This guy is far from discouraging me. I played about 10 hours yesterday, and now I realize I'll have to do more to catch up. If anything, this guy gives me drive I never could imagine a year ago. I will be this good, even if it kills me in process. This man is an inspiration.
So he was already fast when he was 13...hell, I didnt even start guitar until I was fifteen. Between Vai, Satch and lane all saying how they were doing stuff like teaching or already being fast by the time they were 15 or 16 makes this impression that if you aren't as good as them by the time you're 16, there's no point in trying. it's discouraging, I can tell you that.
@MapleLeafAce Who says you need to be as good as them? I think there's a point where they reach their peak, making it entirely possible to overtake them in terms of skill at some point, but maybe the fact that someone better than you is discouraging means you shouldn't be playing guitar in the first place. Embrace it and learn from them.
@MapleLeafAce That's not true. If you start later you will just be older when you're at the level they were at 16. You notice he said he's no better technically now than when he was 16. After you master the technique you then can try to master the music which is a lot harder and takes a lifetime.Technique wise I'm no better than I was 30 years ago but musically I'm way beyond what I was then. That's why I believe that technical skill, while hard, is the easy part.
@tbcass The way I beat that is, I write solos I can't play. That way, every time I write a new song i have forced my technique into a higher level. And like Maple, I started guitar at 17 noticing the same, so many players hit the scene with their max level and never improve.
I agree completely. Here at age 16, very little is truly out of my ability to play (Shawn Lane and rare others are my only real challenges), but I still have much room for improvement. Once I finish learning proper technique (I can shred like crazy, but it's not as clean as I'd like), then I can move on to more musical things. It's a never ending process really, with no real stopping point, but it's a fun process nonetheless, one I don't plan to stop anytime soon.
@PGspeed88 You have a very realistic and mature attitude about music. You will go a long way. Too many young musicians think that once they master the technique it's all they need. Consequently they never get any better.
I hope to be in a band someday, as a way of life; however, I know it's a longshot, so I plan to go to college and come out a high school band director (or with the qualifications of), just in case. In band now I play trombone, and can play some piano, saxophone, and baritone. I will keep at it with the guitar, though, as a sort of side project from my high school teaching career (extra cash). Again, it's an endless journey, but worthwhile.
for cannonball adderley he really meant 'jazz at the plaza', a live album from the 1958 miles era, the actual album itself has neither straight no chaser nor oleo, just that live one.
@ChiZ712 The album contains "If I were a bell", "Straight, no chaser", "My funny valentine" and "Oleo". Worth a listen if you want to understand why Shawn was SO into odd rhythmic groupings.
from watching his guitar videos and hearing his albums it made me practice much more on guitar, then i found out how much a genius he is with music theory so i upped my music theory practice. then i saw this video about two years ago and upped my piano practice.
I can honestly say that this man forever changed my life and I'm eternally grateful for him and for whoever posts these videos
I studied with Shawn lane for years !! he alternate picks all his notes .. strickly stacato.. no lagato---- and i remember at the AIM school of music.. some idiot asked him how he got so fast.. and Jonas answered.... lol ... do lots of drugs!!!
His first instructional video "Power Licks" sometimes cuts to close-ups of his picking hand - watch all parts, it's a gem: /watch?v=Oy_72vI6bSI#t=3m50s
In this one he explains the angle of his pick: /watch?v=YeiPQNpns4Y
super nice guy and the scariest chops of all time.i miss him alot.ur chanel is just amazing man.endless thanx 2 MYSHAWNLANEVIDEOS!UR VIDS mean alot2me no joke,peace.
@Morenumbers12345678 Shawn Lane Power Licks Part 5. It's on youtube and demonstrates him picking a diminished lick. Basically, what you can't see is the he held the pick between his thumb and index finger, pointing upwards at anywhere from a 45 to 90 degree angle. He was double jointed (as is George Benson who uses a similar technique) so this works for him, but for most is virtually impossible.
