The Difference between Rhythmic Lead Guitar and Chord-Tone Soloing

Hey Barrett, what is the major difference between the book you are sending me (Rhythmic Lead Guitar) and the Chord Tone Soloing book?

Jeremy

Hi Jeremy,

Even though they're about the same general topic of melodic guitar playing, Rhythmic Lead Guitar and Chord-Tone Soloing are very different. Rhythmic Lead Guitar is a top-down approach to understanding time, form, phrasing, and melodic development. The title does not refer to playing lead and rhythm at the same time. Learning the concepts in this book will help you make a coherent contribution to the song's message, not just insert a bunch of random notes or licks. It's crucial information for any style of music.

The other book, Chord-Tone Soloing, is a detail-oriented method that teaches you to feel each note as part of a line carrying momentum as it moves toward a new chord at a specific time in the future. Applying this skill makes your melodies an integral part of the band, capable of standing alone and implying the sound and movement of the chord progression. It does NOT mean that you play only chord tones in your solos.

Both topics are important but seldom covered in commercial books. They're hard to teach. Each of these books took me over a year to write. The study of form and phrasing (as in RLG) does get covered in classical composition textbooks (one reason it's a good idea to study classical). The chord-tone approach gets coverage in some jazz method books (one reason it's a good idea to study jazz!), but it applies to any style of music.

Thanks again for checking out my books, and best of luck to you in your musical pursuits.
Barrett

Rhythmic Lead Guitar on Amazon

Chord-Tone Soloing on Amazon