Since I've started charting customs, I've encountered bands with guitarists that trade off solos, sometimes to the point where you can't even tell who's supposed to be "lead guitarist" and "rhythm guitarist". This has got me pondering what best practice is for how to approach this kind of thing in CDLC.

 

Is it better to have all of the solos in the Lead tab? Or is it better to have one guitarist's tab each for lead and rhythm and have the leading melodies split equally between the two? One is technically a more accurate playing experience, but one is a more literal interpretation of "lead" and "rhythm".

 

I don't know if there's a universally true answer to this question, so I'm coming to the masses. What do you prefer?

I think the most common thing (and official practice) is to put all of the solos onto one track. Sometimes I'll put in "guitarist" paths as bonus arrangements (I think I've done it on an Iron Maiden track and a few Helloween tracks), but it's extra work so I don't do it often.

 

I'd say if you do a "guitarist" path and note it in the record, many people won't remember that when they play your song, which can lead to:

• If you're playing lead, chugging along during a solo, which feels kind of weird.
• If you're playing rhythm, you might not want to get blindsided by a solo.

And it's not always obvious which should be which guitarist should go in which place, which could be confusing across different people's DLC if someone wants to play a particular guitarist from a band.

 

So, my stance is basically that "guitarist" paths are nice, but complicate life enough as a player and charter that I don't do them too often.