This is from the Jamzone. Here we do some speed metal solo techniques. Yes, it's time to shred!!
Most of the solo isn't too difficult - until the end. That's where it's full speed ahead, and the reason for the difficulty rating of this ActionTab. Listen to the normal speed audio first. If you aren't up to it yet, then leave this ActionTab alone until you've got fast with the ActionTabs called Guitar Shred 1 and Guitar Shred 2. Those specific techniques will help you a lot here. Also, learning the fingertapping lead for Speed Metal 1 Solo A (in the Jamzone) will help.
As you know from the backing track, the rhythm guitar is mostly chugging through the low E, with stabs on the E5, F5, F#5 and G#5 chords at the beginning of each bar.
So for this solo, we start out slow...making a little melody from the same E, F, F#, G notes that are used on the rhythm guitar. There's nothing too hard here, we're just following the rhythm and then sliding up to play 1 octave higher (again, using E, F, F# G notes for our melody).
However, this time, use fast picking - follow the bass drum with alternate down / upstrokes, just like we did with the rhythm guitar, but easier because there's no palm muting here and only single notes are picked, not powerchords!
At the end of this fast picking, we play a nice little lick, starting with the bend on the B. The backing music here shifts between G5 and G flat5 chords, and we change the melody notes to break away from the consistent E minor(ish) scale that we've been using up to this point. We play into a D diminished scale, before returning to E minor again with the backing music.
You should have no problems with that part, however, at the end of it things are going to heat up a lot! Divebomb the Low E (pick it and lower the whammy bar). This divebomb does a few important things....it sounds cool, it cues the listener to the change in pace that's about to happen, plus it gives you time to move your fingers up to the 14th fret, ready to shred.
Start by repeating just the 6 notes along the Low E and A strings. From this note to this note. Start slowly and cycle through the notes - use constant alternate picking (down / upstrokes). Just play and play, with no gaps until you can get the speed up. This will take practice - a little each day. Your fingers need to develop dexterity and speed before consistently playing fast without problems. Switching between strings without gaps can be tricky at first, but with practice, you'll get it.
Once you've got those 6 notes repeating fast, move on to the next 6 on the D and G strings. Same deal with the practice, but this will be much easier if you've already got the hang of the previous lick.
From these runs, use the whammy bar on the high bend, and also here.
After the quick slide, bring your hand straight up to begin fingertapping, starting by hammering your first finger on the G. Immediately begin the triplet fingertapping, getting higher and higher (8 triplets per bar, then tap 1 fret higher and repeat until the end).
Even if these speeds seem very hard, always remember that it takes practice. Break it down and get each part right slowly before speeding up. As your fingers get more used to the speed (for both hands) and learn to co-ordinate together at higher speeds, then these same techniques will serve you very well. Always keep the fun in things too, practice alone won't make you a good musician....make up your own scale runs and fingertapping sequences over the backing tracks and try out your own ideas. See if you can hear something in your head that would sound good, and see if you can make it happen over other backing tracks. This will greatly improve your knowledge and understanding of playing well!
