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Lead guitar is a style of guitar playing where the lead guitarist plays an acoustic melody while accompanying it with some melodic backing, commonly performed through percussive chords. Lead guitar music has become the benchmark of innovative and modern guitar music. The style came from the Celtic and blues music that was popular in the United Kingdom in the eighteenth century. The guitar player used a nylon string guitar in its place of the traditional woodwind or brass instruments used in earlier styles.

While modern guitarists have adopted the use of computers and editing programs in their recording studios to change the sounds of recorded music, the great guitaristists of the past still used the nylon string guitar for composing and improvising new songs. The essence of lead guitar can be traced back to players like Jimi Hendrix, Buddy King, Eddie Van Halen and Steve Vai. Lead guitar lessons teach the skills needed for creating and arranging solos and riffs.

A good lead guitarist must be able to read notes, be able to know the difference between flat and round tones and be able to use effects like double tracking and alternate picking. It requires years of practice and sharpening of skills to become a professional lead guitar player. Young aspiring guitarists can enroll in training programs run by professional guitar teachers. For those who prefer to learn on their own, there are books and instructional material available both in stores and the Internet.