# Reviews of Instructional DVD's/Books



## ShadyDavey (Apr 29, 2009)

I keep seeing a lot of questions regarding Instructional material for guitar, and given the incredible amount of information actually available felt that a thread with user reviews and opinions might go some way to aleviating any misconceptions. Providing details of said material which would hopefully allow any potential purchasers the ability to make an informed choice with regard to their own personal requirements.

I've acquired/borrowed a lot of material from friends (some of this is stuff I gave them 15 years ago, and never had cause to think I would be using again) so its going to take me a while to work through every single thing and provide anything like a comprehensive review for them all, so bear with me and if there's something not on the list which you have feel free to provide your own review!  

Note - All the items I'm going to referrence were Original's except for the very rare and out of print material which I admit is something like a 10th generation copy. Video piracy is a crime and hopefully no-one will be resorting to illegal downloads in order to view any material mentioned in this thread.

Support the artists folks, they worked long and hard so they deserve their share of the profits. 


*Books:*

Creative Guitar 1 + 2 by Guthrie Govan
Riff Training by Jonathan Strange
Speed Picking by Frank Gambale
Frank Gamable Technique 1 + 2 by Frank Gamable
Melody Chords for Guitar - Allan Holdsworth
Signature Licks - Eric Johnson
Shred is not Dead - Terry Syrek
Slap, Pop and Tap for the Guitar, Advanced Scale Concepts for Guitar - Jean Marc Belgadi 
Speed Mechanics for Lead Guitar, Metal Rhythm Guitar, Speed and Thrash Metal Guitar Method - Troy Stetina
Diminished Scale for Guitar (MIT Publishing) 
Over the Top - Dave Celentano
Two Hand Rock - Jennifer Batten
Hard Rock Arpeggios Studies/Tapping Studies/Combination Studies - Michael Fath
Ultimate Ear Training for Guitar and Bass - Gary Willis
Dimebag Darrell's Riffer Madness - Nick Bowcott
Thesaurus of scales and melodic patterns - Nicolas Slonimsky
Advanced Legato Phrases - Derek Taylor
 
*Videos/DVD's

*Allan Holdsworth - REH Instructional video
Rock Fusion Improvisation - Brett Garsed
Pentatonic Passages & Cool Legato Phrases - Derryl Gabel
Total Electric Guitar - Eric Johnson
The Legendary Guitar of Jason Becker - Jason Becker
 Monster Licks and Speed Picking - Frank Gambale
 Super Shred (GW Instructional DVD) - Jeff Loomis
REH Master Series - Yngwie Malmsteen 
 Rock Chops - Richie Kotzen
Mastering Lead Guitar - Michael Lee Firkins
Progressive Classical Rock Guitar - Michael Fath
Melodic Phrasing - Scott Henderson
 Speed Soloing - Chris Impelliterri
Intense Rock 1 + 2 = Paul Gilbert
 Art of Picking, Shred Guitar Manifesto, Extreme Pentatonics - Rusty Cooley
Exotic Metal Guitar - Marty Friedman
Metal Tech - Vinnie Vincent
Metal Edge Extreme Pentatonic Licks - Andy James
Rock Rhythm Techniques - Danny Gill
Melodic Control - Marty Friedman
Rock Discipline - John Petrucci
 Hot Rock Licks - Greg Howe
 Master Series (1990 Shrapnel Instuctional Video) - Tony Macalpine
Shred-O-Mania - Todd Duane
Power Licks/Solos - Shawn Lane
Speed, Accuracy and Articulation - Vinnie Moore
Advanced Lead Guitar Techniques - Vinnie Moore
Progressive Metal Guitar - Dave T Chastain
Star Licks Masters Series - Brad Gillis
Star Licks Masters Series - Jeff Watson
Star Licks Masters Series - Michael Angelo Batio 
The Two-Handed Guitarist - Steve Lynch
Arpeggios for Guitar - Paul Hanson
The Guitar Chapter - Michael Romeo
Star Licks Masters Series - Brian May

Right, to randomly kick things off:

Speed Picking by Frank Gambale.

Its an old book (and quite short) but offers a very comprehensive introduction to sweep picking in both scalar and arpeggio forms. 

As you might expect, the foundations are covered first with an explanation of the odd/even forumla and a few examples of the technique as it applies to scales, scalar passages and passages incorporating triads before finally moving onto pentatonics and arpeggios. 

From the outset, Frank covers a variety of applications, arpeggio forms other than your standard Major/Minor and goes on to provide some musical examples of this technique over short tracks so its far from a collection of licks and excercises.

As an aside - Derryl Gabel and Derek Taylor picked up on this style of playing after this book was released and by studying all three players you open some very interesting opportunities in your playing.

Worthwhile? Yes. Although somewhat dated its an excellent place to start.


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## Demeyes (Apr 29, 2009)

This is a good idea for a thread. Maybe get this stickied? Also some of these are available to watch online but are we allowed to post links or not? 

I'll give my opinion of some of the instructional videos I've had/seen.

Rock Discipline - John Petrucci

Lots of people highly recommend this and I would too. This is a video from the Dream Theatre guitarist. In it he covers a wide range of techniques, the usual picking, legato a small bit on sweep picking etc. He does some nice stuff on warming up and stretching that is very good and the picking stuff is really good too. It's nicely broken down into sections. Overall it's a really solid video and most people will take great advice from it. It's also pretty re-watchable, I've put it on a few times and it's given me new stuff to look at. Very highly recommended.


Speed Soloing - Chris Impelliterri

I think this is the video I have. I really didn't take much from this. It's mostly pretty boring exercises played at very high speeds by him until it sounds the same as the one before it. It's very boring and there's not a whole lot covered in it. I particularly don't like his section on arpegios becuase of how he plays them, but that more of a personal thing I guess.
I really don't think there is much in the way of great information to be taken from this video.


Melodic Control - Marty Friedman

I see there is 2 videos of Friedman's, I've seen one of them and I'm pretty sure this is it. I borrowed it from a friend a few years back. Marty is a fantastic player who's been involved in some great bands, but he has no on screen charisma what so ever. My brother actually fell asleep when watching this instructional!
There is some very interesting concepts in this that I hadn't seen in too many places before. He talks about outside notes and ways of using them. It's a cool idea and anyone familiar with his solos will know the kind of think he's talking about. I think the video is decent but it can be hard to sit through. You will take some nice ideas from it but I wouldn't watch it again! 


I've got some Gilbert stuff on video too but I'm not sure which ones. They are fantastic and probably my favourite of the lot. Really entertaining, very re-watchable and the exercises are some of the most usable that I've seen from instructionals. Full of great stuff.
I've also got an Eric Johnson one that I have but I don't think I've watched the whole thing so I won't comment on it. I'm going to rummage through what I do have and I might come and comment on more because I'm fairly sure there are some more I have lying around that I've forgotten about.


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## ShadyDavey (Apr 29, 2009)

To add to the above a little (as they're all video's I've watched)

The Impelliterri video is "pre clean" technique in that he was trying his very best to be the fastest guitarist in the world, but sacrificed some clarity and originallity in favour of playing tripet and sextuplet licks at insane speeds. I think he's improved as a player since then by slowing down but overall its not a video I would recommend.

Melodic Control - could be summarised in a 20 or 30 minute video quite successfully. There's some great playing (its Marty after all) but he takes a long time to illustrate his points and beyond the sections on note choice/outside playing its not really that useful.