I have a question do people use their index finger or their thumb when they're picking that fast because i try to use my index and thumb to try to move to different strings
I remember I gave this advice to someone in a forum stating its not for everyone but it helps, and some other guy told me that it's the worse advice he ever heard. I'd love to wipe the floor with him. As much as lane rips everyone else
@djziggurat Bear in mind that Shawn also said the best thing for him was to practice piano, and that's terrible advice for most guitarists wanting to shred it up. :P
It's very VERY important when passing on Shawn's advice from this vid to notice that Shawn is talking about FRACTURING a process, ie, working on it slow most of the time and then using speed bursts some of the time.
Which forum, out of interest? I mod the Technique section of UG...
woah. no wonder i learned guitar so fast. when i first started playing i did the same thing. The end result of this process playing it slow like only 2 or 3 times then just losing your patience and goin way beyond your level. but after thats done and over with you just work on playing it full speed and cleaning it up. Shawn lane is brilliantly smart
@Killzor420 John Petrucci: paraphrase: say you've been working on a technique for a while, and you cant quite get it down at a certain tempo. back it up, get it down slow, and then kill yourself and try to play it way beyond what you can, and then go back and clean it up at a desired tempo. what cleverdjembe is talking about is woodshedding exctly right.
i like the advice on rhythmic fragments groups of 3's 4's 5's etc it's a really good way to develop new ideas first time i've come across this guy he's damn good too wonder what guitar he's using looks like a jackson but the logo's different i cant quite make it out
He is a genius makes perfect sense I was trying to play malmsteen at 13 and theres no way i could do it but i would try to pick and move my fingers as fast as i could and it did sound sloppy and unfortunatley i never got to finish the "cleaning up part" Shawn was talking about either
Yer it was some form of arththric psoriosis I think?
Anyway, im so glad Shawn said this because I used to always just "go for it" and try and play what I want and clean it up later. I could never stand the boredom of practicing something slow lol
Its different for different people, but generally you need to start off slowly so that you can get the technique down.
Its best to engage your whole brain, so you need the mathematical side to handle the patterns and speed, and then the creative side to just "go for it". This guy sounds very mathematical, but hes saying the same thing. You do need to come at this from different angles so that you dont become too focused on just the technique, and you can make it musical.
I really think this is great musical advice that Shawn gives, because when I took guitar lessons, every teacher told me to start real slow and then gradually get faster...That to me was real painful. Now I just learn the lick, get the notes down and just play it as fast as possible! To me Shawn's method is much better...IT WORKS!
Thats interesting what he says about speed, I have had it drummed into me that slow is better, but now that I think about it I did it before where I tried to play a lick silly fast, then slowed it down to clean it up and it worked a treat!
i can't get into his playing really, it's just tooo fast that it gets ridiculous, i've tried many times to listen to powers of ten and get into it, but just can't - but the guy was an awesome musician still, and a great teacher.
@jani14jani Most of his Live versions of "Get You Back" have insane outro solos.... or check out some of his Live drum & Guitar solos.
Do a search on my channel for "Shawn Lane & Sean Rickman - Drum & Guitar solo (RARE FOOTAGE!!)"...... and watch it in HD. That has some ridiculously insane stuff in it!!
neh man, im sure you can play that speed on 1 note? so really you can play as fast you just cant sync up the notes at that speed, but you can do it :D
thanks for replying.i just lack motivation to practise the guitar,regularly.some days i can practice,but other days,i don't even look at the guitar!!!as i try and teach myself,it is hard to know what to practice as well!!but the most difficult part is getting the motivation to want to practice,when you suck at playing,as i do.but i won't give up haha!!!peace!!!
well keep practicing :D though (sorry) i doubt you'll get to his level (gotta be born with that) but with enough practice u could easily get to most fast guitarists level ^^ still takes quite a bit of practice (around 10000 hrs :o)
noone is born with guitar skills, but some are in fact born with a talent for music and getting the soul and feel into instruments like guitar, which anyways feel and soul is something that is more important than technique and no amount of practice can give you what naturally talented musicians have
I have always learned songs the way he says...I just play the song as fast as i possibly can. Even if its sloppy, your getting the sounds and the feeling down. then you can start working on cleaning it up and making it perfect
I've always wondered why he used that tone when giving instruction. It's a big mess of reverb, delay and the like, which really doesn't help. He also plays the examples so fast, it's hard to hear what he means by them.
