World Fastest Guitarist

THE 10 FASTESTSHRED GUITARISTS(with courtesy of Guitar One Magazine ~ NOT my list or choice) +SHRED GUITAR ROOTS+"YOUR CHOICES"
Voted the world's fastest shred guitarists'Guitar One Magazine' readers vote: 2005
VOTED No 1 OF ALL TIMEMICHAEL ANGELO BATIO Michael invented the Dean Double-Guitar and was the first person in the world to successfully play it. AWESOME!! Michael started playing piano and composing at age 5, started playing guitar at age 10. Michael has performed over 1100 shows in 31 different countries since 1993. He tours the world performing guitar workshops, also records, tours and plays with various bands and solo. He also invented and successfully played the very first 'quad' guitar. However, the instrument was stolen during a Nitro show in El Paso, Texas, and only two of the four parts required for its assembly have ever been recovered. However, Dean Guitars recently finished production on a new quad guitar for Michael.~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~voted No 2 CHRIS IMPELLITTERIChris Impellitteri is one of the most unique, intense, and dynamic guitarists in heavy rock today. His influences range from Al Di Meola to Uli John Roth to Edward Van Halen. Chris has been releasing some of the best progressive, neo-classical guitar work around since the mid-'80's, inspiring countless musicians.~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~voted No 3 YNGWIE J. MALMSTEENWhen he was young, Yngwie didn't want much to do with music. Music was soft, a thing for wimps, and Yngwie was into all things destructive. An unruly child, Yngwie took delight in anything that went against the grain. But, one night while watching television, 7-year-old Yngwie saw a television special about guitar maestro Jimi Hendrix, and it was all over. Jimi's death had spurred the birth of a new guitar hero: Yngwie J. Malmsteen.~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~No 4 PAUL GILBERTGuitarist Paul Gilbert has sold over three million records in the United States stemming from his brilliant work with Racer X, Mr. Big and as a solo artist. Long known as one of the top shredders in the business, Gilbert sometimes returns to his blues rock roots as on his Raw Blues Power album ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~No 5 THE LATE SHAWN LANE Lane began his musical interests very young, studying piano and cello from the age of four. He took up the guitar at eight, and it remained his principal instrument from then on. He quickly became a legend in Memphis' music scene as the feisty young kid, began his professional playing and recording career when he was 12. The teen wonder shocked and amazed audiences at stadium shows across the USA. Before becoming a world renown guitarist. Tragically Shawn died of a lung disease Sept 26th 2003 at the age of 40.~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~No 6JOE STUMP Joe Stump is one of the leading guitarists of the shred genre. Having released numerous solo albums and four with his band project Reign Of Terror, Stump has a reputation of for combining guitar virtuosity with strong hooks and killer riffs. Joe is also Berklee School Of Music's head authority on shred guitar. His main influeneces in his career are Ritchie Blackmore, Jimi Hendrix, Gary Moore, Yngwie Malmsteen, Michael Schenker, Uli- Jon Roth, David Chastain, classical music too - Bach, Paganini, Vivaldi, Mendelson etc.~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~No 7RUSTY COOLEY Rusty’s early influences included: Rhoads, Malmsteen, Becker, Gilbert, Holdsworth, Paganini, Bach, Vai, Gambale, Moore, MacAlpine, Taffolla, Friedman. He was also influenced by many styles including: Jazz, Classical, Funk, Blues and even Country. There where times when Rusty was pulled in so many different directions by music, he didn’t know if he wanted to be a Classical Conductor or a Jazz guitarist. “Remember play from your heart and never be swayed by the current trends.” Rusty Cooley ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~No 8 BUCKETHEAD Buckethead is one of the most bizarre and enigmatic figures in American underground. Real name Brian Carroll says he was raised by hens in a henhouse!. He got the idea of a bucket and mask one day when he was eating fried chicken. He stands about 7 Feet tall with his bucket on. He has robotic movements. Not much is known about Buckethead, but one things for sure, this greased lightin' is finger lickin' fast. Well the Colonel hasn't caught him yet! His bands include: Deli Creeps, Cornbugs, Praxis, Cobra Strike, Buckethead (Solo), Primus (Ozzfest 1999), Guns N' Roses. ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~No 9 JOHN PETRUCCIJohn Petrucci grew up on Long Island, Kings Park He started playing guitar at the age of 12 (After a brief fling at age 8 when he noticed his sister got to stay up late for her organ lessons. His little plan didn’t work out being that his guitar lesson was after school, and soon lost interest.) He quickly realized his influences and was determined to reach their level of ability. Some early influences include Yngwie Malmsteen, Randy Rhoads, Iron Maiden, Stevie Ray Vaughn, Yes, Rush etc. As the rise of thrash & metal hit John expanded his influences to include bands like Metallica & Queensryche. ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~No 10 THE GREAT KATThe Great Kat was born Katherine Thomas in Swindon, England (on a U.S. Air Force Base Military Hospital), moved to USA aged 3. After touring the world as a violinist, she realised that Classical music was dead, so she began updating Classical Music with Speed Metal and transcribed intricate violin solos to the guitar. The Great Kat is the only musician taking note-for-note authentic Classical Music scores (from Vivaldi, Beethoven, Bach, Wagner, Liszt, and Rossini) and re-orchestrating the entire scores with Shred Guitar virtuosity and mixing it with Speed Metal band and Classical orchestra..~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.Here is a guitarist who's actual guitar playing career was very short, so he may get passed over by the younger generations and the media; but in many peoples minds .. he should have been in that top 10 listA VERY SPECIAL MENTION~ to one of the greatest ~JASON BECKERJason Becker started playing guitar at the age of 5, by sixth grade he was playing local gigs and at 16 was in his first professional band "Cacophony", a neoclassical speed metal/shred band, which he formed with fellow guitarist Marty Friedman. Their debute album 'Speed Metal Symphony' features some of the most incredible, fast, complex and melodic guitar playing ever recorded. Some of Jason's influences have been his father, his uncle, Jimi Hendrix, Niccolò Paganini, Bob Dylan, Django Reinhart, Yngwie Malmsteen & Jeff Beck. 1988 see's his first solo album, 'Perpetual Burn'. At the age of 20 he joined David Lee Roth's legendary band. 1990, he won a readers' poll for best new guitarist in "Guitar Magazine". But tragidy struck whilst recording the album 'A Little Ain't Enough' he was diagnosed with Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis and given only five years to live. This did not deter this true virtuoso, he managed to complete the album. Robbed of his speech, crippled in body, breathing via a machine, Jason has never given up his love of music. He communicates via eye movements and composes many magnificent works with his computer. His medical condition has remained stable since 1997. Jason's life as an artist and person should be inspirational not only to fellow guitarists but every musician. In his own words "If you have control over your mind, you can do anything.".~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.THE SHRED GUITARIST(the foundations in a very little nutshell)Speed has been in music for many generations, on many instruments and guitarists have been speed playing and duelling since the beginnings of guitar history . Rock guitaring, by the early 1960s, had distanced itself from its jazz and pop roots, and began to embrace a more blues-based approach. The mid 60's see notably Jimi Hendrix introducing different and extreme guitar techniques and more rock into the blues with his revolutionary fast melodic power guitaring. Towards the end of the 60's the development of rock guitar technique and speed, was pushed even further notably by Jimi Hendrix again, Alvin Lee, Jeff Beck, Ritchie Blackmore and Jimmy Page. By the early 70's a few guitarists, mainly John McLaughlin, Al Di Meola, Allan Holdsworth, Robert Fripp and Carlos Santana had began experimenting with a new fusion of 3 genres ... jazz, rock and world music, but in particular, Holdworth, McLaughlin and Al Di Meola, were renowned for their super speed and their picking dexterity on the guitar. All this was paving the path for an entire new breed of guitarist, who would fuse the fast rock and power blues styles of Hendrix and Lee with the high-speed jazz phrasing of Di Meola and McLaughlin. The super fast rock guitarists were emerging, Eddie Van Halen, Randy Rhoads, and then Yngwie Malmsteen, who influenced by Bach and Italian violinist Paganini, expanded the classical influences in rock guitar with his extremely fast picking speed. In the 80's this fast playing style combined with the heavily distorted tone of heavy metal music resulted in a new nickname, 'shred'. Shredding immediately became popular with the younger heavy metal rock fans who hadn't been exposed to this guitar style in the past. Guitar shredding techniques played usually on a 'super strat' include: Alternate picking, Economy picking, Hammer-ons, Hybrid picking, Legato, Pull-offs, String skipping, Sweep picking, Tapping, Tremolo picking, and Wide intervals. Blind speed or shred guitaring has been successful in bluegrass, jazz, rock-blues, hard rock, instrumental rock, jazz fusion, progressive rock, heavy metal, neo-classical metal & other metal genre.