Blues vs. Shred?!?!

Isn't a Shredder like that dude on the Ninja Turtles?

Hey, we play music and I believe we all put our headrt and soul into it and each time we play we give a little of ourselves, it make no difference what style of music you play as long as you are true to yourself.

Riff and be merry

Originally posted by STEVIE_MATRIX
CANCEL MY MEMBERSHIP....NOT INTERESTED IN A SITE THAT WORRIES ABOUT CAPS!... HOW STUPID....IS IT GUITAR TRICKS OR PLEASE DONT USE CAPS CAUSE ITS MY PAGE ILL BOOT YOU OFF? SO ILL SAVE YOU THE TROUBLE.... ALL THE INFO IS WRONG ON HERE ANY WAY!! TIGER CLAW? SORRY STUPID!! ITS CALLED FLUTTER...GOOD LUCK ....CAUSE YOU ARE GONNA NEED IT

I was a Sysop of a BBS back in the late 80s!
But before i started my own bbs i did/nt know the rules,
of Boards so i got called, down a few times for useing,
All Caps on some of the boards.(no big deal)
Anyway back then typeing in all caps was considered,
(Screaming or yelling out loud plus hard to read on a pc.
I really think you should stick around awhile you seem,
like you have alot of good things to offer for guitar,
players .
Hopefully (Guitar Tricks will stay in tune talking about,
guitar stuff ect,plus helping others.
Its going to take all of us working togather to make this,
happen. I belive we can make it happen so lets do it.
M.T (Keep Picken but smile and enjoy!
(Life is to short.

Wow, hot or what!
I've gotta go and listen to Paris, Texas by Ry Cooder to remind me what it is all really about!

I think they are both useful for all guitarists. If you are strictly one and not the other you shouldn't make a band because with one sound and style you won't get any gigs. For listening I perfer the blues because I can only put it one way. Hendrix, Stevie, and Clapton all came off of and played the blues. And look at the shredders Eddie Van Halen and Yngwie. Eddie is a bit of and asshole to his fans and Yngwie is a major asshole to his fans. Blues men are nice guys.

What it all comes down to is which type of music gives you more of an emotinal effect, and the truth is it all depends on the person, and the type of mood we are in. We are all attracted to different things when it comes to music, and even people. And sometimes our tastes change, its good to keep an open mind because you always have to be ready to work with changes in your life. Any musician who feels the need to express his overall personality through music is okay in my book, but it gets really tiresome when musicians try to hard to cater to what they think the majority of people would accept with open arms. You have to be true to yourself if you want be any good..

-Joseph

First of all no one can say that just because someone plays blues that means there more soulful than a shredder.

Anyone who believes that needs to listen to some BLS's song "Counterfeit God" and Pantera's song "This Love".

Come on now some one like Dimebag not being soulful just because of his style... :rolleyes:

woah, ok then, random thread from like 4 years ago... umm... I'm too lazy and tired to read all the replys... but... um, I shred and play blues... depends what kind of mood I'm in... but I have put alot of technique into blues and alot of soul into shredding... so, it can go both ways

Originally Posted by: AkiraWhat is it with new people randomly resurecting mega old threads?

I haven't heard anyone say 'mega' since about 10 years before this thread started! :D

Originally Posted by: AkiraWhat is it with new people randomly resurecting mega old threads?

I know, who actually looks at old threads. There is no point of posting because its unactive

Originally Posted by: BadHorsieYou know, I've been at this forum for quite a while now. And all this time I've noticed that there's an overwhelming number of people either on the "blues" side or the "shred" side. So I'm asking everyone to help me out on this question that's been on my mind for some time now. Why is it that 99% of the posts here read something along the lines of "Clapton plays with much more 'soul' than any shredder", or "The blues players bend and use vibrato so they have more 'soul' in their playing? I understand what you're trying to say but it makes absolutely no sense whatsoever. First of all you think that shredders don't play with soul because? They're all technique, right? Well... guess what? BENDING and VIBRATO... are techniques! If you wanna disagree with me about any of this please do. Please come and shed light on this subject for me. Because I am obviously blind and in the dark about playing the blues.

You are blind my boy! In blues its not just technique! ooo wow..vibrato...yay..
Its the feeling, the meaning of the note, the way they use the guitar to convey emotions! you try playing certain songs by certain artist like eric clapton or ac/dc! sure you can play it exactly right but it still wont sound the same why? because they put so much energy and feel into it that you just cant replicate it!

on the shredders side, not all but some (most people at guitar center) shredders all guitar is, is just seeing how fast you can play with technique.
Now some good shredders like YNGWIE can put some feel into it.
But my big thing is, theres a difference between guitar player, and guitar athlete, players use feeling, athletes just see how fast they can play and ooo! they can sweep pick,tap,do flashy pick slides!!! which are you?

well, the person who resurrected this thread was a newbie with 2 posts... so, he was probably just using the search option and came across a "mega" old thread

Originally Posted by: Blues_ManYou are blind my boy! In blues its not just technique! ooo wow..vibrato...yay..
Its the feeling, the meaning of the note, the way they use the guitar to convey emotions! you try playing certain songs by certain artist like eric clapton or ac/dc! sure you can play it exactly right but it still wont sound the same why? because they put so much energy and feel into it that you just cant replicate it!

on the shredders side, not all but some (most people at guitar center) shredders all guitar is, is just seeing how fast you can play with technique.
Now some good shredders like YNGWIE can put some feel into it.
But my big thing is, theres a difference between guitar player, and guitar athlete, players use feeling, athletes just see how fast they can play and ooo! they can sweep pick,tap,do flashy pick slides!!! which are you?