*Eric Johnson - Total Electric Guitar.*



Awesome video as long as you bear in mind that a lot of it will immediately sound like Eric if you don't take the time to utilise the techniques in your own way. There are sections on his techniques, as well as the guitar styles of Chet Atkins, Hendrix, Clapton etc, some speed picking, right/left hand muting, bending, country-style licks....its very informative for any player in my opinion, and if you're a fan its unmissable.
*
Paul Gilbert - Intense Rock 1 and 2* 



Certainly referred to as being close to the definitive "shred" instructional DVD's, if you want to know how to speed pick, or String skip these are the videos for you - all deliverred with Pablo's signature sense of humour, off the wall style, and inimitable teaching experience from his days at GIT.

They cover synchronisation between the hands, single string licks, two string licks, string skipping, arpeggios, 3 note per string scales, phrasing, dynamics, improvisation, feel, legato....even a tiny section on sweep picking which is his least-favoured way of playing arpeggios. 

Essential for the modern metal guitarist? Very probably.

*Rusty Cooley - Extreme Pentatonics, Art of Picking, Shred Guitar Manifesto*

_Note - I'm not going to mention Rusty's obvious speed and technical ability. Take it as read all the excercises are played at top speed with the clarity we've come to expect. Worth mentioning at this point is the fact that Rusty has what I call a "two stage" picking technique. Up to a certain speed he picks from the wrist as so many top pickers do, and in order to accelerate beyond that he starts to use what has been referred to as "Spasmodic Arm Vibration" - make of that what you will.These videos are not recorded to the same standard as, for example, the REH series (Rusty's front room makes an acceptable substitute if you don't value production quality that highly) but they are quite charming in that he's clearly working on a shoestring budget and still managing to produce the goods. Don't let that aside put you off...



_ *Extreme Pentatonics* is, as you might expect a rather thorough look at the humble pentatonic scale starting with the box shapes everyone knows and loves, and progressing quickly into 3 note per string shapes. These are broken down into one, and two string licks which then progress into covering the whole neck in an extended scale format. Not content to stop there, Rusty runs through string skipping patterns, and thence to the blues scale while re-covering much of the same ground. 

The next section is devoted to the 7 string and re-states all the same material with the addition of the usual extra string tuned to B. 

The final section covers the "licks" which provide slightly more musical examples while utilising combinations of tapping, legato, picking, string skipping and hammer-ons from nowhere. 

All the scales are complete with matching diagrams in order to better visualise the material, but as with a lot of Rusty's material (and this is a criticism you could level at the other DVD's I'm looking at) the rather methodical approach to learning a basic concept and expanding on it isn't for everyone - it can develop overly mechanical phrasing which, while undoubtedly fast isn't as appealing as a slightly less logical approach. 



*The Art of Picking* as, as you might expect a similarly comprehensive approach to developing your picking chops and as such is a somewhat dry (and short at 36 pages) treatise on that technique as applied to a number of licks which are laid out in a familiar, linear manner. If you're looking for slightly more Jazzy "angular" licks then don't look here - these high speed beasts are atypically metal in their note choices and isn't as much as a complete breakdown on picking as it is a selection of picking licks.



Useful, but for a work with such a lofty title I would have expected everything from basic sychronisation, to intervallic sequences, to arpeggios, and thence to licks which covered more than rock applications. 

*Shred Guitar Manifesto *is a conglomeration which covers two of Rusty's compositions (The Butcher and Hillbillly Militia) before moving onto his "Legato Workout" which is a comprehensive series of finger excercises starting with basic trills and moving up to four-finger symettrical stretches by way of (yes, you guessed it) three-finger finger torture. Not much to note here aside from the usual caveat to be careful whilst practicing anything quite this intense if you're not used to it.

The Rest of the DVD is divided into four sections - Arpeggio, Legato, Picking and Combination which are simply a collection of more terryfying licks featuring those techniques. There are examples of everything from the standard arpeggio sequences, to more picking licks a la art of picking, some quite tasty Derek Taylor-style tapping/legato licks.

I know a lot of people have found these DVD's to be exceptionally helpful and theres an awful lot of material here to be certain, but I think a little more of an in-depth analysis of the techniques would have been more helpful than another encyclopedia of Guitar Shop intimidation licks. That said, material on this technical level is bound to increase your abilities if diligently practiced.

Worth picking up in my opinion.

*Derek Taylor - Advanced Legato Phrases*

_Note - I only have the .pdf for this as my mate lost the CD. All point and laugh...

_Starts off with an intro solo and Derek's composition "Where's RJ" before moving straight into serious legato territory. There are a lot of licks to study here, ranging from Pentatonic, to Diatonic scale types, blues, Arpeggio sequences, and the predictable "multiple elements" where all the approaches are combined. If you're expecting huge strings of notes then you might be dissapointed as much of the information is broken down (sensibly) into short, bite-sized chunks allowing you to absorb string-skipping and tapping concepts quickly, rather than forcing you to maneuver all over the neck for one concept.

If you don't actually know how to play Legato this isn't a great choice as it does indeed throw you in at the deep end with advanced licks, but while some of the material will be familiar, its worth remembering that Derek was one of the first guys to really get into this style of playing and a lot of respected musicians credit him with that.
*
Derryl Gabel - Pentatonic Passages and Cool Legato Phrases 1 


* 
_Note - all his DVD's come with .pdf's as well as Power Tab format examples of the material. I don't know of any other author who takes the time to ensure that you have such incredible access to his material but huge props to Derryl for doing that. _

Let me start of by saying these DVD's are excellent value for money and there's a great deal of information covered from the very start. Derryl has quite a dry instructional style but he's a first-rate teacher and moves through his explanations both quickly and clearly - the practicle result of which is that you need a solid foundation in a couple of techniques to avoid being overwhelmed by the sheer amount of information being thrown at you.

If you're familiar with Frank Gamable-style sweep picking and pentatonic sequences (313 and other similar patterns) as well as having a polished legato technique then the contents are far more accessible. 

Wasting no time, we start with every single possible way of playing through a pentatonic scale using the sweep-picking technique (you can of course choose to play through them using alternate picking or legato as well) starting with a simple method of playing through two pentatonic boxes at once, before crossing the whole neck on various string groups (313, followed by 31313, 313313 etc etc) in both horizontal and vertical formats. Not only that, Derryl provides a massive series of pentatonic patterns over various chord types as an example of how to use these techniques in a more musical context.

Again, we have a very methodical approach to learning the guitar and while it does generate a seemingly endless amount of material to study, as soon as the various patterns are absorbed (looking at it simply then as long as you know your pentatonic scale then dividing it up for each technique is far easier to accomplish) it does increase your ability to improvise quite spectacularly. 



Cool Legato Phrases utilises slightly more theoretically advanced principles and to try to enunmerate every single one would take up a lot of time when I could be simply telling you how worthwhile I think it all is.

Briefly then, there are pentatonics, heptatonics, arpeggio sequences, string skipping, triadic lines, harmonic minor lines (and combinations) all played with a suitable musical example so that not only are you recieving the full benefit of Derryl's really formidable technique, you immediately get a feel for the notes in a very musical sense, rather than merely being blown away by just how fast he actually is. 

(Did I mention he incorporates odd-note groupings and rhythmic accents?) 

I'd place Pentatonic Passages on my "Very valuable" list and Cool Legato Phrases on the "Essential material" side. Very highly recommended.


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## ShadyDavey (May 1, 2009)

Despite the lack of response I'll keep plugging away at this 

*Richie Kotzen - Rock Chops

*One of the better guitarists to come out of the 80's shred explosion this video is very much in keeping with his style of the time than being representative of his current playing but that said, it should be of interest to fans and technique heads alike.

