Unbelievable.

[ekstasis16]

You have to see this, I don't think it's sped up. Does anyone know who this is? Is it actually real??

http://www.collegehumor.com/?movie_id=40653

[Seve420]

I'd say that it's Francesco Fareri seeing that file's names Fareri_Shred. If it's him, it wouldn't have been sped up but he's not what you'd call the most entertaining shredder.

[ekstasis16]

actually, now that i've looked into it more, you're right. amazing technical ability, more so than anyone I've seen, but there's a serious lack of musical intuition. still....wow.

[sambob]

Yeah, thats Francesco Fareri, fun stuff eh?

I have his album Suspension, its fun for a few minutes, but after that I just have to turn it off

He's very talented of course, but 9 minutes of shredding, repeated several times? No thanks.

And in addition, what he's doing isn't REALLY as unbelievable as it seems.

When you start getting into legato playing, 4 notes per string, you'll find yourself playing things faster than you ever imagined you could. Now, chances are if you're like most of us (and Francesco Fareri too), you still won't know WHAT to play once you get this kind of technique, but at least you'll be able to turn a few heads (I guess).

[Azrael]

Originally posted by sambob
Now, chances are if you're like most of us (and Francesco Fareri too), you still won't know WHAT to play once you get this kind of technique, but at least you'll be able to turn a few heads (I guess).

now THATS basically the point! Remember all those "i´m stuck in a rut" postings and the "my playing sounds the same all the time and i have no ideas" threads plus all the emails we hosts get about "help me out of my boring play"?
Of course your playing will sound always the same and you will be out of ideas if your guitartraining is centered 99.9% around how to gain speed.

[Death55]

Francesco Fareri is an ok guitarist.

[Jimmi431]

i can honestly say i have heard more tunefull things come from my a***e! thats not guitar playing its just pressing down some strings very fast, im sad to say im more impressed by the idiots on jackass riding trollies into curbs! an thats very low!
i know some of you are gonna be like WHAT? but if you listen to it the guy has obviously spent to long practising playing fast and has never considered playing actuall music.

[ekstasis16]

I have to say I agree with all of you, obviously, but I still think this is a worthy accomplishment in terms of breaking boundaries. Of course, as I've been saying for years to my guitar and web design students, there are two sides to everything in art - the technical and the creative. You have to have both. Some people prefer one more than the other, which is fine, but you still need both ingredients to some degree.

Just imagine what would be possible if you could combine this kind of technique with the mind and musical intuition of a composer. As I've been going through all the various shred artists (George Bellas, Michael Angelo, Fareri, Rusty Cooley) I have a very hard time distinguishing beteen them because everything sounds the same, and this goes against my fundamental law which is: you need your own voice, and people should be able to instantly recognize it when they hear it. These guys do musical gymnastics, and that's about it. Now you might like that or you might not, it all depends on what you value. It certainly has captured my attention, but the stuff that I constantly put on in the car and in the house is music that teaches me something new everytime I hear it - I call it an artist's stereo half-life, the time a CD stays in my stereo continuously before I swap it. I think Sex & Religion was in my car for 5 months straight.

Point is, there's entertainment and there's art. The best artists know how to use both in order to keep a loyal following.

[Led Zeppelin]

The guy has no grasp of the concept of dynamic, its all at the same tempo(except for one slow passage, lasting about a second) and same volume. Plus he fizzucked up the chords at the end, you can hear hes not used to anything other than shredding.

[sambob]

Hold on now, hold on.

I agree, his playing right there isn't exactly the most interesting, or pleasant sounding thing in the world.

BUT he HAS spent a great deal of time on various types of music, even if his PLAYING doesn't show it.

Look at his transcriptions, he's got more than just neoclassical stuff there. Greg Howe transcriprtions are a PAIN IN THE ASS, but he's got them flawless. Give him that at least.

[finger_cruncher]

Fransesco Fareri (or however his name is spelt) is plain 'bad'. Sure, he has amazing chops. Who cares though? His solos sound like 8-bit Nintendo music. Seriously. That tasteless wanking reminds me of Nintendo sounds...like 1-ups and sh*t. Funny thing is, I'm a HUGE fan of shred guitar. But man, if I sounded like him when I shredded, I'd give up guitar. It's so boring and unoriginal (not to mention completely lacking musicality).

[sambob]

You'd give up guitar?

Quitting after years of hard practice seems awfully pussy to me.

