| Some of the greatest guitar compositions have made | | | | Pull-Off |
| it to the hall of fame thanks to their lead guitarists. | | | | For lead guitar playing, to accentuate the rhythm, you |
| Lead guitar refers to a the use of a guitar to perform | | | | use a hammer on first and then play it backward, |
| melody lines, instrumental fill passages, and guitar solos | | | | which is a pull off. To play this better, you should ideally |
| within a song structure. Guitarists like Van Halen, Steve | | | | start with two fingers on your fretboard. Let's take an |
| Vai, David Gilmour, John Petrucci, Dave Mustaine, Tom | | | | example: if the index finger is at the 5th fret on your |
| Morello, Kirk Hammett, Jimmy Page, Dave Murray, Joe | | | | guitar's D string and if your ring finger is on the 7th fret |
| Satriani, Steve Morse and many more have | | | | then try picking the note at the 7th fret. At the point |
| popularized the art of playing the Lead guitar. | | | | when the note rings, pull-off the ring finger, which will |
| Mastering the lead guitar takes time and effort. To | | | | leave your index finger on the 5th fret. The sound that |
| master it you will need to use different and advanced | | | | you get will be similar to a slurring effect and is a pull |
| scales, arpeggios, modes, riffs and licks. If you are | | | | off. |
| thinking of becoming a lead guitarist then you will have | | | | Tapping |
| to master various techniques of playing solo starting | | | | Tapping is a popular lead guitar technique that has |
| with hammer ons, pull offs and tapping. | | | | been used by many great guitarists. Associated mainly |
| Hammer Ons | | | | with an electric guitar, you can use the tapping |
| Hammer-ons are normally played with pull-offs and are | | | | technique on almost all kinds of string instruments. |
| also known as slurs. A hammer if used on a lead | | | | There are two types of tapping technique: The |
| guitar can create a smooth sound between different | | | | one-handed tapping also known as ordinary tapping, |
| notes and is considered to be a great way of | | | | and the two-handed tapping. Some of the lead guitar |
| rendering a solo performance. It can be seen as | | | | experts consider it to be an extended technique. The |
| playing multiple notes in one strike. Something like | | | | technique will require you to tap the strings of your |
| playing multiple notes on a saxophone in one breath. It | | | | lead guitar using the use the fingers of one hand and |
| is the slur effect that makes the hammer a must for | | | | this will sound like legato notes. But remember |
| playing lead guitar. Just as the name sounds, a | | | | successful tapping requires the use of both the hands. |
| hammer-on means striking an open string. Hammer on | | | | Van Halen used the tap-pull-hammer method in his |
| is extremely useful for strumming patterns in which | | | | highly successful number called "Eruption" to create a |
| you would be required to hold on to a particular chord | | | | long cascade consisting of several tapped notes. |
| for a few seconds. | | | | |