Kicks off with the obligatory intro solo showing Richie's legato command of the instrument and melodic sensibilities. It should be noted - barely any of these licks feature fast picking. Even at the time of the recording sweep/legato was very much a predominant feature of his style. 

As with many players of the time Richie runs through techniques in isolation before combining string skipping, tapping, legato and sweeping in his own inimitable style - first of all we pay a visit to the land of vai-esque Legato with examples in diatonic and pentatonic variations, and a couple of licks using more unusual scale types (Mixolydian with no 3rd, A dominant 7th with flat 6th) before proceeding onto string skipping w tapping.

Nothing new here when examined in the light of today's market but these were cutting-edge techniques at the time and still provide plenty of challenges for modern players as does the following section on sweep-picking which again incorporates the usual slides, tapping, and legato techniques to provide examples which even now should prove food for thought.



*Vinnie Vincent - Metal Tech

*I was unsure about this video at the time, and I still remain unsure because it seems to vacilate wildly between the sublime and the ridiculous. Througout the video Vinnie insists on playing with a rather....*ahem*...unique guitar tone (anyone familiar with the Vinnie Vincent Invastion will know what I mean) that sounds brittle and toppy whilse being heavily distorted - not the best combination for an instructional video.

That said, Vinnie is respcted as a very accomplished musician and whilst this video is heavy on licks, its short on providing a great deal of information about the theoretical basis for his techniques which makes it very much a "how to sound like Vinnie" video.



Amongst the subjects he covers (almost by accident) are a lot of hybrid picking (he was one of the first guitarists I was aware of to use this techniqe in a manner we'd appreciate today) and some blistering picking phrases (the guy has chops, without a doubt) as well as covering some solos from his first album. 

Its definately worth watching, but I'd hesitate to recommend anyone spends money on it 

*Allan Holdsworth - REH Instructional Video



*Very little to actually say about this video - Allan should need no introduction and while the video is primarily a chance to see him in "concert" there are instructional segments which are worth the price of admissions.

Subjects covered include his 10 most useable scales for improvisation, and how to creat chords from the scales but a thorough grounding in theory is required to make the most of this particular volume. That aside, its worth sitting there just to watch exactly how good he is....recommended viewing.

*Shawn Lane - Power Licks/ Solos

*


Its Shawn Lane - you know its going to blow your mind, and he doesn't dissapoint in any way. Everything from his humble presentation, to his incredible technique, to his wonderful phrasing and tone is covered with depth and clarity. This is clearly aimed at the advanced player but its part of his talent that he can make a lot of this material accessible to intermediate or even beginning guitarists. I won't wax lyrical about either video because its not neccessary.

Get it.

*Brett Garsed - Rock Fusion Improvisation

*

One of the true greats of modern fusion guitar this video is sadly out of print if you're wishing to purchase it, but the whole thing is up on YouTube (for how long, I just don't know!) so if you haven't seen it, rectify that mistake immediately (the .pdf is also available on a couple of file sharing sites for referrence).

The obligatory intro solo (in this case a track from Quid Pro Quo) leads quickly onto a wide selection of legato licks which keep builiding in complexity from standard, one position far to four note per string licks with hammer-ons from nowhere, passing tones and chromaticism. While stylistically this section is of course undeniably Brett, its perhaps the best video exploration of the technique you're likely to see. Brett's technique is so smooth that the sheer velocity of some phrases passes un-noticed but along with the following section on hybrid picking, there's a lot of approaches for you to experiment with. 

Speaking of which - that particular lesson is shorter but covers Brett's approach to arpeggio playing as well as scalar lines and excercises before moving onto the "combination" section where some of the lines are truly world-class. Even while all this finger-waggling is going on Brett also manages to pass on hints and tips for melodic choices while improvising and delivers all the information is a concise, laid-back manner _and _there's a couple of demonstrations into the bargain.

Another one you should definately take the time to watch!

*Metal Edge Extreme Pentatonic Licks - Andy James*

Its not without some degree of trepidation I approach anything by Andy. He's a killer player with a lot of talent and technique, but he's not teaching (in this case) anything as Extreme as the Rusty Cooley or Derryl Gabel approaches to pentatonics. This is a favourite area of mine because I enjoy the simple fact that Pentatonics can be used in practically any style of music as is, and the more exotic scale variations open up some very interesting tonalities on guitar and I might be a little over-critical as I have a very strong idea of how they should be taught. 



While he does cover a wide variety of approaches here from the most basic Ace - style repeating licks up to a few 3 NPS variations I wouldn't say this video is quite as valuable as either of those mentioned above _but _to be fair I feel its aimed at slightly less advanced players and as such is actually more accessible for basic/intermediate players. My only real criticism then, is the asking price with respect to the fact that there's not a lot of material here.

*Monster Licks and Speed Picking - Frank Gambale*



Want to sweep? Look no further 

It seems to be the case that the better the video, the less I actually have to worry about writing as they sell themselves - this is definately the case here in Frank's first instructional DVD from the late 80's (as if you couldn't have guessed). There are a lot of performance segment's throughout (Leave Ozone Along, Spike's Song etc) and with a teacher as experienced as Frank all the material is demonstrated and explained with perfect clarity. 

A brief break-down of the material takes us from simple major scales/modes (with a quick look at diminshed and harmonic minor examples) triad arpeggios, through pentatonic sequences (you can see where Derryl and Derek Taylor got ideas from) and thence into all variations on 7th arpeggios. 

Whilst acting as more of an overview of Sweep picking (and a very thorough one at that) this DVD does somewhat take for granted that you're aware of some level of theory and after explaining the odd/even principle leaves the evolution and application of that approach very much down to the viewer. This isn't a problem per se but this isn't a "licks" video as much as it is a "technique" video. If you are looking for more Gambale licks then there's a couple of further books I would recommend (if you can find them):

*The Best of Frank Gambale* - covers his most popular compositions 
*Modes no more Mystery* - as it says on the cover, possibly the best instructional resource on the major scale and its modes as well as how to use them. 
*Improvisation made easier* - scale fingerings, chord voicings, and licks for the major and melodic minor scales, along with their modes.

*The Legendary Guitar of Jason Becker

*Sadly a very rare and out of print DVD, there are copies floating around if you're a fan of this outstanding player (as I am). Now, this is a little hard to characterise because while there's a reasonable amount of information presented herein, the majority of the video is devoted to performance material from his career, as well as demonstrations from the actual seminar at A.I.M where the video was filmed.



Amongst the topics covered are Jason's approaches to arpeggios and pentatonics but I suspect that many people watching this video will be more interested in seeing the man himself perform and teach (he's terribly self-concious throughout the teaching segment until he seems to settle down nearer the end). Don't misunderstand me - there's some interesting concepts covered throughout but they could be covered in 20 minutes or so leaving more time to be blown away at just how good he was before ALS robbed of his his guitar-playing talent, if not his music.

*Creative Guitar 1 and 2 by Guthrie Govan







*Its Guthrie - go buy it now you fools!!




Ok, I suppose you really want to know what it is you're parting with your cash for. In the first book Mr Govan covers excercises, theory, scales and chords with a view to breaking out of a playing rut and opening your eyes to the possibilities inherent in the guitar. Let me say - this _isn't _a book about chops - its a book about music and self expression and as such its probably of use to most people and its exceptionally well written.

The second book? Well ok, here's your chops and techno-flash playing. Picking, sweeping, tapping, legato, more tapping (there's a lot of tapping material covered here) all presented with Guthrie's usual attention to detail and clear explanations. As above, this book isn't _really_ about how to play fast and melt faces in the manner of Mr Cooley, its about how to utilise the guitar to sound like other instruments and break out of a rut - you know, that sort of musical creativity that Guthrie is famous for. My one criticism is that there are places where less advanced players may flounder as some concepts are thrown into the mix and do (as with so many other books/videos) assume that you have a solid knowledge base to build on - perhaps a case of trying to do too much within the confines of too few pages. 

