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This is a guide to playing lead guitar. Seeing as I am an active member, and Danny's instructable is unfinished (and in some places really innacurate, eg. his tabs were upside-down), I decided to make one of my own to right his mistakes and offer a larger and more in-depth set of instructions.
Bear in mind this instructable is a guide, not a strict "you must follow this" instructable. Feel free to play how you want, because that is the essence of guitar playing.
I (and my collaborators) will cover basic techniques like reading TAB, to advanced techniques such as squealies.
There is an upcoming sister instructable, The Collaborative Guide to Playing Rhythm Guitar, which will cover techniques used in rhythm guitar playing.
Please take a look at my instructable on guitar solos and improvisation as well!
Bear in mind this instructable is a guide, not a strict "you must follow this" instructable. Feel free to play how you want, because that is the essence of guitar playing.
I (and my collaborators) will cover basic techniques like reading TAB, to advanced techniques such as squealies.
There is an upcoming sister instructable, The Collaborative Guide to Playing Rhythm Guitar, which will cover techniques used in rhythm guitar playing.
Please take a look at my instructable on guitar solos and improvisation as well!
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Signing UpStep 1Choosing your guitar
Before you start to play, it makes sense to buy a guitar. Whether it is an old battered Fender Stratocaster from your uncle or a brand new Jackson King V from a shop, you need a guitar.
The first thing: don't splash out if it is your first guitar. You don't know whether you will like to play it, or whether it feels good and getting a 1972 Gibson Les Paul sunburst for over a grand won't do you much good if you can't get the feel for it.
The second thing: Get a guitar tailored for your needs. You need to sort out the following:
N-Striker wanted me to include these.
1: Fender Stratocaster - used to be dirt cheap, but has raised in price because of Jeff Beck and other famous players.
2: Esp LTD Ex 401 DX - Funny shaped, like an X-Plorer. But it is quite nice sounding with the tremolo system working well too.
3: Gibson SG - Expensive, but a great guitar.
Do's and Don'ts
The first thing: don't splash out if it is your first guitar. You don't know whether you will like to play it, or whether it feels good and getting a 1972 Gibson Les Paul sunburst for over a grand won't do you much good if you can't get the feel for it.
The second thing: Get a guitar tailored for your needs. You need to sort out the following:
- The genre you want to play.
- Rock/hard rock requires humbucking pickups usually, though single coils on a strat-style guitar will work well. Depending on the style, you may like to have a tremolo bar, and more frets are necessary for rock. 22 is ideal, but 24 is great too, if you like to get 2 octaves above the string root. Solid guitars are better, though some rockers do use hollow bodies.
- For Metal (all styles; thrash, death, speed, heavy etc.) you will definitely want to have humbucking pickups. Solid guitars are essential. 24 frets are needed too for maximum note range. Locking tremolo nuts are useful if you have a whammy bar, because they keep the guitar in tune. Floyd Rose bridges are also very good because you can push the whammy bar upwards as though you were performing a string bend.
N-Striker wanted me to include these.
1: Fender Stratocaster - used to be dirt cheap, but has raised in price because of Jeff Beck and other famous players.
2: Esp LTD Ex 401 DX - Funny shaped, like an X-Plorer. But it is quite nice sounding with the tremolo system working well too.
3: Gibson SG - Expensive, but a great guitar.
Do's and Don'ts
- Don't get a flying V style guitar for a first. They are uncomfortable to play sitting down, which put me off straight away. They are meant to be stage guitars, and are competely un-ergonomic.
- Do try a guitar out out, and don't buy it without doing so. No 2 guitars play exactly the same, so if possible, buy the one you try if you like it.
- Don't be attracted by looks, but by playability.
- Always ask for information in the shop. Ask whether there are any problems with that brand of guitar, especially if they are mass-produced. Problems could include a faulty pickup switch, bad string action at first, weak truss rod etc.
- Never buy a guitar online. You don't know what to expect, when you'll get it, and even whether it will be delivered to the right place. If you pay for it and it is dropped off at the wrong door, likely as not they will keep it. It's free to them, right?
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I read somewhere that if you want to do this, you have to hold the pick (plectrum if you prefer) so that it is about 3 milimeters visible. but if I do this, i accidently pick more notes in the pinch harmonic way. do you know how I can prevent this?
ps.
I hope you can understand what i am saying because i am from the Netherlands so my English is not so good
I also use quite a heavy pick size, 1.5 mm dunlop tortex, which works for me and some other guitarists who play metal swear by a thicker pick.
The King in my opinion is Zakk Wylde:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jHq0i2Dwujg
Watch the whole thing with other tips, or start from 4mins 45sec.
so basicly, it is the last one you said
greets,
jelle
e.g. tapping the 12th fret High e string, pulling off to the10th fret:
T
(12-10)
This is straight from ultimate-guitar.com for the tab for "Fool for your loving" by Whitesnake, the solo is by Steve Vai. I've only given you this little segment as the 12-10 is a bit boring, but the rest might blow your mind if you're just starting. Try it on the high e string:
T
(12-10p8p7h8h10) Repeat x infinity or until it all sounds nice a crisp
I struggled for a while until I found out the stuff below:
1)Use plenty of gain/distortion and volume, as it's hard at first to tap hard enough to get the string to ring out, and the fretting hand pull-offs can take even more ring away from the string. The hammer-ons can put it back in if you hammer hard enough.
2)Try to choke off or mute the strings that you're not using, with your hand or fingers of either hand - depending on where your hands are there are lots of ways to do this, so experiment. Eventually when you get good, try to back off the distortion and volume if it's become excessive (see step 1) as they can both increase string noise - get the balance right for your own technique, be your own judge of what works for you.
3)Taps and hammers are basically the same, whatever hand you're using, so to make them count you need to hammer down hit sharply near the fret wire. (say if you're tapping or hammering on at the 12th fret, try to land your finger nearer the 12th fret than the 11th. Landing bang in the middle or nearer the 11th fret wire, will often still work, but can suck away volume and power from the note in my experience)
4) Pull offs are best done almost sideways - so you 'semi-pluck' the string. This is much better than just lifting your fingers straight off which sucks away the volume. E.g if you are pulling off from fret 12 to fret 10 on the high e string, don't just lift your finger straight up , but pull it downwards too, so you kind of come off the string at an angle. Over do it and it'll sound horrible, but add a hint of 'pluck' and you'll keep the string ringing nicely.
5) Use your pick/plectrum instead of a tapping finger to increase volume and speed - some people like this, some prefer to use their finger, I vary it a bit. Use the edge of your pick as though you're gonna chop straight down through the string.
6) When you listen to Joe Satriani, Steve Vai and all the others, remember they are professionals and are paid to do this all day and all night. They also have the benefit of sound engineers and effects, so if you're not summoning choirs of angels don't worry. Experiment with fx as and when you have them. Delay can be a bit of a cheat but can confuse stuff. I find plenty of reverb works wonders. You could also try chorus, flange etc, and of course wah! But get the technique down first without too much fx. Boosting your gain or volume with an overdrive pedal is probably the best thing to do if you're performing, because it can be a difficult technique to maintain volume on.
Hope this helps, happy tapping! \,,/
But i can't read tabs really good, i don't know what Pull of and that kind of sh.t is.
There's not much of a debate here. It's common sense. Try bending the B string down a whole step. It falls off the fretboard. Similarly, if you try to bend the low A string up a whole step it falls off the fretboard.
For what it's worth I've been playing guitar for 15 years. If you're really interested in learning guitar let me know and I'll try my best to point you in the right direction.
I agree with you. Look at my previous post it says exactly what you are saying. Let's leave it at that.