~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~JIMI HENDRIXIn the 60's the revolutionary guitarist .. Jimi Hendrix dug the path and laid the solid foundations for the rock guitarists in the 70's to pathe that the modern rock guitarist play along today. He made the biggest impact and change to rock guitaring in the history of modern music. In the 50's and early 60's Jimi started on the road gigging with the likes of the Isley Brothers, Little Richard and King Curtis, recording with each of those acts, but was unable to adapt to the discipline their performances required. Soon after he let loose with his own bands, his own music which made the whole world 'kiss the sky'.FULLER BIOGRAPHY~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~JEFF BECKRock and speed pioneer guitarist Jeff Beck from Wallington, Greater London started as a guitar sessionist and played in his band Trident before joining The Yardbirds. They had most of thier hits the 18 months Jeff was in the band. 1967 sees him recording the one-off song "Beck's Bolero" with Jimmy Page, John Paul Jones, Nicky Hopkins, and Keith Moon, after which he formed a new band, The Jeff Beck Group, which also featured Rod Stewart, Ron Wood, Nicky and Micky Waller. The group produced two albums, Truth in 1968 and Beck-Ola in June, 1969. Both albums are highly acclaimed, and considered by many critics to have inspired the heavy metal genre. In 1973 while in US he recorded 2 albums with his power trio Beck, Bogert & Appice. He has gone on to play with countless artists as well as a huge solo career recording 15 solo albums. Jeff does not use a pick/plectrum but relies on his fingernails and thumbnail for his attack. He produces a wide variety of sounds by using his fingers and the vibrato bar on his signature Fender Stratocaster, although he frequently uses a wah-wah pedal both live and in the studio. He has been a huge influence and still is to guitar players and the music industry throughout long career.~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ALVIN LEE Pioneer rock and speed guitarist, Graham Barnes aka Alvin Lee from Nottingham, England, began playing guitar at the age of 13, originally influenced by his parent's collection of jazz and blues records, it was the rock and roll of guitarists like Chuck Berry and Scotty Moore who provided his inspiration to form his band Ivan Jay and the Jaymen by the age 15. After local gigs and success in Hamburg, Germany the band moved to London and changed their name to Ten Years After. TYA had success with Europen and US tours, releasing ten albums. Alvin was very experimental and brave guitarist, enjoying new techniques. By 1973 Alvin felt held back by the band's style, so with US gospel singer Mylon LeFevre and a host of rock talents like George Harrison, Steve Winwood, Ron Wood and Mick Fleetwood, he recorded and released On the Road to Freedom, a highly acclaimed album that was at the forefront of country rock. A year later, Alvin formed Alvin Lee & Company to play a show at the Rainbow in London and released it as a double live album, In Flight, a very energetic mix of rhythm and blues and rock. He finished out the 1970s with his power trio 'Ten Years Later'. Alvin has gone on to record 20 albums, his most recent, Saguitar, released Sept 2007.~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~JOHN McLAUGHLIN Guitar virtuoso John McLaughlin from Doncaster, Yorkshire is regarded by many as one of the most influential and technically gifted guitarists of all time, having over his long career mastered a remarkable range of styles and genres, including jazz, Indian classical music, fusion, and Flamenco. Initially inspired by blues and swing players he started on guitar when he was 11 and worked Tony Oxley and John Surman before moving to America in 1969. He played with Jimi Hendrix, Carlos Santana, Miles Davis and reputation as a session player grew, resulting in recordings as a sideman with Miroslav Vitous, Larry Coryell, Wayne Shorter, Carla Bley, The Rolling Stones and others. In 1970 he formed The Mahavishnu Orchestra which included violinist Jerry Goodman (later Jean-Luc Ponty), keyboardist Jan Hammer (later Gayle Moran and Stu Goldberg), bassist Rick Laird (later Ralphe Armstrong), and drummer Billy Cobham (later Narada Michael Walden). The band performed a technically virtuosic and complex style of music that fused eclectic jazz and rock with eastern and Indian influences. He has gone on to play and record dozens of albums with many greats of different genre as well as a busy solo career and continues writing, recording and touring.