Definately ranked up there with the essential material.

*Super Shred - Jeff Loomis

*

One of the most talented players in the metal scene, this is Jeff's first instructional DVD and considering its only an hour long manages to cover a lot of topics. As with many videos there is an established format to follow (Intro, Tuning, Warm-ups, Techniques, Solo Excerpts) but in this case it seems to help in that the information is presented very clearly and concisely with multiple camera angles and explanations (even if Jeff appears a little self-conscious at times  ).

Warm-up excercises and Scale Studies arrive first and Jeff takes the time to explain his style of picking before showing some atypical picking licks and excercises. To his credit, he's not attemtping to reivent the wheel and just shares material than helped his playing. Next up we move (albeit briefly) into economy picking as an alternative to playing some scalar passages and again, brevity is the soul of wit so the information is imparted and with nary a pause we move onto the bits that people are no doubt salivating for - Sweep Picking, and sweeping with tapping.

As a player with a huge Jason Becker influence there's no real suprises here, but people wanting to cop some impressive licks or even understand a few basic principles do equally well. As with the later section on Arpeggios and sweeping in his solos the playing is fluid enough to forget the technique and listen to the music - There are a lot of sweep-pickers about but Jeff manages to combine musicallity and agression better than most. 

No video would be complete without a section on scales and their use in music so with time constraints in mind Jeff illustrates some rather cool phrasing ideas using a "warped" blues scale and the ever-popular phrygian dominant mode of the Harmonic minor. Again, the Becker influence is clear but we won't hold that against him. 

In between all the pyrotechnics there's a section of heavy riffs from a few of his tunes and its nice to see such an inventive lead player also able to lay down intelligent rhythm parts right up to Meshuggah-style riffs by way of more typical fare.

Perhaps of interest to Loomis fans more than other players this is still a quality piece of work and bodes well for his future instructional releases.


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## ShadyDavey (May 3, 2009)

*Master's Series Instructional Video - Tony Macalpine



*Another video from the distant past (1990) this isn't the first video by Tmac, but its a lot more comprehensive than the others and is deserving of a mention because he rarely records this kind of material these days.

Now, chops aside (and as I'm sure you're all aware he does have rather good technique) this is a video that attempts to address tapping, picking, sweeping and legato with a view to improvistion and developing more creative and melodic applications. Thats not to say there aren't some killer licks here (there are) but thats not the whole focus of his playing and never really has been. The demonstrations are quite short jams over simple progressions where he tries to restrain his fingers from burning in favour of melodic ideas...only slightly spoilt by the typical chorused guitar sound he favoured at the time which never sounded exactly "right" to me  

Hard to recommend for serious instruction, its nonetheless an interesting video that you'll probably pick up a few ideas from.

*Hot Rock Licks - Greg Howe

*

One of the most original videos of the era, the intro solo placed Greg right at the top of rock guitarists of the period through its invention melody and technique, as well as Greg's decision to run with Fender amps and Guitars at a time when Ibanez and Marshall were the kings. 

There are the inevitable sections on technique/warm-ups (alternate picking, barring techniques, tapping etc) _but _two of the problems with this video are the lack of a harmonic context for the the material and as I recall, no tab booklet so you had to write it all down by hand or constantly refer back to the video  Essentially, this is another video for the fans (who won't need convertin) or the people looking to steal the odd lick or idea - which is exactly what sold videos back then!!

*Melodic Control - Marty Friedman

*
I've nothing really to add further to the comments above. Marty is a great player, but this is far more of a video for the Marty fan than something I could recommend in the same manner as Rock Discipline or Intense Rock. Focussing on the more esoteric areas of guitar is a worthy subject to base a video on and as we all are aware Marty is one of the very best players when it comes to vibrato and phrasing, but its overlong and needs something more to grab the attention. 
*

Rock Discipline - John Petrucci



*Very highly recommended and definately on the top of the "essential materials" list for any aspiring rock guitarist. In brief, John outlines an awful lot of material here, from right and left-hand warmups/excercises to alternate picking excercises, legato licks, sweep picking, working with a metronome, and a section on common "progressive" chords in order to set the material in some sort of context. 

Its a tribute to John's ability as a teacher that he never lets the material become too dry and instead takes time between segments to relate snippets of information about his rig, his experiences as a guitar player, and how he approaches composition. Add to that the segments of band footage (2001 G3 tour) and a very detailed booklet _plus_ a running time of nearly two hours and this is about as good as it gets for sheer entertainment and education.

*Dimebag Darrell's Riffer Madness - Dimebag Darrell and Nick Bowcott









*Sadly, Dime never recorded a DVD per se but this book + CD standing alongside the material on youtube from Young Guitar, and Guitar World provide an enduring portrait of one of metals most important players, and a beautiful human being.

The 126 page .pdf covers a lot of territory, from a huge variety of riffs, to licks, to gear, from warm-ups and excercises to Dime's pithy wisdom about life and music as well as a history of Pantera and Dime all written in a down to earth and cliche-free style by Nick Bowcott who clearly had an understanding with Dime and was able to ensure that everything here was as factual and accurate as possible.

For what its worth, I think he did a great job. Now, I'm a little biased but I think this book is essential. Not so much for the instructional examples (which are mainly of interest to fans of Dime, although there's information here a lot of people could take away with them) but for the great man's attitude about life and music which serve as an example of how sometimes, the nice guys get what they deserve. 

RIP Brother Dime


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## Excalibur (May 3, 2009)

I'm currently downloading all of these off YouTube, and I'll zipping the best ones into a file if anyone's interested


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## ShadyDavey (May 3, 2009)

I'll be reviewing (more of an overview really) more .pdf's and videos as I get chance to either watch or read them - as long as they prove helpful I'll keep on posting them up here.


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## DDDorian (May 3, 2009)

I see you've pretty much dropped the "I've borrowed all this stuff, honest" pretense, then?



Excalibur said:


> I'm currently downloading all of these off YouTube, and I'll zipping the best ones into a file if anyone's interested



If they are, they won't be posting about it here. That goes for you too. Linking to Youtube clips is one thing as any infinged copyrights will be their responsibility, but neither direct links nor instructions on where to find downloads for this sorta stuff is allowed here. Sorry.


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## Excalibur (May 3, 2009)

DDDorian said:


> I see you've pretty much dropped the "I've borrowed all this stuff, honest" pretense, then?
> 
> 
> 
> If they are, they won't be posting about it here. That goes for you too. Linking to Youtube clips is one thing as any infinged copyrights will be their responsibility, but neither direct links nor instructions on where to find downloads for this sorta stuff is allowed here. Sorry.


I know the deal, I'm not stupid enough to post it here


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## ShadyDavey (May 3, 2009)

DDDorian said:


> I see you've pretty much dropped the "I've borrowed all this stuff, honest" pretense, then?
> 
> Linking to Youtube clips is one thing as any infinged copyrights will be their responsibility, but neither direct links nor instructions on where to find downloads for this sorta stuff is allowed here. Sorry.



