
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Location: SE Michigan | I confess that for most of our cover songs I work out a lead and memorize it, and then that's pretty much what I do from that point forward. When jamming or doing longer freestyle solos I have patterns on the neck that I have memorized that work with various chords and chord progressions. I also have a a pocket full of favorite riffs that I employ over and over again (...sigh...).
I have often asked great guitar players; what goes on in your mind when you play leads? Are you thinking notes like E-G-Bb etc? Are you thinking patterns on the neck? What is the mental process? I still have not received a good answer.
As I progress in my playing, I find that I am thinking more about the name of the actual note that I am playing. I also find that I am getting better and better at spotting alternate chord forms and partial chord forms all over the neck (see the book or video Fretboard Logic)
One thing I have heard before that I would like to study more is the concept of intervals, in other words, focusing more on the distance between notes in a pattern and how these intervals convey a mood or flavor. |
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Location: Colorado Rocky Mountains | I'm better at improving a melody than taking an outright lead. |
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Location: Upper Left USA | I try to stay in the same key as the song.
If that don't work... bend it until it is.
I gravitate toward a Steve Cropper/John Fogerty style. If I miss a note I can say that "I meant to do that". |
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Location: NW of Philadelphia | With great difficutly and frustration! |
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Location: Canada | Selecting random notes off a pentatonic scale can work wonders. |
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Location: Keepin' It Weird in Portland, OR | merlin666 - 2013-05-14 9:09 AM
Selecting random notes off a pentatonic scale can work wonders.
I KNOW that it is in there somewhere...
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Location: Flahdaw | I've never been a lead player, but I know what I like, and for me less is more. The idea of cramming as many notes in a small space as you can just never appealed much to me. Sweet soulful licks, tasteful bends, and no overkill on the vibrato is what i love to hear. |
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Location: Jet City | My answer pretty much mirrors Mr O's answer. Usually I write a lead with much trial and error until I find something I can live with. Many times I hear things in my head but don't have the talent to pull 'em off.
I like to shift gears when I'm writing a solo. Usually there will be distinct and separate parts, breaking it up, trying to hold interest, and leading into some sort of crescendo at the end.
When it comes to 'jamming', I'm much less comfortable. I tend to fall into minor pentatonic and natural minor (aeolian mode) patterns.
I've just had my second lesson in 30 years last week, and will be continuing those going forward. I have too much time, energy, and money invested to continue being mediocre at best. I've already started learning new and improved patterns and ways of doing things differently that's adding some "life" to what was become mundane and pretty predictable. I've also learned that though I have good fretting hand techniques, my picking has been all wrong for 30 years now. Not an easy one to fix, but Im working at it. |
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| Learn scales and modes. Then jam with a buddy who is playing the desired chords.
I'm just learning, but last night I had an awesome time with leads. I don't even remember the progression, but for the verses I was using a mixolydian scale, and for the chorus a blues run sounded the best. They were different keys too!
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Location: cincinnati, ohio | That's why we have a lead guitar player.  I'm a rhythm and harmony guy; I play a few minor leads and fills, do a really good job of fingerpicking and am a pretty decent strumming rhythm guitarist. I wouldn't know what a minor pentatonic was if I stepped on it, and my hat's off to all you guys and girls who do. Be that as it may, not knowing scales has not hampered my ability to make and enjoy music. I probably do intuitively know what some of those things are, but I just don't know what they're CALLED.
When I do play leads, I'm sorry to say, I memorize them. I know that you're supposed to intuitively KNOW where to go - and I do for my rhythm and fingerpicking stuff - but leads are a whole 'nother animal. Never did learn what all those dots on the fingerboard mean. I guess it's a mental block. I play a tandem "lead" on America's "Sandman," which is basically holding onto an Am7 fragment up the neck - similar to Neil Young's "Southern Man." It sounds like I know what I'm doing, but it's all done with smoke and mirrors.
So to answer the question "How do YOU play a lead?" the answer is, I fake it...
Edited by rick endres 2013-05-14 2:03 PM
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Location: Colorado Rocky Mountains | Another great practice tool for leads is to use a looper. Lay down a rhythm track, then practice your leads until your fingers hurt. |
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Location: Chicago | Yeah, I sometimes "see" basic chord shapes on the neck and follow them (3-4 notes). Sometimes, if a given chord or "shape" sounds good to me I want to "sketch it out" in a lead (ex: "No Mystery" below at 4:25). |
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Location: Denver, CO | mileskb - 2013-05-14 2:18 AMusually hours and hours of just playing what I feel compliments the rest of the song. Once I lock it in... I record it and learn it and always play it the same or close to the same every time. . Being a songwriter, as opposed to an actual musician, I especially like working with a lead guitarist who LEARNS the song, and plays his or her solos at least close to the same every time. I don't like having to guess where the solo is going or if it's going to resolve with the phrase. That said, the Prof has a great idea. He is really good at looping a rhythm part and improvising over it. Great practice tool! |
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Location: undisclosed | I play a lot of improvised music, my main instrument is actually electric violin though I also play guitar, mando, cello etc....For me music is language, after you learn the dialect of the style you can develop a conversation within the music and parts. A brush on a drum can be as much of a inspiration as the bass line so try to listen to the big picture.
Pattern playing and memorization can switch your brain off in a improv setting. If you're fingers go on auto pilot you've ceased having a conversation and are now reciting, just like memorizing a speech or poem. Chances are you won't be listening as much either. When I'm soloing what I'll be thinking actually might sound like a flight control tower as I remind myself of various elements and listen to how it is all working together. On stage there is also performance feedback, the sax player missed his cue, watch out for those cables, that gal is interesting...but the best playing elevates past the ordinary concerns and lets you express yourself without getting caught up with the mechanics....
Getting there takes lots of practice. Like learning words and constructing sentences, licks, bends, motifs and phrases can all be used as elements of improv and soloing, in both cases what is important is having something to say. Playing to the radio can be a great way to practice and learn about different styles, tune into things you've never heard before. On a zen level remember that while we put ourselves into the music, the music also plays out through us. |
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Location: Chicago | Some great insight here. Wow! I see a theme of the "inner composer" at work in a good solo or accompaniment. Working with Jerry Goodman last year on the "Guitarfire" CD was quite humbling: he took command of our tunes and shaped them by playing much more than a mere melody or solo: "Spoonman Strut" "Friendly Fire" "Outer Sunset" tell the story. Even the short "Echoes of Vishnu" is like a wicked mash-up with a smile! |
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Location: undisclosed | Good fun! And great for you to be able to work with Jerry Goodman. I still have some Mahavishnu albums and some of his solo LPs. There is a lot to be said for developing your own vocabulary to use as the stepping stone to your own sound. |
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Location: Chicago | Yeah, Jerry is a great guy and monster player (just did the "Spectrum 40 tour" with Cobham & G. Husband). There is also the rhythmic angle, playing two or three notes, Grant-Green style in a percussive mode. Pizzicato works great! |
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How do YOU play a lead?