~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ALLEN HOLDSWORTHVirtuoso Allan Holdsworth from Bradford, Yorkshire is one of a handful who pioneered the fusion of rock and jazz music with speed in the early 70's. His influences include Django Reinhardt, Jimmy Rainey, Charlie Christian, Joe Pass , Eric Clapton, and John Coltrane. Allen pioneered several techniques including using an eight-voice modulated delay to create a chorusing effect that, combined with unusual closed voiced chords, create a very piano-like sound from an ordinary electric guitar. He uses a legato phrasing technique with light picking that causes a distorted guitar amplifier to produce a reedy, clarinet-like tone. A third innovative technique is using a volume pedal to "swell" chords into a long delay/reverb effect, generating the impression of an orchestral string section. These three techniques were used by Allen to create the aural illusion of classical instruments, years before the invention of guitar synthesizers, and have been adopted by increasing numbers of guitarists such as Frank Gambale, Eddie Van Halen, Scott Henderson, Bill Connors, Steve Vai, Alex Lifeson and David Sylvian to mention a few. Allen has been a band member with Soft Works, Bruford, Gongzilla, U.K., Tempest, Soft Machine, Level 42 and Gong. He has played on 54 collaboration albums and to date recorded 18 solo albums. Sadly his work has been neglected by the media and the public as a whole, where as fellow musicians have held him in high esteem for over 35 years.~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~AL Di MEOLATo many, virtuoso Al Di Meola is one of the most important pioneer of shred guitar, his 70's work opened up a new era of rock and influenced guitarists such as Yngwie Malmsteen, John Petrucci, Jason Becker, Chris Impellitteri and many, many others. After attending Berklee College of Music in Boston, Al joined the bands Chick Corea and Return to Forever before embarking on his solo career in 1976. His first solo album Land of the Midnight Sun, is noted for his technical mastery and extremely fast speed guitaring, complex guitar solos and compositions. He gradually introduced his love for latin and flamenco into his music. Al went on to explore a variety of styles, but is now most noted for his Latin-influenced jazz fusion works. He is a four time winner as Best Jazz Guitarist in Guitar Player Magazine's Reader Poll. In addition to a prolific solo career of 25 albums, tours and world appearances , he has engaged in successful collaborations with bassist Stanley Clarke, synthesizer player Jan Hammer, violinist Jean-Luc Ponty, and guitarists John McLaughlin and Paco de Lucía and guested on countless tracks.~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ YOUR CHOICES Here are some great shred guitarists which YOU enjoy. They are of all genre of music,and are in order of when you send me their name ~ the latest at the top. FRANCESCO FARERI Italian composer and guitarist Francesco Fareri, is now considered by many as one of the world's fastest shred guitarists. main influences on his musical journey have been musicians Jason Becker, Yngwie Malsteen, Rusty Cooley, Greg Howe, George Bellas, Jon Doman, Deen Castronovo and bands like Dream Theater, Symphony X , but the greatest influence has been Ukrainian Vitalij Kuprij, the master keyboardist in the neo-classical progressive metal band Artension, who changed Francesco's concept of music. He has made 3 instructoinal DVD's, (different levels), recorded 3 solo albums, guested on several albums, and has more projects in the offing that you will read about further down this page. He also plays a mean keyboard and into graphic design, having designed his own websites and other musician's websites and album covers. All information is on his website .... READ MORE*********FREDRIK THORDENDAL Fredrik Thordendal is the lead guitarist and a founding member of the Swedish metal band Meshuggah. Fredrik uses a selection of custom 8-string and 7-string guitars made by Nevborn and Ibanez, although on occasions he plays Gibson Les Pauls, Ibanez Universe 777s, Schecter Diamond series guitars, Coral Electric sitars and various Paul Reed Smith guitars. He draws attention with his clean, jazz-influenced lead-playing and complex rhythm-playing, augmented