Shredding. Part 2 - Speed & Technique

Hello my shredders, and welcome to the second lesson in a series on shred. Now before I begin, let me presume, that you have read the previous lesson, and understand the techniques, and have a decent technique, if not, go back and read it first, if so, lets get going. As mentioned above, this lesson is a follow on form the "fundamentals," and I am going to show you guys how to really build up your speed and technique, and end up playing like your heros. We are going to focus on 6 main techniques:

1. Legato
2. Tapping
3. Alternate Picking
4. Sweep Picking
5. Economy Picking
6. String Skipping

Which are all vital echniques in learning when becoming a shredder. We will focus on other ones as well, but these will be the main ones. Lets start with some practice licks:

1. Legato:

(Easy)
e|------------------------------------------------------------|
B|--------------------------------------------10h12h13s15-17--|
G|------------------------------------9h11h12-----------------|
D|------------------0h2h4h5s7h9h10s12-------------------------|
A|----------0h2h3h5-------------------------------------------|
E|--0h2h3h5---------------------------------------------------|
 Repeat this lick in reverse

(Easy/Moderate)
e|------------------------------------------------------------|
B|------------------------------------------------------------|
G|------------------------------------------------------------|
D|------------------------------------------------------------|
A|------------------------------------------------------------|
E|--0h2h3h5p3p2p0-0h3h5h7p5p3p0-0h5h7h8p7p5p0-0h7h8h10p8p7p0--|

e|--------------------|
B|--------------------|
G|--------------------|
D|--------------------|
A|--------------------|
E|--0h8h10h12p10p8p0--|

Repeat this lick in reverse and ignore the time space between the bars.

(Moderate)
e|--------------------------------------------------------------|
B|--------------------------------------------------------------|
G|--------------------------------------------------------------|
D|--------------------------------------------------------------|
A|--0h2p0h3p0h5p0h3p0h2p0-0h3p0h5p0h7p0h5p0h3p0-0h5p0h7p0h8p0h--|
E|--------------------------------------------------------------|

e|------------------------------------------------|
B|------------------------------------------------|
G|------------------------------------------------|
D|------------------------------------------------|
A|--7p0h5p0-0h7p0h8p0h10p0h8p0h7p0-0h8p0h10p0h12--|
E|------------------------------------------------|
 Repeat this lick in reverse

(Moderate/Advanced)
e|-------------------------------------------------------------|
B|-------------------------------------------------------------|
G|-------------------------------------------------------------|
D|-------------------------------------------------------------|
A|-------------------------------------------------------------|
E|--0h1h2h3h4p3p2p1p0-0h4h5h6h7p6p5p4p0-0h7h8h9h10p9p8p7p0h12--|
 Repaet this lick in reverse 

(Advanced)
e|--------------------------------------------------------------|
B|--------------------------------------------------------------|
G|------------------------------------------------12-15p14p13p12|
D|--------------------------------12-15p14p13p12----------------|
A|----------------12-15p14p13p12--------------------------------|
E|12-15p14p13p12------------------------------------------------|

e|----------------12-15p14p13p12-----------------------------------|
B|12-15p14p13p12---------------------------------------------------|
G|-----------------------------------------------------------------|
D|-----------------------------------------------------------------|
A|-----------------------------------------------------------------|
E|--------------------------------11h12-10h11-9h10-8h9-7h8-6h7-5h6-|

e|---------------------------------------------------------------|
B|---------------------------------------------------------------|
G|---------------------------------------------------------------|
D|---------------------------------------------------------------|
A|---------------------------------------------------------------|
E|--4h5-3h4-2h3-1h2-2p1p0-8p7p6h7p6p5h6p5p0-8h10p8h11p8h12p8h12--|
 Repeat this example in reverse.

Practice tips: when playing Legato, it is important that you can you play each note smoothly and cleanly, if you are doing it properly, the listener should be able to differentiate between the picked and legato notes. When playing Legato, it is important to keep the fingers of your fretting hand in a "box" position, as this will help you exert more power on the strings.

