as for question number two, i've been playing for a number of years now. i'm entirely self taught. i use use a telecaster and a peavey RAGE amp. i learned many styles and have become a pretty good tapper, but i want to improve my speed.
anyways, when i'm not playing, i play lacrosse and i use this site a lot to learn more. i'm not in a band yet because no one i know either has the right equipment or cares about forming one. so i just continue on my own.
To improve technique and of course trying to keep all as clean as possible. I know my own limits and speed limits and so on I never play anything I'm not capable of. That wouldn't make any sense. After three years of playing I tried to play everything as fast as possible and that sounded, I would say, like shit, and I didn't realize that if I'd play bit slower things than I was capable of playing then everything would sound much better.
--Aleksi Laiho - Advice to Play By
--Aleksi Laiho - Advice to Play By