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Odd question: how many bands here have rhythm guitarists?

#61
The more I think about this...

I have never really been in a band with a dedicated rhythm guitar player. I usually play with guys who trade lead and rhythm duties.

I understand that there are different roles that the guitar can play (as can any instrument). I never looked at RG as a position in a band, more as a role for a specific song.

In the band I am in now, everyone will play "lead". There are songs that feature one guitar or the other. Some feature the vocalist/harmonica player, others feature bass. One song is really a showcase for our drummer. It is my personal philosophy that everyone in the band gets a solo, and there should be at least one song that features each person in the band.

Just my opinion.
 
#63
My band's got 2 guitarists, who really run lead/rhythm interchangeably. I can't imagine having a band with only one guitarist if you don't have a full time keyboard player. That second guitar part and all the layering that can be done as a result I think is too good to pass up.

Plus, and this is just my opinion, but nothing sounds better than a dueling guitar solo here and there, or twin leads on a ripping riff.
 
#64
I've played in bands with and bands without... usually ends up dictated by the type of music:

played in a classic/ indy rock band called wasted saturday... the band was a 3 piece where the singer played guitar and the leads were pretty sparse so it worked out pretty well.

played in a thrashy progressive band called Dystrophy (huge drama band that ended reallly poorly) and it was a 5 piece with 2 guitarists (both would alternate on leads and riffing).

My main band Ataraxia has had both... with our first guitarist we were more of a hard rock/ alternative band so one guitar worked pretty well and when he would do a solo I would kick on the distortion to fill in the rhythm. Then we added another guitarist and became a metal/ metalcore band and needed to add a rhythm guitarist for harmonies, riffing under leads, etc. both guitarists ended up kicked out or leaving, so we got a new lead guitarist and our singer started playing rhythm. I definitely like the feel of the 4 piece over the 5 even though we still have the same amount of instrumentation.
 
#68
Sartori said:
Indeed they do. I still have no trouble hearing what Steve is playing.
Click to expand...

Yeah! Now that I think about it... anyone who ever says that a P Bass with flats can't cut through a band mix... should see Exhibit A: Iron Maiden. Three guitars, music heavy as hell, and Stevie Harris galloping away.

Thanks for inspiring my "at work playlist" for the iPod tomorrow. LIVE AFTER DEATH. :bassist:
 
#69
my current band is complicated.. me and another guy split guitars. im technically lead since hes the lead singer, but when the 25% vocalist comes in, we're both rhythm +.

we turn into killswitch engage in that instance. split harmony guitars. he takes occasional leads, and a lot of the lead riffs that start songs are his. in one, i play the breakdown, he gets the melody. he wrote it.. hes not singing. he can have it.

almost a coheed and cambria approach.
 
#71
One my projects the singer plays rhythm (acoustic) and we have a lead guitarist to play the melody or provide the fills for the extra layer. Prior to having him the sound was was always missing something. Its nice having the second guitar player in there because it allows me to move in and out of the rhythm and do some fills to play along with the lead guitar player.

Another project I am in we prefer to have an organ/key player over the second guitarist since the main guitar player is good enough to interchange between both lead and rhythm as needed. I also think he likes to have control of that sonic space on the guitar which is fine by me because he is that good. Plus we do a bit of funk/hiphop/rock so its nice to have the keys there for a little extra layering.
 
#72
GreggBummer said:
Yeah! Now that I think about it... anyone who ever says that a P Bass with flats can't cut through a band mix... should see Exhibit A: Iron Maiden. Three guitars, music heavy as hell, and Stevie Harris galloping away.

Thanks for inspiring my "at work playlist" for the iPod tomorrow. LIVE AFTER DEATH. :bassist:
Click to expand...

Then again, it's also Steve's band. I don't think he'd ever tolerate a mix that buried him. All the instruments are EQed to give each other some sonic space. Maiden is one of the few metal bands that consistently has mixes that I find balanced.
 
#79
We've definitely had trouble finding one around here. An actual, talented 'rhythm' guitarist, anyway. Had lots of guys answer ads only to find out that they "can" but "hey, let me show you my skills at *name your instrument*!" but really no one that is a true rhythm guitarist.
 
#80
I've been in bands with and without as well. I think it depends on what you're trying to accomplish. Think about playing in a cover/bar band. People are used to hearing all these songs on the radio (studio recordings) for the most part. We all know most of what's heard on the radio is layered several times. I think in order to be a good cover band and offer the crowd something they can relate to, you kinda have to have two guitars to replicate as much of the recorded stuff as you can. On the other hand, if you're making your own music, then you're writing to your strengths and against your weaknesses/instrument setup. In that case, you can quite easily use just one guitarist, and write stuff that goes along with it. My opinion is that that second rhythm guitarists just usually adds quite a bit of kick ass to the overall environment!
 

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