by his use of low-tuned eight-string guitars. Most notable is the similarity between his solos and those of renowned jazz guitarist Allan Holdsworth. In 1997 Fredrik released a solo album "Sol Niger Within" and from 1987 to date, he has recorded 7 albums and 3 EPs with his band Meshuggah, the latest being "Catch Thirty-Three" in 2005, although the album "Nothing" was re-issued in 2007. He continues his work with Meshuggah*********ZAKK WYLDEZakk Wylde, was born Jeffrey Phillip Wiedlandt in Jackson, New Jersey, now famous for his liberal use of pinch harmonics and the pentatonic scale, started playing the guitar at the age of 15, influenced by Ted Nugent, Led Zeppelin, Motörhead, Jake E. Lee, AC/DC, Judas Priest, Randy Rhoads, Allman Brothers, Black Sabbath, Lynyrd Skynyrd. He practised 12 hours daily and formed his first band "Stone Henge", after which he started his solo career. At 19 years old, after just one audition, he was hired by Ozzy Osborne as lead guitarist and went on to record 7 albums with the band .. No Rest For The Wicked, Just Say Ozzy, No More Tears, Ozzmosis, Down to Earth, Live At Budokan and Black Rain in 2007. Zakk continued to work on his own solo material while with Ozzy. In 1994 he formed the short lived Pride & Glory, and in 1998 he formed heavy metal band Black Label Society which he continues with today. His band so far have released nine albums the latest being Shot to Hell in 2006.*********ILAN ASHKENAZIIsraeli, guitarist Ilan Ashkenazi was born and raised in USA, he started playing the violin at only 4 years, piano at 7 and the guitar when he was 10. Ilan is a totally self taught guitarist influenced by Paganini, Handel, Bach, Mozart, Vivaldi, Vinnie Moore and Tony MacAlpine, spending long hours of daily practice sessions learning the modern advanced guitar techniques of speed picking, swept lines etc. and fusing his classical learning's with his jazz and rock influences when composing. Ilan is an amazing up and coming shred guitarist who has been awarded many "fastest guitar" titles, recorded several demo and instructional CDs and videos. Ilan continues to do his session work, teach, and compose guitar music.*********VINNIE MOOREUS guitarist Vinnie Moore started playing guitar at the age of 12, and took lessons at 14, before joining a variety of local bands. His early influences included Jeff Beck, The Beatles, Led Zeppelin, Deep Purple, and Queen. He quit the bands and started composing and experimental guitar techneques. His first pro job was playing the music for a national Pepsi TV commercial. In 1987, he released his debut album, Mind's Eye. Vinnie was quickly heralded "best new talent" in Guitar Player, Guitar, and Guitar World magazines, and Mind's Eye sold more than 100,000 copies. He has gone on to record on many arists albums, such as Vicious Rumors - Soldiers Of The Night; Guitar's Practicing Musicians - Free; Alice Cooper - Hey Stoopid ; Sega - "Burning Rangers" Game soundtrack for the 'Saturn' video game; Jordan Rudess - Rhythm of Time, and he has brought out 2 instructional videos and released 8 solo albums to date. Vinnie has done hundreds of guitar clinics all over the world in such places as, Japan, Scandanavia, Italy, Poland, Mexico, New Zealand, Canada, England, Germany and Australia. He continues to teach, compose, record and tour and since 2003 he has played lead guitar for the British hard rock band UFO, with whom he has recorded 3 albums with. *********TREY AZAGTHOTHGeorge Emmanuel III aka Trey Azagthoth was born in the now Mecca of Death Metal, Tampa, Florida, and got his first guitar at the age of 16. His influences were mainly Eddie Van Halen, UFO, Ozzy Osbourne, Judas Priest, Black Sabbath and Mozart. He has had an interest in paganism from childhood. In 1983 he formed the band Morbid Angel, they, along with Death, Possessed, Obituary & a handful of others were crucial in the development of the death metal genre and its standards. UK music magazine Terrorizer ranked two Morbid Angel albums in its 'Top 40 Greatest Death Metal Albums', with' Altars of Madness' appearing at No.1. Their songs are complex in arrangement, owing to the considerable technical skills of Trey. He continues recording and touring with Morbid Angel. *********VERNON REIDGrammy Award winning guitarist Vernon Reid was born in London UK, but raised in New York, US. While at Brooklyn Tech, at the age 15 and inspired by Carlos Santana, he studied guitar privately with jazz masters Rodney Jones and Ted Dunbar. He founded the band Living Colour in 1985, who have released 6 albums and won numerous awards including, two Grammy Awards, two MTV Music Video Awards, two International Rock Awards and several New York Music Awards to date. Vernon has released several successful solo albums and although he seems mostly recalled by the general public for his shredding solos with Living Colour, he has a prolific session output in a variety of genre, he has played live or on record with the Roots, Eye & I, Mick Jagger, Rollins Band, Spearhead, Public Enemy, Mariah Carey, Tracey Chapman, Ronald Shannon Jackson, Don Byron, Defunkt , Santana, Bernie Worrell, MC 900 Foot Jesus, B.B. King, Madalyne Peyroux, Jamaaladeen Tacuma, G. Calvin Weston, Meridiem, Jack Bruce, Terry Bozzio, and DJ Spooky among many others and he was named No.66 on Rolling Stone's 100 Greatest Guitarists of All Time.