Guitar Essentials: Four Ways Lead Guitarists Can Support the Song—When They're Not Soloing

Every lead guitar player knows what to do when it’s time to solo: you crank up your ax and let ’er rip.

But what do you do when it’s not your turn in the spotlight? Sit on your hands? Solo behind the lead vocalist?

 

It seems a lot of players have no idea what’s the best approach and end up either doing too little or too much, and all to the detriment of the song.

Jim Lill offers four great tips for lead guitarists in his new video, “How to Play Lead Guitar (During the OTHER Parts of the Song).”

 

“What do you do for the three minutes of the three-minute-30-second song that you aren’t playing a solo?” he asks at the start of the video. Jim then goes on to tell and demonstrate four things you can do as a lead guitarist to make the song sound better.

We don’t want to give away any of the goods, so click the video below and start watching.

When you’re done, remember to check out Jim’s YouTube channel for more of his great videos, many of which we’ve featured here on GuitarPlayer.com. Be sure to give his videos a “like” and leave a nice comment on behalf of all his excellent work.

 

In addition, be sure to take a look at Jim’s new Guitar-Lick-A-Day Instagram page, where you can learn a new lick every day, with tab available for each lick.