I’ve been wanting to start this poll for months. I don’t play out, but if I did, I would want to play rhythm guitar. My reasons are multiple. Primarily, I suck at lead guitar, but I also really enjoy the feeling of playing rhythm. I wouldn’t mind playing lead on a few songs though. In many rock bands the rhythm guitarist is the lead singer, so I love the fact that I could play rhythm and not have to sing. I don’t think there are too many rhythm guitarists on this site, so would you identify yourself in the post.

I've never been fond of the idea that rhythm guitar is somehow less worthwhile than lead guitar or that rhythm players should want to "move up" to lead or that rhythm guitarists are somehow less talented than lead guitarists.

Ralph
The Storm Surfers

Be at one with the universe. If you can't do that, at least be at one with your guitar.

Klas
BTW, "rhythm" - what a crazy spelled word! In Swedish it's simply "rytm"

I always have to think about it before I type it. But, hey, English is known for crazy spelled words

Ralph
The Storm Surfers

Be at one with the universe. If you can't do that, at least be at one with your guitar.

JakeDobner
Whoever writes the song plays the lead part, unless the writer of the tune is playing a non-guitar instrument on the track.

Is that the rule for all bands?

http://www.satanspilgrims.com
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spskins

JakeDobner
Whoever writes the song plays the lead part, unless the writer of the tune is playing a non-guitar instrument on the track.

Is that the rule for all bands?

Yes.

the Dobner surf band rules.

Science friction burns my fingers.

spskins

JakeDobner
Whoever writes the song plays the lead part, unless the writer of the tune is playing a non-guitar instrument on the track.

Is that the rule for all bands?

No, I just meant that for my band. I should have included a choice noun or two to avoid making a sweeping generalization.

Well it's not for The Madeira, where Patrick writes some fantastic songs.

I'm unique in which I play Rh. in one band and lead in another. Though in MBP I switch off with Mel, I play maybe 25% lead. The biggest reason being is to give him a break once in a while. And in our case Jake is mostly right, I play lead on the songs I've arranged or written.

I enjoy playing rhythm guitar, and a well arranged, nuanced 2nd guitar part can make a huge difference to a song. All you rhythm guitarists out there - you're driving a lot of the dynamics of the song, be sure to pay attentiont to that and flex your own creativity.

Danny Snyder

"With great reverb comes great responsibility" - Uncle Leo

Playing keys and guitar with Combo Tezeta

Formerly a guitarist in The TomorrowMen and Meshugga Beach Party

Latest surf project - Now That's What I Call SURF

I initially started playing rhythm in my bands because the other guitarists that I play with have been playing like 5 or 6 times longer than I have and are ultimately better at their instruments than I am. I'm also the lead singer in my r&b band and since that's my main job I don't mind taking the backseat on guitar plus my background is on bass so it makes more sense to me to play rhythm. I think that I lock in with drums and bass better than the other guitarists that I play with.

I do bust out some solos here and there and I do play lead on about a third of the Transistor Royale tunes. I also have written instros for both of my bands that I let the other guitarists take the lead on. At this point my favorite part of playing rhythm is doing the textural stuff with tremolo, fuzz etc.

that's my take on it anyway.

The Exotics 1994-Current
The Chickenshack - www.wmse.org
www.thedoghouseflowers.com
www.uptownsavages.com

Yeah that's true. Who ever wrote the song should lead it. Because only him or her, knows in what direction the song should go and should be played. But there's nothing wrong if the guy who wrote it gives it to the other guitarist to lead play it.

The Deadbeats

Alright...a rhythm thread. I play about a third of the leads in our band. We play 3hrs every week. I like playing rhythm because i'm good at it and i think being a drummer has a lot to do with it. I'm the only songwriter in our band so when i bring an original to rehearsal more often than not i let our other guitar player play lead because i think i'm better on rhythm ON MY ORIGINALS. On my songs the rhythm is just as important as the lead a lot of the time. Some of my originals i just throw on the table at rehearsal and give the other guys an opportunity to make something up themselves and be a part of the writing process. I don't want it to be all about ME. There's a few of my songs that i play lead on but we don't play them much because in my opinion, the rhythm is not as i wrote it. Does that make sense? An example is "No Can Tells" a song i wrote and played all the instruments in the studio but when we do it 'live' the other guitar player just bangs out big old chords without any finesse. I gotta be careful so as i don't sound like i'm dissing him....he's a fine player but i'm just better at rhythm on my songs. When i've recorded a song it's pretty much the best i can make it sound on all the instruments that i play but there's only one of me so..... i try not to expect too much but sometimes, on some songs, i sound better playing rhythm. We've learned another of my tunes called "Blue Avalanche" that i play lead on but i'm not happy with the rhythm part!! I accept what he's playing because were doing an original which is SO important and we need to do originals just as much as the covers we do. Keep in mind that we play to a different crowd every week and for the most part they wanna hear the classic covers....but we can sneak some originals in there too and actually get a pretty good responce to them which leads me to close with..."it's all good"!!

The TakeOffs
"Kauai's Only All-Instrumental Surf Band"
http://www.facebook.com/pages/The-TakeOffs/312866840587