Shawn really was one of a kind. I had the honor of seeing him once (Helborg,Lane,Sipes) and I had never heard of him, he was completely unknown to me at the time. All I can say is that show is still as vivid in my mind today as if I had been there only yesterday. He made a real lasting impression. He is going to be missed for a long time...
after hearin him talk, i'm even more convinced, he's ralphy may
ZachMetalAsFuck 2 days ago
One day after my birthday, :)
BucketheadWraith 3 months ago
Yes, this technique is totally true. You can develop mental blocks unless you go for it.
wseeback 3 months ago
This technique totally works although i cant really jump by too msny bpm
mehtabb1 3 months ago
This guy is far from discouraging me. I played about 10 hours yesterday, and now I realize I'll have to do more to catch up. If anything, this guy gives me drive I never could imagine a year ago. I will be this good, even if it kills me in process. This man is an inspiration.
WeepingBurma 4 months ago
i just wish he was still alive to out-shred all these youtube-noobs
Subjugator1866 5 months ago
I've been trying to accomplish this method for the last months, it definitely helped my legato speed.
54NT14G0 5 months ago
@orlandoCF1
You should check out Guthrie Govan, he can do every possible technique or style, extremely well, sometimes inhumanly well
Rocknroller5555 6 months ago
Only two people I can think of that makes me want to stop playing, Shawn and Mr. Holdsworth.
orlandoCF1 6 months ago
So he was already fast when he was 13...hell, I didnt even start guitar until I was fifteen. Between Vai, Satch and lane all saying how they were doing stuff like teaching or already being fast by the time they were 15 or 16 makes this impression that if you aren't as good as them by the time you're 16, there's no point in trying. it's discouraging, I can tell you that.
MapleLeafAce 6 months ago
@MapleLeafAce Who says you need to be as good as them? I think there's a point where they reach their peak, making it entirely possible to overtake them in terms of skill at some point, but maybe the fact that someone better than you is discouraging means you shouldn't be playing guitar in the first place. Embrace it and learn from them.
Softmod 6 months ago
@MapleLeafAce That's not true. If you start later you will just be older when you're at the level they were at 16. You notice he said he's no better technically now than when he was 16. After you master the technique you then can try to master the music which is a lot harder and takes a lifetime.Technique wise I'm no better than I was 30 years ago but musically I'm way beyond what I was then. That's why I believe that technical skill, while hard, is the easy part.
tbcass 5 months ago
@tbcass The way I beat that is, I write solos I can't play. That way, every time I write a new song i have forced my technique into a higher level. And like Maple, I started guitar at 17 noticing the same, so many players hit the scene with their max level and never improve.
freemetalguitar 5 months ago
@tbcass
I agree completely. Here at age 16, very little is truly out of my ability to play (Shawn Lane and rare others are my only real challenges), but I still have much room for improvement. Once I finish learning proper technique (I can shred like crazy, but it's not as clean as I'd like), then I can move on to more musical things. It's a never ending process really, with no real stopping point, but it's a fun process nonetheless, one I don't plan to stop anytime soon.
PGspeed88 2 months ago
@PGspeed88 You have a very realistic and mature attitude about music. You will go a long way. Too many young musicians think that once they master the technique it's all they need. Consequently they never get any better.
tbcass 2 months ago
@tbcass
Well I do thank you for the compliment.
I hope to be in a band someday, as a way of life; however, I know it's a longshot, so I plan to go to college and come out a high school band director (or with the qualifications of), just in case. In band now I play trombone, and can play some piano, saxophone, and baritone. I will keep at it with the guitar, though, as a sort of side project from my high school teaching career (extra cash). Again, it's an endless journey, but worthwhile.
PGspeed88 2 months ago
@PGspeed88
" very little is truly out of my ability to play" waw that's one of the most pretentious statement i'v heard in a while
algrand90 1 month ago
@MapleLeafAce Allan Holdsworth didn't pick up an electric guitar until he was 17
ElixirOnMuteOfficial 4 months ago
His voice sounds like a kinder, less raspy Ralphie May.
GetBackinBlack03 6 months ago
such an inspiration ,just unbelievable
NailedSolo 7 months ago
for cannonball adderley he really meant 'jazz at the plaza', a live album from the 1958 miles era, the actual album itself has neither straight no chaser nor oleo, just that live one.
