Rhythm and Lead Guitar
Rock Guitar can be broken down into two different classifications, Rhythm guitar and Lead guitar. You will become familiar with both styles as you work your way through this book.
In this lesson you will learn how a chord progression and a riff can be played together as an accompaniment to each other. Rhythm guitar is the strumming and changing of chords through a chord progression (as discussed in Lesson Three), and Lead guitar is the picking of notes or riffs (Lesson Four).
A twelve bar blues progression using the A Major, D Major and E Major chords is the rhythm guitar part for Example Eight. This progression appeared earlier in Lesson Three. Example Five.
Playing Along With The CD or Tape
Example Eight has been recorded on CD and Tape in stereo with the rhythm guitar on the left channel (balance control fully to the left) and the drums on the right channel (balance control fully to the right).
The riff or Lead guitar part to Example Eight is played on the three bass strings. As with previous riffs all notes are played with a down-stroke. The chord symbols for the accompanying rhythm guitar are indicated above the music staff.
On the recording the riff has been recorded on the right channel (balance control fully to the right) and the drums have been recorded on the left channel (balance control fully to the left).
Now that you have practiced both the rhythm guitar part (chord strumming), and the lead guitar part (riff), listen to the recording to hear both parts being played together. The rhythm guitar has been recorded on the left channel and the lead guitar has been recorded on the right channel
