Three Lead Guitar Exercises That Make Your Solos Sound Better (Even If You Are New To Playing Technical Playing)
What is the best method for developing amazing guitar soloing skills fast?
If you are like I used to be, you’d say the answer was:
“Build a vocabulary of tons of scale patterns and cool licks.”
I wasn’t too great of a lead guitarist when I thought that. Quite honestly: I was terrible!
I bought into the thinking that learning tons of new patterns made you a better player.
And then I discovered something:
I already knew many scales, arpeggios and guitar licks… but I didn’t know how to use this information to play musical ideas very well.
Then I was fortunate to find a teacher who changed my view. He said I was…
…on the totally wrong path!
In just a single lesson, he showed me how to utilize my skillset to play better guitar solos.
My guitar soloing ability was changed for good.
So, what did I learn?
Watch this video to see what he told me and learn how to use this information to transform your guitar playing next time you practice:
(Watch the video first, then continue reading.)
So, how can you master these ideas when you go to practice?
Work on mastering these important lead guitar techniques:
Guitar Soloing Technique #1: Vibrato
Having pro-level vibrato technique means:
Using balance when applying it based on the speed and depth of your use.
If it is super fast and narrow, it has a buzzing sound like an annoying bug.
Go too slow and too wide and you might as well be playing a bend.
This is what excellent vibrato sounds like (and how to practice it):
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=99fdscYeUkg
Question: “Tom Hess, how exactly should I play vibrato like shown in the video?”
Answer: Use the webbing between your thumb and index finger as a pivot point. Then use your forearm to create rotation..
With this in mind, pay attention to the sound of your vibrato. Your ears let you know if it sounds good or not. If you focus only on your hands’ motions first, you might not notice what really matters — how your technique sounds.
Bonus: if you have a whammy bar on your guitar, check out this guitar soloing resource with cool whammy bar tips that massively improve your solos.
Guitar Soloing Technique #2: Expressive String Bends
You already know how to perform a bend, correct?
There are tons of ways to bend the string to create varying emotional effects.
Good news is:
This doesn’t take long to learn at all.
Check out this video to learn a few of my preferred string bending approaches and how to use them in your guitar playing:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ynah7OVMa9I&feature=emb_title
Guitar Soloing Technique #3: Legato Sliding
Slides add passion to any guitar lick you play (and you don’t even need to play more than one note).
Sounds impossible, right?
Watch this video that shows a cool way slides can develop better guitar licks:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0v_yjzco8Bw&feature=emb_title
Guitar Soloing Technique #4: Killer Pinch Harmonics
Ever heard of a guitar player who hates pinch harmonics?
I sure haven’t!
Pinch harmonics are fun to play and make your licks sound really awesome.
Truth is, most guitar players have a difficult time with pinch harmonics. This is because they never really learn how to practice them effectively.
Fortunately, you’re about to- Watch this video to learn how to do it:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y4er5J8akUQ&feature=emb_title
Want to learn more ways to play amazing guitar solos and lead guitar licks?
I’ve got you.
Get this free lead guitar soloing resource to learn how to add passion and emotion to any guitar lick without insane shred skills.
About The Author:
Tom Hess is a guitar teacher online, progressive rock guitarist/composer and a touring musician. He teaches guitar players in his rock guitar lessons online. Go to tomhess.net to get more guitar playing resources and follow him on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and Pinterest.