2. Tapping: 

(Easy, left hand throughout)
e|--t3p0h2h3p2p0-t5p0h3h5p3p0-t7p0h5h7p5p0-t10p0h7h10p7p0-t10s12--|
B|----------------------------------------------------------------|
G|----------------------------------------------------------------|
D|----------------------------------------------------------------|
A|----------------------------------------------------------------|
E|----------------------------------------------------------------|

(Easy/Moderate, right hand throughout)
e|--12h15t19p12h15t19p15p12-12h15t20p12h15t20p15p12-t24--|
B|-------------------------------------------------------|
G|-------------------------------------------------------|
D|-------------------------------------------------------|
A|-------------------------------------------------------|
E|-------------------------------------------------------|

(Moderate - left and right hand)
e|---------------------------------------------------|
B|-t19p15p12---------------t20p15p12-------------24--|
G|---------------t19p15p12--------------t20p15p12----|
D|---------------------------------------------------|
A|---------------------------------------------------|
E|---------------------------------------------------|

this exercise requires you to alternate your tapping finger, use your little for the B string, and your ring for the G (or whichever you like)

(Moderate/Advanced)
e|-----------------------------------|
B|--t17p8p5-t15p8p5-t14p8p5-t12p8p5--|
G|-----------------------------------|
D|-----------------------------------|
A|-----------------------------------|
E|-----------------------------------|

This lick (like the one above) requires all 4 fingers of your tapping hand, choose which fingers you are most comfortable with.

(Advanced - left and right handed)
e|t12h15t19p15p12---------------------------------------------------|
B|----------------t12h15t19p15pThe12--------------------------------|
G|-----------------------------------t12h15h18p15p12----------------|
D|---------------------------------------------------t12h15h18p15p12|
A|------------------------------------------------------------------|
E|------------------------------------------------------------------|

This exercise requires excellent coordination, and will take a lot of practice.

Practice tips: when tapping, as with legato, make sure all the notes are played smoothly and evenly, as it will sound an awful better. Tap with the side of your finger and draw it back into your hand, as this is what would happen if you performed a pull off anyway.

3. Alternate Picking:

(Easy)
e|-------------------------------------------------------------------|
B|-------------------------------------------------------------------|
G|-------------------------------------------------------------------|
D|-------------------------------------------------------------------|
A|-------------------------------------------------------------------|
E|--0-0-0-0-2-2-0-0-0-0-3-3-0-0-0-0-5-5-0-0-0-0-3-3-0-0-0-0-2-2-0-0--|

(Moderate, tremolo picked throughout)
e|--12-14-15--17-19-21-22-24-22-21-19-17--15-14-12--|
B|--------------------------------------------------|
G|--------------------------------------------------|
D|--------------------------------------------------|
A|--------------------------------------------------|
E|--------------------------------------------------|

(Advanced)
e|--0-0-0-0-12-12-0-0-0-0-10-10-0-0-0-0-8-8-0-0-0-0|
B|-------------------------------------------------|
G|-------------------------------------------------|
D|-------------------------------------------------|
A|-------------------------------------------------|
E|-------------------------------------------------|

e|-7-7-0-0-0-0-5-5-3-3-0--|
B|------------------------|
G|------------------------|
D|------------------------|
A|------------------------|
E|------------------------|

Practice tips: make sure you keep your picking hand loose when speed picking and try not totense up at all, as if you do you will end up with some serious arm problems.

4. Sweep Picking: 

(Easy)
e|------------3------------------0-------------------0--|
B|----------3---3--------------0---0---------------0----|
G|--------0-------0-----------2------2-----------0------|
D|------0-----------0-------2----------2-------2--------|
A|----2---------------2---0--------------0---2----------|
E|--3-------------------3------------------0------------|

(Moderate)
e|15p12----------12-19p15-----------15-22p19---------19-22b(24)--|
B|--------12---12-------------17----17-------------20---20-------|
G|-----------12-------------------16--------------------21-------|
D|---------------------------------------------------------------|
A|---------------------------------------------------------------|
E|---------------------------------------------------------------|

3(Advanced)
e|12p7---------------------7-15p12---------------------------------12|
B|-----8-----------------8---------12----------------------------12--|
G|-------9-------------9--------------12----------------------12-----|
D|---------9---------9-------------------14----------------14--------|
A|-----------10-7h10------------------------14----------14-----------|
E|---------------------------------------------15p12h15--------------|

e|--19p15------------------------------15h19-24--|
B|--------17-------------------------17----------|
G|-----------16------------------16--------------|
D|--------------17------------17-----------------|
A|------------------19-14h19---------------------|
E|-----------------------------------------------|

Practice tips: when sweep picking make sure you keep a wrist action as much as possible, and try to "glide" as smoothly as possible over the string. When using this technique, timing is a major issue, resist speeding up when picking towards the floor, and start slowly and in time, then speed up.

