Quote:
Originally Posted by terryd913
The other is I may be overly concerned about hitting melody notes on the right count. As long as I play those notes in the right measure what difference does it make if I played on a down count or an up count. Does that make sense?
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This is an important aspect of playing lead - the rhythmic phrasing.
Melody notes that come on downbeats, especially ones that are also on the 1st beat of a measure/chord change, tend to have a solid character.
However, hitting EVERYTHING on a downbeat can end up sounding too simplistic. We all like a little surprise and upbeats can do that.
Good lead players will mix it up and throw in a curveball once in awhile.
More important than hitting an upbeat or a downbeat is rhythmic confidence. You should strive to make most of your notes land solidly, whether down or up.
When I have helped folks with this, I see some play a 15 note phrase where only 2 or 3 notes are landing on any rhythmic boundary. I first get them to reduce it to 3 notes and MASTER the placement.
Only at that point do I get them to add more notes.