I have in fact borrowed/acquired most of it (check out the age of some pieces ) but as I said, there are some copies where I couldn't borrow it, or its out of print to the extent that I wouldn't even have a clue where to source it....and some of it I wouldn't want to think I paid for anyway  

*Speed Mechanics for Lead Guitar, Metal Rhythm Guitar Vol.1, Speed and Thrash Metal for Guitar - Troy Stetina

*











I'll do a quick ovewview of each book's contents before giving an opinion on each so you know what you're getting in each case:

*Speed Mechanics for Lead Guitar: *Basic left and right hand techniques, picking excercises, building speed, sweep picking, creativity, 16th note offbeats, triplet offbeats, rhythmic variations, cut time, then a section on musical value/intervals.
*
Metal Rhythm Guitar *- Note values, chord types, rhythm techniques (slides, mutes etc) example songs illustrating various principles, diads, vibrato, use of space, open chords, blues scale/hammer ons/pulls offs and riffs utilising the same, syncopation and upbeat accents

*Speed and Thrash Metal Method* - The beat, muting, syncopation, shifting accents, 16th notes, gallup rhythm, offbeats and upbeats, tonal center, scales/riffs, harmony, time signatures.


Troy is one of (IMO at least) the better educators and given his length of time on the scene that really is no suprise. All the material is well explained, and demonstrated on the accompanying CD as well as being a comprehensive examination of the subject matter. Definate value for money, and each book contains enough material to keep the guitarists its aimed at busy for a few weeks without becoming tiresome or repetitive - its hard to pick a "star" book from the three but I suspect that if pushed I'd go with Speed Mechanics for Lead guitar if you have a solid rhythmic foundation, or Metal Rhythm Guitar if not.


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## ShadyDavey (May 5, 2009)

*Riff Training - Jonathan Strange






*One of the most unique books in the list - our very own Manical leaves a lot of the atypical shred excercises to other players in order to concentrate on more musically relevant topics such as knowledge of Rhythm in the form of note subdivisions, combination of subdivision, rhythmic displacement and a variety of excercises to help you understand how they work.

The 62 page booklet comes with a DVD _and _CD so it represents excellent value for money considering the amount of material it covers. As well as the section on rythmic awareness, Jonathan also examines:

Picking tips and excercises
Legato tips and excercises
Stretching excercises
Pick and Fret Hand Muting
Pick Hand Development (Speed, accuracy and endurance) which overs a lot of topics such as inside and outside picking, rhythmic variations and ideas for practice regimes. 
Sweep Picking - arpeggios and the "rolling" technique
Two songs with complete backing tracks which demonstrate all the principles in the book.

This is a book with a different kind of outlook - instead of teaching you how to sound like a specific player, or how to shred it instead teaches you some very fundamental and important tools for musical development and goes a long way towards building a solid foundation for further progression. I would have no hesitation in recommending it as an excellent resource 

*Over the Top - Dave Celentano






*Dave Celentano is not as well known as some of the artists mentioned so far, but he's a highly adept player who has been producing instructional material for some time. As you might expect, this book covers the ever-popular two-handed tapping technique for guitar, all the way from simple Eruption-style triplets to sequenced multi-finger ideas. 

Now, at 30 pages long this is a short book but it contains enough material to keep you frantically mashing the fretboard for some time. As ever, we kick off with some excercises to develop your tapping hand, as well as a few tips on how to perform the technique in the first place.

Moving swiftly on, we progress to parralel ideas (playing seperate scales with each hand as championed by Steve Lynch) before jumping into two-handed scales using all the fingers of the tapping hand, and sequencing ideas using that principle as a base (combining note groupings, different scale types etc) before graduating to arpeggio and pentatonic ideas.

Wasting no time, Dave ploughs ahead with linear and angular ideas applied to Chord Sequences before ending with a couple of extended solo pieces to play at the local music store. 

This is definately an excellent book for those wishing for a thorough grounding in two-handed tapping and while it doesn't attempt to cover all the possibilities of the technique its a comprehensive start. 
*
Two Hand Rock - Jennifer Batten






*The ravishing Miss Batten needs no introduction to most guitarists and this book is proof that not all two-handed tappers sound the same. Interestingly this is another short book, and shares a few ideas with Mr Celentano and Mr Lynch (parralel useage of pentatonic scales) but Jennifer quickly moves onto position shifting and using the technique to outline triadic ideas, as well as introducing extra tension in the course of a motif with the b5 and b9 scale degrees - all inside of a couple of pages!!

Interestingly, there are more examples of this technique as applied to "tasty" rock licks than you might expect. Tapped double-stops and bends abound, tricky slides with both hands come into play, and not content with that there's a sprinkling of tapped harmonics on top of the jaw-dropping widdly licks. There's also a section with clean-toned licks before returning to the high-octane wizardry she's best known for. 

If I had to choose one book from the two, this would be it.

*Exotic Metal Guitar - Marty Friedman

*

Of the two Marty videos I've reviewed, this one gets the thumbs up, regardless of Marty's choice of a clean tone, scruffy sweater and perpetually stoned expression.

Why?

Both videos have an onus on attempting to play outside of the standard choices most guitarists fall into whilst improvising or constructing a solo, but this provides more concrete examples of his methodology applied to a variety of scales and arpeggios. 

Amongst the subjects covered are odd-note groupings (5's and 11's), Japanese scales, diminished scales and arpeggios, picking excercises, and a nice section on bending. If you're a fan of "Cacophony years" Friedman then this is the video for you.


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## ShadyDavey (May 7, 2009)

*Mastering Lead Guitar - Michael Lee Firkins



*Michael Lee Firkins has long been an underground favourite amonst fans of guitar-related music and its been a long while since his debut album hit the shops - I remember listening to it on tape as I took the train down to GIT and being very impressed by his tone, feel and chops.

Now, a lot of this video concentrates on his vaunted (and these days underused) pseduo slide/pedal steel licks that he whipped out at the drop of a hat - and very tasty they are too. He covers several sorts of intervallic approaches, double stops, slides, slurs, warbles, finger picking and even the use of a capo but ultimately there's a little too much time spent on that particular technique (IMO at least).

Thats not to say he doesn't cover the de reiguer 80's tapping, legato, and sweeping sections because he does, and far more fluidly than a lot of players at the time but as with so many videos of the period it feels more like a collection of licks and some basic theory but equally as I've said before - that sold a lot of videos at the time 

Well worth watching.

*Melodic Phrasing - Scott Henderson

*

Another one of those incredible players that needs no introduction, Scott Henderson is absolutely the king of phrasing and improvisation for many people and he managed to combine sophisticated Jazz savvy with blues atavisms and taste.

Now, you will need a basic to intermediate knowledge of guitar in order to get the full benefit of this video - perhaps not the encyclopedic knowledge Scott displays (any arpeggio, any scale, any position without even thinking about it) but some familiarity with Jazz improvisation as well as the Major Scale + modes, Melodic Minor scale, diminished scale, whole tone scale, arpeggio forms and note values would be beneficial. Scott does cover these subjects but refer back to his first video for a more complete run-down on the sort of theory involved.

The whole video aims to cover the basics of creative phrasing whilst improvising which does involve a fair amount of explanation as to the theoretical and intellectual approaches he uses (contours, rhythmic devices etc etc). Now, I feel he does an excellent job of conveying a lot of information in an hour, starting with a static blues vamp, all the way to complex modal compositions. 

_Don't _buy this video to cop a few cheap licks from - Scott's approach is more visceral than that and if anything a knowledge of "by rote" licks could be considered a disadvantage simply because you're allready pre-programmed into patterns rather than truly being creative. 

_Do _buy the video if you really want an insight into one of the best players around today, not to mention a variety of approaches to spice up your own skills.

Very highly recommended.

