Conference napalm::guitar

    
    GOOD TOPIC!
    
    The GP that's doing most of the solos, I would refer to as the Lead
    Player. But if this said lead player can not do his part as a rythm
    player,how much is he really worth. If both guitar players do their
    equal share it would be nice to see the album cover read:
    
    1ST LEAD GUITAR
    2ND LEAD GUITAR
    
    as it appears on BACHMAN TURNER OVERDRIVE albums.
    
    
                                                     FVF

    As .1 said, these terms are really fallout from the past. In the
    60's it was very common to have one guitar play only rhythm (chords),
    and the other play only lead (solos, and melodic lines). Playing
    lead meant more than just playing solos. In much of the music of
    that era there were little or no keyboards, and the music was made
    more interesting by having one of the guitars play arpeggios, riffs,
    patterns, etc., while the other guitar comped chords. Listen to
    any of the early Beatles, Stones, Yardbirds, Animals, etc., for
    examples of this. I think today it is more common to have this kind
    of thing done by synthesizers.
    
    When Hendrix, Cream, Led Zeppelin, and others came along the
    distinction between "rhythm" and "lead" largely went away. So it
    all depends on how the music is structured, but I'd say for the
    most part the term "Lead guitarist" is simply an ego booster.

    - Ram

    whoever plays faster gets to play lead
    
    :-)

    Wow, I play fast, but it sounds awful!! Does that count?? I play in
    a 2 person group with Keyboards, Guitar (me - a double neck 6 string
    and Bass guitar) & all sorts of electronic gizmos. Previous to that
    I always considered myself a rythem guitarist, since I don't improvise
    all that well (some nights much better than others). By default, I'm
    now the lead guitar player of the group. How do you solve this delemma?
    we play lots of songs that have nothing but short & well worked out
    solo's. It's easy to be the lead guitarist, just form a one person
    band (with todays electronics, it ain't too tough), and play guitar.

						    Jens 

    Far be it from me to define "Lead" and "Rhythm".
    
    I confess that I have well-formed ideas of the difference between
    lead and rhythm, but it's a distinction that I've always tried
    to get away from.
    
    I have a great preference for ensemble type arrangements over
    "lead" and "rhythm" type arrangements.
    
    My favorite musicians are all people who have shunned writing
    "rhythm" and "lead" parts in favor of writing music where each
    part contributes to a greater whole than any one part "holding
    down" the piece.
    
    While all these guys "take solos", to me, when I listen to Steve
    Morse playing with the Dregs, or Steve Howe playing with Yes,
    or Keith Emerson playing with ELP, I don't hear "rhythm parts".
    I hear all the instruments playing in something much more akin
    to "ensemble playing" than rhythm & lead rock'n'roll.
    
    There's a compositional complexity that comes with that.
    
    You rarely hear Howe or Morse playing chords at all, and when
    you do it's totally different from the way you'd hear a "rhythm
    guitarist" play chords.
    
    	db

    I once did a solo gig where I sang and played acoustic guitar. I
    strummed and picked and was the 'fastest' until Scotty (now deceased,
    God bless his rock n roll soul) joined me on his SG. He could really
    wail out out a powerful solo while 'following' the progressions that
    I set up. I always considered him the lead guitarist when we got
    together because he did some solos that I couldn't at the time.
    
    Never thought about the term until I started jamming with a bass
    player who says they used to debate the topic at Berklee all the time. 
    I think it's a carry over from orchestral arrangements where you
    have lead instruments in each section and that the term loses some
    of it's meaning when applied today...I agree with earlier discussion
    about the Beatles, etc..
    
    ......Interesting what BTO did with 1st and 2nd. 
    
    ......Also interesting about the egos.
    
    John the Guitarist who plays melodic solos but doesn't burn up the
    fretboard with lightning speed.

    I just read .6 and I agree completely. If the music is done well
    each instrument contributes to the total arrangement. Perhaps the
    term lead guitarist is just to give credit to the guitarist whose 
    solo's stand out the most ? Like a John Fogarty of CCR who calls
    himself lead guitarist.

    I hope everybody realizes I was just kidding about the fastest
    player being the lead player. Some bands seem to have one (or 
    more) players who do more of the solo work (e.g. the Dead,
    CCR, Lynard Skynard.) Some 'guitar heroes' tour with a second
    guitarist who is mostly there to play rhythm - check out Johnny
    Winter And "Live" with Rick Derringer playing backup to Johnny.
    BB KIng usually has a backup guitarist, too. Some people like
    to be the lead player - kind of a specialized job. Some people
    like to sing lead and play backup chords. BOC used to have the
    whole band playing lead for one song. 
    
    When EC was touring in the early eighties with Albert Lee, was
    Lee the Rhythm Guitarist? I wouldn't say so!

    .6 was pretty vague about "ensemble playing".   It's hard to define
    really, but one aspect of it is that whereas in a typical rock
    R&L (Rhythm and Lead) format, you listen to the Rhythm guitar
    entirely for chords.
    
    In ensemble playing, the chord (if any) is more suggested by what
    everyone is playing and unlike R&L there doesn't even HAVE to be
    a suggested chord.
    
    Often, there are single note parts that aren't the melody, nor do
    they function as any part of a chord.  They're just part of the
    composition.
    
    	db

    
    Lead Guitarist: A guitarist with an atomic weight of 207.19, atomic
    number 82. Usually into heavy metal. ;^}
    
    	Dennis

    I like Dennis' definition!
    
    

    
    I guess drummers must have a lead drummer like genesis...
    A lead singer who does most of the singing etc.
    A lead guitarist to me means the same as the above, the guitarist
    in the band that does the most leads...not to say the others can't
    but probably not as often... HELL I don't know that's just my opinion.
    Know I tell ya something ya don't see to often is a lead guitarist
    that sings while playing hot leads like Hendrix. I read an interview
    with Clapton who admits that he had no idea how Jimi did this. I
    imagine it's like trying to play the drums ( not just an easy beat)
    and trying to sing at the same time, it's gotta be tough!!!
    

    	An interesting example of this dilemma(sp?) is Aerosmith.  Joe
    -the showboat- Perry is a very limited guitarist compared to Brad
    (great name) Whitford.  All of the earlier A'smith albums titled
    Joe Perry as "lead guitars" and Brad Whitford as "rythmn guitars".
    I would be willing to bet that a good portion of the studio lead
    work (especially the melodic stuff) was actually played by the 
    "rythmn guitarist".  In concert they play about 50-50 each.  The
    major difference between the two is that mysterious aura known as
    "Stage Presence".  Brad is content to stand in the background, out
    of the limelight (such as John Paul Jones) while Joe prefers to
    jump around and play (very simple riffs) while singing duets with
    Steve Tyler (when the're not in a huff and throwing bottles of Jack
    at each other).
    
    						Brad Karrfalt
    

    	In a recent interview I read someplace, Joe Perry named
    Brad Whitford as his favorite guitarist.  Nice compliment I
    thought.
    
    joe.