Everybody wants to be the lead guitarist?

SwiftReason said:
I'm definitely more of a rhythm guitarist. I can't shred and even if I do play a "solo" it's super basic. I just didn't put in the time to get that speed and dexterity. I'm more than happy to hand off that role to someone else if they want it.
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I don't personally count shredding as an important part of being a lead guitarist. I actually don't count shredding as music. Shredding is a sport, not music. Not many other people want to hear guitar shredding, except select few who hang out on guitar forums :) Usually when someone start shredding in a song, regular people skip the song to the next one.
 
Generally speaking, rhythm is more important

But most of the time the "lead guitar hater" types are just bad at playing lead guitar and/or are middling musicians.

You need to be well rounded, whatever your preference is - and sometimes that means playing leads when the song calls for them.
 
DanTravis62 said:
Generally speaking, rhythm is more important

But most of the time the "lead guitar hater" types are just bad at playing lead guitar and/or are middling musicians.

You need to be well rounded, whatever your preference is - and sometimes that means playing leads when the song calls for them.
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Leads aren’t too important to me in the music I make, but in the music, I listen to, if someone rips off a great lead, I love it.
I also agree that a lot of people that say they don’t like leads, is probably because they can’t play good ones or don’t have a melodic brain.
But I will agree if the lead is too shreddy without a musical point to the rest of the song, I’d rather have a good breakdown or creative C section instead.
But the likes of Uli, Gary and Marty always bring/brought the goods.
 
skoora said:
Leads aren’t too important to me in the music I make, but in the music, I listen to, if someone rips off a great lead, I love it.
I also agree that a lot of people that say they don’t like leads, is probably because they can’t play good ones or don’t have a melodic brain.
But I will agree if the lead is too shreddy without a musical point to the rest of the song, I’d rather have a good breakdown or creative C section instead.
But the likes of Uli, Gary and Marty always bring/brought the goods.
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100%

There's a line to be ridden here

I've been an "all-world" type rhythm player for most of my adult life, and I understand the mindset because I used to think like that before I actually spent time woodshedding my lead playing to get proficient for the styles of music I play

Everyone agrees that wankery is lame, but completely disregarding leads is almost always a case of "mad cuz bad"
 
I've always been more rhythm focused since I wanted to be James Hetfield back in the day, but I've embraced playing leads where I can and where my abilities allow me to. But I'm more Jerry Cantrell than Yngwie, that's for sure.
 
Thread title made me think of the great Paul Mooney…

“Every body wanna be a “lead playerl, but nobody wanna be a “lead player”.

 
grimmchaos said:
I've always been more rhythm focused since I wanted to be James Hetfield back in the day, but I've embraced playing leads where I can and where my abilities allow me to. But I'm more Jerry Cantrell than Yngwie, that's for sure.
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Yeah that was me. When I started playing guitar, it was right as Metallica were rising and months before Master of Puppets came out.
 
Lead guitar is great but it is always about the song. Most people I talk to at work have no idea who Yngwie, Vai, Sarah, etc are. We all love them as guitarists but the average Joe is clueless. But they know Angus and they know Slash.
 
No rhey really don’t.
It takes a special caliber of gunslinger to
get up there and be the Joe Perry every night.
Speaking of Joe Perry, whom is a near perfect example of a lead guitarist, if the other guitar player in the band is better at being the lead guitarist then Joe Perry, it doesn’t matter,
Joe Perry’s still the lead guitarist in the band because he’s that “it lead guitar guy”
He’s got the look, creativity, skill set and believable cocky attitude.

It also takes a certain attitude to be the lead guy.
So there’s a beefy “tariff” or tax that’s attached to being the lead guitar player in a heavy metal rock-n-roll band of derelicts.
Fire in the hole that shit up there man.
 
I am and really have always been a bass player. Since I was 8. My old man was a bass player. So I play guitar like a bass player. 💁‍♂️
 
I m fine with rythme and lead works , i can do only rythme all night long , i follow what music/singer need .
 
Twin guitar bands for me. I was always the 2nd lead guy, never the primary lead player... loved locking in with my bassist and drummer, and giving the better lead player a platform to work off of.
Loved doing harmony & tradeoff stuff as well.
 
I just play guitar. If I'm sitting just fucking around, it probably is more in the realm of "lead", but if I'm jamming along with songs or playing with a band, you have to do the whole thing, not just noodle over the top.
 
I like it all. I love chords and rhythm etc. I enjoy solos to but generally do like long ass long winded affairs and just get in and get out when I play leads. I like playing funk and RnB as well. Everybody is different. To me it is all about the team and the band and making the song sound as good as we can with what we have. I would love a keyboard player again. I love playing with keys in the band!
 
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