How to Harmonize Your Lead Guitar Solos

Lead playing doesn't always have to involve single note melodic runs .

You can introduce deeper harmonic expressions by playing around with two or three simultaneous notes over the chord sequence .

This lesson is about finding a suitable starting point for building your lead harmony and developing it around some common chord movements just as scales can form the melodic basis of your lead solos .

So too can scales be harmonized around their related chords ?

Most major key progressions you'll play along to will be built around the major scale .

The natural major key center that songwriters and composers tend to gravitate towards .

However , the method we're about to look at applies to any scale you might learn .

Let's say we were playing in the key of a major , the a major scale therefore would be our natural harmonic basis for this key .

Some major key songs will be based around major modes such as Mixolydian and Frigia dominant .

But it makes sense to start with the most commonly used scale to keep it simple .

We'll begin with a single tonic chord of a major .

We now need a pattern that will allow us to explore the harmonization of this .

A major scale here , I've taken the first two positions of the a major scale giving us a good neck range .

We're gonna start by working through the scale using two note pairings also known as double stops .

You can either pluck each pairing with your fingers or pick them together or in succession .

That's our basic harmonization of the scale in thirds so called , because we're either playing a major third or minor third interval between our two notes .

Once you're comfortable with the natural sequence , start moving around the sequence in a different order , try to pull out simple hooks and phrases .

As you explore the pattern .

For example , you can also harmonize the scale in fourths or harmonize the scale in fifths .

Finally try mixing your different harmonized pairings into phrases already , we're creating something that sounds musically intricate over a single chord .

You can practice these movements over the core tracks provided on the lesson page .

But if you're practicing in a major without accompaniment , simply use the A string as your drone bass note .

Remember , you can apply this method to any scale you might learn including minor scales for minor key songs .

OK .

Let's now try and work our harmony around some simple chord changes staying in the queue of a major and therefore our a major scale , a common movement would be to the fore cord D major , try and work some movement through these changes .

Here's an example , another major key chord change would be to the two chord in a major that would be B minor .

You can find jam tracks for more of these chord changes including minor keys on the lesson page .

Take your time with this .

If you're writing a song , you have all the time in the world .

If you want to be able to improvise this stuff in the moment , however , you'll need to spend time working on how scales relate to different chord movements .

I'll be uploading lessons to help you with this in the future .

In the meantime , visit the lesson page for jam tracks and supplemental content .

Cheers .