Welcome to the Lead guitar lessons section. I don’t usually like to separate guitar playing into ‘lead guitar‘ and ‘rhythm’, but I’ve separated it out here for the purposes of these lessons.
‘Lead Guitar’ here covers anything to do with scales, arpeggios, improvising melodies, etc. Although it would be wrong to think that the lead guitar lessons here are somehow more advanced than the rhythm lessons.
In fact, rhythm and lead guitar lessons on this site have been graded using a set grading system, which means the ‘grade 3’ lead guitar should be around the same standard as the ‘grade 3’ rhythm guitar.
The lessons on this site roughly follow the graded lesson system, as popularised by ABRSM and others. This means that the lessons are organised into 8 levels, or ‘grades’.
‘Grade 1’ is the easiest, and ‘Grade 8’ is the most advanced. While I don’t offer an exam for each grade, using this grading system should mean that there will be a lesson at your level, and to suit your interest.
Why have I decided to use this system? Well, being schooled in England, this was how I was taught, and similar systems are used all over the world. For example, in Australia, or Canada.
The idea of these grades was started in the late 1800’s, and they are designed to cover all areas of learning an instrument. So, even if you’re not familiar with the grading system, it should be a useful way to find lessons that suit your own level.
This also means two things:
I beleive that the second point is what gives this system an advantage over similar guitar tuition systems. I mean, this idea has been used since 1887 (over a hundred years!)- it’s really the tried and tested way to learn the guitar!
On the page for each grade, I have written a brief explanation of the level of that grade. The idea is that you find a grade that best describes your current ability, and the lead guitar lessons in that category should be about the right level for you
Each lesson includes a video, and a .pdf file for you to download and keep (which contains a transcript of the video and any other materials for the lesson). Also, the videos are separated into grades, but that doesn’t mean you have to watch them in a certain order. You are free to pick and choose what you do, and don’t want to learn, and when.
So, feel free to browse the lead guitar lessons below. If you have any questions, or suggestions for lessons, please just get in contact via the link at the top of this site, or in the footer. More and more lessons are being added every week!
If you really want to get into playing lead guitar, my new book ‘Awesome Lead Guitar’ is out now. In it you’ll learn the most common scales and techniques that lead guitarists use with full scale diagrams and tabs!
Then, you can practise along with the 17 included full solo examples and backing tracks! Click here now for more.
Guitar Scales The following post talks about scales. If you really want to learn every major, minor and pentatonic scale for guitar (along with the chord-tone arpeggios), you’ll want to get my new ebook ‘Advanced Guitar Basics: Scales and Arpeggios’ (click the link for more!). The blues modes are usually … Continue reading
Guitar Scales The following post talks about scales. If you really want to learn every major, minor and pentatonic scale for guitar (along with the chord-tone arpeggios), you’ll want to get my new ebook ‘Advanced Guitar Basics: Scales and Arpeggios’ (click the link for more!). Pentatonic substitution…it’s two pretty long … Continue reading
Guitar Scales The following post talks about scales. If you really want to learn every major, minor and pentatonic scale for guitar (along with the chord-tone arpeggios), you’ll want to get my new ebook ‘Advanced Guitar Basics: Scales and Arpeggios’ (click the link for more!). Metal guitar harmonies are really … Continue reading
Guitar Scales The following post talks about scales. If you really want to learn every major, minor and pentatonic scale for guitar (along with the chord-tone arpeggios), you’ll want to get my new ebook ‘Advanced Guitar Basics: Scales and Arpeggios’ (click the link for more!). So, here’s a lick that’s … Continue reading
Guitar Scales The following post talks about scales. If you really want to learn every major, minor and pentatonic scale for guitar (along with the chord-tone arpeggios), you’ll want to get my new ebook ‘Advanced Guitar Basics: Scales and Arpeggios’ (click the link for more!). One of the very first … Continue reading
Guitar Scales The following post talks about scales. If you really want to learn every major, minor and pentatonic scale for guitar (along with the chord-tone arpeggios), you’ll want to get my new ebook ‘Advanced Guitar Basics: Scales and Arpeggios’ (click the link for more!). Don’t you just hate it … Continue reading
Guitar Scales The following post talks about scales. If you really want to learn every major, minor and pentatonic scale for guitar (along with the chord-tone arpeggios), you’ll want to get my new ebook ‘Advanced Guitar Basics: Scales and Arpeggios’ (click the link for more!). So, recently I’ve been very … Continue reading
Today’s lick has been inspired by Thrash giants such as Kirk Hammett from Metallica. It also requires a lot of quick position shifts that need to be executed cleanly. This is why I’ve called this one the ‘Shifty Thrasher’! The lick uses the E natural minor scale, and would feel … Continue reading
Here’s the backing track to last week’s Lydian mode lesson. Again, this track has been extended from the ‘minus one’ track in the original post, with four repetitions of the clean riff, and then another four of the dirty riff. To solo over this, you’ll need the A lydian mode. … Continue reading
Guitar Scales The following post talks about scales. If you really want to learn every major, minor and pentatonic scale for guitar (along with the chord-tone arpeggios), you’ll want to get my new ebook ‘Advanced Guitar Basics: Scales and Arpeggios’ (click the link for more!). Another one of my favourite … Continue reading