Wow, all this coming from a guy with the word, "blues" in his name...Now then, I don't see why sooo many people stereotype shred as, "Oh nO!O Look aTttTT howWWW Fasttttt I caaaanananan plaayayayay!!!@#!@!" Are you kidding me? Shred isn't all about SPEED. Yes, you can say, "no man, look at michael angelo batio, rusty cooley, francisco farreri..." Sure, they are all about speed, but we all know that's boring as hell. Shredding is about how to make an interesting solo that can pump up the song, and yet make it tasteful. Shredding is NOT all about playing extremely fast. Oh, and Yngwie doesn't have emotions in his songs. If you think he does, no wonder you think shred is all about speed. All in all, shred is used to make a song exciting. Emotion? You can bend a note for 20 seconds with a nice feel to it and call it emotion. Would I like it? No. If you want to listen to good shredders, take a listen to people like Marty Friedman, Alex Skulnick, David T. Chastain, Michael Schenker, and much more. Shredders DO put feel and emotion in their solos. "OH OMFG!!@#@!@" Don't be so shallow and just say "it's the feel that only counts." Yeah, it does count, but that's not the only factor in a good solo. And if you're a blues extremist who can't see my point, go ahead and make your point. Not to sound disrespectful of course, being an ass on a thread sure beats the boredom of everyday life. :p

Blues and "shred" are not mutually exclusive. Blues is a style of music (state of mind) and shred is a technique. Ignore shred at your peril! Being able to play fast "flurries" of notes is an important technique just like bending, vibrato, legato phrasing etc. It can be very expressive and most people who say they don't need it usually can't do it. Sweep picking and fast percussive runs are signature styles of the flamenco guitarist (Paco de Lucia, anyone?) and flamenco is deeply emotional also check out John McLaughlin, he fuses blues and "shred" and plays with passion.

Originally Posted by: CW14The definition of shredding is basically "playing fast"

I'm well aware of the definition of shred. Did you even read my point before quoting me. :rolleyes: Notice how I said it's isn't ALL about speed, meaning there is speed, but there are other points that make it interesting.Oh, and if you wanna go by definition

Shred in music - In the context of an electric guitar, "shredding" refers to a virtuosic, highly technical style of playing the instrument, as exemplified by the virtuosos of the eighties such asJason Becker, Marty Friedmann, Shawn Lane, Steve Vai or Yngwie J. Malmsteen

The style of shred guitar is strongly founded in technique and theory. Many shred gutiarists are extremely well versed in music theory and classical music. Much time is devoted to the development of technique through numerous exercises. A key practice tool is the metronome. Many virtuosic techniques displayed by "shredders" include sweep picking, tapping, legato, as well as a combination of the aforementioned techniques.

Although shred is not as prominent today as in the 80's- highly technical guitar playing can still be found in many genres. Progressive metal contains many guitar virtuosos. John Petrucci, guitarist for Dream Theater, exemplifies the "prog metal" guitarist . He attended Berklee School of Music before taking off with Dream Theater.

Other sources of technical gutiar playing can be found in many metal bands. Children of Bodom's Alexi Laiho is an example of another technical guitarist.


Taken from http://www.answers.com/topic/shred

Originally Posted by: CW14The definition of shredding is basically "playing fast"

sure but notice how the definition is NOT "playing with no emotion at fast speeds" it is simply "playing fast" that could be "playing (with emotion) fast" there is plenty of emotion in shredding. not all shredding contains emotion, but you have to look in the right places. blues usually portrays a sad emotion, where as shredding usually portray a high energy (I really couldn't describe it).

Originally Posted by: CW14Yeah I agree with you on all that. I didn't say there was no emotion in shred

sorry, was I aiming my argument at the wrong person? sorry, I figured that because you had said that that you believed the other guy... whatever, either way, to the other guy who said shredding had no emotion... yeah, my argument was pointed towards you, or anyone really who believes that shredding has no emotion.

I am mostly a blues player, but I still encorporate a lot of modal based and sometimes diminished runs (which might or might not be considered shredding) but it is still similar to what shredders do. You can have soul in either style of playing, it just depends on how you are doing it. Most shredders that I hear don't play with much soul, their playing doesn't sound varied, it sounds more like practicing scales up and down the neck, and I think that might be what they want it to sound like, they just want to go fast. But there are certain players that you might classify as shredders such as Yngwie Malmsteen, who in my opinion plays his style with soul. You can tell he can really feel it.....Yes, at times he fills his entire song with notes, which can be a bit boring, and overwhelming. But you can hear certain things he plays really talk to you on a personal basis. I love Yngwie's Concerto Suite for Guitar. That is definately an example of shredding with soul.

Blues on the other hand is meant to be played with soul. Blues itself, even the words/singing, or any instrument used in blues really requires you to reach into yourself and pull out those notes. You've got to feel it. This feeling is very hard to describe. I think it could almost be a matter of..."If you have it you have it, and if you don't you don't" and that's the way it is. When I sit down and play along with one of my old blues albums from albert or BB, I just let all my emotion out, and that DOES NOT mean playing as fast as I can. It basically means less think....more feel. Don't think about where you're going to go up the neck, just let you're soul take you there.

sorry but its kinda of pointless topic....

blues people can shred...they can play fast. everybodies happy, no problem. :)

Shredders can play blues....everybody rips on them for not having emotion. everyones happy, no problem :)

I used to be shred all the way but I recently decided guitar wankage isnt my style, i just prefer the whole emotional aspect of blues, not just the technique but the lyrics, beat etc