Being the lead guitarist in a band is a fun position to fill. The lead’s job is to add flavor to the band’s tunes, usually playing technical and melodic notes instead of rhythmic chords. They’re also often responsible for the shredding guitar solos that raise goosebumps on your arms and add shameless air-guitar to your repertoire of dance moves.
Here are 5 key practices to improve your lead guitar performance:
Add the blue note with our blues scale guitar lesson.
When the pentatonic feels limiting, our guitar modes explained lesson is the next step.
Related: our self-taught guitar roadmap covers the basics in one place.
- Practice as much as possible!
- Gain experience playing on stage.
- Communicate with your bandmates.
- Know your audience.
- Mind your appearance.
With these five practices a part of your lead routine, you’re bound to improve your performance skills and make a lasting impression onstage. This article will talk in greater length about why each of these practices benefits your performance.
Learn the five pentatonic scale shapes on guitar so you can solo anywhere on the neck.
👇😀👇NOTE👇😀👇
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1. Practice as Much as Possible
The first thing to remember when improving your lead guitar performance is that to be great at something, you must first be good at it. That means practicing guitar playing is essential to getting even better at lead guitar than you already are!
Practice can take on many forms, but what’s most important is that you’re doing it. This is because repetitive behavior, such as consistently playing an instrument, creates neural pathways in the brain that are strengthened when in use. That means that the more you practice, the better you’ll get!
Here are a few practices you can make your own:
- Practice solo. Beneficial for independent learners, a solo guitar practice could look like playing along to your favorite tunes, practicing scales in your bedroom, or experimenting with solo routines.
- Schedule a jam sesh. A jam session is a universal way to freestyle and still gain some practice. It’s also an excellent way to practice your lead while learning to play with your bandmates or friends. Playing with others requires a slightly different skill set than playing solo, so both are good to incorporate into your routine.
- Record and listen. Recording your practice session and listening to it is an objective way to spot areas of improvement in your playing.
In the end, as long as you’ve got an instrument in your hand, practice can look however works best for you!
2. Gain Experience Playing on Stage
A nerve-wracking part of playing in a successful band is undoubtedly attributed to performing in front of an audience for the first time. There is both vulnerability and courage in putting a live show on for others. Still, the experience is pivotal to your presence as a lead guitarist.
When music lovers go to a concert, they expect to see and listen to a flawless set. This isn’t to say that mistakes are a huge deal when they happen, but consumers pay to hear their favorite music, livelier versions of all the best tracks on the album.
That’s a lot to live up to.
Nonetheless, playing in front of an audience will help your overall performance, and here’s why.
- Once you start playing the set your band has rehearsed for weeks, those new neural pathways will fire up. Onstage experience teaches you how to comfortably play amidst the pressure of an audience. (Bonus: continuous onstage expertise will create new neural connections to turn you into an even stronger musician!)
- Playing live also teaches the musician how to interact and engage with an audience, which includes reading the room and matching the viewer’s energy.
- Live gigs also strengthen a band by teaching them how to play collectively in front of an audience.
The more experience there is on stage, the more comfortable you and your bandmates will be in creating exciting performances and feeling confident enough to execute them.
3. Communicate With Your Bandmates
Being a good bandmate means, first and foremost, knowing how to work collaboratively with others. A band member that is demanding, narrow-minded, or dismissive likely won’t last long in the group. When musicians get together to play music, they need to be able to communicate effectively about what they think is and isn’t working–for themselves and the music.
Lead guitarists play melodies and technical parts to a song, while rhythm guitarists play the chords that make up the song.
An excellent example of what this sounds like is the 9-minute masterpiece of the song Free Bird by Lynyrd Skynyrd. It begins with the gentle strumming of the rhythm guitar followed by the lead guitarist’s introductory solo, which comes before the vocalist.
Like any additions or alterations to a song, all bandmates need to know what they are to be able to play the music properly.
Being a lead guitarist does not mean stealing the spotlight with long-winded solos or surprising your bandmates with a change mid-performance. How a song is played is communicated to everyone involved.
Communication amongst bandmates is necessary for other reasons, too.
Take a look at a few below:
- Your bandmates are the one group who has likely heard you play more than anyone else. Open communication allows for feedback between members.
- All band members must be on the same page about events, rehearsals, opportunities, and jam sessions.
- Band members should communicate to accomplish the shared goals of writing and playing music.
Overall, being on the same page as your bandmates and listening to (and giving) constructive feedback will improve your confidence in playing lead guitar.
4. Know Your Audience
Knowing your audience means a few things. A good band will understand who their listeners are, what songs evoke which emotions, and how to make the entire show a memorable experience. They will also be able to feel and match the audience’s energy.
This connection between musician and listener, sometimes electric, sometimes mournful, yet always human is what comes from truly understanding the collective energy of your audience.
A few ways to get to know your audience are listed below.
- Interact with your audience. Musicians who don’t interact with their audience typically play an open-and-shut show. That’s okay for some types of concerts or a recital, of course, but live performances are precisely that: lively.
- Ask your audience questions. Asking the audience general questions can help break the ice at the beginning of a performance or while tuning or tweaking instruments.
- Listen to their responses. If only a few people respond, the group might be shy or have low energy. Gauge how you think the audience feels by their answers, and then play a song that you believe appropriately matches the mood or amps the crowd to get them where you want them.
Matching the mood and engaging with listeners will foster the sense of connection