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This page will start you on the path of playing lead guitar, with guitar tab for riffs by Rage Against The Machine, The Red Hot Chilli Peppers, Audioslave and Darkness.
One of the basic techniques in playing lead guitar is alternate picking. This simply means alternating between down strokes and up strokes with your plectrum. It's exactly the same premise as with strumming, and you'll need to master this if you're to play at any great speed.
This first tab was, I think, composed by Bach - but don't let that put you off! It has been 'borrowed' by various rock bands since, and I teach it frequently as a good exercise to practice alternate picking.
Use a down stroke with the first note, then alternate up, down, up, down etc with each note therafter.
If you do it correctly, you'll end up on an up - ready to repeat the exercise.
Always practice this with a metronome. Start at a speed where you can play it correctly. Get it right three times, increase the speed by 10bpm and then repeat. I tend to start students off at around 70 or 80bpm and they get to about 120 - 150bpm in about 45mins. It seems like hard work at the time - but 10mins every day and you'll be pleasantly shocked at how fast you improve.
In between practicing the above, try out the next two tabs. Here is guitar tab for a popular Audioslave track:
One line is the verse, the other the chorus. There are also G and A chords played in between. The bridge is B, E and D.
It's a great riff for practicing your slides, and creating a groove that flows.
Here is guitar tab for the main riff of the popular Chilli Peppers track, 'Can't Stop':
Can't Stop is a great riff to practice in order to master hitting the strings you want to hear hard, whilst dampening the strings you don't want to hear with the left hand.
Here is guitar tab for the chorus of the Darkness single, 'I Believe In A Thing Called Love'.
The verse uses G, B flat, C and F power-chords:
In my humble opinion, this next one is one of the best riffs in modern rock history - here is guitar tab for Rage Against The Machine's, "Killing In The Name":
The top line is the main riff, whilst the bottom line is an adaptation that is played once in the second verse.
The original uses a drop-D tuning, with just the thickest string dropped from E to D. I've written the above for normal tuning. To play in the original key you need to drop your 6th string down from E to D, and then play the above - but two frets down.  Ideal for both beginners and advancing guitarists - Launch your playing to the next level! - High quality, inspiring MP3 backing tracks, formatted as complete songs
- Chord charts and diagrams
- Scales and box positions
- Fully tabbed out licks
- Emphasis on understanding and mastering modes and modal chord progressions
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