Originally uploaded by Mr. TRON
Here are some mitigating factors:
- If there is an acoustic guitar player, ask them if they would be willing to join you as a partner in electric crime for the multi-guitar songs. (this can be tough to switch guitars mid-service, gives the FOH people headaches, and makes managing patches more difficult)
- The synth player may also turn out to be a closet rhythm guitarist. I don't mean strap on a guitar I mean fire up some patches that can mimic either the riff part or the power chords. I'm surprised at how well this can work.
- If 1 and 2 are not options I would then go for the divide and conquer strategy of playing the riff in instrumental sections of the song and going to the power chords in the choruses.
- Talk to your worship leader and start a guitar army with another player. multiple electric guitars on stage is a scary thought but I'm quite sure that God can handle it. The challenge at that point is to ensure that you and the second electric player:
- Play your parts together without the band. (Avoid playing over each other, BLEND)
- Find patches that go well together. Example the riff patch could utilize some chorus and delay and have more high-end to the sound - while the second power chord part is more straight up overdrive without much reverb, or other effects. The sum of these parts is definitely greater than the whole if you don't let the effects gum it up.
4 comments:
most often option #3 is a great one, at least for a church service. #4 is a resource problem but feesible in some cases. good ideas.
I totally get it. This is the main issue about playing lead electric. i think the most important thing is to have a good ear during practice and see what everyone is playing. That first practice is key to mapping out parts. But then comes the issue of what do I practice. Needless to say, if you are banging out a song, you should know all of the chords. That covers the times when you need to power out a chorus or verse. After that I would say pick out the most distinct lead.
In the case of "Happy day," I had to split it up. Like you said, there is no way to play everything. I just split the song into four parts. High lead in the intro, the C/Csus picking part (I play it at the 8th frec - C power chord), and power chords in the chorus and bridge. I couldn't think of a way to swing the slide guitar in the bridge so I just banged it out to leave space for vocals to really ring out.
Ben
Ben - Great minds think alike. I did exactly the same treatment on Happy Day. I passed on the slide as well but would have loved to have another guitarist so we could add these nuances.
I played 'off chart' last night at rehearsal and boy was it apparent where I needed to practice:-)
That is one of the good things about playing off charts. It shows you how much you really know. Great job yesterday. I know there were a few flubs but it was good to see you do it. Here's to raising the bar a little higher.
Ben
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