Jump to content

Rhythm vs. Lead Guitar - Which do you like best?

x1yyz

By x1yyz,
in Music Of The Spheres

 Share

Rhythm vs. Lead Guitar  

16 members have voted

  1. 1. Which do you like best - rhythm or lead guitar?

    • I play guitar and like lead the best
      4
    • I play guitar and like rhythm the best
      4
    • I don't play guitar and like lead the best
      3
    • I don't play guitar and like rhythm the best
      5

Recommended Posts

x1yyz

x1yyz

Posted
Posted
So I got to wondering how many people like lead versus rhythm guitar. Me, while I love guitar I'm not too keen on those masturbatory solos; what I really love is the melody the guitar carries. However, I am not a guitarist. I'm wondering if there is any division in who likes what based on whether or not you play.
Link to comment
Share on other sites
Lucas

Lucas

Posted
Posted (edited)

I love the guitar, period

 

I love the way Neil Young plays the acoustic guitar, the way Mississippi John Hurt plays rhythm and melody simultaneously and the way Roy Buchanan made his Tele cry ..

 

... but in life, there's not much better than THIS

 

LEAD

 

835b566177285d04fdc340b0147b17a8.jpg

Edited by Lucas
  • Like 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites
Maverick

Maverick

Posted
Posted

Playing guitar in most bands/situations is 90-95% rhythm.

 

Rhythm can be as interesting, or as pedestrian, as the guitarist chooses to make it.

 

Solos can be really interesting, inspiring, and moving. Or they can be boring as hell.

 

My favorite guitar players are the ones who blend the two seamlessly throughout their songs.

  • Like 6
Link to comment
Share on other sites
fraroc

fraroc

Posted
Posted
It's pretty interesting to make this poll because in a sense, all guitarists are rhythm guitarists...but not all rhythm guitarists are lead guitarists.
  • Like 2
Link to comment
Share on other sites
Mr. Not

Mr. Not

Posted
Posted

Playing guitar in most bands/situations is 90-95% rhythm.

 

Rhythm can be as interesting, or as pedestrian, as the guitarist chooses to make it.

 

Solos can be really interesting, inspiring, and moving. Or they can be boring as hell.

 

My favorite guitar players are the ones who blend the two seamlessly throughout their songs.

 

:goodone:

  • Like 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites
Mr. Not

Mr. Not

Posted
Posted (edited)

When I play guitar, I play alone in my bedroom without a band.

Because of this, a majority of the time I'm not sure whether I'm playing lead or rhythm.

When I'm playing riffs that are power chord oriented, I'm sure I'm playing rhythm.

When I'm playing harmonies one note at a time, I'm sure I'm playing lead.

But aside from that? I'm lost, I have no idea which guitar I'm playing.

 

In other words, what's lead guitar and what's rhythm guitar is all down to the composition.

Edited by Mr. Not
  • Like 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites
Mr. Not

Mr. Not

Posted
Posted

There's also a common belief that lead guitar is harder to play than rhythm guitar. Any guitarist who's played a wide-range of material extensively can tell you that's not the case. It's all about what style you practice more.

 

Rhythm guitar has complex chords while lead guitar has syncopated melodies.

 

Also: guitar solos are not exclusive to lead guitarists whatsoever. It's much more common for bands with two guitarists to take turns performing guitar solos.

  • Like 2
Link to comment
Share on other sites
Maverick

Maverick

Posted
Posted

There's also a common belief that lead guitar is harder to play than rhythm guitar. Any guitarist who's played a wide-range of material extensively can tell you that's not the case. It's all about what style you practice more.

 

Rhythm guitar has complex chords while lead guitar has syncopated melodies.

 

Also: guitar solos are not exclusive to lead guitarists whatsoever. It's much more common for bands with two guitarists to take turns performing guitar solos.

 

That's a good point. And even "lead guitarists" have to play rhythm most of the time. Otherwise they'd just be standing round about the stage like a doofus, waiting for their 30 seconds of glory per song.

  • Like 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites
Mr. Not

Mr. Not

Posted
Posted

There's also a common belief that lead guitar is harder to play than rhythm guitar. Any guitarist who's played a wide-range of material extensively can tell you that's not the case. It's all about what style you practice more.

 

Rhythm guitar has complex chords while lead guitar has syncopated melodies.

 

Also: guitar solos are not exclusive to lead guitarists whatsoever. It's much more common for bands with two guitarists to take turns performing guitar solos.

 

That's a good point. And even "lead guitarists" have to play rhythm most of the time. Otherwise they'd just be standing round about the stage like a doofus, waiting for their 30 seconds of glory per song.

 

Yep. Coheed and Cambria is the perfect example of this (I find this band to be a great reference since they're a favorite of mine, and they're adamant about their lead vs rhythm positions). They try to work leads in as much as they can for each song, but inevitably Travis (the lead guitarist) ends up playing the same riff as Claudio (rhythm) verbatim, or simply in a higher octave for most songs.

