[Michael_Lee]

Ok when you get the chance to step out front ... Do you play the leads in the wild abandon style or Planned out ideas ?

[Rockerbob]

I voted "wild" but I really use both methods.

[Teddy Madison]

I don't have a lot of lead stuff yet but when I do it, it's planned out riffs played by the seat of the pants so I guess I would say both.

Wayne

[SlickCat]

I also voted wild and loose...but it depends.
When jamming, I say wild and loose...when recording, I plan which licks are going first and which are going towards the end. I like to try and build the solo...start with riffs, add slightly wilder stuff and end wild, loose and crazy

[Dewy]

Very few things, when I step "out front" are off the cuff or "Improvised", which I think is what you mean when you say "wild abandon". I constantly improvise and ad lib over everything... including cover songs I know the note for note solo's to. By doing this and reviewing I find something that fits the song... even if it calls for High energy or Wild Abandon.

Another thing to consider... while I am definitely not a "clone" I did learn what I know by learning other guitar players works note for note... and when possible I like to render songs with the key phrases and tones that make the solo identifiable.

But when its Time to step up... either live or recording, I prefer to have a plan, a well rehearsed plan, with improvisation as a backup for when I get lost in the plan.

[jimmyzowens]

im always lost in the plan uh .... that is if i had a plan , i just like to play how i feel and if people dont like it well its just not meant to be

[DemoEtc]

I would always plan out a solo, or as Dewy said, play parts that make the song/solo identifiable.

BUT when it actually came time to do it, more times than not, all that 'I'm going to do a diminished scale here, then the pattern there' sort of thing went out the window and I'd just step on the fuzz, the wah, take my hands off the strings, grab the vibrato bar and let the guitar feedback for the whole solo.

It's like that one momet, that one instant right before the solo, all these other ideas would come up and it would just be feedback or long sustained notes or crazy atonal patterns.

Then drop right back into the song.

Not all the time, but some times - like the 'mood', the 'Rrrraaaahhhhrrrg' feeling would hit and that was it for all the carefully planned out stuff

[Aunt Doty]

Lead???????? You really wouldn't want to hear mine........I'm not there yet! I have a long way to go before I'll be lead material!

[X4StringDrive]

Originally Posted by Aunt Doty

Lead???????? You really wouldn't want to hear mine........I'm not there yet! I have a long way to go before I'll be lead material!

I'm right there with you Doty, we should have a "not there yet" dance...you can lead{lol}

[Aunt Doty]

[scotty_b]

I pretty much improvise everything. On occasion I will play the original lead break, but normally it is me improvising. I have had a bit of stick at gigs from people saying I didn't play 'Sultans of Swing' or 'Black Magic Woman' because the leads were different...but why play like Mark or Carlos? They are great players, but I would prefer to be me - as scary as that prospect might be

[eddiez152]

I usually finger pick myself into a lead of sorts. I leave the hard stuff
to the big guns.

[scrappydidnt]

Well that's what I love about the Blues there's alot of room for improv and it's not really so structured that you cant add or subract from certain songs. the trick is to remember that most songs have a signature riff that makes the song what it is. Kinda like Eric Claptons song Promises. Its basically G,C,D but if you dont add the lil 1/4 bend on the low E string when you go into the G then you could be playing any of the million and one G,C,D songs out there today.

[solidwalnut]

I voted planned and calculated, but I really do both. When it comes to recording, it's almost exclusively planned. But when I gig, I most always need to improvise. I don't gig in bands right now with any planned music but rather in churches where practice times are limited and ya just gotta go with what you have.

[fly135]

I did learn what I know by learning other guitar players works note for note...

I didn't vote because I never step out front. But I wanted to comment that for me... learning solos note for note is helping me learn to improvise. It helps me learn to navigate the fretboard in different ways. And you only need to change the rhythm and mix up the notes a bit to come up with something thats sounds completely different.