Help in furthering my Guitaring skills!

Enduran

Enduran

New member
Greetings Rocking good folks!

I've been playing the guitar for 4 years now (and counting)

Though the year, I've learnt so much about guitars and gears! I am able to cover songs from Linkin park to Alter bridge to certain bits of Bullet for my Valentine and even Metallica. However, I can never cover any of the shred solos.

I'm an avid Alter bridge fan and would like to cover them!

Over the year, I have only been able to cover song and learn song through Tabs and Chord sheets. As in plainly just following the Tabs and alter some notes accordingly using my ear. Again, unable to play solos, only covering the rhythm part plus little easy lick here and there.

I have always wanted to learn to Shred and be able to play Improvised solos just anytime and anywhere. I have done extensive research on what are the scales, appagios, eg. pentatonic scales and all the "chim" sounding modes of scales for guitar. I even bought a few books about lead guitar and soloing improvisation.

But, even with all these, Im just so confused on what should i learn from and what should i start from. There are sooooo many things to learn from.

Therefore i would like to consult fellow Softies about how i should go about learning how to Shred and Improvise Solos like at the snap of my fingers.
I know this would take many years of practicing and mastering the technique.
I just want to know where to start and how to go about studying this Art.

I dream about being like Mark Tremonti and other Great Guitarist like Steve Vai, Joe Satriani or even Paul Gilbert playing just Lead guitar and making Big. But All i want is to be able to shred like them.

Thank you for your advice!
Sorry about this Extremely long post!
 
You've reached what Kirk Hammett would call a "plateau". Try exploring other genres, other instruments to widen your horizons.

World music would be a good start
 
Plateau?

I play the Violin too.

But what i really love is the Guitar. I wanna master it and be able to shred like the Rock gods!
No matter how hard it is! I'm doing it!
 
And i have not hit no Plateau, or Maximum point in Guitaring! I'm still learning. Just that I'm confused with all the different Theory and technical parts to guitar playing!

I just need a point towards the right direction to move toward to, to be able to play good!

I need some advice from better players out there!

I'm self taught! I know that I have to do alot to get good. And I'm willing to do that to get to the professional level!
 
YOu need to woodshed for years to learn how to shred. But here is a short starter list. Start with the C scale. Learn all the positions up and down the neck. Learn 2nds, 3rds, etc... Learn how to use arpeggios. Learn how to play around chords. Lastly, learn Paganini on the guitar. *Warning: I spent a year learning caprice V. I had to practice at least four hours/day to get it up to speed.
 
=expatguitarist

Heheh, I think No.5 was the most demanding of the lot in terms of speed & chromatic movement - you can't simply slide all the way down the neck! The No.24 (the most famous) ironically is a walk in the park compared to the rest.
 
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=Enduran

A plateau is not a maximum point; it relates to the part of the learning curve where you're leveling off. Try something musically new. Change your approach.
 
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Watchtower: How many paganini pieces did you do? I did two. I find them useful as as warm ups or musical finger exercises. It took me a long time to figure out good fingering, however.
 
Enduran said:
And i have not hit no Plateau, or Maximum point in Guitaring! I'm still learning. Just that I'm confused with all the different Theory and technical parts to guitar playing!

I just need a point towards the right direction to move toward to, to be able to play good!

I need some advice from better players out there!

I'm self taught! I know that I have to do alot to get good. And I'm willing to do that to get to the professional level!
Click to expand...

quote from MAB in metal methods speed kills: alright dude! now play that slow!
i'm assuming u alr know who MAB is so go figure. that piece of advice is priceless...
 
Another way to learn how to improvise is over backing tracks, you cant expect to play like steve vai overnight man. And even if you could, there's no point cause its not who you are. You need to discover your guitar voice, i repeat YOUR guitar voice. Hence the need for an extensive musical knowledge across genres. And when you listen to those songs, dont think about how you're going to copy them. Listen to the little nuances and idiosyncrasies that keeps you hooked on a riff and think about how you can capture the essence of it, yknow the base idea. Well at the end of the day, just have the balls to try something different, fiddle around when you play with a backing track. After awhile you'd get used to knowing which notes sound good when played together which notes dont. yeah hope ive helped you out a little :)
 
Good points! This reminds me of back in the 80's & 90's when we had cassette tapes - I used to record my own psuedo bassline & backing tracks, & then play along to my own recordings afterwards.

A side effect of recording your own playing is it forces you to actually listen how your guitar playing actually sounds like. No B/S. It keeps you real. Try to listen objectively & figure out where are the areas for improvement.

My own common areas for improvement would be :
legato <or ligado> (fingers that hammer-on & pull-off in a slack manner);
fret buzz (fingers improperly fretting - you might want to check on the condition of your guitar as well);
intonation (pressing too hard on the string - also check that the alignment of your neck is straight);
uncontrolled string ringing (learn to damp the unwanted strings using both hands);
glissando (sliding technique should hit ALL the right notes, within the timed measure);
reach (your thumb being too high or too low behind the neck);
- also elbows that are angled awkardly affect your ability to reach;
string bending (too little or too much)
the list is non-exhaustive, but you get the picture once you listen objectively & pay attention to your own performance.

Also, remember that guitar performance is like training for your IPPT - if you stop practising regurlarly (for years at a time, in my case) - it's gonna show up in your playing. And you're gonna forget stuff as well.
 
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Whoa! Everyone has been a Great Help! Thank you very much!

Guess a Looping pedal would do great to me learning? hahahahah
 
First of all, I would really recommend you to work on rhythm first, you cant play good leads without having good rhythm, tempo, timing and chords. I definitely understand that you are so inspired by all these "shredder" guitar players (i was in your shoes) but then I really realised the thing that sets normal player from AMAZING players is their chordwork and rhythm because you can apply it in a lead way as well. A good example of this is someone like Steve Lukather from the band Toto, this guy's playing is absolutely fantastic man, he's really an all round player and he can play almost anything. My advice to you is that don't get too caught up in the shred hype cause eventually you'll find yourself stuck after a while. Like guitarist.justin said, find your own voice. Also, be unique don't just play scales, play and make music.
 
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