Cannot play solos, cannot remember..what..

[TheX]

Grab a nylon string guitar and learn the fundamentals. Read music and learn chord and scale theories. You'll be glad you did.

[jcwillow777]

I really wouldn't get too frustrated since you have only been playing for a couple of months. If you are determined to be a lead guitarist it is esential to learn scales, major, minor, and pentatonic would be the main ones to start with.

 

Learn the various different positions, or boxes as some call them. Learning a solo is one thing, but being able to apply the knowledge you have learned from that solo to other songs should be your goal. Years ago after I started to be able to play lead guitar with some sense of success, I made it my goal to be able to apply one lick to any song that I was playing. After years of practice that has happened, why? I practiced my scales and positions long enough so that I can play in any key and not get lost. I am not a schredder, I never developed a lot of speed, but when I look at the neck on my guitar I see shapes and scales and I play much more melodically and creatively than ever before.

 

I remember a college professor telling me once that he that a person need to play an instrument for 5 years before they could have a really good handle on it. I'm not sure I totally agree with that because some people progress faster than others, simply because they practice all the time and some people have more of a God given talent for music than others. One thing that I did find for myself was that there were plateuas in playing. I would play for what seemed to be long periods of time and not make any improvement, and then all of a sudden it was like a light came on and voila, I got it. And then I moved quite rapidly for a while again.

 

If playing guitar was easy everyone would have a record deal at Nashville or L.A. I'm not writing this this discourage you, but to help you put things in perspective. You can't expect to be a shredder in two months, unless you already have a few other instrument under your belt. Maybe you should look into lessons with someone that can teach you theory so you can have an understanding of what you are playing, and not only learning a lick for a song.

 

For many of us here playing guitar is a life long goal and many of us will never be professional players, or play in the big league so to speak. But the sense of fullfillment in playing your instrument and being able to say what you want when you want on it is beyond measure. It is a journey, so enjoy the ride grasshopper.