ChiZ712 7 months ago
@ChiZ712 The album contains "If I were a bell", "Straight, no chaser", "My funny valentine" and "Oleo". Worth a listen if you want to understand why Shawn was SO into odd rhythmic groupings.
aliensporebomb 5 months ago
And like many of his musical heroes Shawn passed away at a young age. :(
bordertown 8 months ago
cannonball adley , a sax player from parkers time
jjohn341 9 months ago
ive noticed on all these shawn lane videos when he plays a scale he almost always ends it on the maj7. i loove it
jmulma 10 months ago
thats probley the best badass charvel ive ever seen id love 2 be able 2 own or even play it for a few hrs it would be amazeing
darknature79 11 months ago
Wow, this is really a fantastic video!! Thank you so so much for posting this !!
HelloAgain151 11 months ago 5
from watching his guitar videos and hearing his albums it made me practice much more on guitar, then i found out how much a genius he is with music theory so i upped my music theory practice. then i saw this video about two years ago and upped my piano practice.
I can honestly say that this man forever changed my life and I'm eternally grateful for him and for whoever posts these videos
spooner1957 11 months ago
Pure genius...this is a national treasure. Thanks for putting this up.
Hydrefyricon 1 year ago
3:47 look at his eyes when he shreds it's like he's having a seizure
JamesGod08 1 year ago 2
At 5:50 who does he mention after Charlie Parker??? Campbell who??
dreamforfreedom 1 year ago
@dreamforfreedom Cannonball Adderley.
MyShawnLaneVideos 1 year ago 4
@MyShawnLaneVideos WOrd thanks man!
dreamforfreedom 1 year ago 2
@MyShawnLaneVideos YES! i read somewhere that ye liked BEBOP! whooooot, charlie parker is amazing everyone should check him out
irockyouroll 11 months ago
@dreamforfreedom CAYYYYYYYYYNNNNNBAWWWWWWWWWL ADDDDDEERRRRLLLLLY
In a jazz voice
cerelilqt 1 year ago 4
SO FAST
TheBigMclargehuge 1 year ago
This has been flagged as spam show
He was too much a good person and a good player
freminick123 1 year ago
He was too much a good person and a good player
freminick123 1 year ago
did shawn do much teaching?
soupie 1 year ago
I studied with Shawn lane for years !! he alternate picks all his notes .. strickly stacato.. no lagato---- and i remember at the AIM school of music.. some idiot asked him how he got so fast.. and Jonas answered.... lol ... do lots of drugs!!!
GenevArtCollective 1 year ago
Comment removed
GenevArtCollective 1 year ago
At 16!? Holy fuck......
bearfeymous 1 year ago
it seems that he was a very nice and humble guy notwithstanding being the fastest guitar player ever.
xuxis2008 1 year ago
whos the second guy he says? charlie parker and cannonball ladderly? I cant make it out
williambentley1234 1 year ago
@williambentley1234
Almost! "Cannonball Adderley"
0ptriX 1 year ago
@williambentley1234 You ignorant white-trash bastard.
Hoopermazing 1 year ago
Is there any video that you can see how he holds his pick when shredding?
Morenumbers123456789 1 year ago
@Morenumbers123456789
His first instructional video "Power Licks" sometimes cuts to close-ups of his picking hand - watch all parts, it's a gem: /watch?v=Oy_72vI6bSI#t=3m50s
In this one he explains the angle of his pick: /watch?v=YeiPQNpns4Y
0ptriX 1 year ago
super nice guy and the scariest chops of all time.i miss him alot.ur chanel is just amazing man.endless thanx 2 MYSHAWNLANEVIDEOS!UR VIDS mean alot2me no joke,peace.
FKApathy 1 year ago
He doesn't look or sound like the meanest shredder of all time! It's like Vin Diesel away from the cameras.
stronglish 1 year ago
Oh man, I thought he was gonna talk about drugs XD, but seriously he's a total influence on my jazz solos.
Kensukeserna14 1 year ago
Does anyone know a video of shawn's picking technique upclose?
