Rhythm/Lead Guitar Question

[jimmypagefan123]

Hey guys, I have a question about putting a balance between myself (the lead guitar player) and the rhythm guitar player in our band. In the melodies of our songs, I have a hard time finding a place for myself in the verses and other parts that don't involve soloing. For example, during a verse, the rhythm guitar player is playing the chords and giving the song a rhythmic melody. Now if I were to play in the verse too, I don't want to play a lick where the lyrics are drowned out, because I am set louder than the rhythm guitarist, and along with the drums, the vocals are naturally hard to hear over all the sound. So for a lead guitarist, what should I do during parts of a song where there isn't a lot of soloing or riffs. Do I turn the volume of my guitar and play licks in the background of the verses, or do I palm mute the chords along with the rhythm player to give the song more power?

[minion_of_thanatos]

jimmypagefan123

Hey guys, I have a question about putting a balance between myself (the lead guitar player) and the rhythm guitar player in our band. In the melodies of our songs, I have a hard time finding a place for myself in the verses and other parts that don't involve soloing. For example, during a verse, the rhythm guitar player is playing the chords and giving the song a rhythmic melody. Now if I were to play in the verse too, I don't want to play a lick where the lyrics are drowned out, because I am set louder than the rhythm guitarist, and along with the drums, the vocals are naturally hard to hear over all the sound. So for a lead guitarist, what should I do during parts of a song where there isn't a lot of soloing or riffs. Do I turn the volume of my guitar and play licks in the background of the verses, or do I palm mute the chords along with the rhythm player to give the song more power?

depends on what kind of music your playing

[skumskull]

There is no mathematical formula to this s**t. If you can't figure it out, you'll just have to deal with sucking. The only bands who get famous are the ones who figure this s**t out ON THEIR OWN.

[jimmypagefan123]

We play rock, nothing metal or anything. We're inspired by bands like Led Zep, Oasis, Wolfmother, etc.

[minion_of_thanatos]

skumskull

There is no mathematical formula to this s**t. If you can't figure it out, you'll just have to deal with sucking. The only bands who get famous are the ones who figure this s**t out ON THEIR OWN.

or you could be slightly helpful. that works too

[minion_of_thanatos]

jimmypagefan123

We play rock, nothing metal or anything. We're inspired by bands like Led Zep, Oasis, Wolfmother, etc.

chord arpeggios maybe, with a cord extention here and there to make the sound more.. pretty?

[jimmypagefan123]

skumskull

There is no mathematical formula to this s**t. If you can't figure it out, you'll just have to deal with sucking. The only bands who get famous are the ones who figure this s**t out ON THEIR OWN.

Even the greats were helped by fellow musicians dickhead. Any advice to expand someone's musical knowledge should be shared.

[jimmypagefan123]

minion_of_thanatos

jimmypagefan123

We play rock, nothing metal or anything. We're inspired by bands like Led Zep, Oasis, Wolfmother, etc.

chord arpeggios maybe, with a cord extention here and there to make the sound more.. pretty?

Thanks for the advice, I have a practice tomorrow so I'll have to try it out.

[minion_of_thanatos]

jimmypagefan123

skumskull

There is no mathematical formula to this s**t. If you can't figure it out, you'll just have to deal with sucking. The only bands who get famous are the ones who figure this s**t out ON THEIR OWN.

Even the greats were helped by fellow musicians dickhead. Any advice to expand someone's musical knowledge should be shared.

this

[skumskull]

jimmypagefan123

skumskull

There is no mathematical formula to this s**t. If you can't figure it out, you'll just have to deal with sucking. The only bands who get famous are the ones who figure this s**t out ON THEIR OWN.

Even the greats were helped by fellow musicians dickhead. Any advice to expand someone's musical knowledge should be shared.

The "greats" may have gotten help, but they certainly didn't get their signature sound from anyone else. If you can't figure out who you are as a band, you're doomed to be mediocre openers forever.

minion_of_thanatos

or you could be slightly helpful. that works too

If you can't read what i said, without figuring out that practice and spending time working on the problem with the group of people involved, then you're an idiot. They had a problem, the solution I gave was neither nice nor easy, but it is the best solution to the problem in the long run.

Stop being a p***y.

[minion_of_thanatos]

skumskull

jimmypagefan123

skumskull

There is no mathematical formula to this s**t. If you can't figure it out, you'll just have to deal with sucking. The only bands who get famous are the ones who figure this s**t out ON THEIR OWN.

Even the greats were helped by fellow musicians dickhead. Any advice to expand someone's musical knowledge should be shared.

The "greats" may have gotten help, but they certainly didn't get their signature sound from anyone else. If you can't figure out who you are as a band, you're doomed to be mediocre openers forever.

minion_of_thanatos

or you could be slightly helpful. that works too

If you can't read what i said, without figuring out that practice and spending time working on the problem with the group of people involved, then you're an idiot. They had a problem, the solution I gave was neither nice nor easy, but it is the best solution to the problem in the long run.

Stop being a p***y.

your solution was "figure it out yourself"

not helpful. its not about saying "do this thing and you'll sound amazing." its about "i dont know for sure but hey try this maybe, or this, find what ever floats your boat."

basically still "figure it out yourself" but at least point in a general direction.

[Neige ist Krieg]

Play like Greg Ginn when Dez Cadena was still in Black Flag.

[antaine]

Punctuating the verses with a few licks will be fine, obviously you have to turn yourself down to accomodate the vocals. Don't think just because you're playing lead theres some kind of obligation on you to be the center of attention. Get used to learning to play between the spaces where the vocal melody breathes and tastefully overlapping in spots.

Keep in mind the simplest solution here is to just double what the other guitar player is doing, unless that just makes you feel completely redundant? The "big guitar" approach is doable here, simply playing the same chords in different voicings and in a different register to compliment one another.

[jimmypagefan123]

antaine

Punctuating the verses with a few licks will be fine, obviously you have to turn yourself down to accomodate the vocals. Don't think just because you're playing lead theres some kind of obligation on you to be the center of attention. Get used to learning to play between the spaces where the vocal melody breathes and tastefully overlapping in spots.

Keep in mind the simplest solution here is to just double what the other guitar player is doing, unless that just makes you feel completely redundant? The "big guitar" approach is doable here, simply playing the same chords in different voicings and in a different register to compliment one another.

Thanks for the advice man, this is helpful stuff. My main problem is wondering what to do live, because I would be totally cool with not playing anything if it puts emphasis on the melody and vocals, y'know what I mean? I just wasn't sure if other musicians played along with their rhythm players or did something totally different. Thanks again.

[Orcellius]

Depending on your gear and how you run it, sort of.

My advice, if you don't use pedals, roll off on your volume knob. Just so you don't get to much in the way. However, this always doesn't work to well, like with tube amps, rolling back on the volume will clean up your tone.

But if you're running a high gain amp, maybe add a volume pedal, so you can maybe do some fancy melody swells.

Generally I just use a simple clean boost pedal in my effects chain, just so I can overpower the rhythm in the solo.

But really, the only time you have a problem with this is when you're doing rehearsal or small time performances. Cause when it comes to recording, most of the time with two guitars one is panned right and the other left.

It also depends on how you play. So it's really hard to tell. At least you have some advice, you'll figure it out soon dude. Best of luck.