The Guitar

What are good practice methods to become proficient at shredding on guitar?

I’ve been playing guitar for 4 years and I’m at a point where I want to take my playing to the next level instead of just being able to play power chords and simple leads. I hope to eventually be as good as Al Di Meola, John Petrucci and others in the jazz/metal/fusion genre.

1) Choose the correct pick. Never try to shred with a thin pick, it will never happen. You must use a really thick pick like 2.0m. Also, the you want to make sure that the pick has a glossy finish. A lot of the thick picks have a rough finish, this causes friction, and slows you down substantially. I use the Big Stubby 2.0mm, its nice and thick, and very glossy finish.

Also shredding utilizes a lots of alternate picking, the way to master alternate picking is to use a training pick that was developed by a Berklee shredd guitar teacher. It is specially designed to keep you from dipping your pick to deep into the strings. I bought a set of these picks, and practiced with them religously for a month, and after it helped me break some bad habits that I had, I now just use one occassionally to keep my alternate picking in line, and in good form.
I could never have gotten my alternate picking as fast as i have it now without practicing with this pick. In fact, if you aren’t careful, practicing bad habits initially can really set you back a long time.

2) Choose the correct amp / distortion. Really, many of the shred guitarists you hear are very dependent on a outstanding quality of distortion that is very clean and sustained. I use a Line 6 amp. There is a shred guitarists dream distortion setting on the amp called “Insane” stop by a music store that sales line 6 amps, plug a Ibanez guitar into it, set the setting for “Insane”, and you will instantly see what i am talking about. Once you get this feel for the right distortion to use for shred guitar, there are several other distortion options that will work, but you need to try the line 6 first just so you know the feel you are shopping for.

3) Choose the right guitar. Gibson Les Pauls style guitars don’t work well with shredding. The back of the neck is to thick and rounded. The most popular shred guitars are any Ibanez, or Fender Strats, yes even the Fender Squire. The main thing is you want the thin, flat, unpainted neck, believe me, that neck makes a huge difference.

4) Software driven systematic training system. Mastering shred guitar requires a very systematic approach. You need a daily system or coach that will take you through various speed levels, and measure your increases. You have to understand concepts such as:

a) How guitar speed picking really works.
b) The four picking strategies.
c) The three types of motion.
d) How to measure your speed.
e) The five worst training mistakes, and how to avoid them.
f) How to do the right exercise at the right time.
g) The “LRB” of super-coordination at high speed.

You also have to understand that there is a difference between a fast Guitarist, and being able to Shred, it is like the difference between a Fast walker, and a runner or a sprinter.

Fast walking and running or sprinting are two completely different actions and or motions.

This is the same with shred guitar. You can practice the same flow and approach you have been doing for years, starting out slow, and trying to get faster and faster, but you can’t break the point where you go from just playing fast (or walking fast) to being a shred guitarist (or a runner / sprinter) You have to be pushed into a full run, or pushed into full shred over and over again.

To master shred guitar is a huge personal gift to give to yourself, It does not take near as long as some would have you believe, and the reason so many see it as a almost impossible goal, is because they spent years with spotty practices at best, they practiced without the proper tools, and developed bad habits in the beginning they found almost impossible to break, and finally just gave up.

I have taken students that tried to shred for years, and were never successful, and had them shredding within usually a month once I set them up on the right path utilizing the right tools. Its really not that difficult to master concepts such as really fast sweep and alternate picking if you practice it with a consistant, measurable, systematic approach.

Follow the links to the two articles below, one goes into great detail about The picks, and shows the Training pick in action, and the other one discusses a really cheap shred guitar training soulution that I use for all my students, in fact there is a link below for a free download trial version that you can use for thirty days or something like that.

NICOLAS WALDO – SHARK TOOTH Guitar picks artist – Guitar solo LOW METAL FEST

Stylus Pick Kit – The Ultimate Speed Picking Method $14.95 Nothing else in the world works like the Stylus PickTM. Long considered the most effective speed-picking method ever developed, the Stylus PickTM trains the picking hand in the most important elements of fast alternate picking: proper depth gauging and economy of motion. The Stylus PickTM method is the only method which includes a patented device that actually forces accuracy! The 360° conical ti…

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