ll*t ilstHrN

Rey).Acousticguitarsaren'tgoodfor learninglead,because
you
can't play up very high on the neck,and they take heavier-gauge
strings,whichmakesit hardto bendnotes(I uselight ones,Fender
XLs). Also,you dont reallyneedan ampat first, unlessyou'rein a
band. When I'm noodlingaroundthe house,I rarely plug in.
Most beginnerswant to learnleadbecausetheythink it's cool.
Consequently,
theyneverreallydevelopgoodrhythm skills.Since
mostof a rock guitarist'stime is spentplayingrhythm,it's important
to learnto do it well. Learningleadshouldcomeafter you can play
solid backupand havethe soundof the chordsin your head.
Playingbluesprogressions
is the bestplaceto startlearning,
because
they'resobasic,andtheyform the foundationfor a lot of
rock tunes.After you getoneor two patternsdown in a coupleof
keys,you canstartnoodlingwith leadguitar.Ex. I and Ex. 2 aretwo
shufflepatternsin the keysofl and d respectively.lEd.Note: For
an explanationof tablature,diagrams,and specialsymbols, see
Notational Symbols,page 122,ond Tablature,page I I2.lMemoize
themassoonaspossible.
Eventually,you'llwantto learnthemin
someof the othercommonrock keys,suchas C, D, andG. "Ice
CreamMan,"from ourfirst album,and'BluesBreaker,"which
I did
on Brian May's StarFleetProject,arel2-bar blues.lEd. Note:See
the January 1984issuefor an in-depth look at the making ofStar
FleetProject.l
I learnedmy first chordsfrom a beginningguitar book that
showedtheusualC, D, D7,and Em down at thenut. But I rarelyplay
chordslike that. Listento thedifferencebetweena regularCchord
and this one.which soundsmuch more rock and roll:

If you examinethefirst chordpositionin Ex. l, you'll seeit's

exactlythesameasthetwo-notepositionwejust lookedat, except
movedto the l2th fret and with no openstrings.
Rhythm patternscan often be mademore interestingby incorporatingdifferentriffs. Thefollowingexampleillustratesthis.It's
similarto whatI do in "Ain't Talkin"Bout Love,"alsofrom Van
Halen.ltfeaturesa simplebasshook; try usingall downstrokesfor
the two-noteparts(more on right-handpicking in a moment):

Am

Later in "Ainl Talkin"Bout Love" I play the same chords in an

arpeggio style. This is another good way to keep things from getting
boring:

Cadd9

For a G chord I use this fingering (slightly muffle the bass notes
with the heel of your right hand):
G

rtTl
ftflfl'
L{r-]--t-lJ

A lot of rock playersmainly usebarrechords,which employthe

left-handI st fingerto coverall six stringsat a particularfret, but I
usuallyjust two-noteit, like the beginningof *On Fire"from our LP
Van Halen:

xrrffiffi

rri Hi

'nffi

fil ].

vnrffiffi
tlItil

l?rfll

currAR PLAYER/JULv 1984

'{Tij ij
",'g'ij
tlI;!l
I-.I

rtC]]

Lt

Before we start working on playing lead, I want to talk about

right-hand picking. Guys have pointed out that I hold my pick in two
ways: with my thumb and middle finger (seeFig. l), and with my
thumb, index, and middle (seeFig. 2). Remember that most players
don't pick the way I do, so what works for me might not work for
you. The important thing about using the pick is that you alternate
the picking direition: down, up, down, up, etc.This method really
increasesthe efficiency ofyour picking hand. Once you get used to
alternating strokes,you'll be able to pick without having to think
about it.