*********MARTY FRIEDMANMarty Friedman, best known as the lead guitarist for the thrash metal band Megadeth is a largely self-taught guitarist, known for his improvisation and for fusing an Eastern musical feel with Western musical styles, such as neo-classical, thrash metal and later on into progressive rock. Prior to joining Megadeth, he formed and played lead guitar in several other bands, including Deuce, Hawaii, Vixen (not the all-female band of the same name), and notably Cacophony. Cacophony featured neoclassical metal elements and synchronized twin guitar harmonies and counterpoints shared with guitarist Jason Becker on their two albums, Go Off! and Speed Metal Symphony. Currently living in Shinjuku, Tokyo, Japan, he travels the world giving clinics, performances and master classes in dozens of countries in Asia, Europe, and North America, and South America. He has become a major force in the Japanese music scene, playing lead guitar in the bands of some of the country's most famous performers.*********GREG HOWEGreg Howe, originally from Easton, Pennsylvania started playing the guitar at the age of 10, and was greatly influenced by Van Halen. He and his brother Al formed a local rock band, performing in clubs and bars while perfecting his skills. In 1988 he recorded his first album "Greg Howe", at Mike Varney's Shrapnel Records which rocked the guitar community. He went on to record 2 albums with his brother and has recorded 6 more solo albums to date. Greg has developed a distinct style that is more rooted in jazz fusion rather than the neoclassical leanings of his shred contemporaries and is perhaps best known for his great skill at improvising. Being so talented on solid and acoustic guitar in many genres, virtuoso standard, Greg is a highly sought after session musician, he is hired to tour with the likes of Justin Timberlake, Michael Jackson, Enrique Iglesias, *NSYNC and guests on numerous albums . Greg is currently active with trade shows, guitar clinics, mini tours around the world and he is producing a series of online video lessons which can be found on his website.*********JEFF HANNEMANGuitarist Jeff Hanneman grew up in Oakland, California, where he met fellow guitarist Kerry King when they were both auditioning for a band in 1981. The two decided to form their own band instead .. Slayer was born. In 1984 Jeff had a brief punk side project called "Pap Smear" His interest in music appears to be derived primarily from punk rock music, which led to Slayer's 1996 album Undisputed Attitude. He cites Iron Maiden, Judas Priest, Led Zeppelin, Exploited, Verbal Abuse, Black Flag, Dead Kennedys and T.S.O.L as influential bands and Yngwie J. Malmsteen and Michael Schenker as his guitar influences Jeff’s and King’s dual guitar solos have been called "wildly chaotic", and "twisted genius". Slayer is credited as one of the “Big four” thrash metal bands along with Megadeth, Anthrax and Metallica.*******KERRY KINGLos Angeles' Kerry King is best known as Slayer's founder lead guitarist, with fellow guitarist Jeff Hannemann (read above). Slayer have released 10 studio albums an 11th to be released in 2008, 4 EPs and 5 live albums/DVDs. Kerry has also played a lead guitar outro part to Pantera’s song "Goddamn Electric", & played on The Beastie Boys "No Sleep till Brooklyn", "Fight For Your Right (To Party)", and "She's Crafty", he also contributed lead guitar solos to on Rob Zombie’s "Dead Girl Superstar"; "Sucketh My Cocketh","Blow me Blow me you Horny Bitch" and "Fred dirst's a dickhead" "Disorder" with rapper Ice-T ;Hatebreed’s "Final Prayer"; and Sum 41’s "What We're All About (The Original Version)" from the June 2002 released Spider-Man movie soundtrack.