Stuck in a RUT!!!

Hey folks, I have been playing guitar for about 6 years, I play a fender strat (American) and i use a few styles other than the country styles such as blues & jazz, now the question i hope somebody out there can help me out with, i play my lead in a major cord using something like this in G for starters, going from low e to high e.

---3---5---7---
-------5---7---
-------5---7---9--
------------7---9
--------------8---10
you get the picture, and work my way back down with the root being on the A so that i get diff sounds and that’s over most of the country songs i play, and for some var i use the blues pent scale, so that’s the 2 i know, now i have looked in scale books and looked at minor and major scales and i cant find anything that works near as well as what i listed above maybe im stupid and overlooking something. the problem i have is that i think all my lead sounds the same?! i have never took lessons, I taught myself so to speak by playing with Merle haggard, Vern gosdin and others cd's,then looking at tab's, Back to my lead, nobody else says anything but i know it sounds the same and its driving me crazy because i like to have a diff sound once and awhile so im stuck in this rut that i cant get out of, now i use finger picking as well but I don’t use finger picks, I use my thumb 1st and 3rd finger and maybe my ring finger if im trying to get the banjo sound really well, but it still sounds the same to me so if somebody out there can help me out i would be so so so thankful. i have been trying to learn double stops for some change but its getting the same way ha,so i will be watching closely here to see a sign of help.


Thanks,
Strat :) :confused:

Sounding unique in solos? First of all: get a tape recorder. If you can get something that you can record more than one track, that's even better. We've had a lot of debate about how soloing should be approached on GT, so search around on the forums (I know you're new here - the search function is located in the toolbar - the toolbar is located in the box under the "Guitar Tricks Forum" sign).

Now the typical soloing approaches that I've come across can be divided in 2 sections:

1) Using your knowledge of scale and chord relationships, play leads and licks you already know from the approipriate scales (this seems like the one your doing).

2) Think of a melody, and go with. (This can be very vague, and harder - but it leads to the most original solo).

I like the idea of combining the two. Now about the tape recorder:
Record your chords. Now play it back, and hum a random melody over it. Transfer it to guitar. Now while on guitar, make variations to your melody, until it becomes completely new. Now apply this newly acquired lick(s) to your chord/scale relationships. After practice, you will be able to think of melodies and ideas quicker. Build up your experience first, start with slow, original melodic lines and move up.

I hope that helps.

lol only one person had something to say about that...lol

Well, if you play the same stuff all the time then your lead will become stagnant. Try switching up styles of music to give you some new ideas, even if they're not necessarily styles you'd want to focus on, as a lead player you should be versatile. Resist the urge to be a one-trick pony.

Really switch it up and see what happens. Try new techniques and learn lead parts from different songs. For instance, when I started playing I really focused on playing Slash's stuff. I rarely worked on anything but learning his solos, after a while everything I started playing sounded the same too. I then learned other stuff from other artists for inspiration to give me a more rounded sound.

Hope that helps :p

Thats always been my philosphy on guitar. Learn everything by one guy so you know his style inside out.. then do that to another.. and another.. and soon youl sound unique.
After all, musicains are just the result of multiple influences of those before them.