Morenumbers123456789 1 year ago
@Morenumbers12345678 Shawn Lane Power Licks Part 5. It's on youtube and demonstrates him picking a diminished lick. Basically, what you can't see is the he held the pick between his thumb and index finger, pointing upwards at anywhere from a 45 to 90 degree angle. He was double jointed (as is George Benson who uses a similar technique) so this works for him, but for most is virtually impossible.
ubustang 1 year ago
@ubustang
Thank you! Im double jointed as him, in the right/correct hand too :) Maybe im gonna be a shawn lane picker when i grow up!(impossible)
Morenumbers123456789 1 year ago
Is he reverse angle picking?
partlyshady 1 year ago
@poshlivsena Well I'm sorry he didn't become the next swing musician then.
deadithink 1 year ago
I can't help but watch the whammy bar flop around
MegaYoshitsune 1 year ago
true you can give different feeling using alternate and hybrid picking
8element 1 year ago
thats how i learned
BrianPurge 1 year ago
Oh my goodness... that is ridicously fast!
superagnitio 1 year ago
Can someone please tell me if he alternate picks or economy picks? thanks
partlyshady 1 year ago
@partlyshady Shawn used both at different times, depending on the note number groupings he was playing.
MyShawnLaneVideos 1 year ago 14
alternate,greetins
yngwiemalmsteen8 1 year ago
@partlyshady Use what you feel better with ;)
GuitarooMan93 6 months ago
he was such a genius he knew so much. when i listen to him all i can think is why'd he have to go so soon.
Jcam1sfly 1 year ago
This has been flagged as spam show
Did Shawn realize it's way too darn fast for us lesser beings to truly notice the difference between those rythmics groupings at that speed? =P
"What a nice guy." The truest comment ever.
KuraiX 1 year ago
Am I the only one who thinks he looks and sounds a little like Ralphie May?
ACDCfreak50 1 year ago
I have a question do people use their index finger or their thumb when they're picking that fast because i try to use my index and thumb to try to move to different strings
GoatMT 1 year ago
/watch?v=PeT5R32SgDg
Straight, No Chaser.
shadowknight132 1 year ago 3
Cheers for that!... great stuff!
MyShawnLaneVideos 1 year ago
@shadowknight132 thanks
turnbacktime 1 year ago
Hey, Anybody know who's name he is saying at 5:50?
I heard Charlie Parker, but I can't make out the 2nd name.
Thanks
fenderstrat81991 1 year ago
@fenderstrat81991
Cannonball Adderley
0ptriX 1 year ago
cannonball adderly- it's a miles davis album
type "58 miles amazon" into google and it will come up. jazz is a great thing to study if you want to expand your harmonic vocabulary.
TuMira85 1 year ago
@TuMira85
Cannonball Adderley is a saxophonist, not a Miles Davis album.
topeka155 1 year ago 2
i know that, i was answering his question,
"whose name is he saying at 5:50"
cannonball adderly- it's a miles davis album
i suppose i could have been a little more precise there. thanks for pointing it out anyway, could see how that could be misread.
TuMira85 1 year ago
I remember I gave this advice to someone in a forum stating its not for everyone but it helps, and some other guy told me that it's the worse advice he ever heard. I'd love to wipe the floor with him. As much as lane rips everyone else
djziggurat 2 years ago
@djziggurat Bear in mind that Shawn also said the best thing for him was to practice piano, and that's terrible advice for most guitarists wanting to shred it up. :P
It's very VERY important when passing on Shawn's advice from this vid to notice that Shawn is talking about FRACTURING a process, ie, working on it slow most of the time and then using speed bursts some of the time.
Which forum, out of interest? I mod the Technique section of UG...
FreepowerUG 1 year ago
I don't remember I'll have to check, and im pretty sure i told him it was just to help, not to try to get faster that way alone, that's just silly
djziggurat 1 year ago
thanks charvin, well-noted
Killzor420 2 years ago
I'd have loved to have seen a "Cracking The Code" ShredCam on Shawn's picking technique.. :<
rxrbxr 2 years ago 6
Practice these rythymic fragments! Shawn was a brilliant musician! Thanks for blessing the world with your knowledge and beautiful music!
burnedoutgolfer 2 years ago 3
WAY too modest = his playing dramatically improved between age 17 and 30.
HEREoverHERE 2 years ago 4
this is exactly how Yngwie Malmsteen developed his speed. same concept..
