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Lead guitar involves mostly positional playing. In other words, it relies on scale shapes that lie across the strings in just one area of the neck.
For example, when you’re playing the A minor pentatonic box at the 5th fret, you’re playing in 5th position.
But if all your licks are drawn from positional shapes, you’re likely to get locked into them and never explore the rest of the fretboard.
So how to break out? Here are five ways to free yourself from “box” playing.
FIGURE 1 starts on the top two strings of the first A minor pentatonic box, then shifts up aggressively through the higher boxes in the style of Zakk Wylde. After you get the hang of this, change rhythms and/or move the patterns up and down the neck to create your own licks.
FIGURE 1
The descending lick in FIGURE 2 starts with the E blues scale at 12th position, then goes mobile on the 3rd string, shifting down to another E minor pentatonic box shape. Moving diatonically on string 3 like this is a trick you can use to bridge between common pentatonic shapes.
FIGURE 2
You can also shift up and down the neck on a single string while sticking exclusively to the pentatonic scale. The Steve Vai–inspired FIGURE 3 climbs the A minor pentatonic with strong bending, then heads back down in a sequence of three-note groups arranged in 16ths. Feel free to try this idea on different strings, in different keys or in reverse.
FIGURE 3
FIGURE 4 is a three-note-per-string exercise à la Paul Gilbert. Notice how the position shifts allow each sextuplet to use two three-notes-per-string sets continuously. This makes it easier to play fast, since the picking pattern simply repeats.
FIGURE 4
Of course, you’re not finished until you apply this idea to string sets 1–2 and 5–6 as well and try it in at least a few other keys.
In FIGURE 5, the approach is legato (hammers and pulls), but due to the uneven rhythmic groupings, the difficulty has gone up a notch. Don’t pay too much attention to the rhythm here. Just put the downbeat on the top of each cycle and cram in the rest of the notes as evenly as possible.
At slow tempos, it’s actually harder to play with a click, so practice without one until you get the pattern under your fingers. For extra credit, figure out a way to make the pattern descend.
Even a cursory look at Waddy Wachtel’s credits is enough to boggle the mind. During his nearly 50-year career, the guitarist has toured and recorded with the Everly Brothers, Warren Zevon, Linda Ronstadt, Jackson Browne, Bob Dylan, Keith Richards and dozens - no, hundreds - more.
“I came out from New York to Los Angeles in the late ’60s at just the right time,” he says. “The studio scene was changing, and I was able to get in with the right producers and musicians. It’s been an amazing ride. Sometimes I’ll just look at the guitar pick in my fingers and go, ‘It’s all your fault!’”
Wachtel considers himself a “rock and roll specialist.” “People call me when they want me to generate the kind of rhythm that gets a song going,” he explains. But he’s no slouch when it comes to tossing out searing, hook-filled improvised leads.
“When I started out, I found a way of emulating steel guitar on my Les Paul,” Wachtel recalls. “For years, I did that ‘phony steel guitar’ thing, like on Randy Newman’s ‘Rider in the Rain.’ People would hire me for rhythm, but then they’d always ask me to lay down some phony steel-guitar lines as well.”
During his career, Wachtel has seen many players come and go from the L.A. studio scene, but he’s still standing, and his dance card remains filled. “A lot of great players can’t adapt to the studio thing because they think it’s about them,” he says. “Don’t get me wrong: I have an ego, too, and I love to grab the reins and go for it, but I never forget that it’s all about the song.
"The song always dictates what you should do. I’m very traditional in my approach. I don’t like to use effects, and I always think, What’s the best way to accompany the singer and the song? That’s what you’re there for.”
He’s performed alongside many newbies who went on to become music greats, but he’s also found himself standing in a studio next to bona fide legends. Asked if he’s ever been starstruck, Wachtel laughs. “I got over that quick,” he says.
“One of my first gigs was working with the Everly Brothers. Once you meet them, you’re kind of set for anybody else who comes your way. Although one time I did have the distinct honor and pleasure of having John Lennon look in my face and go, [adopts British accent] ‘Hello, Waddy.’ I just about fell apart!”
