I can play Flight of the Bumblebee at up to about 32 notes per second, which is faster than this (this maxes out at roughly 26 notes a second).
I wouldn't ever claim to be able to do it with anywhere near this insane level of mathematical cleanliness and precision (I'm way more of a Rhoads type melodic player than a Malmsteen/Stump technical whiz), but if we're talking FASTEST shredder in terms of pure speed, well, call this very impressive dude #2 ever.
Malmsteen never went past 16 or 18 notes per second, it wasn't that his speed was ridiculous, it was his precision. He is arguably the best technical guitarist there was (although guys like the one in this video put that to the the test), but the point is that best technical guitarist does not mean best lead guitarist nor does it mean fastest guitarist. It's just the ability to play clean and precise everytime like a machine, with all the benefits and drawbacks that entails.
at around 260 bpm it started to sound like a jim ash guitar solo . . . you know, like a pile of muffled dog shit.
post by riff police at Apr 20,2010 12:46pm
Dude...No you can't. You're stuck playing crappy local gigs in Mass. Post vid or it didn't happen. Your 15 minutes of fame was having paganmegan be your bass player. Are you calling yourself the fastest player in the world?
Dude...No you can't. You're stuck playing crappy local gigs in Mass. Post vid or it didn't happen. Your 15 minutes of fame was having paganmegan be your bass player. Are you calling yourself the fastest player in the world?
fail.
post by FuckIsMySignature at Apr 20,2010 1:25pm edited Apr 20,2010 1:26pm
(Starting at about eight seconds in - this video is probably closer to fluctuating between picking 28-32 notes per second; I usually play this piece more consistently and a bit cleaner, but it's still faster than this guy's at best 26 notes per second - and faster than anything else for that matter, though I don't claim to play anywhere near as cleanly/precisely/mechanically as this dude even on my best day).
The fact is I am not the best technical bweedelodolodweeep sweep arpeggio shredder, or ANYWHERE close - there are plenty of guitarists who are WAY better than me at that. But when it comes actual top speed, I have yet to find any competition in that area in over a decade of being able to play guitar this fast. I'm not trying to sound like a dick (you have that covered) even though I probably do anyway but the fact this is has been my honest experience. When you see someone's wrist blur from picking so fast, let me know.
post by ShadowSD at Apr 24,2010 8:39am edited Apr 24,2010 10:23am
Ha - silence. "Riff Police Arrested By Reality", I guess they had no clue I would actually post a youtube video proving it. Then again, it's not a surprise given their ignorance of anything my band has done since 2001 (back when all we played then ironically WERE small local shows), and the fact we've been from IN to NY to ME playing with more nationals I can count since 2003.
It must be hard for them to be so out of touch. I invite them to stop by tonight's 4/24 fest if they still have any doubts and I can play FOTB at 32 per sec in front of their eyes during my soundcheck if they wish. I certainly don't live and die by this shit (I've been posting here on and off for what, at least seven or eight years and have never advertised this about myself ONCE, I always felt that guitarists who brag too much probably fap in the mirror everyday), but if someone raises this subject on their own and then calls me out for simply stating a fact, they should prepare to be made a fool out of.
Bravo dude.....Your pick hand is very fast. Beyond that you play a crate amp(need I say more?) Your vibrato is way behind your picking. I mean it's as subpar as paganmegan. You should probably work on that. Your "jazz" lesson is beyond unispiring and you look like you just crawled out from under a rock. That guy playing FOTB that was originally posted here looks like a tool but is way tighter and accurate than you so don't quit your day job. And seriously dude...Malmsteen would shred your fucking head off.
yea shadowsd, i get where you're coming from about your points but i have to say your "shredding" is not really what you think it is. not to be a total dick, but your picking is way faster than your notes.. and the delay definitely is a crutch. also, you call it classical, but it seems like you do a lot of chromatic stuff in there that does not involve and theory short of how to pick fast. that said, i agree that it doesn't matter in the grand scheme of things and you are still a decent guitarist. creativity is most important.
Creativity rules all. I definitely don't mean to sound like speed is everything - it really isn't, just one more tool in the arsenal. If I had to choose between note choice/melody and the ability to play fast, I would pick the first one every time. Many of my favorite solos of all time aren't fast at all.
