shredding? plz explain

ive herd the term 'shredding' used heaps but i neva actually found out what it was and how to do it???

n e ideas???
thx...
cyas

Shredding is just a term used to describe playing really fast. How to do it, heh, well that's another story. But before you begin concentrating on playing fast, I'd recommend first learning about melody and getting a good ear and sense of musical taste. There are far too many shred-heads out there who can blaze through a scale but are deficient when it comes to making interesting music.

To start you off though, you might want to look into the following terms. All are techniques used that can produce fast results when practiced a lot.

Alternate picking (a must know)
Sweep picking
Legato
Tapping

Is that it? Yeah I guess... but remember what I said about taste! I've come to learn that "shredding" isn't some far-off, elusive goal, but rather something that is surprisingly easy to achieve with the right amount of practice. One day you'll realize, damn, I can play that really fast! Then the real journey begins- implementing your new-found technique into music.

cool! :)))
legato?¿

In classic musical terms, "legato" means to play notes smoothly in sequence. It's usually denoted in sheet music with a slur under the connected notes.

Guitarsits have adopted this term to mean playing a long sequence of notes without using the pick. This is done by hammering on, pulling off, sliding, and etc.

I use a small hard pick. It gives me a lot of control. If you want speed, the first thing you need is accuracy. The best book I've ever seen on the subject was Howard Roberts Jazz Guitar Technique in 20 weeks (I think). If you're fairly new, be warned, it has a lot of altered chords in it.
The book is now difficult to find.