Currently, Wachtel is on the road with his new band, the Immediate Family, which features fellow session legends Danny Kortchmar, Leland Sklar, Russ Kunkel and Steve Postell.
Below, he recounts the recording of six classic cuts he’s had a hand in. “I must say, it was difficult to choose just six,” he says. “I’ve been privileged to play on so many great and important records with unbelievable artists. This list could easily have been much, much longer.”
"That'll Be the Day"
Linda Ronstadt - Hasten Down the Wind (1976)
Watchell performs onstage with Linda Ronstadt in the ’70s.
“When I started doing sessions, producers always told me, ‘Don’t play lead when we’re cutting basics. Don’t change the volume on your guitar. Just play rhythm and we’ll do solos later.’ But music affects me. I get excited and I let spontaneity take over. There are times when music has to be perfectly composed, and there are other times when it has to be spontaneous. ‘That’ll Be the Day’ was very much the latter.
“I had just started working for Linda. We had recorded a couple of pretty things, but ‘That’ll Be the Day’ was going to be our first rock and roll track together. We rehearsed it a few times. Peter Asher was the producer, and Andrew Gold was the other guitarist on the session. While we were recording, I just felt a solo coming up. Something inside kept saying, You gotta go for it!
"So I flicked my Strat into an out-of-phase setting and let it rip. I improvised the whole thing. Then Andrew did a solo - it was something he had planned out - and at the end of it we did a harmony thing together.
“We did a few passes, but I think the first one was the keeper. That always happens. Everybody was thrilled. I remember that song was the first time I actually heard myself on the radio. I was standing outside one day and ‘That’ll Be the Day’ was playing in somebody’s car. My solo came screaming out of the speakers, and I went, ‘Hey, all right! Nice!’”
"Werewolves of London"
Warren Zevon - Excitable Boy (1978)
“I’m very proud of this song - I co-wrote and co-produced it. Everybody knew it was a terrific song, but for some reason it was one of the hardest rhythm tracks to lay down. The band was me, Warren, Mick Fleetwood and John McVie. I don’t know why, but we went all night trying to find the right take.
"We must have run through it 60 times. Finally, at five in the morning, [co-producer] Jackson Browne looked at me and said, ‘Which take do you like?’ And I said, ‘Take two is the one.’ We listened back, and that was it. It was definitely the one. The rhythm was extraordinarily great.
“I wanted to work on the solo, but I told the guys, ‘This could take a while. Maybe you should split.’ The engineer stayed, so I just set myself up with my Les Paul, my cigarettes, an ashtray and a drink. I had an idea to try a slide solo, something dirty and greasy.
"The solo spot came up, and I laid it down. Then I told the engineer, ‘Keep that one and let me do a harmony.’ I did the harmony and said, ‘We’re done.’ He was freaking out: ‘That sounds amazing!’
“I called Jackson at home and told him he’d better get back to the studio. He went, ‘What are you talking about? I just walked in the door!’ I said, ‘I know, but I think I nailed it.’ So he came back, and when he heard the solo he said, ‘I can’t believe it. That sounds f*cking great!’ So again, spontaneity.”
"Edge of Seventeen"
Steve Nicks - Bella Donna (1981)
Wachtel performs with Stevie Nicks at Rose Theater, Jazz at Lincoln Center, April 17, 2007.
“Stevie wrote the song after hearing the Police’s ‘Bring On the Night.’ She was very inspired by the echo-driven guitar track that Andy Summers played, that rolling and repeating kind of sound. [Producer] Jimmy Iovine played the demo for me. It was very intense and dramatic, and he said, ‘I want it like that.’ I told him, ‘Well, I don’t use echo, so I’ll just play it.’
