The Wizard Of Shred Video Blog

Enjoy over 100 free lessons 

Showing Tag: " to" (Show all posts)

You absolutely have to try this out

Posted by The Wizard Of Shred on Tuesday, November 19, 2013, In : Learning Faster! 
- Does perfect practice make perfect? When you practice something with no mistakes at all, will you then develop perfect skills faster? 
 
For most aspiring guitar masters, practicing without making mistakes all the time doesn't really seem realistic. If you feel the same way you MUST read on. 
 
In most sports you cannot practice without making mistakes. You can't slow gravity down so you can hit that ball perfectly every time. 

Take your best shot

You must take your best shot and fail over and ov...

Continue reading ...
 

Learning tons of songs fast

Posted by The Wizard Of Shred on Tuesday, November 12, 2013, In : Learning Faster! 
What do you do when you have a ton of new songs and solos to learn and you have to play a gig in a couple of weeks?

Here's a process that works:

1. Come up with a simple and easy way of playing the songs and solos that you find challenging. Focus on coming up with the easiest way of playing the chords and solos. Nobody will think "Oh he can't play the real thing" instead they will just see a musician playing the song his own way. 

Come up with stuff that is as close to the original as possible t...

Continue reading ...
 

How to develop your own unique sound, part 2

Posted by The Wizard Of Shred on Tuesday, February 8, 2011, In : Zen Shredding 
How to develop your own unique sound, part 2


Scroll down to see tabs

The amazing tone of the Mongolian swamp ash

When you go shopping for the amp or instrument you want, try your  best to forget about what others say. Really listen and be open. Be honest about what you like and don't like. And if you can't hear or feel the difference from a $200 instrument to a $2000 instrument, then that $2000 instrument can't be for you. And paying for the difference is insanity if you get zero value out of it...

Continue reading ...
 

How to develop your own unique sound

Posted by The Wizard Of Shred on Tuesday, February 1, 2011, In : Zen Shredding 
How to develop your own unique sound


Scroll down to see tabs

Why do you want your own sound?

Now why is such a technical aspect part of "Zen shredding?" Because there's a hidden agenda behind the need to create your own unique sound or tone. Why does it have to be unique? Why would anyone want to sound differently from others? And why is it that we're often repelled by copy cats and people who sound like someone else? It's because being unique, special or significant is part of a basic human str...

Continue reading ...
 

4 simple ways to become super confident

Posted by The Wizard Of Shred on Monday, January 24, 2011, In : Zen Shredding 
4 simple ways to become super confident


Scroll down to see the tabs

How someone with no skills can take away the prize

When I was in high school I participated in a guitar contest. I was, by far, the most skilled guitarist in that school so I was pretty confident that I would win. But my anxiousness caused me to perform at a very low level while another guy with half my skills went completely berserk on stage. He didn't care that he couldn't play very well, he just did everything he could to sou...

Continue reading ...
 

Confusing Names and Symbols

Posted by The Wizard on Thursday, September 24, 2009, In : Easy Music Theory 
Confusing Names And Symbols


Scroll down to see tablature

Let's keep the riff raff out

So we know what to call the white keys on the piano. But what about the black ones in between? Well they actually have two names depending on where you're coming from. "There's no reason to keep it simple" the monks said "The more complicated we make it, the easier it is for us to keep the riff raff out." Let's humor these guys from the past and see what they came up with.


The note in between the C and the D is ...
Continue reading ...
 

Celebrating Your Victory

Posted by Pure Speed on Wednesday, May 13, 2009, In : The Ten Day Break Through Strategy 

Celebrating your victory


Scroll down to see tablature

A powerful experiment

I'd like to add a little note to yesterdays article. Most people that I have introduced these two methods to, has been very sceptical to whether they would really work or not. If you feel the same way, here's my recommendation:

Pick a one or two string lick that you would like to master. Then practice playing it to the point where you can do it without referring to the tablature. Then use the methods I described in th...


Continue reading ...
 