Hell, if you look at someone like Shawn Lane... he admitted himself that for the first few years he played guitar he only worked on his technique.

What if people had written him off as just a bad player?

I say give the guy a chance, with influences like Greg Howe, Richie Kotzen, Shawn Lane, etc etc... he's GOT to have more to his playing then just what you saw in that video.

And hell, by guitar player standards.. he's still fairly young.

[finger_cruncher]

Ok, lol, obviously I wouldn't give up guitar. I was being dramatic. Point is, I still think his shredding stinks (especially the mindless ascending and descending scales he does over and over and over).

This is just my opinion, but I can honestly say I think he's the worst shredder I've heard (when compared next to shredders with the equivalent amount of technique). Yes, his technique is amazing, but his musicality is completely lacking.

And I've heard more than just that one clip. In fact, I've seen 8 or 9 of his clips and I've even got a few of his mp3s. They all sound the same...including his guitar solos. They just go up and down and up and down the neck. There's no direction, climax, or resolution. Nothing. His stuff gets monotonous fast.

[Seve420]

Originally posted by finger_cruncher
Fransesco Fareri (or however his name is spelt) is plain 'bad'. Sure, he has amazing chops. Who cares though? His solos sound like 8-bit Nintendo music. Seriously. That tasteless wanking reminds me of Nintendo sounds...like 1-ups and sh*t.

And here I have a song by you called Ode To Nintendo.

[finger_cruncher]

LOL. Ya so? What's your point? :p The difference is, that was supposed to be Nintendo music. If my normal playing sounded like Nintendo music, I'd be depressed....:)

[sambob]

You should check out Fareri's playing on Vitalij Kuprij's new album.

And btw, Fareri's take on this (according to him), is that he really doesn't care what people think to a degree. He said if people had a very specific crticism, thats fine. But just giving such broad generalizations about his playing does no good. It was his DREAM to be able to play as fast as he does now. In his own words... he's fulfilled his dream. Whether you like his playing or not, I find him to be something of an inspiration.

[TheWizard]

yeah that was really dumb

did u notice when he played that blues lick in the middle? he could barely bend

I admire his speed but common do something else

and id like to see him play that standing up

[sambob]

You shouold visit his site then.

He has plenty of videos of him standing up and playing.

And what do you mean "barely bend", how does one "barely bend"? If its a blues lick, he can do whatever the hell he whats.

[TheWizard]

the lick he plays at about 35 seconds, it just sounds stupid

i think he might have messed up and lost momentum and tried to cover it up with that crappy little ditty he did because it sounds completely out of place and unatural

[sambob]

I don't see how you could say it sounds unnatural or out of place.

The whole thing is just playin arpeggios and just going up and down scales.

The whole thing sounds unnatural to me.


But... considering he took the necessary 1/4 of a second or so to change pickups.. I'd say he had planned on it.

[The Ace]

Originally posted by Azrael

Of course your playing will sound always the same and you will be out of ideas if your guitartraining is centered 99.9% around how to gain speed.

Very well said Azrael. When I first started playing, that was exactly my philosophy. Get fast=Your great. But then I started to realize how wrong I was.

I'm kind of lucky. My mom is a professional pianist and she majored in music composition. She has sheet music from every era there is, from all the great composers and musicians. Whenever I'm in a rut, I just take out a book like, Bach's Clavier sonatas and put some stuff on guitar. But it doesn't end there.

I still practice technique and all that, but I try to think of more musically profound ideas.

About this playing - Ya I have the opinion of everybody else. Wowed by the technique, but boring. The only thing that ticks me off, is that I have this bassist friend, who showed me it. He keeps going "Oh its sooooo sick!" Like every day. I tried to explain the whole deal to him, but he just doesn't get it. He really doesn't understand why its boring. But I guess thats how people who aren't musicians feel about it. Like before I started guitar, I listened to punk rock. Once I started, and listened to an Ozzy album, I went and broke every Offspring CD I owned.

[Autark]

Originally posted by sambob In his own words... he's fulfilled his dream [/B]

And that IS great!!!:)

[sambob]

Yeah, one last comment.

If you want a REAL reply from Fareri, you should email him. He will respond, his english isn't the best, but you'll get the point.

[Yngtchie Blacksteen]

Or just go to www.theshredzone.com, he's answering questions at the forum there.

But he's a really nice and humble guy, I feel bad for him because of all the hateful comments directed towards him. He's got his share of hatemails, that's for sure.