5. Economy Picking: 

(Easy, constant down-up-down-up picking)
e|-------------------------------------|
B|-----------------------------7-9-10--|
G|----------------------6-7-9----------|
D|-----------4-6-7-7-9-----------------|
A|----4-5-7----------------------------|
E|5-7----------------------------------|

(Moderate, constant up and down picking)
e|-----------------------------------------------|
B|10-9-7---7-------------------------------------|
G|--------10--10-8-7-10-8-7----------------------|
D|----------------------------9-7-9--------------|
A|-----------------------------------------------|
E|-----------------------------------12-13-14-15-|

e|--------------------------|
B|--------------------------|
G|--------------------------|
D|----------------12-13-14--|
A|--12-13-14-15-------------|
E|--------------------------|

(Advanced, constant up and down picking)
e|----7---7--7--7--7---7--7---7---------5-8-9-10-7----------------|
B|-5---3----------------------3---5-----5--------------8----------|
G|----------5--4------4--5------------5------------------7--------|
D|-----------------7------------------7---------------------9-----|
A|-------------------------------------------------------------10-|
E|----------------------------------------------------------------|

Practice tips: as economy picking means taking the most direct (economical way) to the next string, make sure you keep your wrist loose, and try to use a wrist action as much as possible. Start slow on this technique, and build up your speed gradually.

6. String skipping: 

(Easy)
e|15-14-12--------------------------------------------------------|
B|----------------15-13-12----------------------------------------|
G|--------16-14-12-----------------16-14-12-----------------------|
D|------------------------16-14-12------------------15-14-12------|
A|-----------------------------------------15-14-12---------------|
E|-----------------------------------------------------------15-12|

2(Advanced)
e|12--------------8-10-------------10-5----------------5-7---------|
B|-----------------------------------------------------------------|
G|---10-------10-------9--------9-------------4-5----------5-7-----|
D|-----------------------------------------------------------------|
A|-------8-12--------------7-10----------3-5------5-7-----------7-8|
E|-----------------------------------------------------------------|

Practice tips: when string skipping, as I stated in the previous lesson, you have tothink of yourself in a battle fireld, and the strings you dont want to play are the mines, or think of them as ramps, and you are in a car. Make sure you keep your wrist loose when sweeping and dont tense at all.

Last notes on techniques: it is important when practicing these techniques, to start slowly, and build up your speed gradually, as the proverb says "you can not run before you walk," so just be patient and it will pay off. Also try to note your weaknesses, and pay special attention to these. the When playing slow also try to keep your timing in count, as when you speed up it will sound an awful lot better.

Shred Licks - lets steal some great licks:

1. A Dimebag Darrel style "sonic shape"
e|--------------------------------------------------------------|
B|--------------------------------------------------------------|
G|------------------------------------------------------11-12-15|
D|------------------------------------11-12-15-11h12h15---------|
A|------------------11-12-15-11h12h15---------------------------|
E|11-12-15-11h12h15---------------------------------------------|

e|---------------------------------------11-12-15-11h12h15b(17)-|
B|-------------11-12-15-11h12h15--------------------------------|
G|11h12h15------------------------------------------------------|
D|--------------------------------------------------------------|
A|--------------------------------------------------------------|
E|--------------------------------------------------------------|

2. A Steve Vai style Legato lick
e|8p5h7h8p7p5-----------------------------------------------|
B|------------8p5h6h8p6p5-----------------------------------|
G|------------------------7p5p4h7-5h7p5p4h5h7-7p3p5-7-3-5-0-|
D|----------------------------------------------------------|
A|----------------------------------------------------------|
E|----------------------------------------------------------|

3. A Paul Gilbert style picking lick
e|--------------------------------------------------------------------|
B|--------------------------------------------------------------------|
G|------------14---------------------14--------------------16------16-|
D|14-16-17----17-16-14-16-17----16-14-16-17-19---19-17-16-16-17-19----|
A|--------------------------------------------------------------------|
E|--------------------------------------------------------------------|

4. An Yngwie Malmsteen style picking lick
e|14-16-17-16-14-21-14-16-17-16-14-21-14-16-17-16-14-21-14-16-17-16--|
B|-------------------------------------------------------------------|
G|-------------------------------------------------------------------|
D|-------------------------------------------------------------------|
A|-------------------------------------------------------------------|
E|-------------------------------------------------------------------|

5. An Eddie Van Halen style tapping lick
e|--------------------------------------------------------|
B|t12p5h8-t12p5h8-t2p5h8t12p5h8-t13p5h8t13p5h8-t13p5h8p5--|
G|--------------------------------------------------------|
D|--------------------------------------------------------|
A|--------------------------------------------------------|
E|--------------------------------------------------------|