Two Strategies That Will Triple Your Results

Posted by Pure Speed on Tuesday, May 12, 2009, In : The Ten Day Break Through Strategy 

Two strategies that will triple your results


Scroll down to see tablature

How to improve your chops when you are away from your instrument

In this article I'm going to give you two methods that you can use to practice when you don't have a guitar. With these two strategies, you can practice everywhere. Depending on what you do for a living, you might add as much as 6 to 8 hours of valuable practice time to your daily shedule. When you use them enough, they become automatic and you'll start to...


Continue reading ...
 

Turbo Charge Your Practice Sessions

Posted by Pure Speed on Monday, May 11, 2009, In : The Ten Day Break Through Strategy 

Turbo charge your practice sessions


Scroll down to see tablature

How to program your mind to achieve extraordinary results

Greetings fellow shredder. This article will give you a vital strategy that you can use to improve your results dramatically. It's a little long but reading it is well worth your effort. By now you should have laid down a plan for the ten days. You have scheduled every possible 30 minute session during this period and should be clear about the rules of the game. Now it's t...


Continue reading ...
 

Essential Rules of Engagement

Posted by Pure Speed on Saturday, May 9, 2009, In : The Ten Day Break Through Strategy 

Essential Rules of Engagement


Scroll down to see tablature


Now that you've laid down a plan for the next ten days, let's talk about the rules of the game. The first thing to be very conscious of, is what kind of practice routine you are preparing for. It's important to distinguish between these two kinds of practice:

1. Technique
2. Integration

Practicing technique

Improving your technical skills requires repeating a certain pattern of movement until it's embedded in the brain. When you engage...


Continue reading ...
 

Expand Your Practice Regimen Explosively

Posted by Pure Speed on Friday, May 8, 2009, In : The Ten Day Break Through Strategy 

Expand Your Practice Regimen Explosively


Scroll down to see tablature

Select three dream licks

Let's begin the planning part of your ten day challenge. The first thing you must do is to find three licks that you would really, really like to master. Don't aim too low when you select them: They have to be so far away from your current skill level that they really inspire you. Ideally, the thought of "acquiring" them should make you feel like a little kid before Christmas eve.

Also the three lic...


Continue reading ...
 

The 10 Day Breakthrough Strategy

Posted by Pure Speed on Thursday, May 7, 2009, In : The Ten Day Break Through Strategy 

The 10 day breakthrough strategy


Scroll down to see tablature

I'm very excited about this particular subject. This ten day strategy has meant more to the development of my skills than any other single thing. You will not believe what will happen to your skills when you use this strategy on a regular basis. This is the way to crush your challenges in the fastest way possible.

Here's the basic mistake that we all tend to make:

When ever we are confronted with a challenge of any kind, we estimat...


Continue reading ...
 

The Secret Picking Method...

Posted by Pure Speed on Tuesday, May 5, 2009, In : Economy Picking Revealed 

The Secret Picking Method...


Scroll down to see tablature

The most effective and versatile technique


Today I'm going to introduce you to a simple but radical picking technique: It's the "Pick-the-notes-in-the-easiest-way-possible-technique" It's the most versatile and effective way to pick, that I know of. Alternate picking has a vital advantage. It doesn't care much about how many notes you play on each string. It's based on such a simple mathematical up and down process that you can use it ...
Continue reading ...
 

The Magic of Mastery

Posted by Pure Speed on Monday, May 4, 2009, In : Economy Picking Revealed 

The Magic of Mastery


Scroll down to see tablature

Making economy picking more versatile

If economy picking is the only picking style you master, you have to be very careful with how you structure your licks. You have to have an uneven number of notes on each string in order to be able to make the string shifts happen. Also there are a few things that are practically impossible to play with economy picking only, because of this mathematical limitation. But there's a quick and easy way around thi...
Continue reading ...
 

How to make super fast picking easy

Posted by Pure Speed on Sunday, May 3, 2009, In : Economy Picking Revealed 

How to make super fast picking easy


Scroll down to see tablature

Guaranteeing success

As with alternate picking, the hardest lick to play is a full three-notes-per-string scale pattern over all six strings. That's why it's so essential to start with very few string shifts and build from there. If you do that, you virtually guarantee that you'll progress faster than most people around you, and you'll create those little successes - that will motivate you to go for more. In the last article we we...
Continue reading ...
 

