News: the future of shred guitar…

News:
26-11-2007:
Mario Parga posts some interesting ideas on his blog: http://blog.marioparga.com/. What do you guys think?

A Road to Nowhere… Death Valley, 2007

Is there any wonder why the ‘shred’ guitar has such a bad reception these days…

I can remember when the shred guitar movement developed back in the 80’s. I was lucky enough to be a part of it. It was an exciting time for guitarists, and an exciting time for guitar instrumental music. Out of nowhere, players emerged who could play beyond the ‘normal’, and took the electric guitar to a whole new level.

Most of these players could really play the guitar. I don’t mean just a fast alternate picked scale or a sweep arpeggio, they could play the guitar. Just by being able to pick a scale at speed or sweep an arpeggio shape doesn’t make someone a proficient or good guitarist. A real guitarist has to learn to walk before running. Rhythm, melody, string control, tone, vibrato, style and finesse are essential factors yet sadly missing in a lot of the shred movement’s newer generation.

Have you ever heard pianists talking purely about how fast they can play? What about saxophonists, cellists, or classical guitarists? The fixation with speed tends to be associated with the electric guitar, in particular the shred genre. Maybe it’s because the electric guitar is still a relatively new instrument compared to the others mentioned? Yes, I’m well aware of the fascination with Paganini’s violin technique during his lifetime (and beyond), but I’m also aware of the fact that he could compose and had a great sense of melody. His slower emotive playing was well documented too, he was capable of reducing his audience to tears, and regularly did so. How many shred guitarists can claim this?

In this internet age, faceless wannabes who perhaps can’t even play or compose sit behind computer monitors voicing opinions on internet forums about silly topics such as how fast their favourite guitarists can play, or how many notes someone else can sweep-pick, and who can make the most noises with a whammy bar, etc. These cyber-critics, whilst slightly comical, are turning people off shred/virtuoso guitar more than they realise, and encouraging novice players to go in search of fool’s gold. These novice players then video themselves in their bedrooms playing fast tuneless licks and post them on YouTube and MySpace, proving to the anti-shred brigade that they were right all along. I don’t mean to be harsh with the forum-dwellers, I understand and appreciate their enthusiasm, and I’m sure they mean well in principal; but to be honest, I and other music industry folk couldn’t give a fuck who picks faster or taps more notes than someone else! When I was a kid learning to play, I never once thought about such things. That’s not what music is about.

I receive a fair bit of mail from around the world, a substantial part of it from the younger generation of new potential shredders asking for advice and tips. Whilst a lot of them are sensible and realistic with their goals, quite a few of them tell me that they’ve only been playing for a short while yet want to learn how to play fast straight away. I try and point them in the right direction; some will take my advice, undoubtedly others won’t. We should be encouraging younger players to become rounded, solid guitarists with a great musical vocabulary, not some silly short-lived circus act.

Due to the circles I mix in, I often hear conversations about music by people in the music business, mostly well established musicians and record company executives. Whenever the topic of shred or instrumental guitar comes up, these people usually say the same three things; 1) that shred guitar albums leave them cold, 2) shred guitarists can’t write anything of any worth, and 3) they’re bored of listening to fast licks void of melody. As much as I find myself defending the shred movement, I have to agree that the above applies to a lot of wannabe shredders… If shred guitarists want to succeed in the business, I think they’ll find that speed alone won’t help them.

For the future of shred and for the love of music, let’s move on from the obsession with speed alone and focus our attention on composition, control and well placed solos with melodic note choices, otherwise our beloved genre will be destined to remain in the realm of cheap home videos in cyberspace…

Remember, ’shred’ is another word for ‘virtuoso’ in guitar talk. Virtuosity isn’t limited to speed alone.