Good Lead or Good Rhythm guitar hardest to find

Stuball48

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My first thought was a really good lead guitar player would be hardest to find but then I thought a lead guitarist is free to create, spontaneously (within the arrangement of that song), and the good rhythm guitarist makes the lead sound even better. The lead guitarist is hitting the Home Runs and the rhythm guitarist is giving himself up for the team by getting the runner over to third from second with no outs.
Would be interested in your opinion and I am a beginning plunker.
 

GAD

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The best lead players are great rythym players.
 

txbumper57

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The lead guitarist is hitting the Home Runs and the rhythm guitarist is giving himself up for the team by getting the runner over to third from second with no outs.
Would be interested in your opinion and I am a beginning plunker.

Here is something to make you look at this statement from both sides of the coin. Think about bands like AC/DC. When you think of the song "Shook Me All Night Long" as well as several others do you automatically hear the lead guitar solo part in your head or the Opening driving rhythm section that makes the song so recognizable? Then you could listen to Eddie Van Halen's Eruption and the exact opposite could be said. I think the two playing styles are forever intertwined. The way I learned was mostly rhythm first and then started learning leads. That way when I started learning how to play leads I understood how to stay in the pocket and still be creative from already knowing the rhythm parts. This then allowed me as an acoustic player to add lead runs and be creative while still playing rhythm and merging the two together somewhat seamlessly while finger picking.

In my experience, learning to be a lead player without learning to be a rhythm player can limit your abilities as a lead player. Learning to be a lead player after learning to be a rhythm player opens up all kinds of creativity options and allows you to be a much more versatile lead player all around. Just an opinion as always.

TX
 

walrus

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Exactly - I'm not sure it's possible to be a good lead player without learning to play good rhythm first. If there's any examples, I would think they are "exceptions" to the norm. You need an excellent sense of time to play lead, which can only be gained by playing rhythm, IMHO. As TX said, you have to be "in the pocket" for both styles.

Quick story - I was playing in this little faculty/student R&B band for several years. One semester, we had a student who played guitar join us - but this kid fancied himself as Carlos Santana (his favorite guitarist...). He only knew how to add little lead parts, which in the context of the whole band, sounded a lot like random "noodling". Knew very few chords, and struggled mightily to play rhythm and keep time. I'm not a big Santana fan, but Carlos knows how to play rhythm guitar!

walrus
 

dreadnut

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My son wanted to play lead all the time, and he was doing pretty well at it, but like I said earlier, somebody's gotta lay down the rhythm in order for somebody else to play the lead. I'd play the rhythm for him while he played lead, but when I wanted to play lead he couldn't carry the rhythm. This was a "teachable moment."

This situation has since been rectified; he plays great rhythm now, and lead as well. He's a drummer as well, so at least he knows how to hold down a beat.
 

crank

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I always concentrated more on practicing and playing lead guitar. Have been in several regularly gigging bands since the 80's with about a 12 year break when I barely played guitar at all - too busy with career and family, etc.. About 10 years ago I decided I sucked at rhythm guitar. I could play it well enough I suppose, but I wasn't really happy with what I was doing. I decided to spend the next year just working on my rhythm skills. It was a good decision and I became a much better all around player. It also, I think made my soloing both more rhythmic and more melodic - both good things in my opinion.

Some rhythm guitarists I admire are:

John Doyle who used to be in the Irish band Solas. He drove their whole sound and really opened my eyes and ears to the guitar as a percussion instrument.

Ian Neville, one of the younger generation Neville's who plays strictly rhythm guitar in his band Dumstaphunk. Amazing sense of timing.

Neil Young who also taught me a lot about guitar as percussion - very evident in his soloing as well.

Bob Weir for a different approach to rhythm.
 

mavuser

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i find playing rhythm is much more difficult than lead. with rhythm you have to play the entire song (or the part you are playing rhythm on) basically perfect. Lead you have to sound good (great), but much more margin for "improv" (which can mean a lot of things), just a lot less to lose playing lead.
 

dreadnut

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I played nothing but rhythm for years and years before I finally decided I should venture into doing leads from time to time. After I learned some scales and practiced a lot, leads are coming pretty naturally now.

Interestingly, I took up the mandolin about 20 years ago. I think I still only know 4 or 5 chords, and I mostly use them to chop out Bluegrass rhythms. On most other music, I just tinkle along on the mando playing scales, melodies and harmonies. Not leads as such, but for instance I do have the violin part down for "As Tears Go By," and the mando sounds great on that song. But, somebody's gotta lay down the rhythym!
 

Stuball48

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Heard Billy Strings last night. Cannot imagine there are 5 better guitarist in United States. Awesome - so adding his name!
 

mike1100

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I believe that "good" guitarists, lead or rhythm, are musicians first and they seek to support both the song and their fellow musicians.

Hear this from a drummer regarding "playing to what the music requires."
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9oQsKRyihEA

Along those lines… I marvel at great performers. Performers that knock it out of the park, even though they've played a song thousands of times and may have grown to hate the song. Can you imagine performing a song, like John Kay (Born to be Wild), for 50 years and still doing your best to pour your heart and soul into it for the audience?

Side note, for the audience, I feel spontaneity is far less important than being melodious. Odds are, I’ll enjoy listening to a well-crafted solo (think David Gilmour) versus something more spontaneous.
 

SteveT

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This thread made me think of this interview John Lennon gave to Rolling Stone in 1971 about his guitar playing. No matter how good of a rhythm guitarist you are (and John Lennon was one of the best) I think you always wish you could play better lead. I don't know if most lead guitarist feel the same way.

Q. - How do you rate yourself as a guitarist?


A. - Well, it depends on what kind of guitarist. I’m OK, I’m not technically good, but I can make it ****ing howl and move. I was rhythm guitarist. It’s an important job. I can make a band drive.

Q. - How do you rate George?


A. - He’s pretty good. [Laughter] I prefer myself. I have to be honest, you know. I’m really very embarrassed about my guitar playing, in one way, because it’s very poor, I can never move, but I can make a guitar speak.

I think there’s a guy called Richie Valens, no, Richie Havens, does he play very strange guitar? He’s a black guy that was on a concert and sang “Strawberry Fields” or something. He plays like one chord all the time. He plays a pretty funky guitar. But he doesn’t seem to be able to play in the real terms at all. I’m like that.
Yoko has made me feel cocky about my guitar. You see, one part of me says yes, of course I can play because I can make a rock move, you know. But the other part of me says well, I wish I could just do like B. B. King. If you would put me with B. B. King, I would feel real silly. I’m an artist, and if you give me a tuba, I’ll bring you something out of it.[/I]
 

The Guilds of Grot

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Exactly - I'm not sure it's possible to be a good lead player without learning to play good rhythm first. If there's any examples, I would think they are "exceptions" to the norm. You need an excellent sense of time to play lead, which can only be gained by playing rhythm, IMHO. As TX said, you have to be "in the pocket" for both styles.
walrus

One exception would be B.B. King. He played no rhythm mainly because he couldn't play and sing at the same time!

If your looking for a guitarist for a cover band, finding a lead guitarist that will take the time to learn the songs note-for-note is near impossible! (And then through in lead vocal requirements and you'll know what we have faced through the years!)
 
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