Fun Lead Guitar Soloing Tips For Creating Rock Guitar Licks
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Ever struggle to create guitar lick ideas for your guitar solos?
Then, my friend...
... you’ve clicked on the right lead guitar article.
Because I'm about to show simple and fun ways to create rock guitar licks for your guitar solos and improvisations...
... even without knowing a ton of music theory or having advanced guitar technique.
Feel Incredibly Easy
EMAIL TO GET ACCESS
By submitting your info, you agree to send it to Tom Hess Music Corporation who will process and use it according to their privacy policy.
First...
I’ll show you awesome lead guitar licks that sound great and are easy to play.
Then...
I’ll lay out a few simple tricks that pros use to create guitar licks ‘like’ the ones I show you...
... making it easy for you to come up with virtually endless lead guitar improvising (and guitar solo) ideas on command.
To begin...
Watch this lead guitar video with 3 super cool rock guitar licks you’re free to steal:
And now that we know the basics...
Here are 5 principles that make it easy for your favorite lead guitar players to create guitar licks like the ones you just heard (and use them to play jaw-dropping guitar solos)...
... and tips on how to you can do the same.
Lead Guitar Soloing Tip #1: Know How To Play Any Scale You Learn All Over The Guitar Neck
Creating awesome guitar licks for your rock guitar solos starts with knowing your scales across the entire fretboard.
Most guitarists only learn one or two scale shapes, severely limiting their rock guitar soloing options. If you’ve ever felt stuck in a box (of playing lead guitar solos in only 1 position on the fretboard), this is why.
Here is a tip for learning a scale all over the fretboard:
Know that there are just as many patterns to learn for the scale as there are notes in the scale.
For example: a pentatonic scale has 5 shapes, because it has 5 notes. (“Penta” means 5.)
Whereas, traditional major and minor scales have 7 shapes to learn, because they have 7 notes.
When you know all the shapes of a scale, your guitar solo potential expands dramatically and you become able to play creative guitar lick ideas anywhere on the neck.
Here's how to master your scales for better lead guitar improvising:
- Practice visualizing scale patterns away from the guitar. Place your fretting hand on your forearm and move your fingers as if playing scales, seeing the frets in your mind.
- Work on scale memorization a little bit each day. It’s better to spend 5 minutes on this task daily than to do it for an hour once per week.
- Create sequences from basic scale patterns. Guitar lick sequences sound much more interesting than playing scales straight up and down, making your rock guitar solos more engaging.
This lead guitar video shows you how to create lead guitar lick sequences from scales:
Question: "Tom Hess, should I memorize scale shapes one at a time until each one is mastered? Or should I work on all shapes a little bit each day?"
Answer: Do both. Focus on one shape at a time during your fretboard visualization practice sessions... but then run through all 7 shapes near the end of a practice session (even if you have to play them slowly at first).
Rotate which scale shape gets most of your attention, but also play through all 7 shapes each day. This helps you memorize them quicker and makes your lead guitar improvising more fluid across the entire fretboard.
Lead Guitar Soloing Tip #2: Control Excess String Noise
Nothing kills an awesome guitar lick faster than unwanted string noise. Your rock guitar solos might have all the right notes, but string noise makes them sound amateur.
There are three main sources of unwanted noise in your lead guitar playing:
- Noise from the lower (thicker) strings when playing guitar licks on higher strings
- Noise from the higher (thinner) strings when playing on lower strings
- Noise from notes bleeding together
To eliminate these issues and make your guitar licks sound professional, do this:
For the lower strings, use a technique I call "thumb muting."
Rest your picking hand's thumb on the thicker strings, sliding it up and down as you play lead guitar licks. This keeps half your guitar quiet while playing rock guitar solos.
For higher strings, use your fretting hand's index finger to lightly touch (not press) the thinner strings.
The finger should be in a similar position to a barre chord but without applying pressure.
To prevent notes from bleeding together in your guitar solos, focus on releasing each note at the exact moment you play the next one – not before or after.
This clean separation makes your guitar licks sound precise and professional.
Question: "Tom Hess, what about palm muting? Isn't that just as good for muting string noise in rock guitar solos as thumb muting?"
Answer: No, and here's why: When you palm mute, the resting position of the pick becomes outside the string trench (the space between strings).
This makes your picking motions larger than necessary, limiting your speed and accuracy when playing fast guitar licks.
Thumb muting is more reliable because your thumb naturally rests on ALL the lower strings as you play. Plus, thumb muting keeps your pick in the string trench, making it easier to transition between different lead guitar techniques.
Bonus Tip: Practice your string noise control with distortion. Many guitarists make the mistake of practicing clean, thinking it's more challenging.
Don’t do this. Distortion actually reveals more string noise, forcing you to clean up your playing for better rock guitar solos.
Lead Guitar Soloing Tip #3: Refine Your Rock Guitar String Bends
String bending is essential for expressive rock guitar solos.
The most common problem with string bends in lead guitar playing is poor intonation – bending either too far (sharp) or not far enough (flat). Either way, your guitar solos will sound out of tune.
To master this crucial lead guitar technique, do this:
Start by practicing "target bending."