Link to comment
Share on other sites
HemiBeers

HemiBeers

Posted
Posted

Because of my background, I always appreciated the song structure and chords more than the lead parts. To me, the chords are the meat of the song. That's what's so interesting about Alex's playing to me. I absolutely love Hendrixy style playing where you throw in melody and bass into the rhythm playing. Some of my favorite lead parts are the ones that make excellent use of the fewest notes possible...Alex's solo in The Pass for example.

 

I admit most of my lead playing is pretty pedistrian and simply blues based. But as impressive as some of the 'guitar hero' wankery is, it becomes boring to listen to in short order. 'Ok, ok I get it...you can play 1000 notes a second. So can the 14 year old kid at guitar center.'

Link to comment
Share on other sites
x1yyz

x1yyz

Posted
  • Author
Posted

That makes perfect sense about the lead guitarist playing rhythm most of the time.

 

My question basically referred to what you like listening to. Even when a band has more than one guitarist I usually don't know who is playing what, so I'm not referring to the lead or rhythm guitarIST, but simply just the guitar parts. My ear tends to follow the melody.

 

And of course some solos are more melodious! Even though I generally prefer rhythm there are certainly solos I like. [Dork alert:] And sometimes when I'm singing along with a song I "sing" along with the solo.

  • Like 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites
HemiBeers

HemiBeers

Posted
Posted

That makes perfect sense about the lead guitarist playing rhythm most of the time.

 

My question basically referred to what you like listening to. Even when a band has more than one guitarist I usually don't know who is playing what, so I'm not referring to the lead or rhythm guitarIST, but simply just the guitar parts. My ear tends to follow the melody.

 

And of course some solos are more melodious! Even though I generally prefer rhythm there are certainly solos I like. [Dork alert:] And sometimes when I'm singing along with a song I "sing" along with the solo.

I think you hit on the issue that the 'guitar heroes' miss on...they get wrapped up in the wankery and loose sense of feel and melody.
  • Like 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites
edhunter

edhunter

Posted
Posted

I love the guitar, period

 

I love the way Neil Young plays the acoustic guitar, the way Mississippi John Hurt plays rhythm and melody simultaneously and the way Roy Buchanan made his Tele cry ..

 

... but in life, there's not much better than THIS

 

LEAD

 

835b566177285d04fdc340b0147b17a8.jpg

 

Oh yeah?

 

Link to comment
Share on other sites
Your_Lion

Your_Lion

Posted
Posted

It's all just guitar to me...and I love it all :guitar: As the only 6-stringer in my band, I obviously do both.

But what I love the most is when the guitar gets to sing, in the Gilmoury way.

 

Lead guitar doesn't necessarily mean "1000 notes per second wankery", like some seem to be suggesting. There a lot more to lead playing than just "playing a solo". There's melody lines, harmonies (for me, the best reason to have 2 guitarists in a band)

  • Like 3
Link to comment
Share on other sites
Ancient Ways

Ancient Ways

Posted
Posted

There's also a common belief that lead guitar is harder to play than rhythm guitar. Any guitarist who's played a wide-range of material extensively can tell you that's not the case. It's all about what style you practice more.

 

Rhythm guitar has complex chords while lead guitar has syncopated melodies.

 

Also: guitar solos are not exclusive to lead guitarists whatsoever. It's much more common for bands with two guitarists to take turns performing guitar solos.

 

That's a good point. And even "lead guitarists" have to play rhythm most of the time. Otherwise they'd just be standing round about the stage like a doofus, waiting for their 30 seconds of glory per song.

Yngwie plays lead more than rhythm.

Link to comment
Share on other sites
Lucas

Lucas

Posted
Posted (edited)

Listening to that Yngwie clip just proves to me that Eddie Van Halen is the best guitarist on the planet. Sorry Yngwie, but it's the truth.

 

No arguments here

 

As far as I can tell, this is one take .. He goes from that swinging rhythm to the fills and solos seamlessly

 

This is incredible

 

Edited by Lucas
  • Like 4
Link to comment
Share on other sites
Tombstone Mountain

Tombstone Mountain

Posted
Posted

Playing guitar in most bands/situations is 90-95% rhythm.

 

Rhythm can be as interesting, or as pedestrian, as the guitarist chooses to make it.

 

Solos can be really interesting, inspiring, and moving. Or they can be boring as hell.

 

My favorite guitar players are the ones who blend the two seamlessly throughout their songs.

Like this guy?

 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hjDOjSmwjKg

  • Like 5
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Create an account or sign in to comment

You need to be a member in order to leave a comment

Create an account

Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!

Register a new account

Sign in

Already have an account? Sign in here.

Sign In Now
 Share
Go to topic listing

  • Recently Browsing   0 members

    • No registered users viewing this page.
×
×
  • Create New...