*Arpeggio Studies/Tapping Studies/Combination Studies/Progressive Classical Rock Guitar - Michael Fath*



Now, this is something of an oddity in that Michael Fath is critically acclaimed by none other than MAB as "Perhaps the worlds most versatile guitarist" and at the time these books/Videos were released he was riding high on some very complimentary reviews....since then however, and despite releasing albums practically every year he remains virtually unknown to most people which is almost criminal considering his ability.

As you might expect, each of the three book titles refers to a particular technique or combination thereof and my main criticism is that they're long on examples and short on theory. Giving someone the tools to create music is far more preferrable than simply giving them a load of licks and expecting them to analyse the components without understanding what exactly is going on.

Now, that isn't to say that the books are bad per se, its simply that while a lot of the concepts are well covered, there's nothing really to recommend them over any other instructional material from the time and given the glut in the market for shredding they simply dissappeared in the overwhelming tide of videos and books on the subject.

Arpeggio studies (for example) takes a very ecclectic approach to the subject, applying every single technique you can think of (tremolo picking, pick + fingers, neighbour tones, sequenced ideas, inversions, doublestops, intervallic approaches a la Jason Becker) to a variety of chords and etudes but for some reason eschews even a few pages on the construction of arpeggios themselves. 

One of the signature's of Mr Fath's method is that he employs a lot of simple musical ideas in a variety of ways - double stops, tapped double stops, double stops through arpeggios - anything you can think of and its that level of ingenuity that (in my mind at least) makes the material appealing. Certainly worth a look if you have an interest in that period of guitar playing, or perhaps to try and steal a couple of new concepts for your own compositions.


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## Yngtchie Blacksteen (May 8, 2009)

I have Fath's video. I feel sorry for the people who actually purchased it, as it's one of the most terrible excuses for an instructional video I've ever seen. Michael Fath is an overrated hack.


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## ShadyDavey (May 8, 2009)

Ccompared to today's standards of videos then it really isn't very good at all (I can't speak for the second of the two he released) and for someone who got such glowing reviews at the time I expected better. 

I can't reconcile his critical acclaim with his apparent lack of success - unless it was simply a lot of hype over the years, which If you go to his Myspace page and listen to the tracks then I would have to say is probably the case. 

The books are better, but only just and thats simply down to the ecclectic techniques he uses.

*Rock Rhythm Techniques - Danny Gill

*_(I couldn't find a sample video for this one - simply imagine Danny looking happy as he normally does and mentally insert some Iron Maiden-esque rhythm riffing going on)

_There's a lot of Lick Library material available from their site, ranging from the extremely useful to the "What did I just pay £20 for?" and in all honesty as much as I am trying to be polite about this video, it falls into the latter category. 

Its not a long video and while he covers a few subjects quite clearly (triads, power chords and their inversions; how to play over various grooves (straight time, the shuffle and swing grooves, and a short section on 6/8 time) it really is catering to the absolute beginners market. If you want some instructional material to cover rhythm playing, I would go for Troy Stetina's books over this.


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## Yngtchie Blacksteen (May 8, 2009)

ShadyDavey said:


> Ccompared to today's standards of videos then it really isn't very good at all (I can't speak for the second of the two he released) and for someone who got such glowing reviews at the time I expected better.
> 
> I can't reconcile his critical acclaim with his apparent lack of success - unless it was simply a lot of hype over the years, which If you go to his Myspace page and listen to the tracks then I would have to say is probably the case.


Well, today's standards aren't really any better than they were 20 years ago. Okay, people are better teachers today, but playing-wise, the '80s was really the peak in many ways.

Fath is just really, really sloppy. I have three of his books:

Hard Rock Arpeggio Studies
Hard Rock Tapping Studies
Paganini's 24th Caprice

I don't have the audio for the first two, but they seem alright. Lots of licks, although I haven't actually attempted any of them. I'm sure they work fine in the hands of a competent player, but I can't imagine Fath doing them justice. Which leads us to the Paganini study...

Michael Fath playing Paganini is a must-hear. Using a truly horrid tone, Fath speeds up and slows down, never sounding like he really knows how to play the thing. He's just focusing on getting through the piece without making too much of a mess. I'm sure the tab is useful enough, but c'mon, the teacher should be able to actually play the stuff he teaches.

Avoid. Avoid. Avoid.


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## ShadyDavey (May 8, 2009)

That was my opinion about the first two, but I haven't seen/heard the Paganini study - for what its worth his tone on albums is actually about the worst I've heard. I still don't understand how so many serious players think he's that good - am I missing anything? 

I mean, he has a lot of good ideas and some of the acoustic parts on his albums are very nice but the electric stylings are just plain.....(I hate to use this phrase as its over-used to hell and back) hit and miss.

*Speed, Accuracy and Articulation/Advanced Lead Guitar Techniques - Vinnie Moore

*



By popular demand - two of the greatest and certainly most influential videos from the classic period of shred by none other that the Vinman himself.

Forget the huge hair and slightly odd Laney-powered tone, these videos are amongst the best of the best for educational purposes that I can possibly think of and if you're actually into Neo-classical shred they are right at the top of the essential list.

Left hand legato excercises, right hand picking excercises, theory, substitution and harmonisation of scales, playing scales in seconds, thirds, etc, pivot licks, sweep picking, AlDimeola-style triplets - these videos really do have everything you need for a solid foundation in contemporary lead playing - I really can't recommend them enough if you want a "one stop shop" for techniques.

*REH Master's Series - Kee Marcello*



One of the Old School of guitar players, Kee is also another underated guitarist with a lot of ability and a penchant for not only blazing chops, but highly melodic solos.

He covers some scale sequences, alternate picking excercises, string skipping excercises, solo composition, throws in a few licks and also covers a couple of tunes to see the man in action. This is definately one of these videos to watch rather than dissect bluntly. If you break down down the video to simply the parts that are tabbed out you're missing out on some very cool examples of tension/release and how he approaches melodies. 

Now, just because I can I'll throw in this video snippet from "Live at Hammersmith". Chromatic stuff aside, there's some ripping interludes and you can see why he's so highly regarded.



*Star Licks Master Sessions - Brad Gillis

*

One half of the classic Night Ranger guitar duo (his partner in crime being Jeff Watson) Brad is another overlooked guitarist who nontheless has his roots firmly based in melody and feel rather than sheer blazing speed - for that reason alone he's noteworthy but when you add to that all the whammy-bar phrases he's worth watching.

(Guitar World Video of some example harmonics I included to underline that last part)



Plus some nice vibrato (finger and bar) which you can hear all over the Night Ranger back catalouge:



*Star Licks Master Series - Jeff Watson



*For the sake of completeness, Jeff's style was quite the counterpoint to Brad's, with more of an emphasis on his speed and technicallity (check out the "We can still rock in America" solo for 8-finger tapping).

Now, Its been an awfully long time since I saw this video and I can't really find anything like a full version on the web to review. Most of it (as I recall) was given over to (as above) demonstrations of the solos from the Night Ranger albums so apart from coping a few licks I don't recall learning anything in terms of theory - in fact, most of the licks aren't described in terms of theory, just the notes played. Don't let that put you off too much as he's a terrific player and the fact that the video feels a little incomplete is more of a criticism of video production at that time rather than his playing.

For a better example of his abilities check out "The Lone Ranger" if you can get hold of it - he has all the time he needs there to trade solos with Steve Morse, Allan Holdsworth and Brad Gillis, as well as laying down some particularly wicked speed picking with a killer vibrato...to say nothing of some rather wonderful 8-finger tapping ("Mountain Cathedral").



Two videos that while interesting, are incredibly hard to find and probably of more interest to Night Ranger fans than casual shredders.

