Roles 04 | Lead Guitar | Melody, Fills, Rhythm, and Static Parts (Patreon)

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Hi Everyone,

This is a huge lesson about your roles when you play lead guitar. It's so big that I'm waiting to film the next until until people have questions about this one. Part of the reason it's so long is because I tried to give lots of examples on the guitar. This is the kind of lesson that might give you a few months of practice, so take your time, have fun, and even take a break and come back to these concepts later if you want to.

If you want to focus on just one section at a time and post what you've come up with as you go, that might be a nice approach as opposed to writing parts for each section and posting all at once! Check out the looping jam tracks available for each section AND the zip file of stems if you'd like to import each separate track into your DAW to record and tinker in recording software. Also, check out the mp3s of each looping section attached as well.

One thing to note here is this: each idea I've laid out in this lesson is a little louder than it would be if it was mixed into the song correctly. It's nice to be able to hear what I'm doing, but sometimes it might sound like it doesn't fit because it's too loud. This is a critical consideration when you're coming up with your own lead parts. If your part is too loud compared to the other parts, especially the vocals, it's not going to feel like it fits no matter how respectful your part is. I know not all of you will be using recording software AND not all of you are even using electric guitar. Thats all ok. 

These concepts apply to just about any situation you're in. If you practice coming up with parts that fill the role required in each section, you'll be training your brain to think more critically and specifically about how to be creative within the confines of a specific role.

Also, you're welcome to post cell phone recordings of you playing along to a track or parts just played by you or the entire song with all the parts re-recorded. Participate in whatever way you feel comfortable.

I sat down with the intention of going over some basics and I just kind of kept going. So! There is a lot of homework. Lets get into it:

Homework to post on the community forum: 

1. Hook section: Write two different melodies for the hook section
       1. A melody and tone that DO NOT fit the vibe of the song (in your opinion)
       2. A melody and tone that DO fit the vibe of the song (in your opinion)
Write a little blurb along with your submission about what your intentions were and how you adjusted your playing to sound the way you intended. Also, catch up on melody writing with MTM 17, 18, 19 
Looping Hook Jam Track 

2. Verse section: Experiment with writing and playing fills. Something I didn't make obvious is this: You don't have to improvise fills. You can write something specific  and practice it over and over. TOTALLY Ok. Here is a song with nice fills for example. More specifically:
       1. Write a set of fills that are VERY sparse and VERY respectful of the singer
       2. Write a set of fills that take up too much space (not so respectful)
It's important to note that being respectful of the singer is a subjective issue. Some fill riffs might overlap or interrupt in a respectful way, but practicing being very respectful and sparse will help you develop an ear for where that line is.
Looping Verse Jam Track 

3. Prechorus section: Experiment with one, two or three note tertiary rhythm parts. Do you want to stick out? Play the little strings. Do you want to blend in? Play the thicker strings. Do you think this section needs fills? Do you think this section needs more thickness or would it be better to not play at all? Explore the options and just tinker. Sometimes your job as lead guitar is to thicken up the rhythm parts!
        1. With all this in mind, write a part that makes sense to you for this prechorus section and write a little blurb about what YOU think this section needs and how you set about playing (or not playing) this section. There is no one correct approach, but be mindful of the singer and the other parts so you're not stepping on their toes
Looping Prechorus Jam Track 

4. Chorus section: There are so many options for this part that your goal is to experiment with tertiary rhythm, static parts, one string, two string or three string rhythm parts AND fills IF you think they are necessary. Explore. Experiment. Tinker.
        1. Post a recording of what you came up with for this section and write a little blurb about what you were thinking when you arrived at this idea and how you think it contributes to the song.
Looping Chorus Jam Track 

5. Bridge Section: I didn't go over this section of the songs. This one section might need it's own lesson (let me know if you'd like that! I think there is a lot to cover) but if you want to come up with a part for it OR practice improvising over it, here is the Looping Jam Track for the Bridge.

Whole song Jam Track for Lead Guitar

Like I said. This is an intense lesson! So take your time, even if that means months. It will all be very valuable time spent. And, ask me questions! I want to follow this lesson up with more specific lead guitar approaches, but I think this series in particular could use a LOT of questions.

Also, I'll make looping jam tracks for previous lessons if y'all request it!

Check out other lessons in this series:
Roles 01 | Rhythm Guitar | Introduction
Roles 02 | Rhythm Guitar | Effects and Tonal Complexity
Roles 03 | Rhythm Guitar | Tertiary Rhythm
Roles 04 | Lead Guitar | Melody, Fills, Rhythm, and Static Parts (current lesson)

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