oh man, i didn't expect that many replies. thanks everyone. since i've been on guitartricks, i've been accelaterating in progress bigtime. so now know i know what a metronome is and what music theory is...i understand it's very important to know music theory and i'll check it out in the nearby future.

i've been doing some lead practice with metallica's 'one' aside from the beginner's lessons on GT. this gave my pinky a workout... my pinky feels, well, weird. after practicing the same lead over and over, the fluidity became lost a little bit, and i couldn't do the same pinky moves with other leads i've practiced previously. i want to play some more, however, i'm afraid i'll overwork my pinky (or my hand) and give myself joint problems or something. should i lay off for a bit until it goes away? discuss here...