6. A Paul Gilbert style string skip lick
e|---------5------8p5--5-----------|
B|---------------------------------|
G|---5h9---9p5-----9---9p5---------|
D|7-----------------------------7--|
A|---------------------------------|
E|---------------------------------|

7. 

e|12p8---------8-13p10----------10-12p8--------8-10p7------7-------|
B|------10--10-----------12----12----------10--10---------8---9----|
G|---------9------------------13-----------------9--------------10-|
D|-----------------------------------------------------------------|
A|-----------------------------------------------------------------|
E|-----------------------------------------------------------------|

8. Kirk Hammet style picking lick
e|15-14-12-17-15-14-19-17-15-20-19-17-22-19-17-24--|
B|-------------------------------------------------|
G|-------------------------------------------------|
D|-------------------------------------------------|
A|-------------------------------------------------|
E|-------------------------------------------------|

And for a metronome (for increasing your speed and working on your timing) click www.guitarknowledgenet.com. Hope you enjoyed it and I will see you in part three.

Comments

[Shreddy]

First I think! I looked through the lesson, looks like some pretty good exercises.

[guitardude98]

looks pretty hard but i might try some of it

[heggazz]

Awesome lesson but I think you should probably read over and edit it as there are a lot of spelling/grammar mistakes that change the outcome of what you are trying to put across. And I think you mixed up the Moderate and Advanced exercises in the alternate picking section.

overall very good lesson I await more.

[Surf3r]

[pink_guitarist]

Great lesson! really help me and derrel is darrell (hes my hero so i need to protect is name loll)

[MetalToTheEnd]

Nice.

[Shreddy]

Constructive Criticism-
Moderate and Advanced alternate picking parts switched I think, most people don't have 24 fret guitars for the moderate alternate picking part ( not a big deal at all), the moderate sweep picking part got messed up I'm pretty sure you don't want us to play a chord, and the easy sweep picking thing, I don't think you should use open chords, maybe use a 3 string sweep instead. That's all just IMHO. Good job again though.

[Thrice]

I havent tried it yet but it looks like it will give me a good work out. nice job

[bigbear000]

0h2h4h5s7h9h10s12
for that part do u hit the string once and hammer on to all those?

[ukdudeinuk]

the s's are slides so after u hammer the 5th fret u slide up and stuff

[costa94]

nigga this shit is off the chain

[WaRl0cK101]

good stuff man but this is toooo hard for me lol

[shadows666]

finally!! I've been waiting for this lesson for awhile now so thank you very much and keep up the good work and I hope you continue to make great lessons in the future. 5 stars!!!!

[Jojje]

This lesson is great...
some parts looks really hard, but it is not that hard when You really look at it and start slooow :P

[antichristevan6]

it was an alright column. One thing though, you only show really one technique of tapping, the Van Halen type stuff. There are also many other ways to go about tapping like: tapping a high note than goin to a lower note with your fretting hand and then going to a higher note than the second but a lower note than the first with the fretting hand. You should show stuff like that.

[.N30C0N.]

Well writin.. Very enjoying to read.. good excersises
5 stars

[metalfanatic]

really good stuff... im having some difficulty though.. but yeah... when i nail this... man will i fly on my guitar

[milk_it_good]

You should have renamed it to 'Shredding Part 2. - Beginning Vigorous Masturbation'

[black_sabbath85]

mannn.....this is just too much for me, maybe i should come back to this article after a couple of years!

[danadz]

puchang lufet...it means, damn great in the philippines!! by this lesson, think, i'll only be needing a month or two to finally be exposed as a shredder!!

[scarified53]

great!! thanks , this is more useful thatn the first, hurry with part three
, 5 stars

[tweeres04]

I'm having trouble doing the licks in reverse, should I just do the same thing except start from the end and replace hammerons with pulloffs?

[zeppelin420]

WILL SOMEONE PLEASE EXPLAIN WHAT HE MEANS BY KEEPING YOUR FRETTING FINGERS IN A "BOX" SHAPE WHEN PLAYING LEGATO???

[slashdude666]

excellent lesson, im gonna practise it now

[liam177lewis]

zeppelin420, i aint too sure, but i think the box shape is keeping your hands in like a claw shape (like a box) above the fretboard. sorry i cant explain it much better.

[Spanner]

You are correct Liam as it does help you exert more power on the strings.

[ThunderShread]

exxx..cellent (mr.burns) Lesson

[guitarboy2828]

Sweet lesson man... Looking forward to the next!!

