Playing the lead or solo at a live gig is the greatest moment for any lead guitarist and the best way to be perfect is through playing with the help of guitar backing tracks. Whether you are interested in playing lead for classic Rock, heavy metal, hard rock, bluegrass, blues guitar or any other genre, you will not be able to achieve perfection without the guitar backing tracks. These backing tracks are re-mastered music tracks minus the vocals and the guitar. It will have the drums and the synthesizer or the rhythm guitars.
Hence, it will be easier for you to play a lead for November Rain by Slash or Comfortably Numb by David Gilmour using guitar backing tracks. There are three other aspects: you will be able to remain more focused, you will be able to play the lead better and you will be able to improve Upon your timing. Playing the lead guitar easily is not a simple task and if you are thinking of going live then you better be good. The crowd out there will push you harder and if you make a mistake, the crowd would be unforgiving. This is why guitar backing tracks are used by most guitarists to assist them in improving their lead playing. But before you start playing around with guitar backing tracks, you need to be well-versed with each and every scale for playing lead guitar and any or all guitar mprovisations.
>The three main scales that you should focus on will be the major scale, which is a 2-octave scale, the minor pentatonic scale where you will play 5 different notes, and Major pentatonic scales. The pentatonic scales are the most important scales for playing the lead and if you master them, it will be easier for you to play along with the guitar backing tracks. Here's an example of a pentatonic scale in the A: e-----------------------5-8-5------------------------------ B-------------------5-8-------8-5-------------------------- G--------------5-7-----------------7-5--------------------- D----------5-7-------------------------7-5----------------- A------5-7---------------------------------7-5------------- E--5-8------------------------------------------8-5-------- Using pentatonic scales will help you to solo over both major and minor chords and you will be able to play a lead with ease using the guitar backing tracks. The pentatonic scale is known as the staple scales for playing rock or metal guitar. They are even used by some of the legends of blues guitar.
E Walker is the founder of Planet of Rock. For more tips on Guitar Lessons and to learn to play lead guitar , visit Planet Of Rock today. Your #1 Lead Guitarist Resource