Hello and Welcome to Guitar Licks

This section is primarily focused on playing lead guitar. A lead guitarist is the soloist in the band. He/she's the one that rips out those instrumental sections, blazing solos, and awesome guitar licks (also called riffs) during a performance of a song. It takes many hours of hard work and practice to become a good lead guitarist. It also takes lots of patience, discipline, and dedication to not only play fast and precisely, but tastefully. David Gilmore of Pink Floyd is a great example of a guitarist whose solos are played tastefully. The king of blues himself, Mr. B. B. King can take one note, and rip your heart wide open with it.  

It is my desire that I will be able to help you get to the place that you desire to be as a musician. If I can't, I will at least try to point you in the right direction. Learning from a variety of sources will also enrich you and open up your eyes to many new and exciting elements of music. Don't be boxed in by one method of teaching or style of music. Expand your horizons and challenge yourself to get out of the box. You'll be surprised at what you will learn and how you will be able to apply it to your own style. 

One other point I would like to mention is "Attitude". It takes the right kind of attitude to make a great lead guitarist. Playing in a band requires a team spirit. Each member has an important part and an equal part in the function of a band. There is no room for ego trips or self exalted musicians. You have to be willing to work together in unison. Learn how to share the limelight with the other members in your band. Blasting out lead solos and drowning out your bandmates, or showing off your stuff during an entire set list gets very boring and annoying. It will also make you a short lived guitarist. 

It is a good practice to warm up before you start playing. The finger exercises in the scales section are excellent warm up exercises. Spend about 5 or 10 minutes going through various scales and do some good finger stretches. By doing a few minutes of these exercises, you can help prevent injuries to the muscles and tendons in your hands.

I will try to include MP3 files with each guitar lick so that you can get a feel for how it should sound when it is played. I will also try to keep the licks organized in categories that will make it easy for you to locate.