The hidden key to learning economy picking fast

Posted by Pure Speed on Saturday, May 2, 2009, In : Economy Picking Revealed 

The hidden key to learning economy picking fast


Scroll down to see tablature

A radically different process

Practicing economy picking is a radically different process than practicing alternate picking. And the reason is this: Because economy picking involves a sweeping motion, you have to use two different practice routines to get the best results fast:

1. Playing the metronome game
2. Chunking several movements into one
3. Integrate immediately

1. Playing the metronome game

If you are unfamili...


Continue reading ...
 

How to pick like a Swedish virtuoso

Posted by Pure Speed on Friday, May 1, 2009, In : Economy Picking Revealed 

How to pick like a Swedish virtuoso


Scroll down to see tablature

Play with flow and ease

If you want to play like the wind and the water, economy picking is for you. Alternate picking feels and sounds like a machine gun, where as economy picking flows like a river. Once you have it down, economy picking feels easy in comparison to alternate picking. It feels completely effortless and that frees up a lot of energy to focus on other things. As a consequence, I always use economy picking unless I...


Continue reading ...
 

My best alternate alternate picking exercises

Posted by Pure Speed on Thursday, April 30, 2009, In : The Ultimate Guide To Alternate Picking 
My best alternate alternate picking exercises

Six notes up and down

Before I end this series on alternate picking I want to give you some of the "exercises" that I have used to build my picking speed. Please pick the ones that you are most comfortable with. The first two are super simple but also very fundamental. I use these licks all the time and you will too once you have them down. You can take these two licks and use them to go all the way up and down the neck. Try going all the way up an ...
Continue reading ...
 

How to pimp your axe for maximum speed

Posted by Pure Speed on Tuesday, April 28, 2009, In : The Ultimate Guide To Alternate Picking 

How to pimp your axe for maximum speed


Scroll down to see the tablature

Creating the ultimate shred machine

Years ago, I thought that any skilled guitar player should be able to play fast on any guitar. Even though I loved playing on a guitar that had all the qualities that I'm going to discuss in this article, I still did nothing to make my own instrument more playable. "Playing on an impossible instrument will just harden me and make me better in the end" I thought. but I missed the point. ...


Continue reading ...
 

The killer strategy for mastering string shifts

Posted by Pure Speed on Monday, April 27, 2009, In : The Ultimate Guide To Alternate Picking 

The killer strategy for mastering string shifts


Scroll down to see tablature

The two headed monster
 

Every technique has its challenges. When it comes to alternate picking, shifting strings is definitely one of them. What most people aren’t aware of is that this is a two headed monster. There are two different string shifts that you can make:

1. Outside shifting

2. Inside shifting

Outside shifting is when you go from picking down on, let’s say the B-string, and then picking up on the high ...


Continue reading ...
 

How to break through the speed barrier

Posted by Pure Speed on Sunday, April 26, 2009, In : The Ultimate Guide To Alternate Picking 

How to break through the speed barrier



Scroll down to see tablature

The strategy described in this article could increase your speed instantly! (Seriously)

I assume that you are using the methods described in the category “Get more out of praticing”. If you are not, you are going to experience a lot more challenges than I describe in these articles. But even though you do everything right, at some point, you are going to hit the wall. You are going to reach a level of speed that you cannot ...
Continue reading ...
 

How to increase picking speed by 500 %

Posted by Pure Speed on Saturday, April 25, 2009, In : The Ultimate Guide To Alternate Picking 

How to increase picking speed by 500 %


Scroll down to see tablature

A crucial factor in alternate picking

The engine in a car is a complex piece of machinery where everything has to fit together to produce the power needed to drive the car. Imagine if some part of the engine suddenly started to loose it's place. If the explosions in one cylinder suddenly misfired and worked against the rest of the engine, then what would happen? The way to ensure that our alternate picking engine works perfect...


Continue reading ...
 

How to make alternate picking easy

Posted by Pure Speed on Friday, April 24, 2009, In : The Ultimate Guide To Alternate Picking 

How to make alternate picking easy


Scroll down to see tablature

Beware of this or you'll sabotage your self

The hardest lick to play with alternate picking is just going up or down the scale, shifting strings for every third note you play. Why? Because there’s an element of alternate picking that we rarely see or focus on. But before I reveal it to you, let’s make a quick list of the challenges involved in alternate picking:

1. Picking rhythmically up and down
(Accenting every third or fourt...


Continue reading ...
 