69strathead 2 years ago
@69strathead except Shawn was wayyy fast than Yngwie
TASGuitar7 2 years ago 2
what a nice guy.
TuMira85 2 years ago 75
Extremely nice person. I talked to him in person on several occasions. Very humble. VERY humble.
shanatp 2 years ago 3
woah. no wonder i learned guitar so fast. when i first started playing i did the same thing. The end result of this process playing it slow like only 2 or 3 times then just losing your patience and goin way beyond your level. but after thats done and over with you just work on playing it full speed and cleaning it up. Shawn lane is brilliantly smart
Killzor420 2 years ago
@Killzor420 John Petrucci: paraphrase: say you've been working on a technique for a while, and you cant quite get it down at a certain tempo. back it up, get it down slow, and then kill yourself and try to play it way beyond what you can, and then go back and clean it up at a desired tempo. what cleverdjembe is talking about is woodshedding exctly right.
charvinaldo 2 years ago
I know he's dead R.I.P., but i gotta say it:
I didn't know Ralphie May played guitar?
gmfmftw 2 years ago
that guitar is ridiculously thin o_O
viper1991 2 years ago
No that's just the painted top surface on the guitar. :-D
MyShawnLaneVideos 2 years ago
ohh, now I see.
I feel like an idiot =/
viper1991 2 years ago
Don't worry, i remember i thought the same thing at first too... and a number of people have said exactly the same thing.
MyShawnLaneVideos 2 years ago
Oh ok ... I didn't understand too : D
SweeetPicker 2 years ago
I love you Shawny RIP.
RoadWarrior2006 2 years ago 4
charvel jackson. charvel was jacksons custome shop
demonof90 2 years ago
when he demonstrates the fragment of 6s it looks like he is economy picking, is he? or is he just so smooth at alt picking it looks like he is?
llwayneio 2 years ago
Alternate picking.
0ptriX 2 years ago
hes so smooth lol
llwayneio 2 years ago 2
Shawn looks like that comedian ralphie may
RNRDOLL 2 years ago 2
lol i was just going to type tht
xxxnickrhxxx 2 years ago
i like the advice on rhythmic fragments groups of 3's 4's 5's etc it's a really good way to develop new ideas first time i've come across this guy he's damn good too wonder what guitar he's using looks like a jackson but the logo's different i cant quite make it out
TheThorguitar 2 years ago
@TheThorguitar
That,s a Charvel, but don,t know which model
ideosynchronicity 2 years ago
that was a chavel..
but now jackson is its name..
molywaki 2 years ago
Geat Advice!!
roccoparviz 2 years ago 2
300 rated 5/5
AMAZING SHAWN
HIM SPEED IS UNIQUE, isnt like the speed of MAB or Francesco fareri
HIM speed have i dont know something
and this thing is special
is so quiet with emotion i dont know
jonfensu 2 years ago 2
damn these licks at 4:10 are fast!
sathomaso 2 years ago
He was very calm and nice...and fast!
Wahncynic 2 years ago 3
Yee Speed isn't everything but it sure helps haha
Fastfingermageeh 2 years ago 4
Shawn was just a natural, imagine being able to play like that when at 16?!
i cant even play anywhere near that at 26!
fucking madness!
leeroyuk45 2 years ago 7
name one person that can
stevieVantanna 2 years ago
Very intelligent man. Good advice. Sadly missed.
hesmon 2 years ago 4
He is a genius makes perfect sense I was trying to play malmsteen at 13 and theres no way i could do it but i would try to pick and move my fingers as fast as i could and it did sound sloppy and unfortunatley i never got to finish the "cleaning up part" Shawn was talking about either
Guitar44789 2 years ago 2
how long have you been playing guitar? Btw speed doesn't make a good guitarist imagination does.
sk8x4lf 2 years ago
OMG!!!! THATS PARTLY MY STORY!!!!
ihatenatwolf 2 years ago
Dude was definitely a genius. It's just mathematics and fragments? what?
fugitive1201 2 years ago
only the awesome die young !! note to up an coming shawns dont fukn smoke its to fuked up wen you die early !!! RIP master
dognz75 2 years ago 22
This has been flagged as spam show
how did he die
sk8x4lf 2 years ago
@dognz75 Fuck you. Ill smoke as much as I want and ull appreciate what you hear. Got that Grasshoppa?
