Originally Posted by: pogohead..........................................

Can I just point out I hate jazz and think it's the most pointless excuse for not knowing what you're actually doing.

Au contraire matey. You might not like jazz but jazz players do know what they're doing. They have a much more comprehensive understanding of scales, harmony and melody than many other musicians.

Shredding personally leaves me cold. I can appreciate the technique but boy is it boring :D I need songs not tuneless widdlings. Steve Vai played his best stuff with Dave Lee Roth (as did Van Halen imo). Dave Lee brought out the human side of their playing, still amazing technique but with a sense of purpose and a sense of humour. Not technique for technique's sake.

Extreme speed is not some modern phenomena either. It is an extension of the virtuoso playing of classical musicians like Paganini and Chopin who understood that being a showman was just as important as what was being played.

You can follow the path through to the be bop techniques of players like Dizzy Gillespie and Charlie Parker - stupendously fast playing (still leaves me cold though :D )

Horses for courses.

Cheers

Dick