Malmsteen is Slow compared to this Brazillian!

[khabibissell]

Oh yeah, I agree bro. One of the biggest turn offs of shred is that a lot of people play the same shit. The same patterns all the time. Accending and decending and that's it. I mean it's cool in some places, we all do it but when most of the solo is like that it gets boring fast. There's so much positions/intervals where you can put your fingers but most people don't put the effort into it. So much time goes into practicing speed but everything is still the most simplistic stuff you can play note wise.
That's why I love some fusion players who first come up with cool interesting melodies played on different positions and then they make it "shred", playing those melodies really fast. Now that's practice. Playing tricky fingerings and whatnot. None of those guys who play C D E F G A B C ad nauseum are raising the bar, I don't care how fast or clean they are.

Playing fast is exciting, but most modern guys play like they are trying to break NPS (notes per second) records with no substance or phrasing... and miss the little things that made the "legends" of the shred genre what they are. For example Malmsteen (who I'll admit does seems to be on autopilot these days and can get a little boring) has great pitch, vibrato, phrasing, and shows some amount of taste and restraint, especially in his earlier recordings. Alot of imitators seem to latch onto the fretboard gymnastics and nothing else, totally missing the point.

[khabibissell]

He's the king of mixing picking and legato, but his picking is fast as fuck.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=czuOSF_0yy4&feature=related

2:45

This solo is a great example of what I'm talking about (one of my favorites from him BTW). He's still ripping your face off, but there is come melodic content, phrasing, vibrato, etc... I like his tone here too.

Not quite as advanced as what Endrik is getting at (Greg Howe anyone?), but still a pretty good example of tasteful shred.

[Jacksons Shred]

I definitely agree with Endrik, but speed is a big misconception now a day. Someone made a post at the RacerX Board about this guy who was a great picker, I commented on how lots of people now a days are faster then Malmsteen or Becker and Gilbert, but their playing is boring as shit and even though their picking per say, is faster, it's not nearly as aggressive, articulate, and interesting as Gilberts, Beckers, Malmsteen, etc..

Take MAB or Rusty or John Petrucci.. Fast as hell.. Clean, sure. Aggressive, mean, interesting? No.

[Endrik]

yep, gotta have some balls and fire in you playing... it's all about the attack

[Robert Burns]

I agree the tone sucks, but that isnt why i posted it. He mixes in Jazz
comping.. and lays down some great chordal moving ideas, at breakneck
speed! Just a bad audio take. And remember he is playing a $130.00 axe!
Imagine if had a custom Suhr, or PRS? I agree with Endrik, in that
100's of super fast sweepers on Utube just dont do anything for me.
This is why i never bothered to learn how to sweep. I listened to others
who did it well, and it was so boring, that i told myself why do it?
I wont be happy after ive wasted 3 years perfecting it.
This guy shows mad skills, with "Flair"...something not often seen
around Youtube.

[Jacksons Shred]

Check this guy out, he has the speed thing beyond down (aggressive, articulate, interesting!) and has some great melodies and cool idea's.

http://www.jcfonline.com/forums/showthread.php?t=96740

I'm in love. I swear.

[P I K A]

Check this guy out, he has the speed thing beyond down (aggressive, articulate, interesting!) and has some great melodies and cool idea's.

http://www.jcfonline.com/forums/showthread.php?t=96740

I'm in love. I swear.

That guy sounds like Gilbert and Satch mixed into 1 . sounds pretty good .

[Larz]

I am in the "that sounded like ass" camp.

Lots of people can noodle around fast.

[horns666]

That dude is one tasty fucker. He's got groove, feel, flash..but he's fuggin' musical, and original.

He has own style and identity. So does Yngwie...one can't dupliclate the other...nor would they even care to.

These are facts!

[toxikdeth]

I think hes great

[j4vice]

I'm tellin' Yngwie

[stevoc]

Sounds kinda "buckethead-ush" to me.

[horns666]

To me he sounds like nobody but himself..that's why I really like him.

Do me a favor..fuck the "tricks"..listen to his songs with your eyes closed. You won't see his "tricks" in a song. He uses it as a very fluid legato that you don't SEE on a cd. Give that a try. IMO! The dude has 100 times more orininal than the likes of players such as Guthrie, who a parakeet that mimicks other players's styles, instead of mastering his own. When he's not writing boring original music for the Weather Channel.

A killer shredder is NOT about writing music to enjoy while in a fuggin' elevator, grocery shopping, at a dentist office, or on hold for 15 minutes with fuggin' social security office. I guess Guthrie is original ..he invented "Elevator Shred"..yeah man, he really fuggin' ROCKS!! He'll do just peachy as Ozzy's, Dio's Mustaine's, or Nevermore's next guitarist...NOT!!!

[Leo Chang]

To me he sounds like nobody but himself..that's why I really like him.

Do me a favor..fuck the "tricks"..listen to his songs with your eyes closed. You won't see his "tricks" in a song. He uses it as a very fluid legato that you don't SEE on a cd. Give that a try. IMO! The dude has 100 times more orininal than the likes of players such as Guthrie, who a parakeet that mimicks other players's styles, instead of mastering his own. When he's not writing boring original music for the Weather Channel.

A killer shredder is NOT about writing music to enjoy while in a fuggin' elevator, grocery shopping, at a dentist office, or on hold for 15 minutes with fuggin' social security office. I guess Guthrie is original ..he invented "Elevator Shred"..yeah man, he really fuggin' ROCKS!! He'll do just peachy as Ozzy's, Dio's Mustaine's, or Nevermore's next guitarist...NOT!!!

I agree

Don't get me wrong, he is definitely one of the most original shredders on YouTube, and I agree with all the praise for him in this thread.

Just that when I listen to his clips that are all about him soloing (no song... just the soloing), it sounds like very good pieces of melody + groove + all sorts of techniques strung together.

The pieces themselves are very good... and they are strung together very fluidly... but it does sound "strung together" to me... as opposed to a coherent melodic theme that develops as the solo progresses.

Some people already mentioned early Malmsteen... and that's exactly what I am referring to. Blazing fast, lots of different techniques (for that era), but you can still detect a musical story that unfolds, if you will.

Of course, it's all subjective, and it's easy to nitpick... this guy is already a fantastic player, and deserves all the praise he gets.


- Leo.

[jdr94]

Playing fast is exciting, but most modern guys play like they are trying to break NPS (notes per second) records with no substance or phrasing... and miss the little things that made the "legends" of the shred genre what they are. For example Malmsteen (who I'll admit does seems to be on autopilot these days and can get a little boring) has great pitch, vibrato, phrasing, and shows some amount of taste and restraint, especially in his earlier recordings. Alot of imitators seem to latch onto the fretboard gymnastics and nothing else, totally missing the point.

i agree. danm wankers:ROTF:

just cause you can fit another note in there doesnt mean it should be there