How To Shred On Guitar - Its Not That Hard! 

changing to starting with an upstroke just blew my brain apart

It’s the “ play it faster” part that is the trouble for some of us. We get how the scale goes…

Great point, most don't realize the choices you make in picking direction have such a great effect on the ease of the passage. As a guitar instructor I'll add a bonus tip. Most people try way too hard to play fast and that manifests in tension in the hands. It's impossible to play with tense hands. What you have to do is find the fastest you can play cleanly with relaxed, loose hands and that is your practice speed. You want to maintain that relaxed, loose feeling as you progress in speed. If you push too far and tense up, practicing in that tension level, you're just teaching yourself how to get injured or plateau hitting the wall of what is possible for you in that tense state. Watch Yngwie Malmsteen's hands and you will see the way.

I love it as a great exercise to improve my playing. I'm a very old and slow player with arthritis, part of the index finger on my pick hand missing, and generally . . . pathetic. Yet, by learning these scales slowly and gradually increasing my speed, it improves my playing overall, and for that I am very grateful. Thank you for your talent and expertise!

Fantastic lesson Paul! Would love to see more like this as you explain things very well 👍

I was trying to make an etude like this, but here it is all laid out for me. All fingers involved, stretching, moving up the neck, and accuracy. Thanks so much for this. 😀

You mentioned ‘light bulb moment’ which is exactly what I had while watching your video! The efficiency improvement I got after adjusting my up down or down up stroke made a huge difference! It really opened some doors that I have been missing for a long time! Thanks for sharing and opening some doors of creativity! 🤟😀 This may have been one of the most helpful videos I have seen yet!

This is literally the only video so far that ive watched on YT that i actually could follow, understand and then copy/learn very clear n simple instructions for once, well done m8 thanx🤘🤙

One of the cleanest and tasteful “Shredders” I’ve ever come across. Awesome breakdown Sensei ❤

Excellent Lesson!! Thank You.

Real world useable lesson (and lovely clean playing), thanks!

Great lesson! Loving that PT signature guitar!

Thank you. This is Excellent and a huge help. Appreciate.

This was the best studio rats video that I’ve seen yet!!

Thank you Paul.. Very cool lesson.. Love this channel!

Awesome! Always good content on your channel and this sparked a few great ideas...thanks Paul!

Paul, you are so humble. I love listening to you play. Your picking style is so blazingly fast and clean when you pick. This lesson was super helpful as usual. I always get excited when new Studio Rats content is published, but scares me all the same because I’m worried I’ll go shopping the next day 😁. Great playing Paul, so tasteful!

Absolutely brilliant 👏🙏

Finally something I can learn from that doesn't seem so overwhelming, great video

Great lesson. I’m with Paul. Tasteful note choice is always best but shred in moderation is fun and if you play in a band it goes down a storm as long as it not all night. I’ve found if you work on your technique and fast playing your normal playing becomes much better. I never thought I’d be able to play fast but during lockdown I had the time to practice every day and it started to come together. And with the utmost respect as I’m not an expert but I’ve made all the usual mistakes start slow with a click and build the speed slowly.

Great lesson Paul, thanks!

Thanks. It’s a killer lesson. Super fun and just what I need to push me along. Keep ripping !!!!

Nice. Gonna work on it this weekend. Thanks from the guys and gals who’ve never had a lesson.

Great break down… made the insane seem obvious! Fantastic teaching style! Thanks!

I love your picking, it's not super fast but you have a super clear attack and note separation

Love this Paul . Thank you . 🇦🇺🎶

Don't kid yourself. Paul , You can Shred. Always love your vids!

GOOD lesson man!! i needed this!! everything has kinda clicked now with lead! i had 3 notes per string down really good, but was kinda stuck going up and down with my 3 nps shred licks, and then would kinda blindy try to find new areas on neck to apply other 3nps licks, but now i can see in real time a map of the fret board as i follow these 3 note shapes left and right since it's just another easy little pattern to memorize. the going up and down part was easy for me with 3 nps, the where the hell do i go next was the issue. this video, along with some robert baker evh shred lick videos, are a game changer for me!

Awesome lesson and thank you for sharing your tips ❤

Great lesson!

Awesome! Thanks for the lesson. Killer playing!

Great video, thanks for sharing!

That right hand technique is where it's at. Great video!

Man Paul you rock. I am on my way home and going to work on there as soon as I get in the house. Thank you

That was an awesome lesson 👏

Thank you for the lesson! You are a great player!!

Hand synchronization, fretting hand dexterity, picking hand technique. Focus on those 3 things until they blend together and don’t hold each other back. Once this is achieved you have shred 😀

Brilliant explanation. Thanks

Thanks for the tip! Keep on shedddding!

Love this. I don't want to play fast... but I kind of totally do! There's just something satisfying about it.

You make it look very easy sir!

FINALLY...truly valuable lesson, mate. Ta!

That’s great Paul Thanks

OK, the thumbnail is just priceless.....and the lesson as well.

Paul Gilbert influence on display 😊great lesson Sir.

Awesome lesson! thanks!

This is an AWESOME lesson Paul Thanks man!! Similar to the style of Gary Moore ... In fact.... if you could give us a tutorial on the legends runs... THAT would be amazing!! 🤘

Very nice, will practice that! Though it would be great to hear it played against a backing track, to get a feel for the chord changes.

Great lesson learned thank you 🙏 😊

Thank you for sharing

Great info ! Thanks

hey folks... this is a great lesson... hit the video thumbs up to help this channel get noticed so we can get more videos like this !! cheers !!

Great lesson 👍Ill be working on this starting now ,and you shred awfully well, and looks like your digging that Suhr Pete Thorn Signature

Man that’s great for a workout... I do like your descending crossroads lick... it has really helped!... cheers!. Haven’t thought about this since pablo gilberto’s pickicking primer years ago... some folks hate this but if you dont over use it people will be impressed. Haha.