BroOfTheDead 1 year ago
@BroOfTheDead Smoke DMT instead, waaaaay better.
cerelilqt 1 year ago
what was that second artist he mentioned?
zom1111 2 years ago
Cannonball Adderly
Jazz sax player
JohnnyGoo 2 years ago
didnt he get diagnosed with some disease that made him gain weight?
because i remeember him being skinny
cacophonybecker 2 years ago
Yer it was some form of arththric psoriosis I think?
Anyway, im so glad Shawn said this because I used to always just "go for it" and try and play what I want and clean it up later. I could never stand the boredom of practicing something slow lol
What a nice guy Shawn was as well!
GardenSolutions1 2 years ago 7
Its different for different people, but generally you need to start off slowly so that you can get the technique down.
Its best to engage your whole brain, so you need the mathematical side to handle the patterns and speed, and then the creative side to just "go for it". This guy sounds very mathematical, but hes saying the same thing. You do need to come at this from different angles so that you dont become too focused on just the technique, and you can make it musical.
Chainsawmaniacguitar 2 years ago 6
He was given steroids to treat the disease, and they increased his weight drastically.
aquablade 2 years ago 4
Yeah it was the medication caused the weight increase.
A mixture of that, bad health and chain smoking killed the guy.
I think his technique and approach to the guitar is my favourite.
420Scotland 2 years ago 3
I really think this is great musical advice that Shawn gives, because when I took guitar lessons, every teacher told me to start real slow and then gradually get faster...That to me was real painful. Now I just learn the lick, get the notes down and just play it as fast as possible! To me Shawn's method is much better...IT WORKS!
MrEddievanhalo 2 years ago 5
Yeah, at an advanced stage, you can start straight with the full-speed lick, but tiny bits at a time. Thn combine them as you master them.
CleverDjembe 2 years ago
Thats interesting what he says about speed, I have had it drummed into me that slow is better, but now that I think about it I did it before where I tried to play a lick silly fast, then slowed it down to clean it up and it worked a treat!
Sxrule 2 years ago
i can't get into his playing really, it's just tooo fast that it gets ridiculous, i've tried many times to listen to powers of ten and get into it, but just can't - but the guy was an awesome musician still, and a great teacher.
chickenbeek 2 years ago 4
'Powers of Ten' is probably my favourite album of all time, i absolutely love it.
MyShawnLaneVideos 2 years ago
@MyShawnLaneVideos
Could you mention some of ´his songs were he has insane shredding parts.
jani14jani 1 year ago
@jani14jani Most of his Live versions of "Get You Back" have insane outro solos.... or check out some of his Live drum & Guitar solos.
Do a search on my channel for "Shawn Lane & Sean Rickman - Drum & Guitar solo (RARE FOOTAGE!!)"...... and watch it in HD. That has some ridiculously insane stuff in it!!
MyShawnLaneVideos 1 year ago
I like the fact that you don't get thumbs down, it's proof that fans of Shawn Lane aren't narrow-minded idiots.
It's ok not to like his style, and it's cool that you respect his monster-skills and teching abilities.
Sperzel 2 years ago
Have a listen to the Tri-Tone Fascination, it's quite different. The version with Hardcase is great. :]
0ptriX 2 years ago
i really loved the album "good people in Times of evil" it has some of the most complex work of shawn lane and the "personae" album
toxicity28 2 years ago
i think you had to be born with the ability to play that fast?i could try for ever practicing what he said,but never being able to do it!!!
racefaceec90 2 years ago
neh man, im sure you can play that speed on 1 note? so really you can play as fast you just cant sync up the notes at that speed, but you can do it :D
element1988 2 years ago
thanks for replying.i just lack motivation to practise the guitar,regularly.some days i can practice,but other days,i don't even look at the guitar!!!as i try and teach myself,it is hard to know what to practice as well!!but the most difficult part is getting the motivation to want to practice,when you suck at playing,as i do.but i won't give up haha!!!peace!!!
