Comments on: How to Shred Guitar at Warp Speed

By: Ash

Ash — Wed, 23 Nov 2011 07:03:14 +0000

Dude- you are a buddhist monk. you need to put up this post where people can read it and actually improve. you nailed it. regards, ash

By: Luis Lozano Jnr

Luis Lozano Jnr — Wed, 15 Jun 2011 03:46:35 +0000

lol…After reading your post I thought about all the time I spent doing ALL the same exercises , scales , etc and then years later discovered that “LESS IS MORE”. Let me explain…for years I played Hendrix , Malmsteen, Vai and so forth until I hit an impasse, where nothing improved. Then I saw on You tube, JOE PASS…. There was the answer all along…as you play for so long you become ingrained in your “training”. You become like an athlete instead of an artist. We are making music , art not going for the Olympic gold medal in who can fit the most notes into a millisecond. Sure its still cool to shred but I watched so many on YouTube that cant put a song together to save their lives…I cant even remember their names! Going back to listening for quality instead of shear quantity turned me back on to listening for “the sweet notes” instead of machine gun sounding solos without a point…
Improvements only come/ came after inspiration not challenge to GO FASTER….

By: Luke

Luke — Fri, 10 Jun 2011 10:51:17 +0000

Hey Ryan!

I know. Everything you wrote is true, but since Im the generation of fast food and computer games, Im used to get thing done in a day. Therefore I have had no patience…this is solved now.

Since the frustrations, Ive managed to set my mind to actually accept that guitar playing and perfection will come with time. Ive set a five year goal to achieve that, with the main focus on accuracy.

Im still practicing alot, but instead of thinking how much time I spend practicing and get no result, Im patient and wait. Rome wasnt built in a day and this is very true, when it comes to mastering art.

Also,my right hand has more and more stamina…and as I practice, I feel more and more comfortable with my instrument.

By: Ryan

Ryan — Thu, 09 Jun 2011 22:43:09 +0000

Luke…. Ive been playing for over 10 years now and only just started shredding now!, i know what your going through i had the same deal for about 2 years straight and couldnt figure it out, i can already see just by what you have written that you are frustrated. you have to do almost exactly what James has said and approach your goal how a buddist would, sounds bit weird but think about it your going into you practice already thinking “i cant get past this speed”, before you start playing try and completely relax, any built up frustration or anger affects your playing. i only started playing fast when i stopped caring what people thought about my playing and i just took it nice and easy. i never picked up the guitar if i was pissed off or stressed because it hinders bad technique. you dont see buddist or people of that nature doing anything at a fast pace, its always slow and theraputic and positive.

Trust me if you approach guitar in this way you will see big improvements, you may even have to change something in your life to do so like your job or relationship,
thats what i did and im killing it now, pretty much need fire department on stand by ha ha soon you will too.

think positive!!!!!

By: Luke

Luke — Thu, 03 Mar 2011 12:07:12 +0000

Hello! Ive been playing guitar for 7 years or so.In this time Ive changed my picking hand technique 3 times, I think. Right now, for the last year and a half Ive been playing Gilbert/Gambale style, but Im having problems playing fast, accurate etc.

I know practicing slow is the right way, but my right hand has problems playing beyond 120bpm. Thats 16th notes.

My practice sessions look like this: If I practice single string stuff (or any other lead chops), I start at 80bpm, whole notes. But no matter how much I try I cant get past the 120bpm barrier. I usually practice as slow as I can, chords also.

20days a month I spend between 4-8 hours practicing, no playing at all, just mechanics.

Is my progress that slow, because of the years I didnt focus on mechanics and just played with alot of gain to cover my really bad technique?

Im spending so much time practicing, my life suffers. I feel down, cause there is no progress.