Originally Posted by: glennkoop

While my chord knowledge is fairly well developed (and I've learned mutiple pentatonic scales over the years), I have no lead skills. I recently resumed my full access membership, hoping to develop some modest lead skills (and maybe improve my rhythm playing a bit too!).

Adding to the great advice already posted! One of the guided courses aimed at slowly building skill in a specific genre (blues, rock, country courses) might be a good fit. And learning the solo lines of the artists that inspire you is always a great idea.

But let's back up to look at the big picture. You want to play lead guitar. Please read this article on improvisation.

https://www.guitartricks.com/blog/how-to-play-a-guitar-solo

I also have this series of tutorials on learning to improvise that you might find useful.

https://www.guitartricks.com/collection/learning-to-improvise

That will explain the process of improv in detail with lots of practical examples.

And a great deal of playing lead comes down to building & using a repertoire of licks. Once you settle on a style you need to build a library of little licks to play on the spot when you need them. You need to have a pre-established list of little licks under your command that you can drop in on the spot in between chords or rhythm parts.

That's why you learn licks from songs & practice scale patterns: to build your repertoire. With that in mind I also have this series of tutorials aimed at doing just that. This is mostly a collection of blues type licks, but they are equally applicable to any popular style.

https://www.guitartricks.com/collection/Bread-and-Butter-Butter-Blues-Licks

Hope that helps! Please ask more if necessary & have fun!