"Perfect the Shred"
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Shred Guitar Fundamentals
Installment 1:
Introduction to Shred Guitar and Tremolo
Picking
Hello to all of you
fellow shredders! In case you haven't
viewed my previous lessons (also
available on this site), my name is
David Katilius, I'm 16 years old, and an
avid shred guitar player. I've decided
to write this column mainly to reach out
to players who are just starting to get
into shred and neoclassical guitar
styles, but I think these lessons are
useful to guitar players of any level of
experience. In the coming installments,
I'm going to touch on all the techniques
used in shred guitar.
I'm just going to give
you a small background on shred guitar
history. Shred guitar was
revolutionized in the 80s when hair
metal dominated the airwaves, but the
most prominent shredder and master of
the "neoclassical" vibe was a young
Swedish man named Lars Johann Yngwie
Lannerback, whom many of us know today
as the great Yngwie Malmsteen. With his
blinding-fast runs, cello-like vibrato,
and overall blistering technique,
Malmsteen blew all the guitar players
out of the water. Now many have taken
his techniques and have extrapolated on
them to create a new generation of
shredders that we know today.
There are many different
techniques used in shred guitar,
including alternate picking,
sweep/economy picking, legato, and
tapping. There are 3 steps to mastering
these techniques:
1) Time
2) Dedication
3) Most of all--practice,
practice, practice...
Many people who are
starting to shred get frustrated because
they think that their playing will be
perfect if they practice exercises and
think they'll get it right within the
first five attempts. Not true.
I know, because I was once like that. I
was so intent on mastering sweep picking
in a short time. I watched many
instructional videos and had the
technique down perfect. When I applied
it to the guitar, it wasn't right. I
was frustrated, but knew I had to
practice for a long time to get it
right. Since then, my sweeping has
gotten better, but it still isn't
perfect, and I still practice sweep
picking to this day, as well as all the
other shred techniques.
There is one key tool you
need on your way to becoming a shred
legend. It is called tremolo picking,
and it involves rapidly picking one note
as fast as possible.
"You can't play
faster than bangin' on one
note!"--Michael Angelo Batio, Speed
Kills DVD
You must remember this
when shredding: You have to pick
fast the same way you pick slow.
You can't change your picking
technique. Here's a useful trick from
shred god Michael Angelo Batio: Tremolo
pick a note as fast as you possibly can,
then begin to slow it down. That way
you can build up your own personal PPS
(potential picking speed) from the
get-go. If you practice this, you will
begin to build up speed when you pick
fast, and you will also work on keeping
your technique the same.
Here is a simple tremolo
picking exercise:
I hope you've found this
first installment helpful, and I hope
that you find my next installments
helpful as well.
Next time, we'll discuss chromatics. Keep on shredding, everyone!
-David K
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