*The Two-Handed Guitarist - Steve Lynch



*Before Jennifer Batten was Beating It with Michael, around the time Jeff Watson was Rocking America, Steve Lynch was quietly redefining rock guitar with a band called Autograph. 

Steve had a lot of experience passing on his knowledge at GIT before filming this video and it shows - every example is explained clearly in terms of the technique and the theory behind it so along with the subject matter and production quality it really stood out at the time. 

We have the usual Autograph solos (along with some wonderfully soulful whammy-bar work I might add) and an introduction to multi-fingered two handed tapping as applied to chord superimposition, parralel pentatonic scales, slides, bends, scales and arpeggios as well as the thought process behind the place of the techniques within the solos. 

There are also a few quite unique sections throughout, such as tapping/bending licks with the whammy bar manipulated with the forearm, and some licks with multi-finger tapping onto bent strings - very, very inventive stuff. 

If you want to tap, this hasn't been surpassed as instructional material to this day.

*Arpeggios for Lead Guitar - Paul Hanson

*

Another Ex-GIT Instructor, Paul has also performed around the world with a host of artists, as well as teaching guitar to a number of celebrities. As you'd expect of a player with those credentials this is another video with well played, concise examples for the student of shred. The odd thing is that the video almost appears out of time - released in 2000 it feels a couple of years behind the majority of the videos I've reviewed. With a short running time of 30 minutes he manages to fulfil all the criteria you would expect: 

Arpeggios (well of course) sweep picking, sliding, triads, and 7th chords with ease - in short, all the information you need to build arpeggios and also an examination of the harmonised major scale. To be honest, this is a very, very concise introduction to the technique and the theory behind it so on that basis alone I'd check it out if you need a place to start.


_(At the time of posting its becoming more difficult to find good examples of instructional videos to check out and I've exhausted the meagre libraries of my friends and I so I shall finish the material I have and fill out the reviews with more information as required. If there are any requests or suggestions for videos please do let me know and I'll see what I can do to review them)_

*Star Licks Masters Series - Michael Angelo Batio



*Well, what can I say that isn't already known about MAB? 

Love him or hate him, he's an excellent instructor and has definately increased the educational material available to the average shredder with his own releases, and the ChopsfromHell website. 

This was his first instructional video and frankly, its very good. There's an absolute mountain of licks (all with clear explanations) along with some in concert clips, and a couple of improvised studio solos. 

Amongst the subjects covered are alternate picking (well...yes...) legato, sweep picking, diminished arpeggios, minor triad arpeggios on one string, string skipping, triadic studies without sweeping, some tapping licks, tremolo picking and of course a section on the double guitar/favoured guitars/amps/pedals.

I really can't fault the video for its educational material in the slightest and I have to say that while I'm not a huge fan of his playing this is a video I worked hard to get under my fingers and learnt a lot into the bargain.

*The Guitar Chapter - Michael Romeo



*Another SS.org perennial favourite Michael Romeo needs absolutely no introduction as a World-Class Guitarist, Composer and Musician. Released by Young Guitar Magazine "The Guitar Chapter" examines his stunning technique, and breaks down a number of songs from the earlier Symphony X albums. ​The technique section doesn't cover the development of each technique as much as it does Michael's own particular applications in the context of a few different scale/arpeggio types (and some of this is seriously quick): 

Alternate Picking, Economy Picking, String Skipping, Legato (Diminished, Whole Tone, Harmonic Minor, Pentatonic) Pivot Licks, Sweep Picking
and some killer examples of his awesome tapping technique. 

The Guitar Chapter Guitar Pro Tab by Michael Romeo @ Ultimate-Guitar.Com



Need I say its worth watching? Go watch it


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## Harry (May 19, 2009)

One instructional DVD I've had for a while. I'm not sure when it was originally released, I'm guessing around 1990-1991 though judging from the content
A lot of the classic signature Yngwie licks are featured in this video as well as other techniques like volume swells, the stuff he does with delay pedals, a bit about his actual compositions, playing blues in the style he does and he discusses his guitars and rig (of the time, which hasn't changed a whole lot anyway since then).
While he doesn't actually go through it, there are plenty of moments to observe his incredible vibrato technique throughout the video.

If I must be honest, he doesn't explain most of the stuff very well and when he plays a lick 'slowed down' for you, it's still too fast for some people who might not be too good with their ear training, although I imagine if you slow down the DVD via your DVD player/DVD software, you should be able to hear the licks at a speed your ears can digest.
That said, he is somewhat entertaining and amusing in this video and I've watched it again and again purely because of that and it's always amazing to see the remarkable effortless of his playing and vibrato technique.
A side note, he plays in Eb just as he would usually, which may or may not bother you.


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## ShadyDavey (May 19, 2009)

I tracked down the whole thing on YouTube - nice review Harry


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## ShadyDavey (May 24, 2009)

*Progressive Metal Guitar - David T Chastain*



Over the years David has achieved very significant underground exposure and very favourable reviews - including comparisons to the recognised greats of instrumental guitar such as Vai, Malmsteen, Holdsworth and Johnson. He's certainly a very prolific artist (around 50 recordings under his belt) and claims to have never missed a day's practice, or stolen a lick from another guitar player.



Now, as an affecionado of shred guitar I do have a number of CD's from Mr Chastain, but I have never been able to track down a full copy of this instructional video, so I can't in any way give a review thats as comprehensive as I would like. 

Judging from the background from his website there's nothing particularly ground-breaking about the subjects covered here but it does seem that he's made an effort to address a lot of the scales made popular in contemporary metal - the Major scales and modes, harmonic minor, melodic minor, gypsy, diminished, chromatic etc, and thence moves on to a couple of sections on creativity, moulding your own signature sound and each section is illustrated with a short band performance featuring Scott Travis (drums)/John Billings (bass).

David has always been a difficult player for me to listen to - he's got a lot of speed in his playing but his technique (admittedly very smooth) and tone (thin, too much chorus) make it a chore to listen to runs as the notes seem to meld together without really leaving a distinctive tonallity behind (check out the second video). This leaves a lot of his compositions (to my mind at least) bereft of the sort of variety we would expect from a player of this purported caliber. I suspect that given the evidence thus far his video isn't going to be of particular interest to casual players, but of course will be devoured by devotees.

*The Diminished Scale for Guitar - Jean Marc Belkadi






Advanced Scale Concepts and Licks for Guitar - Jean Marc Belkadi






Slap and Pop Technique for Guitar - Jean Marc Belkadi





*
MIT Alumni and guitar coach to (amongst others) Dweezil Zappa, JMB is a highly regarded Jazz player and GP columnist who has recieved critical accliam from such luminaries as Frank Gambale - in short, he can play and definately knows his theory.

All of these books feature full-band examples for his concepts and although his tone could do with some work, every nuance is demonstrated with clarity and every concept explained well. 

Each book is quite short, and clearly dedicated to a very specific area of guitar playing but that also means that each book is inexpensive, and to the point. I really can't find fault with any of his work that I've seen thus far so I'll give you a brief rundown on each book in turn.
_
Diminished Scales for Guitar._

Diminished Scales in a Tonal Context, Diminished Scales with Chromaticism, Diminished Triads, Diminished Arpeggios and Polytonalities - in short everything you need to know about the diminished scale, arpeggios and how to use them. 

Starting from the very basic intervallic sctructure of the scale itself, to fretboard patterns, and licks from basic to advanced string-skipping/tapping ideas he manages to cram an awful lot of material into 32 pages.