Hell yeah. Thanks

Nice! The cool thing about your "shredding scale" is it sounds great slow as well. It would work as a sweet blues lick.

I honestly needed this after like 10 years of playing and getting sloppy.

This is a brilliant lesson ive been playing for donkeys yrs. This is hopefully giing to crack the code for me to build speed. Gotta put the hours in.

Paul says : I'm noi a shredder Two minutes later: Shreds like a monster! You are awesome Paul!!!!

When you play it clean, it actually sounds amazing. I much prefer that over the distortion.

Great tutorial - bookmarked! Going to practice this for the next couple of weeks to see my progression.

Killer tone!

Excellent video 👌🔥💯

WOW........ THANK YOU, To the woodshed I go ! Philip.

Thanks, you might have just solved my many years of frustration.

Cheers Paul! Could you do a couple more videos where you explore your more complex runs like this one? As a long term viewer, your runs are different enough that this would provide us with insight in how small changes to a progression dovetails into creating a varied shredding lick repertoire.

I am in love with that particular crunch tone. Can you please describe your tone chain....please? I don't get impressed ofter... but that tone is mighty fine..

great

Love this little lesson. Keep them coming Paul. Have a go at Hot Wired by Brent Mason and see how you find it. I'd love some tips for that hybrid chicken pickin style :)

Very cool video - thank you sir (L&S)

This video is best ever on youtube most guys wanna tell ya to much mumble jumble but i dig how ya get right to it no, no boring rambling, i have a old peavy bass amp and the ins rattled loose how do yo fix them so i can plug in, do ya have any fixing vids or can ya send me someone who can show ,..wish i could afford to buy one but still waiting for my bit connect settlement...

Hey nice video man

You have a fat awesome tone, do you have a video of how do you accomplish that?

Thanks for this awesome lesson Paul. I also like your amp and amp sim recommendations. Bought the katana mk2 100 and the scuffham s gear 3.0 Just using the scuffham amp sim to be honest 😅😬

Paul! That was what I needed. Shared with a friend. Pick attack! I'm not a shredder but I do need to speed up to play something other than Mary had a little lamb. Funny still!

Nice video

thank you!!

I n my opinion, you are the cleanest and most precise player on the tube🔥 Up there with Martin Miller, thanks for the lesson 😁

As usual Paul, you never cease to amaze me with not only your skills, but you ability to related to guitarist at every level. Thanks for sharing your gift & knowledge!

Note Mashing a scale on 2 strings and truly ...."SHREDDING" are 2 vastly different things. Like you said, "it's all about note selection.",,,,.I recommend the Pagannini Caprices, Bach Violin Sonata's, Kreutzer Etudes, Paul Gilbert Instructional Video's, and many, many hours of practice. Good luck. (Troy Grady's "Cracking The Code" is INCREDIBLE as well)

Just when I think your left hand economy is amazing, I notice your picking technique and the complete lack of wasted motion. And the faster you play the more efficient you seem to get-

Are those shredding shorts? Dang, that's what I've been doing wrong! Kidding aside, Love the channel.

Hey Paul.. Slow down that last lick and show us with those tabs!!!! Killa playing.

OMG, that solved a lot of problems starting on an upstroke

This is where I struggle on guitar. Fast lines with alternate picking, lines that contain more than six notes... Those I usually fall apart on. I'm doing a little speed course to see if it will help. The left hand, which is my fretting hand, is doing great, but the right hand (picking hand) is where the problems arise. Staying loose and relaxed works well, but sometimes I think I make larger, longer moves of the pick than I need to, especially when I pick downward, but next need to move to the string above, or I pick upward and need to move to the string below. That jump over the string I just picked doesn't always go cleanly, I often catch it a little when going to the other string. It's hard!

how do you know in each song or a lick if it better to start with an upstroke or a downtroke?

If playing lead guitar solo - should you as standard just pick up down throughout? Or is there any other way to approach?

Its Not Hard To Shred On Guitar...no but you cannot do anything of that in a spanish or acustic guitar...it´s another world

Hi Paul. When playing 'cowboy chords' are you still keeping that same thumb position or is it advisable to bring the thumb up when speed isn't the main focus?

0:38 I agree 100000000%, if ppl r gonna shred it SHOUKD be in 3 to 6 notes n slow down sounds way better

The video was titled how to shred, but all I saw was a scale pattern using 3 note groups and to use economy picking. How do you actually get quicker?

That is a perfect run to get your hands moving like a real "shredder". The modern shred guitarists seem to mostly sweep pick arpeggios, which I never really liked. Maybe my ears prefer Jazz, Funk, Blues, Rock, Country to those "Neo-Classical" sounds naturally.

Normally for this sort of stuff I just sorta fake it by plucking the first note on each string and then doing hammer ons for the rest. Definitely gonna try this exercise tonight, and see if I can learn to do it right

What would be a good bpm goal for this on a metronome?

my main prob is my plucking not sync with fretting. i hardly get it in sync.

I want to learn Michael Romeo Hybrids solo so bad

Paul, I noticed the chair you're sitting in doesnt have arms but appears to resembale a herman miller aeron that you may have removed the arms. Is it an Aeron or something else? Looking everywhere for a comfortable chair where the arms dont get in the way of playing. Thanks and cheers!

Hi Paul, actually I don't know if starting with an upstroke is more efficient, cause you have the same problem when you have to jump on the initial string again. Simply you prefer inside string shift, but stilk you have to orient your pick all the time when you shift string. It's what troy grady calls the pickslanting

Dying to master this but that stretch, 3-5-7 is wrecking my wrist.

Learning from the best lml