[Sir Garfield]

good job man - keep up the great work

[incubusfan92]

good lesson, was review for me,

[Juzomon]

Good lesson, but didn't have anything new though. Still helpful, anyway.

[Wickerman_18]

i still cant understand sweep picking

[Spanner]

What do you not understand?
I would be more than happy to fill any information gaps you need.
I will try to explain:
Say I wanted to play a G chord, aka:

e|3
B|3
G|0
D|0
A|2
E|3

Well with sweep picking, instead of playing the notes directly on top of each other, pick through it(Example: Rem's everbody hurts)

e|---2---..3---..
B|--3-3---..3-3----

G|-2---2---..0---0---
D|0---..2---0---..0--
A|--
-..2---..2-
E|---..3---..3

And to play these arpeggios, you need to (obviously) pick them, but since you are going back and forth across the strings, you need to sweep across them.
That is why it is called #SWEEP PICKING#
If it still does not make sense pm me.

[kamikazell]

Just wondering, which technique should i use to play the solo in 'aces high' by iron maiden?

[defzeppelin]

sweet deal. Love it.

[angelcommand]

Sick Lesson

[bttr.thn.u]

dude!! this lesson is awsome!!!

[ProPlayer]

Let's just get this straight, Kirk Hammet is NOT a shredder. Fantastic lesson though!

[metaldier]

hey umm.... If anybody wants to learn some cool tapping learn Green Tinted Sixties Mind - Mr. Big

[soccermom]

i have a problem when doing runs down the fretboard as i take my finger off to go to the next string it acts as a pull of and rings what should i do?

[soccermom]

when i do picked runs down the fretboard across all 6 strings , as i take my finger off too go to the next string it acts as a pull off and a open string rings what should i do

[highway_to_hell]

great lessons man...i'm waiting for the next..

[fender 168]

great work a little long tho but better to have allot of examples than none

[newcomer]

soccermom wrote:

i have a problem when doing runs down the fretboard as i take my finger off to go to the next string it acts as a pull of and rings what should i do?

Take a more flatfingered approach.

And with Sweep picking, aren't you supposed to mute the note before you hit the next, or is that raking? just curious.

[tom-nofx]

oh man theres gonna be a part 3

[soccermom]

thanks for the tip

[soccermom]

thanks

[soccermom]

i just mastered the solo from triviums gunshot to the ehad of trepidation most shred solo's sound the same but ceratin bits of that solo are not excpected i am used paul gilbert style alternate picked runs and van halen stlye tapping, insted a double picked legato and dual harmony seewping shred licks trust you have to hear it.
Long live shred

[soccermom]

The song aces high has loads of legato

[WILL334]

this help a lot i thought ecomical picking was down stroke begore this lol

[CheeseMuffin909]

Awesome lesson.

[ordino]

how many parts are you intending on makind for shredding? im not hinting anything, it's just a question.

[kelz101]

this is soo awsome! as soon as i get my guitar back this is the first thing im gonna be tryin out on my new strings :P

[RustyGold]

sweet, printer not working tho.

[battleaxe]

Good lessons.

[deadroseromance]

Very good lesson Spanner. I also really enjoyed reading the first lesson as well. I'm a music teacher as well, but for the piano mostly lol. I was wondering what type of pick would be best for shredding? I seem to do better with a thicker nylon pick to get more sound out, but i also end up hitting other strings when alt-picking across strings. But when i use a thinner pick, I don't get the sound i really want out of the guitar. What would your advice be? I'm a fast alt-picker and i'm getting the idea it's just my technique. Thanks for your help, great lesson!

[Spanner]

Cheers dude glad you enjoyed them, I would seriosly reccomend a thick pick, as yes I encountered the problem you are talking about and (i know you will HATE me for saying this) but it just takes consistent practice and in time it will pay off.
However if you would like some extra exercises on alternate picking I could pm you some, pm me if you want some.

[Spanner]

When i say "extra exercises", i meant ones on the prblem you have

[robak]

when will be continuation - part 3??

[headrulz101]

Great Lesson man. Excellent excercises.

[mrhappypants]

ProPlayer wrote:

Let's just get this straight, Kirk Hammet is NOT a shredder. Fantastic lesson though!

i don't know what the hell you're talking about Pro, have you listened to the ****ing solo on "Disposable Heroes"? if that doesn't make kirk hammett a shredder, i don't know what will

[George898]

That was AMAZING

[crazee201]

i dont get wat u mean by "side of you finger" which side is the side of my finger?

