Still asked to this day if I play lead or rhythm guitar by non-musos...

Dominic · March 2022

When you play 'lead' guitar ( a strange name ) you are essentially playing the simple top line melody .......a monophonic tune although when you are good at it you may well add some interesting ornamentations .....derived from arpeggios or scales .
This is derived from Baroque Music where ornamentation was encouraged to be played at the musicians discretion and was sometimes just a simple trill.
When you play rythm you could just play the basic chords (harmony) of a tune so long as you play it to the correct tempo .This could mean interesting time structures that work in conjunction with the bpm .On top of this you need to make it interesting and use different voicings , registers ......it gets more interesting still when you add different voicings or extensions and even more interesting when you can use substitutions and flesh things out with compatible passing chords ,notes or arpeggiated richness.
This is when playing any instrument gets a bit more technical and musically skilled .If you reach a level of chord chemistry ( see what I did there ) that this flows freely and falls satisfyingly upon the ear then you are truly a guitarist.
When you can do both at once and arrange those shapes/patterns in such manner as to keep the melody woven through it either on top or weaved in and out you are a Certified Guitar Player and probably called Chet or Tommy etc .

Tannin · March 2022

welshboyo said:

You assume that non-muso's know the difference to a Bass guitar and a 6 stringed one....

I've come to the conclusion over the years that they don't, they just see a "guitar" and just see 2 guitars in a band and think one is Rhythm (Bass) and the other is Lead.

Oh dear.

Back in my bass playing days, we played cabaret: weddings, 21sts, functions. Good money but not exactly rock star heart-throb stuff. One night we were taking a short break and a good-looking girl came up to the band table round the side of the stage and said she wanted to meet the bass player. She had that glint of intention in her eye. Whoopee! thinks I. Some fun times ahead!

Modestly, I admitted to being the bass player (handsome devil that I am).

"No, not you, the bass player" she said, pointing at the lead guitarist.

Sigh.

PAL · March 2022

My answer would be "I play guitar"

Lestratcaster · March 2022

I always get asked "do you sing?" whenever I say I can play the guitar. (I can't sing very well by the way).

I would say I'm mostly a rhythm player, have played in the last few bands I've been in but have done lead too. So its both, but I just say I play guitar in general, don't really think about roles.

Dominic · March 2022

I get that 'oh do you sing too ' when I say I play guitar .
I really cannot sing to save my life.
I also get 'do you play the mouth-organ '
I always so No .....'.I fucking hate the things and my name isn't Bob Dylan either '

HAL9000 · March 2022

Dominic said:

I get that 'oh do you sing too ' when I say I play guitar .
I really cannot sing to save my life.

Is that lead or rhythm singing?

CaseOfAce · March 2022

Lestratcaster said:

I always get asked "do you sing?" whenever I say I can play the guitar. (I can't sing very well by the way).

This reminds me of the time I turned up at a party years ago with a newly bought Takamine acoustic in tow (the host had asked me to bring it along to show him, in my defence! - honest).

Invariably later that night the other party goers saw it and said ...ooh play us a song... at which point I strummed a few chords, half-a*rsed played a fingerpicking tune I knew... and it suddenly dawned on me that I really should learn to sing as well as play guitar.

Lesson learnt. I wasn't the first guitarist to learn this the hard way - and I won't be the last.

PolarityMan · March 2022

Guitar solos are lame.

guitarjack66 · March 2022

PolarityMan said:

Guitar solos are lame.

I'm not sure if you are being sarcastic here or honest but even as a guitarist I get bored of songs with 4 minute solos in them. Leave them wanting more is my motto. This is partly because I am a crap player but even so I enjoy guitar based music when it's understated or part of something bigger.

Blaendulais · April 2022

I say i play harmony guitar.

Jfingers · April 2022

What did Ziggy do? I just say that I play my guitar, my way. You either like it or you don't.

JohnS37 · April 2022

springhead said:

As Keef said, you can't go into a shop and buy a lead guitar. "You're a guitar player and you play guitar".

Those lead guitars are only suitable for really heavy metal

Dominic · April 2022

CaseOfAce said:

Lestratcaster said:

I always get asked "do you sing?" whenever I say I can play the guitar. (I can't sing very well by the way).

This reminds me of the time I turned up at a party years ago with a newly bought Takamine acoustic in tow (the host had asked me to bring it along to show him, in my defence! - honest).

Invariably later that night the other party goers saw it and said ...ooh play us a song... at which point I strummed a few chords, half-a*rsed played a fingerpicking tune I knew... and it suddenly dawned on me that I really should learn to sing as well as play guitar.

Lesson learnt. I wasn't the first guitarist to learn this the hard way - and I won't be the last.

A great one for this is 'Time in a bottle 'by Jim Croce

HAL9000 · April 2022

PolarityMan said:

Guitar solos are lame.

They certainly can be. I’d much rather play (or listen to) fills that serve the song than some pointless ego-driven widdlefest. I don’t mind a longer solo as long as there’s some point to it, but far too often it’s just an excuse for showing off.

stickyfiddle · April 2022

It’s not just musos who ask rhythm or lead, it’s often classical musos as well. I’ve heard classical folks talk about bands having “2 guitars” when they mean 1 guitar and 1 bass, because in an orchestra a bass is a double bass, so anything turned sideways and hung on a strap is a guitar.

I don’t let it bother me..!

ICBM · April 2022

springhead said:

As Keef said, you can't go into a shop and buy a lead guitar.

Howdy, Stranger!

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Still asked to this day if I play lead or rhythm guitar by non-musos...

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