What's a Good Way to Make a Lead-guitar- Part in a Song?
Keep the lead guitar questions coming! I liked this one:
Question: I know of scales and such, and I’ve also heard going off the singers voice. What else?
Answer: Hello there,
If you know the key in which the band is playing the song, That is the starting point. Next consider the chord progession they use in the song. From that information, you should be able to work up a lead part that fits (blends in well) using your knowledge of scales and modes (pick which expresses the mood of the song).
Also this may help
For a little background in theory (modes and scales) listen to these videos.
Iif you are playing in the key of E, for instance, you have many scales, a different scale for each mode.
How to you fit all these together.
Later,
Ditto what Norm has said…
My advice (and the way I write solos) is to combine catchy, personalized, guitar LICKS and phrases. If I come up with a measure long phrase that I like for a solo, I will revisit that same phrase a few times in a row to make it more memorable to the listener, than maybe transpose it to match a different chord or go to a new position and re establish the phrase with some variations.
Let’s say you have a handful of licks you want to use in your solo. Play the first lick, then find a way to blend it into the second lick…so on and so forth.
You end up with a solo that is made out of memorable "licks" or phrases, tied together by noodly improv notes (if you are good at improv, if not just tab out everything). Many lead guitarists play solos this way. You have the main parts that are the same each time, in addition to some noodling.
To see what I mean listen to the solo for Master of Puppetz by METALLICA. Kirk starts out with that sextuplet lick that is the same even live. But many transition notes are shred guitar, which means you stay inside the box of the scale, but it doesn’t have to be EXACTLY the same each time.
Know what I mean?
PEACE