[Spanner]

I mean which ever is most comfortable, plucking down towards the ground is what I literally meant as that is what you do plucking notes with a pick anyway

[danissupercool]

Bloomin amzing man, dont listen to those critics i liked it bravo

oh n wen is shreeding part 3 coming?

[BlkMgkNitez]

Hey great damn lesson! Just by looking at it it's so damn convincing! I'm having trouble with it though. I wanna learn it but I don't know what to learn first! I need a sort of pattern that I can follow to learn each one step by step. Can you recommend any?

[deadhead0661]

thanks man for the lesson i use the tabs every once in a while for warm ps and stuff,thanks

[Spanner]

BlkMgkNitez, I would practice these techniques in this order:
1.Legato (This warms your fingers up for tapping also)
2.Tapping
3.Sweep Picking(Warms your wrist up for alternate picking)
4.Alternate picking
5.Economy Picking (as this is a combination of the above 2, you should be well prepared for it)
6.String skipping

[guitar_freak93]

awsome lesson dude!

[Inf1n1tY.]

great lesson. would be great if you add the fingerings

[Madaxeman1618]

sweet lesson man, i cudnt get economy picking b4 bt uv sorted it out. cheers.

[Spanner]

Quote from 2 posts above:
Can you imagine how messy this lesson would be finger notation? lol

[Ead]

0h2h4h5s7h9h10s12
Is there a better way to do this than sliding up to 7 with first finger? I'm not sure on how to do this.

[Drunkmetalhead]

nice lesson man

[AmIEvil?]

i don't know what the hell you're talking about Pro, have you listened to the ****ing solo on "Disposable Heroes"? if that doesn't make kirk hammett a shredder, i don't know what will

hes no shredder. for me, a shredder is someone whos so good and fast, that has forgotten how to rock. Kirks goal is with a band, not just to show how good one is playing guitar.

nice lesson, though i somehow detest shredders..

[metal4all]

kirk has the ability to shred, but he doesnt with metallica's songs. Great series, it's very helpful.

[Becker Ola]

Freaking great man !! I wish i would of had this 5 years ago !!

Would of saved me a shit load of time !!

Thanks Man

[guitartilldeath]

the lesson's excellent. period.

[wangmaster]

Jeezuz: Shredding is impossible... ack...

[Don-kayflonger]

Yeahhhhh!!!!! Sweet awsome make more dude hahahahahaHAHAHAHAHAHAHAH
AHAhahaHAHAHA

[les_paul_man]

sweet lesson, bit to complex for me but i almost have after a couple days work. You should put some randy rhodes shit into part 3 or 4. How many parts are there gonna be spanner?

[FadingRoots]

Just out of curiosity, is it even possible to shred without a pick? I mostly fingerpick and I can do just about everything with my fingers that others do with picks, but... im not sure about shredding, eh?

[Raven1990]

dont think so. i started playing without a pick but i realized quickly that its alot easier with a pick

[jackson_marshal]

hey that lesson was great thanx alot man and i followed the link to guitar knowledge its a wickd site dude

cheers

[buckethead101]

nice lesson dude especially the famous guitarists' signature licks. Dime's "sonic shape" was heard on the solo of Cowboys from Hell.

[ThankVai]

Ouch...my hands are in so much pain from the two lessons, it feels like my fingers are going to fall off, some of those reaches in the first lesson were crazy.

[Spanner]

As I said dude, if the stretch starts to hurp DO take a break, or you might end up doing serious damage to your hands.
Build up stretches gradually.

[FuNkY MoFo!!!]

awesome lesson dude, really helped me pick up speed \m/

[guitarsolo_17]

u said sumthin was a van halen style tap lick that was actually a transposed version of the randy rhoads crazy train solo

[Spanner]

^ your probably right, but I just meant it was "EVH" style, as he plays tapping with arpeggios as the example suggests

[Jbetter_thanu]

sweet lesson, u HAVE to do more now, and ya, put some Randy Rhoads on there, i dont economy pickin though, is it like just alternate pickin, but being able to change string w/o slowing?

[metadeth]

dude this kicks ass! i gotta go practice

[el conrado]

Hey good lesson but on the ecnomy picking is the advanced excersise supposed to be constant up-down picking? cos if it is, i really dont get it

[alaub1491]

Great lesson but im not even close to handling this, maybe in a year or two.

[el conrado]

please please can can we have another of these kick ass lessons!!!

[Insomniac707]

hmm for some reason I found the "easy exercises harder than the most difficult.. odd. anyways do you play 0h2h4h5s7h9h10s12 with slide from 5 to 7 with the first finger? seems kinda awkward for me.