How to pick with precision and power

Posted by Pure Speed on Wednesday, April 22, 2009, In : The Ultimate Guide To Alternate Picking 

How to pick with precision and power


Scroll down to see tablature

Let's turn your axe into a machine gun

Alternate picking is, in my experience, one of the hardest techniques to perform with precision. But it is also the most aggressive sounding technique I know. The consistent up and down motion with the pick, produces a machine gun like sound, that I can't seem to produce with any other picking technique. I'm also going to cover all other picking techniques on this website, so please don't as...
Continue reading ...
 

The one key that makes all the difference

Posted by Pure Speed on Tuesday, April 21, 2009, In : Get More Out of Practice 

The one key that determines whether or not you will become a master


Scroll down to see the tablature

You now have all the tools you need to practice effectively and get the most out of what you put in. But what’s going to make you practice? Why would anyone spend hours performing very small and repetitive movements with their fingers? Why do we bother? Well, it’s really quite simple right? We’re doing it to get something. It’s not a new car we want and it’s not a thing really, it’...


Continue reading ...
 

Triple your musical vocabulary in months

Posted by Pure Speed on Monday, April 20, 2009, In : Get More Out of Practice 

Triple your musical vocabulary in months


Scroll down to see tablature

"Wasn't that a nice trick? I mean lick..."

How do you put together a jigsaw puzzle? Do you look at the picture on the box, then pick a pice up in your hand and try to place it in the correct spot right away? Or du you find pieces that are similar and try to fit them together until you have something that makes sense? Most people choose the latter.

But because of our curiousity and drive to learn something new, we nearly a...


Continue reading ...
 

8 things that keep us from getting better, part 2

Posted by Pure Speed on Sunday, April 19, 2009, In : Get More Out of Practice 

8 things that keep us from getting better, part 2


Scroll down to see tablature


Mistake number 5

Practicing licks in an uneven tempo

This seems like a small sin but it isn't. This will totally sabotage your chances of becomming a world class shredder. When you practice a lick, don't play the easy parts faster than the hard parts. Put your focus on getting the hard parts to be easy instead. If you fall into this trap, buy a metronome and make sure that it is your constant practice companion.

Ant...


Continue reading ...
 

8 things that keep us from getting better, Part 1

Posted by Pure Speed on Saturday, April 18, 2009, In : Get More Out of Practice 

8 things that keep us from getting better, Part 1


Scroll down to see tablature

Mistake number one:
Biting of more than you can chew

Because we humans are impatient by nature, we tend to bite of more than we can chew. This is quite normal, but it is not an effective strategy. We suddenly decide to loose weight and since it has to happen now rather than later, we go for a 20 mile run. Then one of two things happen: Etiher we actually run the 20 miles, but because or body isn't ready for that kin...


Continue reading ...
 

How to gain an extra 4 hours of practice time a day

Posted by Pure Speed on Saturday, April 18, 2009, In : Get More Out of Practice 

How to gain an extra 4 hours of practice time a day


Scroll down to see the tablature

The art of Practicing while watching TV...

It's no joke... When I first started playing guitar I needed tons of practice time because I didn't have the luxury of practicing effectively (You don't have that excuse anymore) I had 7 hours of school to attend to and I had to get some amount of homework done in able to survive the next day. (My teachers where lethal) But I managed to put in 6 hours of practice a d...


Continue reading ...
 

The ultimate speed building strategy

Posted by Pure Speed on Thursday, April 16, 2009, In : Get More Out of Practice 



Scroll down to see the tabs

The ultimate speed building strategy

In this blog I'm going to show you exactly how I went from playing like a turtel to shredding like a lamborghini. This is the most effective way, I know, to build incredible technique. It will not only make sure that you progress as fast as possible, it will also give you amazing precision in what you do. I call it The Metronome Game (Tadaaa). And it is truly a game. Besides making your practice sessions many times more effecti...


Continue reading ...
 
 
Bookmark and Share