How Long 'Till You Could Shred? - It's Lookin' Hopeless

Two hands31 · #1 01-14-2002, 10:02 PM

How long did it take you before you could really solo to anything? *Like before you could just say "Ok everyone, key of A..." have someone start a riff and just jam? *Cuz right now, I don't think it's gonna happen for me anytime soon. *

yurich · #2 01-14-2002, 11:06 PM

I was wondering the same thing myself.

my plan:
1. finish high school (another 1.5 years)
2. take a year off and get real good
3. go to college and take guitar and gain massive theory knowledge
4. "ok guys, key of A!"

trouble311 · #3 01-14-2002, 11:22 PM

Snakepit, come to GIT with me....I want to make some contacts before I head out there!

yurich · #4 01-14-2002, 11:41 PM

stupid question, but what's GIT? is it in Canada? my searches pulled out nothing

JESTER700 · #5 01-14-2002, 11:44 PM

Guitar Institute of Technology...

yurich · #6 01-14-2002, 11:51 PM

I see it's in Cali...sorry, Trouble. WAY too far

7 Dying Trees · #7 01-15-2002, 07:42 AM

I started to play over stuff after about 6months/1year of playing. It was really bad, but I didn't really care. Best advice I have is to play over CD's you like. Don't play what they are playing, just improvise and try and let your ear guide you as to what scale you should be playing and where, and sort of don't think too hard about stuff and concentrate on making it melodic and sounding good over the rest of it. After a while you'll just be able to play along with just about anything.

James

BeastofLove · #8 01-15-2002, 08:08 AM

I was lucky to have 2 friends who also played guitar when I was in High School, and they had already been playing for a couple years. After they showed me the basic pentatonic scale (y'know, the BOX), and the root 5 and 6 barre chords, I was jamming with them in about 4 months. I had taken violin for a year in the past, and I had been playing sax for seven years at that point, so I think some of the things came a bit more easilly to me than they would someone who never played an instrument before.
-Ben

Pablo · #9 01-15-2002, 08:17 AM

It depends what you are soloing over. It's just a bluesy rock thing then learning a few rawk-blues licks will do the trick. Works for me.

If you want to improvise over some weird prog jazz stuff then you are in trouble. learning all scales in all positions is tedious and I don't bother. I also don't like jazz !

Write your own licks or 'borrow' form others. Make up sheets of blues licks, metal licks, jazz licks and play them in different keys. Having this catalogue for reference and add to it all the time. Also find out what scale these licks are in THEN explore the scale and make up your own killer death licks

Although you may know the notes, playing it at the correct time in a live situation can be tough also you 'think' you can usually play 2000mph and your lick will fit but you play it at 1750mph and it sounds off. That's experience. Jam to the rock classics on CD and try and fit in your chops.

Sometimes it's a slow musical phrase that's best in a jam situation though.

Athough playing as fast as possible is fun !

*

Texter · #10 01-15-2002, 09:19 AM

Shredding takes time and effort. The more effort a day, the less years it'll take. Don't hurt yourself.
Just get rid of some annoying hobbies, like women or football, to keep living a full life...Oh yeah, use your ears...

Texter · #11 01-15-2002, 09:21 AM

And this is the best hint of them all. Stop doing what you're doing right now...

pri0531 · #12 01-15-2002, 10:31 AM

I have been playing for 18 years and I am still trying to learn how to do it.
Out,
GP

Jeroenn · #13 01-15-2002, 10:49 AM

You get out what you put in. So the more you practice, the sooner it will be. And do it right.
I've been seriously practicing just recently, and I see improvements everyday. Things I couldn't imaginge doing ever, I'm now doing. It's just a matter of focus and relaxation, and lots of time and energy to put in.

shredmaster · #14 01-15-2002, 12:03 PM

yeah, what everyone else said !

jem7vwh · #15 01-15-2002, 12:33 PM

I'm not sure if I'm qualified to give advice on shredding, but here's what I try to do to improve my playing.

Realize there is a difference between practicing and playing. *Practicing is when you are attempting material you have not mastered yet. *Playing is when you go over things you already know.
I try to do a 2 to 1 practice ratio where I practice new material (stuff I'm not good at yet) for 2 hours and play familiar material for 1 hour. *This keeps me from getting in ruts.
Set a goal for yourself. *The things you must accomplish to be the next SRV are drastically different from the things you must do to be the next Yngwie J. Malmsteen.
Equip yourself with the kind of gear that is suited to your needs, and then forget about it. *Most guitar players fail to get better because they spend all their time trying out equipment.