He was like, ‘What do you mean? You can play that without echo?’ So I showed him how I wanted to play it, really strong and forceful. Then the band went out - it was me, Russ Kunkel [drums], Bob Glaub [bass], Bobbye Hall [percussion], Roy Bittan [piano] and Benmont Tench [piano, organ] - and we just nailed it.
“People think it’s a loop, but I’m playing that part throughout the song - me on my sunburst ’60 through a Marshall! The funny thing about it is, it’s become the longest song in Stevie’s set. I’ve played it live with her, of course, and there have been times when she’s extended it to 12 minutes onstage.
"She will even go off and take a break, but the band will still be playing. You can’t fake your way through it; you’ve got to play it strong the whole time, and you have to use your whole arm on your picking hand. I’ve had to get that arm ready before a tour just to play that song. It’s a very physical experience. By the end of two minutes, I’m starting to hurt.”
"Oh Sherrie"
Steve Perry - Street Talk (1984)
“My dear friend Niko Bolas was engineering the song. He thought it needed a really cool and nasty eighth-note rhythm, so he called me to play on it. I went to the studio and met Steve Perry, and then Niko and I sat down to work on it. I laid down a rhythm part - I think I did two takes - and we listened back. It sounded great. The song had a nice grind to it. All good.
“Then I noticed there was this big open spot in the song. I asked Niko, ‘What’s going to happen there? Sounds like a place for a solo.’ And he said, ‘Yeah, Steve is thinking of a saxophone solo.’ To which I said, ‘Oh, no, he’s not! Give me a track. I know what this needs!’ And I just went for it.
"What you hear on the song is what I instantly heard in my head. I just let it scream. I kind of played the melody of the vocal, but I threw in some double-stops. Steve came in and went, ‘Wow! That sounds incredible!’ We touched up a couple of parts, but it was basically as I heard it. I just had to do it. It was a rock song. It needed a guitar solo. A saxophone? Are you joking?”
"Take it So Hard"
Keith Richards - Talk Is Cheap (1988)
Wachtel and Keith Richards performing in the X-Pensive Winos during their Main Offender tour, early 1993.
“What a great experience! I played on the whole album and was in the band with Keith. Working with Keith, it’s always a matter of listening to what he’s doing and knowing how to respond. He’s got that big fat humbucker sound, so I couldn’t use a Les Paul; I had to go for a Strat sound. We kind of counter-rhythmed off each other, but we didn’t talk about it. Keith played the rhythm in the first verse, and I came in with little chops and hits.
“The track was cut live, and Keith had his rhythm thing going. This was another one of those moments when I said, ‘I’m gonna play a solo.’ It was obvious to me what I needed to do. I just grabbed the melody and worked in and around his rhythm playing. Keith was so happy. Anybody else could have said, ‘Yeah, nice try, kid. I’ll take it from here,’ but Keith isn’t like that.”
"Anybody Seen My Baby?"
The Rolling Stones - Bridges to Babylon (1997)
“I’m honored to be one of the few guitarists not in the Rolling Stones to have played on one of their records. The guys were recording in Los Angeles for a couple of months, and next thing I knew [drummer] Jim Keltner and I were with them in the studio. I played rhythm on a couple of things. One day [producer] Don Was said, ‘On “Anybody Seen My Baby?” you’re gonna play lead.’ I was surprised: ‘Oh, really? Me? Well, okay.’
“Mick really loved the Isley Brothers song ‘That Lady’ and the phased guitar solo on it, so he mentioned it to me. I played rhythm on the whole thing, and there are some spots where I’m doing these long notes, but on the end solo that’s me playing those phased melody lines. Everybody dug it. I had a history with Keith, but it was great to get a ‘yo’ from both of the captains - him and Mick.”
Got some extra time on my hands and want to get back into playing guitar. I grew up playing, but it has since taken the back seat to my adult responsibilities. I figure that learning some covers might get me back into the swing of things.
The following post is going to show you a series chord progressions that you can add to your practice routine. A chord progression is a series of chords played one after another in a particular order. This is a great way to put all of those beginner chords you worked so hard at learning into […]
