How To Play Amazing Lead Guitar Solos By Studying Vocal Techniques Of King Diamond - Part 2

 

Want to know a powerful secret to playing lead guitar solos?

You can make your guitar solos much more expressive, by transcribing... vocal parts.

WHAT?

Yes, that's right.

Transcribe vocal parts of your favorite singers and play them on your guitar.

In part 1 of this article, you learned 4 ways to use King Diamond’s vocal style to improve your lead guitar playing.

Here are 3 more:

1. Use Layered Harmonies In Your Lead Guitar Solos And Licks

A harmony means: 2 or more melodies playing at the same time.

It is a simple way to spice up your lead guitar solos.

Layered harmonies make traditional harmonies a lot more creative (and they are simple to play).

This post shows how King Diamond uses layered harmonies:

(Listen from 7:23-8:54)

Now, pick up your guitar and get ready to practice.

Try this exercise to learn how to create layered harmonies in your lead guitar solos:

Step 1: Set a metronome to a moderate tempo (100-120 beats per minute). Record yourself playing note “A” on the 14th fret of the G string. Let it ring for 10 beats. Hear it.

Step 2: Record note “C” on the 13th fret of the B string starting on beat 3. This harmonizes the “A” note from Step 1. The “A” note rings by itself during beats 1 and 2. Hear it.

Step 3: Record note “E” on the 17th fret of the B string starting on beat 5. This creates the 3^rd layer of the harmony. Hear it.

This is a layered harmony that outlines a minor arpeggio (notes A C E). Instead of playing the notes all at once, you layer them on top of each other gradually.

The lead guitar solos in this video gives you more ideas about playing emotional guitar solos.

2. Vary The Texture In Your Lead Guitar Solos And Licks

King Diamond uses many techniques to create variety in his phrasing (from growls to clean falsetto). He uses growls to create a thick melodic texture. Using high falsetto makes the melodic texture much thinner. Listen to the video from 35:11 - 36:01 to hear examples of this.

Using double stops in your lead guitar solos mimics the growling effect of King Diamond’s vocals. Double stops are played by sounding 2 (or more) notes at once. This creates a much thicker melodic texture in your guitar solos.

Note: Double stops are NOT only for blues (or classic rock) guitar solos. They can be (and often are) used in other styles, including heavy metal. The way you use the technique determines how your lead guitar solos sound.

Double stops are not limited to "unison bends" (where you play 2 adjacent strings and bend one of them until both strings are sounding the same pitch). You can use double stops to create a harsh dissonance (that sounds awesome) and sustain it to build musical tension.

Hint: you get a lot more from your double stops if you have a guitar with a floating bridge. This video shows lots of ways to make double stop licks in lead guitar solos sound awesome:

3. Master Pitch Variation And Fluency In Your Lead Guitar Solos

King Diamond fluently mixes clean falsetto, growls, layered harmonies, delayed vibrato and other techniques. These contrasting singing styles build a lot of musical tension in his melodies. Mastering lead guitar phrasing fluency helps you do the same in your lead guitar solos.

Guitar phrasing fluency is the ability to combine all phrasing techniques you know. This creates pitch variation in your guitar licks and makes your lead guitar solos more creative.

This exercise helps you master pitch variation and lead guitar phrasing fluency:

1. List all techniques and ornaments you use during your guitar solos. (These guitar soloing articles help you do this).

2. Create a short guitar lick (3-6 notes long) and play it over and over. Listen closely to the most important notes. (These notes are: the first and last note of a phrase, and any note that is sustained for a long time).

3. Each time you repeat the lick, apply different phrasing ornaments to the most important notes. For example:

• Play some notes an octave higher at unexpected moments to imitate King Diamond’s falsetto. Tip: This works especially well on the last note of a phrase.
   
• Harmonize some notes using double stops.
   
• Vary the way vibrato is used. (For example: use delayed vibrato or change its speed and width).
   
• Apply vibrato on both notes of the double stop (this sounds killer!).
   
• Combine several phrasing techniques on one note. Example: play the last note of a phrase an octave higher, harmonize it with a double stop and use delayed vibrato.

Practice this pitch variation exercise to train your fluency with lead guitar phrasing techniques.

This video about lead guitar solos gives you more ideas - start writing killer guitar solos.