_Advanced Scale Concepts and Licks for Guitar

_In all honesty this is one of the better books I've seen on the subject of scales and using them in a musical context. Pentatonic, Whole Tone, Harmonic Minor, Melodic Minor and Diminished Scales (with modes of course) are all examined and them utilised to create some interesting lines in order to use in your own playing. Some of his technical approaches might be a little too much for intermediate players (depending on their overall chops) but I really can't think of another book covering the subject as well whilst retaining a refreshing sense of brevity.

_Slap and Pop Techniques for Guitar

_A trifle misleading in that the actual Slap/Pop techniques aren't covered other that in passing (thankfully of course neither is difficult to grasp) but there's a large variety of examples in a number of different musical styles from funk, to Samba, Reggae and R&B. Some of these are going to be fiendishly tricky and until you take the time to sit down with a metronome to examine the rhythmic aspces of each example it could be easy to become overwhelmed.

Of the three books covered this is perhaps the most unique and as books on this area of the guitar are very few and far between its the one I would recommend most highly - that said of course, all of them are very good and definately wortha few of your cash dollars.


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## ShadyDavey (Jun 4, 2009)

*Star Licks Masters Series - Brian May

*

One of the most unique and instantly recogniseable guitar players ever, Brian's tone, approaches to song writing and inventinve use of effects really need no introduction to any of us and this is his only instructional video - but its a _very _good one.

As with most of the other Master's Series, this is of primary interest to fans of Brian but there are still some hints and tips for anyone interested in classic rock guitar. 

The whole thing kicks off with a very in-depth review of his guitar, amplifiers, and effects before moving swiftly on to cover the guitar parts from some of his most famous tunes:



Lick 1 "Liar" solo (4:09-4:17)
Lick 2 "Modern Times Rock'n'Roll" solo (1:13-1:21)
Lick 3 "Jesus" solo-scale (3:07-3:13)
Lick 4 "Father To Son" (?)
Lick 5 "March Of The Black Queen" (1:37-1:47)
Lick 6 "March Of The Black Queen" (5:06-5:16)
Lick 7 "Brighton Rock" (1:53-1:57)
Lick 8 "Bohemian Rhapsody" 1st solo
Lick 9 "Tie Your Mother Down" solo, before slide (2:59-3:12)
Lick 10 "Sombody To Love" solo (1:59-2:21)
Lick 11 "It's Late" (3:37-3:48)
Lick 12 "Dead On Time" (1:47-1:58) The complete solo but in two separate parts
Lick 13 "Dead On Time" (1:58-2:02)
Lick 14 "Dragon Attack" (2:11-
Lick 15 "Put Out The Fire" -2:19)
Lick 16 "It's A Hard Life", not exactly, Brian shows what he would have liked to play in the original record (3:07-3:11)
Lick 17 "Star Fleet" The scales going up, explain the two guitar, Eddie Van Halen's and his. (3:56-4:03)
Lick 18 "Love Of My Life" Played with the Red Special, very interesting. Like in the original record Brian doesn't play the same as he does live, and this version is the live one. Here the time is from the "Live At Wembley '86" version.(0:45-1:41)
Lick 19 "Keep Yourself Alive" All Intro. (0:08-0:33)
Lick 20 "Crazy Little Thing Called Love" All solo, but without the Telecaster (1:19-1:34)
Again an expanation of the delays, playing the slow part of Brighton Rock Solo.
Fascinating, recommended viewing and a great insight into one of the greats. Just watch out for the clogs 

*Shred-O-Mania - Todd Duane*

__

Todd has been quietly renowned as one of the better shredders for some time and whilst obviously made on a budget of about $5 the material covered on his video is actually very good:

[SIZE=-1]alternate picking warmup/alternate picking licks
[/SIZE][SIZE=-1]combination licks [/SIZE]
 [SIZE=-1]hybrid picking [/SIZE]
 [SIZE=-1]chromatic blues licks [/SIZE]
 [SIZE=-1]partial picking
[/SIZE][SIZE=-1]string skipping [/SIZE]
 [SIZE=-1]bonus material:
"jesu, joy of man's desiring", "für elise", some acoustic shredding, and a final section on gear. 
 
A quick aside about the quality of some of the CFH videos - as I'm sure you're no doubt aware some of them are made on a shoestring and the editing, production, sound quality and graphics are of a distinctly inferior standard when compared to REH or DHL. Now....I don't see that as a massive problem personally simply because the information is still presented in a perfectly legible manner, and it gives struggling guitar players the chance to make a name for themselves in what is becoming an increasingly bloated marketplace.

With that out of the way its hard to write anything particularly insightful about the video - its all played very nicely, explained clearly, and covers a well-above-average collection of finger-busting licks. Worth watching for sure 


 [/SIZE]


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## shadowlife (Jun 4, 2009)

Great thread, thanks for the effort.

I've seen the complete Chastain video, he does explain a few different ways of using the same scale to get a different sound, and it's a cool feature that after every section, he plays with the band to show you what it sounds like in context. Too much of the video is wasted on showing you different fingerings for the same scale IMO. However, there a couple of cool odd scale sections (hungarian minor!) that are a bit out of the norm.
Having said that, i don't think this video would really appeal to anyone other than fans or metal guys looking for something different.


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## Santuzzo (Jul 31, 2009)

Awesome !

Thank you very much, Dave, for this great thread.


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## ShadyDavey (Aug 1, 2009)

You're welcome dude. 

I'm still finding more pieces to review - its getting tougher but I'll post what I can, when I can 

*Terry Syrek - Shred is not Dead
*
YouTube - Terry Syrek*







*Terry is another little known player with some serious credentials (graduated from Berklee, Senior Faculty at the National Guitar Workshop) and the musician's he's worked with almost reads like a who's who of cutting edge guitar playing (aul Gilbert (RacerX, Mr. Big, solo), John Petrucci (Dream Theater), Marty Friedman (Megadeth, solo), Zakk Wilde (Ozzy Osboourne, Black Label Society), Allan Holdsworth, Reb Beach (Winger, Whitesnake), Vinnie Moore, Ty Tabor (Kings X, solo), Brett Garsed amongst others).

He's clearly a very capable player and this is a cut above the average instructional book (despite the slighlty hokey cover ^^).

Quick run-down of the topics covered:

Chapter one technique 
Alternate Picking 
Single-String Picking 
Two Notes per String 
Sweep Picking 

Chapter two improvisation 
Quick Theory Review 
MODES 
Arpeggios 
Relative Pentatonics 
Alternate Pentatonics 
The Harmonic Minor Scale and Its Modes 
The Melodic Minor Scale and its modes 
A Doorway Between Scales 
Melodic Minor and the Power Chord 
Visualization 
Four-Notes-per-String Fingerings 

Chapter three rhythm 
Odd Time 

Chapter four practice 
Concentration 
Warming-Up 
Get Your Mind in the Right Place 

Chapter five advanced soloing 
Altered Chords 

Chapter six harmony review 
Intervals 
Triads 
7 Chords 
Tensions 
Altered Chords 
Slash Chords 
Sus Chords

As you can see there's a lot of information presented here and I'd better note that this isn't really a book for beginners. There's definately some material they could use but most of the theory and examples are of more use to the Intermediate/Advanced player. Having listed the contents there's actually little more I can do to address the material because frankly its excellent - concise and clearly demonstrated as well as being indepth enough to present a lot of musical concepts to study.

(slight criticism - he chooses not to name any of the harmoic minor modes because there are varying names for each mode depending on whom you ask - I think listing all of them would have been helpful in this case).

Sadly Terry is suffering from a progressive degenerative hand condition and isn't certain how long he'll have left with the ability to make music so I urge you to check him out now.


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