[Acoustix]

coool lesson.. learnt quite abit here heh...

[Adam*The Chaos*]

Wow some more lessons eh lol keep up the great work buddy

I wanna challenge you on guitar and see whos wins

Me of course *smug look* lol I dont know im bored

Awsome effin lessons brosif cant wait for the next batch

[Guitargod12345]

I would think an easy legato would go like this

e-----5h7h8--
b-----5h6h8-----
g-----4h5h7-----
d-----5h7-----
a-----5h7h8-----
e-5h7h8-----
that would seem more lake an easy one

[Guitargod12345]

oops just except not all the strings at the same time

[EdwardsShreder]

Sick lesson man

[Guitargod12345]

Thanks for it after lookin' through all the stuff, I reveiwed all this alot. And it made me better of a shredder.

[SL!!!]

costa94 wrote:

nigga this shit is off the chain

lol

[The Gnome]

Checked.

[go away]

[zappa5150]

the only problem i have with this is ive mastered all of this in my 2 years of playing. but i mean it wasnt all eazy the picking was a tad hard because my right hand still isnt on the same page as my left its like a chapter away

[jammin24]

this is great shit! pitty my printers busted

[I_Dont_Know]

FadingRoots wrote:

Just out of curiosity, is it even possible to shred without a pick? I mostly fingerpick and I can do just about everything with my fingers that others do with picks, but... im not sure about shredding, eh?

it's easier for me, because you can access teh skip sttring thing easier but not for picking fast sadly i reccomend a thumb pick, if you fingerpick

[I_Dont_Know]

economy is advanced..? taht was the first thing my brother taught me on the guitar and it was really easy same thing with alternative picking =| all you beginners who are reading these thigns, tried to learn the sweep, economy and alternative now, it'll be usefull for picked songs and shredding.

[riffmasta]

these lessons are really good!
Is there gonna be another one? If so Hurry up cause this is too good to wait for.

Well done man

Rm

[hellion132]

ive tryed it and it really helped me out alot thx man

[Lead guitarist]

Could someone help me out on the "0h2h4h5s7h9h10s12" Is that all 1 pick?? and what fingers should i use on the slides. Great lesson.

[star250]

^yeah I don't under stand that either

[Lead guitarist]

Star250, Its one pick I think, well thats how I play it since I mastered it.

[huitnlaaa]

Kirk Hammet is good but he is also super overrated. Out of tune bends on the early albums, 95% of the songs are based in Eminor (E phrygian), and with hundreds of songs?.. common

[LongLiveRock628]

awesome. im a better shredder but still not even close to the greats like yngwie malmsteem, kirk hammett, herman li, etc

[logan141]

the first lick the 0h2h4h5 if u play a couple time it sounds like the theme song to the adams family.

[ihaveatail]

lol I read the first part not knowing this was out.this is awsome!!!!!gj

[DeadMan25]

not bad

[metallinutter]

mental. im well fast now. zzzooooom

[inno]

i don have 24 frets only 22 frets d@mn....sobsob

[inno]

but i master alternate pick ....damn...

[inno]

wat's legato means man!!!somebody help me here~~~

[Old_Slow_Hands]

So... Is this the end? Where is lesson number three? Come on now! It's been over a year... Some teacher.. Fine then abandon your students...

[authoritarian]

Good lesson. Where's numero 3 tho?

[ThE cAnDyMaN]

this may seem noobish but what is a hammer on?

[howfreeisthis]

ProPlayer wrote:

Let's just get this straight, Kirk Hammet is NOT a shredder.

no he isn't

but he is writtes creative licks.

nice dimebag lick (cowboys from hell)

and where is marty friedman?

[howfreeisthis]

my grammer/spelling STINKS

[graw81]

section 5, on economy picking appears wrong imo. it says constant down up down up picking, but thats obviously not the case with the 1st example. in fact constant down up down up would be alternate picking! economy is in otherword directional picking. so for example a series of 3note per string patterns goin down your strings via e the a the d etc, would be down up down, down up down, down up down. coming back up the strings again, 3 notes per string, you should encounter up down up, up down up. note, goin down, you get two downs in a row, and coming up you should get two ups. NOT down up down up picking as in the lesson. im sure this is just a slight overlook. and the lesson is good

[metalhead!@#]

****

[VANHALENSMASTER]

pretty good warm ups you have.
nice touch with the cowboys from hell solo piece.

[guitarguru4]

this lesson is pretty hardcore. definitely helped me finally get tapping down-pat....I am thankful kind sir.