FOTB is a classical piece, but you are correct that I took some liberties in how I approached it. What counts as far as whether that kind trick succeeds is whether what I use for filler sounds like it fits or doesn't, and I think in a case like that it meets such a standard. The way our brain can perceive certain notes favorably when used in a "connector" fashion but not favorably otherwise is pretty remarkable, especially as the rate of speed increases, and our mind tends to fill blanks quite adeptly; it's the same principle that allows a gradual bend to sound good, despite going through countless out of key semitones between where it ends and begins.
Yes, I do like delay on the lead guitar, and you're right that the picking is faster than the notes when I use that technique; it's definitely not lined up perfectly. But at that speed, the ear can barely tell - the only noticable audible effect is that it doesn't sound anything like Vega's mathematically perfect rendition, for instance. It doesn't sound ridiculously all over the place either.
Again, try and find Malmsteen picking 20 notes per second or higher, he doesn't. He's technical, not really that fast - pay attention. Vega goes a lot faster than him in this video.
Yes, I don't like jazz all that much, and yes, I'm not good at being fake - so my enthusiasm shows.
I look like I crawled out from under a rock, I actually like that one. What am I supposed to be wearing, a fucking suit? Do you even know where you're posting right now?
And forgive me for noticing, but you seem AWFULLY fixated on paganmegan, and you seem to have confused the term "fretting hand" with "vibrato".
It's cool, though. We can use the entertainment.
post by riff police at Apr 24,2010 5:11pm
Wrong. I mean compared to your speed picking, your vibrato is complete shit and yes I fucked paganmegan in her rectum. I'm that guy. And no, I'm not the other anonymous guy posting here shitting on you, but ha anyway. You don't need a suit but you look alot like that guy who got in trouble for putting up those little electric things with the guy giving the finger. Yes, try wearing a suit. That's one post I'd like to see.
I don't know when anyone would get the time to vibrato at 32 notes per sec or even 16 per sec, that just doesn't make any sense. You can only judge someone's vibrato well if they aren't picking at top speed, because vibrating the note requires holding it out for at least a little while.
And no, I'm not the other anonymous guy posting here shitting on you, but ha anyway.
I have no idea what you're talking about, unless there's another guy on this thread who also calls himself riff police strangely obsessed with paganmegan, vibrato, and rectums? If so, that's one sad fucking police force.
post by riff police at Apr 25,2010 7:56pm
When you play a bunch of fast meaningless notes and then bend a note, your vibrato sucks. Post a youtube vid of you correctly doing a unison bend, a 1/2 step bend, 1 step bend, 1 1/2 step bend, 1 step prebend, maybe dimebag divebomb brought up to perfect pitch. That's the shit I'm talking about.
I have no idea what you're talking about, unless there's another guy on this thread who also calls himself riff police strangely obsessed with paganmegan, vibrato, and rectums? If so, that's one sad fucking police force.
Weird. It can't be Seth 'cause he has at least a rudimentary knowledge of music. THE THLOT PICKENS
post by riff police at Apr 25,2010 9:35pm
Your Electric Blues Lead=Exactly what I'm talking about. Your ideas suck and your vibrato is awful. You really mastered the pentatonic scale though! HAHA!
Your Electric Blues Lead=Exactly what I'm talking about.
You are making less and less sense, since that video is full of vibrato - you were asking about doing 1/2 step or whole step bends before, that vid involves a 1 1/2 step bend directly into a vibrato.
You want to say my ideas suck because I'm sticking to pentatonic and the traditional blues chromatics, but THAT'S ALL blues lead guitar is supposed to be. Once you start bringing in other notes (with the exception of the M2 of the scale on the V chord, which is acceptable), it's not blues; there only two tones in the minor/major scale omitted in the pentatonic, after all, so once you start throwing those in all over the place, it's not a traditional blues solo . Since I have a ton of other videos showing a lot of different styles, I thought it important to be able to lay back and do some simple straight blues lead and not show off or get too creative with it. Your problem with the first video was that although the speed was impressive, you didn't like the vibrato; now you watch a slower video with plenty of vibrato not to mention the bends you were asking to see earlier, and now your complaint is that it's boring and that I stick to pentatonic too much. Yikes, dude.
Maybe you should consider taking some lessons, instead of trying to lecture people on a message board and sounding foolish.
