metallica in 8th grade I believe...what was that...1991? Anyhow, that was it for sure. No real crazy Satch, etc until 1998, so even though I picked up the thing in 1991 or so (bought it with credit me and my sis racked up at the music store for renting my trombone and her clarinet? or flute? but it was an RG550, the lear previous model, and the only thing wrong was that the most forward pickup setting of the 5 didn't work...so I got a $1000 guitar for 350 or so of credit...no complaints there heheeh :), I never played much until 1999+ and even then not too often (just the odd "holy wars" or other ****, I never soloes before 1999 really...)

Now it's just all classical (guitar - the instrument not the music) mayhem...it's the best by far...I think I'll do some electric now for some easy fun...no wait first wark up with classical then put to shame with the lec ;)

I learned piano when I was young, dunno 5-6 years old a tiny bit maybe,then a bit later fur elise, etc when 11 or whatever...would go faster, my best friend could go double speed and faster, so we were already virtuosos ;), but basically Satch when I randomly shoce it for fre from cd house **** (you know) and got G3 live...I was gooked after cool #9 after one listen...also was first taste of speed licks.

Then the rest...but it's all Johnny baby :D Zyryab says it all...song of the gods...

Hey 'l, you wanna make a song with both of us soloing but wierd abrupt stops, and each guy has to juggle the stops with perfect timing along with the other guy ;) like paco and johnny...we could just send a beat and both solo or just make alternate tracks with solo instrument...

But I say for sure solo along to Zyryab, especially when you hear those ****ing masters blast you away completely - you can gain incredible amouints of speed if you are entranced in that kind of melodic inadvertedness...

...but solo **** I'm doing these days, sort of like Egberto Gismonti, just feeling your way down the song by total improv, with a guitar trio tinge - I have a good tone I think, but I need to learn some licks, I just go random and maybe do that lick a bit, but I never remember the licks I playh - it's all random - IO don't really memorize the fretboard, it's more intimate, I just pay close attention to the small things (the number of frets it would take to change your random amout, eg 2 or 3), just feeling how many frets it would take to get that next note, and you are basically lost to al other things or ways, and **** just happens and sometimes really nicely...

...but the best thing I think is just taking some of my **** and writing a score behind it - the soloing seems determinant...

I've nver written any songs before, but I have a feeling this is the cracking of the egg, when you write some bogus **** for whatevr placement in the song, then blend in other layers, you start to see things in a new way because now you are on the back of what you just wrote before, and it adds a tremendous momentum to things...the key to it all...