[VisionGuitar519]

can someone help me out with this legato lick: 0h2h4h5s7h9h10s12

dont quite understand that. thanks.

[Thrasher720]

Awsome. You took a completly un understanding shredder wanna doer, and made him a shredder. Thanks.

[CurtisJay]

you can't really sweep open strings, it isnt good

[CurtisJay]

great lessons though, dont get me wrong

[brush200400]

awesome, much better than your first lesson

CurtisJay wrote:

you can't really sweep open strings, it isnt good

yes you can

[Demonikk]

deadroseromance wrote:

I was wondering what type of pick would be best for shredding? I seem to do better with a thicker nylon pick to get more sound out, but i also end up hitting other strings when alt-picking across strings. But when i use a thinner pick, I don't get the sound i really want out of the guitar. What would your advice be? I'm a fast alt-picker and i'm getting the idea it's just my technique. Thanks for your help, great lesson!

Try the Dunlop Jazz III's. They're small/light, pointed (great for precision picking) and they're rigid so you can switch from rhythm to lead very easily

[thefallen182]

sweet lesson dude

[Guitarness12345]

But dude, you need to show us how to make our own shredding licks, that's my problem, and the other thing is that shredding tabs are hard to read. Im trying to write some solos down but what is wrong is that i just do a bunch of sweep picking and techniques that somehow relate to eachother. How do I make the solo have a melody that relates to the song somehow so it sounds like a real solo and not just a fast played excercise of combined skills?
PLEASE HELP

[brush200400]

Guitarness12345 wrote:

But dude, you need to show us how to make our own shredding licks, that's my problem, and the other thing is that shredding tabs are hard to read. Im trying to write some solos down but what is wrong is that i just do a bunch of sweep picking and techniques that somehow relate to eachother. How do I make the solo have a melody that relates to the song somehow so it sounds like a real solo and not just a fast played excercise of combined skills?
PLEASE HELP

you could sweep pick in the chord progression of a song, an octave higher or perhaps lower, you could quickly economy pick a scale in the key (try mixing it up)

[Karlboy]

Ya, after playing for six years, i'll admit at first it looks challenging, but it's honestly just one of those things you've gotta practice at. I know people who've only been playing a year less than i have but i'm twice as good, if you practice it, you'll get it. start at a slow speed and use a metronome, then work up speed and you'll hit a spot where you can't go any faster, just stay at that speed and you'll think i'm joking, but out of nowhere, if you keep practicing it, suddenly, you may be able to play up to twice as fast in what seems like a matter of minutes

[Hiro guitarist]

intense man hope i can teach one someday when i blindly solo i hit muted notes any suggestions??

[PendulousThread]

The first exercise isn't physically possible. unless you people have extra fingers that I don't.

[sk8rMeTaLhEaD27]

ProPlayer wrote:

Let's just get this straight, Kirk Hammet is NOT a shredder. Fantastic lesson though!

he used to be.

[the88rocker]

hello i like play the advanced sweep becouse the easy is f***ed off .... i dont like the 00000 lol but i tried it and the sound from the 00 is sounded trhu i don't like....
advanced can we play over 12p7 to 7 and that repeat it 12p7....
on the slide it to the 5p9 and the 3p7 that all over the wave from this :3(Advanced)

e|12p7-----12p7
B|-----8-----8-----
G|---- -9-----9-----
D|-----9-----9-----
A|-----10-7h10-----
E|- ----

e|12p7-----5p9-
B|-----8-----6-----
G|-----9-----7 -----
D|-----9-----7-----
A|-----10-7/5h9-----
E|-----



e|5p9-----5p9--|
B|----6-----6-----|
G|-----7-----7---- -|
D|-----7-----7-----|
A|-----9-5h9-----|
E|-----|
this is my try out...
i hope youre like it.....see jah

[puredarkness]

this is a big help

[marcoRAKIZTA]

hehehe....after reading this for a several of months woooow!!!my fingers has gain a minimal speed but it helped me a lot thanks for this lesson it teach the right way about this fundementals in shredding although i'm mastering it today i just find videos on youtube.com that can help me like this documentary about shredding but i think i can understand it more if i'll depend my self at videos because there are demonstration it's much better than a tab....but this is a good start in shredding guys try it too...hmmmmmp.

[DimeVai]

great lesson ! this is shred !

[ManoDelDiablo]

Well, the tabs are kinda jacked up, but overall a good lesson.

[6xreaperx6]

It'd probably be a good idea to teach the theory behind the exersizes...like what key it's in, etc. Otherwise people might just play random fast notes hoping it sounds good. Well played though.