Saw a crazy shedder last night

  • Thread starter Thread starter jndietz
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I don't see why some people come down on guitarists who can play fast. Yes, a lot of them are boring as fuck and can do nothing beyond fast alternate picking and sweeping arpeggios BUT there are good shredders too that can inject emotion into their playing. Also, playing fast non stop is not my idea of good music - melodic progression, tastful phrasings peppered with lightning fast wizardry is my idea of good shred. Some people think Clapton and BB King are guitar gods, when I hear them I just want to turn them off as quickly as possible. Does that mean I think they are bad players? No, just not my cup o' tea. Check this guy out, this is ne of his slower pieces but there are still some crazy runs in there:
https://youtube.com/watch?v=E4ghUa97sMU
He pretty much nails every technique known to man in an insanely tasteful way... still though there will always be peeps not into this type of things but if you like it you should check out his othere vids too - have 2 of his cd's, this dude is my favorite guitarist of all time - shame he's not better known, he should be on the G3 tour.
 
Superhuman said:
Check this guy out, this is ne of his slower pieces but there are still some crazy runs in there:
https://youtube.com/watch?v=E4ghUa97sMU
He pretty much nails every technique known to man in an insanely tasteful way... still though there will always be peeps not into this type of things but if you like it you should check out his othere vids too - have 2 of his cd's, this dude is my favorite guitarist of all time - shame he's not better known, he should be on the G3 tour.
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He's a great example of what I like as well. It's so fluid and musical--I hesitate to even call it shred. Thanks for the link!
 
Superhuman, Youtube is blocked at the office and I can't follow that link - who is he?

A former instructor of mine raised a really good point re: Joe Satriani and the bluesier/more melodic shred guys. When someone like BB King hits one of "those" notes, yes, it's pretty emotional. I mean, they deserve every acolade heaped upon them. However, if Joe Satriani or George Lynch does the same thing, then there's another level to it - both players are perfectly capable of blazing through 32nd notes like no one's business. If they choose to hold back and make a single note scream, it's a choice in a way that it'll never be for BB King, and in a way it kind of "says" something if not a little more, then at least a little differently.
 
I've never been a big fan of shredding personally. I don't think that it really adds a lot to a song. Like some of you, I prefer leads that have more soul and atmosphere than fast picking.
 
Superhuman said:
I don't see why some people come down on guitarists who can play fast. Yes, a lot of them are boring as fuck and can do nothing beyond fast alternate picking and sweeping arpeggios BUT there are good shredders too that can inject emotion into their playing. Also, playing fast non stop is not my idea of good music - melodic progression, tastful phrasings peppered with lightning fast wizardry is my idea of good shred. Some people think Clapton and BB King are guitar gods, when I hear them I just want to turn them off as quickly as possible. Does that mean I think they are bad players? No, just not my cup o' tea. Check this guy out, this is ne of his slower pieces but there are still some crazy runs in there:
https://youtube.com/watch?v=E4ghUa97sMU
He pretty much nails every technique known to man in an insanely tasteful way... still though there will always be peeps not into this type of things but if you like it you should check out his othere vids too - have 2 of his cd's, this dude is my favorite guitarist of all time - shame he's not better known, he should be on the G3 tour.
Click to expand...

He has some really good, creative licks and riffs in there. It's the lack of contrast that made me lose interest. I find it really hard to listen to stuff that doesn't go anywhere. But that's just taste. The guy is a great guitar player and I wish I had chops like that.
 
Superhuman said:
I don't see why some people come down on guitarists who can play fast. Yes, a lot of them are boring as fuck and can do nothing beyond fast alternate picking and sweeping arpeggios BUT there are good shredders too that can inject emotion into their playing. Also, playing fast non stop is not my idea of good music - melodic progression, tastful phrasings peppered with lightning fast wizardry is my idea of good shred. Some people think Clapton and BB King are guitar gods, when I hear them I just want to turn them off as quickly as possible. Does that mean I think they are bad players? No, just not my cup o' tea. Check this guy out, this is ne of his slower pieces but there are still some crazy runs in there:
https://youtube.com/watch?v=E4ghUa97sMU
He pretty much nails every technique known to man in an insanely tasteful way... still though there will always be peeps not into this type of things but if you like it you should check out his othere vids too - have 2 of his cd's, this dude is my favorite guitarist of all time - shame he's not better known, he should be on the G3 tour.
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Definitely very boring to watch, in my opinion of course.
 
Django Reindhart, John Schofield, Mchlauchlin, Al DiMeola, Dicky Dale, Albert Lee, Danny Gatton, Earl Scruggs, Paganini..... all speedsters/shredders and legends.

Shred rules.

I find the Malmsteen and other metal stuff a bit boring but it's not because of the playing but because of the song. Nuno Bettencourt can shred with the best of them, but I enjoy him more because the songs aren't as boring to me.

Last time I checked, EVH plays a lot of notes per measure. But the songs kick ass.
 
When I think of shredding I think of those guys on YouTube just running through scales really fast. :rolleyes:

Michael Angelo is really fast, and a lot of his stuff is boring but I've also heard a few songs by him that weren't just scales being played up and down the neck. He also adds a lot of other techniques in his playing that make some of his songs interesting at least.

I wouldn't put EVH in that category...he actually plays songs.
 
It's just one tool in the box.


Your drumming would be boring if all you wanted to do was press rolls. At some point, there has to be a song.

It's cool and useful, but don't ascribe more value to it than it deserves.
 
Supercreep said:
It's just one tool in the box.


Your drumming would be boring if all you wanted to do was press rolls. At some point, there has to be a song.

It's cool and useful, but don't ascribe more value to it than it deserves.
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Excellent perspective. That'll be a good way for me (or any speed craving guitarist) to look at it.
 
danny.guitar said:
I wouldn't put EVH in that category...he actually plays songs.
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Well, yeah.... but saying that presupposes that shredders can't write songs. That's not true at all - your level of technique has nothing to do with your songwriting abilities. Sure, there's a lot of really bad songwriters blowing scales on Youtube, but there's also a lot of really bad rock bands too, you know?

Eddie happens to be one of those guys who (back in the day, anyhow) managed to mate jawdropping technique with great writing. Satriani's another, despite his popular conception (check out his new album, it's surprisingly sparse and by and large quite hummable), as is Nuno.

I mean, judging "shred" as a genre and saying that anyone who gets that label is incapable of writing a memorable song is akin to saying the Rolling Stones suck because you've seen a couple abysmally bad blues rock bar bands at your neighborhood pub, you know? In any genre there's more crap than cream, but that doesn't mean the cream of the crop isn't any good.
 
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