Fret a note that's the target pitch of your bend (like the 10th fret), play it, and memorize its sound.
Then play the note you'll bend (like the 8th fret) and practice bending until it perfectly matches your target note.
For rock guitar solos, practice both half-step and whole-step bends until they're consistently in tune. Many guitar licks require precise half-step bends, which are harder to control than full bends.
Also work on your bend timing. In many lead guitar licks, you need to hold a bent note for a specific duration. Practice bending to pitch immediately and holding it steady for the entire note value.
Question: "Tom Hess, my fingers get tired quickly when practicing bends for guitar solos. How can I build more strength for string bending?"
Answer: First, practice bends in short bursts rather than long sessions to avoid strain. Second, make sure your guitar is properly set up with appropriate string gauge (strings that are too heavy can make bending unnecessarily difficult).
Third, use proper technique.
Bend with multiple fingers supporting each other, and use your wrist rotation rather than just finger strength.
Here is how your hand needs to look when bending strings in your guitar licks:
These principles are the foundation for not just simple whole and half-step bends, but also for more advanced lead guitar string bends, like the ones in this video:
Another important aspect of string bending in lead guitar playing is pre-bending (also called ghost bends). This is where you bend the string before picking it and emphasize the release of the bend.
This technique creates a vocal-like quality in your rock guitar solos that's impossible to achieve any other way.
Lead Guitar Soloing Tip #4: Master Your Vibrato
Vibrato is what gives life to your rock guitar licks. Without good vibrato, even the most technically perfect guitar solo sounds sterile and lifeless.
There are two main elements to great vibrato in lead guitar playing:
- Width – how far you bend the string during vibrato
- Speed – how fast you oscillate the note
If your vibrato is too narrow and fast, your guitar licks will sound nervous and thin, like a mosquito buzzing.
If it's too wide and slow, your rock guitar solos will sound like a series of separate bends rather than vibrato.
The sweet spot is finding the perfect balance between width and speed for different emotional contexts in your lead guitar playing.
Watch this guitar solo video that helps you avoid the common vibrato mistakes in your guitar improvisations:
To practice vibrato:
Start by developing a consistent, controlled motion.
Focus on making each oscillation the same width.
Record your guitar solos and listen back critically. Is your vibrato smooth and consistent? Is it free of string noise?
Is your vibrato in time with the song (or backing track) you are playing guitar solos over?
For bent-note vibrato, use a slight up-and-down motion around your target pitch, keeping the average pitch centered on your bend target. This technique gives your rock guitar solos that singing quality that characterizes great lead guitar playing. Practice this slowly and deliberately until it becomes second nature in your guitar improvising.
Watch this video to see how to do bent-note vibrato the right way:
Lead Guitar Soloing Tip #5: Practice Refining Your Guitar Licks With Emotional Phrasing
The difference between mediocre and great lead guitar playing isn't just the notes you choose - it's how you play those notes.
How do you practice refining your phrasing?
Play your guitar lick over and over and add different phrasing ornaments to the notes, such as:
- Slides... which come in many forms. There are ascending slides (sliding up from a lower pitch to a higher pitch), descending slides (sliding down from a higher pitch to a lower pitch), backslides (where you play a note, slide up (or down) from it and return back to the same note) and super slides (sliding up or down by more than 1 octave)... and re-articulation slides (where you play a note and immediately slide into it again from another note).
- Vibrato variations (doing vibrato slower, faster, wider or narrower, or doing vibrato with pre-bends)
- String bending variations (such as the advanced rock guitar string bends I showed earlier in the article).
- Picking hand rakes (quickly brushing muted strings before a target note)
- Legato vs. picked notes.
- Dynamics (picking softly or aggressively)
- Tremolo picking
- 2-hand tapping
- Pinch harmonics
- Double stops (fretting 2 notes at the same time).
Watch this video to see what the process of refining guitar licks looks like:
Question: "Tom Hess, how do I know which ornaments to use where in my guitar solos?"
Answer: Listen to your favorite lead guitar players and analyze how they ornament their phrases.
Transcribe simple guitar licks you hear in their solos and focus on matching all the details of their phrasing.
Then, when creating your own guitar licks, it’ll be easier to phrase the notes in a similar way.
And your own lead guitar style will develop from combining the phrasing nuances of several guitar players you like (plus your own innovations).
Most guitarists don’t spend nearly enough time on guitar phrasing refinement. When I train guitarists to do it, I often see them do 10 attempts to refine a guitar lick and stop. Don’t do this.
Set a timer for 10, 20 or 30 MINUTES and challenge yourself to:
1. Come up with dozens of ways to phrase each guitar lick you create
2. Make each variation sound expressive and emotional.
That is the secret to making even simple (and slow) rock guitar licks sound pro.
Now that you know how to create awesome rock guitar licks, the next step is to improve your fretting hand technique (and finger independence), so you can easily play these guitar licks up to speed and without mistakes.
I show you how in my free eGuide Master Fretting Hand Finger Independence. Download it today and discover lead guitar technique secrets most guitarists will never know.
TO EFFORTLESS FINGER
INDEPENDENCE FOR
YOUR FRETTING HAND
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