racefaceec90 2 years ago
well keep practicing :D though (sorry) i doubt you'll get to his level (gotta be born with that) but with enough practice u could easily get to most fast guitarists level ^^ still takes quite a bit of practice (around 10000 hrs :o)
Guitareben 2 years ago
you dont have to be born with it, he wasnt. noone was. you get that through hard work.
element1988 2 years ago 5
noone is born with guitar skills, but some are in fact born with a talent for music and getting the soul and feel into instruments like guitar, which anyways feel and soul is something that is more important than technique and no amount of practice can give you what naturally talented musicians have
johnathandk42134 2 years ago 5
with enough practice anybody can play somebody else's songs, but you need to have the right mindset in order to write good music of your own.
junkyjuice21 2 years ago 7
He is the only guitarist where I could describe what I hear as a cascading wall of harps.
crazyhuyman 2 years ago 24
@crazyhuyman "sheets of sound" which if you listen to john coltrane i believe this influenced him alot,
vetmusician 1 year ago
This stuff is gold.
mdaleo 2 years ago 4
shit only 4 years to develop that technique there's no one who compares to that talent its inhuman
brandon5pennies 2 years ago 5
he was such a genius musician ... one of my favs along with greg howe and scott henderson.
i highly recommend his album "personae"
R.I.P shawn, you will never be paralleled
imperial1983 2 years ago 3
yea i play piano too, once i get through a piece and feel like playing guitar i can really burn but when i dont im kinda slow
sitdown34 2 years ago
I miss him so much!
Wutcool 2 years ago 3
me to bud, me to!
lauriemonk 2 years ago
argh.. he is saying he had all the techniques that he used there down at 16?
i suddenly feel really bad ;P
Ichto 2 years ago 7
ya im 16 and im no where near done developing my technique lol
asharp12 2 years ago 3
dude dont sweat it this means he was just gifted
54321seb 2 years ago 4
gifted is an understatement
00Dakka 2 years ago 5
well his mind process for music was not human
54321seb 2 years ago 5
He probably played guitar every hour of free time he had.
nonbeliever225 2 years ago 2
he supposedly didn't play as much when he had free time he played mostly before gigs
brandon5pennies 2 years ago 4
I have always learned songs the way he says...I just play the song as fast as i possibly can. Even if its sloppy, your getting the sounds and the feeling down. then you can start working on cleaning it up and making it perfect
chevpowr 2 years ago
usually people say the exact opposite, but i do it the same way, and it always worked satisfyingly
abigor731 2 years ago
I play guitar and piano too , but for me it's the other way round. The more I play the guitar the more i get better on piano :).
RediForKing 2 years ago 2
maybe its cause youre mainly a piano palyer :> ?
Guitarmajster 2 years ago
could be. :)))
RediForKing 2 years ago
Same here.
ChainSlammer 2 years ago
I've always wondered why he used that tone when giving instruction. It's a big mess of reverb, delay and the like, which really doesn't help. He also plays the examples so fast, it's hard to hear what he means by them.
mad00002 3 years ago
It's still so clean. No clicks no matter how fast he is playing.
FieldsMusicME 2 years ago
Part of it is the room he's in, listen to him speak and there's this giant reverb due to the cavernous meeting hall he's giving the masterclass in.
aliensporebomb 2 years ago 2
But it can be heard in every lesson video I've seen on him. Even the actual VHS lessons, Power licks etc. Has to be part of the sound he was using.
mad00002 2 years ago
I'm actually just gonna try doing it fast then. Then maybe switching to a moderate tempo and moving up to fast again.
mpk1000000 3 years ago
he was amazing
mongobongoman 3 years ago 3
Gentle soul he was,dearly missed.Talented beyond the highest level...respect.
harleyriderny 3 years ago 6
he explains his work better than anyone else ever did, amazing!!!!!!
trevskiw2008 3 years ago 7
this guy was the mozart of the guitar. his playing is simply inspiring.
arfoe 3 years ago 8
I think he's more of a coltrane because he was into jazz more than the legit style.
urrynater86 2 years ago 3
Shawn really was one of a kind. I had the honor of seeing him once (Helborg,Lane,Sipes) and I had never heard of him, he was completely unknown to me at the time. All I can say is that show is still as vivid in my mind today as if I had been there only yesterday. He made a real lasting impression. He is going to be missed for a long time...
southboundtraveler 3 years ago 2