*******GEORGE MUTO Jr.George Muto Jr. from Westchester County, New York, was a late comer to guitar compared with some. At 18 he took just one lesson, where he learnt just one musical scale. He went on to play in many local bands learning and perfecting his skill and composing his music. This year (2007) "Guitar Nine Records" has featured George in their The Undiscovered - Uncovering Guitar Potential. In George's most recent project, the band "MUTO", his superb guitaring has replaced the vocals, with Joe playing bass and Lee on drums this trio is an awesome instrumental mix. His main influences have been Van Halen, Joe Satriani, Robin Trower, Jimmy Page, Steve Vai, Peter Frampton, Blues Saracino, Michael Lee Firkins, Eric Clapton, Led Zeppelin, and the Beatles.*********MARK TREMONTI Mark Tremonti started playing guitar at 11 and formed his first band Wit's End while at high school, playing Motley Crue covers and other metal songs. After playing with several local and university bands he and Scott Stapp formed a group named Naked Toddler which became the band Creed. They had 8 Number 1 singles, 3 Multi Platinum albums (My Own Prison - 6 times platinum, Human clay - 10 times platinum or Diamond, Weathered - 6 times platinum) in the U.S. alone. Since Creed split up, he took extensive lessons from guitarist Troy Stetina.Mark and has worked with many different guitarists and musicians such as Michael Angelo Batio, Thomas Gospodareck, Guns 'n' Roses and Fozzy. In 2004 he and 3 other Creed musicians formed a new band Alter bridge. To date they have had one hit album and 4 hit singles. Their second album, Blackbird is set to be released on October 9, 2007. Some of Marks influences have been Stevie Ray Vaughan, Metallica, KISS, Megadeath, Anthrax, Slayer, Venom and Celtic Frost.*********ALEXI LAIHOFinnish guitarist Alexi Laiho, started music on the piano the age of 5 and violin at 7; at 11, he switched to guitar, heavily influenced by Steve Vai's song "For the Love of God". His first band was T.O.L.K. formed with friends from the Finnish Pop & Jazz Conservatory, where he was studying music. In 1993 Alexi founded the black/neo-classical metal band IneartheD which later became Children of Bodom, the band he still plays with today, with his mentor guitarist Roope Latvala. His influences have been Steve Vai, Roope Latvala, Zakk Wylde, Dimebag Darrell, Slash, Jeff Waters, Yngwie Malmsteen, Randy Rhoads, Jake E. Lee, and Paul Gilbert. His vocal influences were mainly from Pantera's Phil Anselmo and Mille Petrozza from the band Kreator. He has recorded 11 albums, demos, and EPs with his band Children of Bodom, 3 albums with Sinergy, 1 album with Impaled Nazarene, 3 albums with Kylähullut and made guest appearances on Warmen, Rytmihäiriö, Raskaampaa Joulua, Pain, and Annihilator albums.*********MUHAMMED SUICMEZGuitarist, composer, singer Muhammed Suiçmez is of Turkish decent, but born & raised in Germany. He taught himself guitar, practising daily in secret, as his strict parents disapproved. His early influences were Carcass, Death, Entombed, Morbid Angel, and later the great Yngwie Malmsteen who he styled some work on. He wrote the dark lyrics for "Onset Of Putrefaction" at the age of only 14, inspired by Carcass. In 1991, Muhammed formed the technical death metal band Necrophagist, which has had an unsteady line-up history, and in 1998 he had to record their debut album "Onset Of Putrefaction" nearly single handed, but it had a huge impact on the underground scene and even bigger inpact on fellow musicians. The follow up album in 2004 "Epitaph" again show cases Muhammed's incredibly hard rhythmic licks. With a new, stable line-up, Necrophagist now tours in Europe & the US and hopefully there will be a new album out in 2008.*********JEFF LOOMIS Guitarist, Jeff Loomis from Seattle is totally self taught from an early age and he won the Wisconsin's Guitar Wars contest at only 16 years of age. Amoung his guitar influences are Jason Becker, Frank Zappa, Brian May, Yngwie Malmsteen, Tony MacAlpine, Jeff Beck, Stevie Ray Vaughan, Eddie Van Halen, and Marty Friedman. At 16 he also auditioned for Megadeth, although they admired his guitar work, it was his young age and lack of stage experience only, that went against him. Jeff's first band was the metal band Fear Tech, followed by the bands Experiment Fear, System and Sanctuary. After Sanctuary split, Jeff formed Nevermore, the band in which he still plays. Nevermore have produced 7 albums, the latest being 2005's "This Godless Endeavor" . He has also guested on albums with God Forbid, Pamela Moore and Annihilator. Jeff has recently been given a monthly column in Guitar World magazine entitled "Merchant of Menace" and been working on a solo album. *********CHUCK SCHULDINERThe original death metal guitarist Charles Michael "Chuck" Schuldiner came from Long Island, New York. Chuck started playing classical guitar at the age of 9, but soon changed to electric. He was originally inspired by Iron Maiden, Kiss and Billy Idol, among others. He was particularly interested in the movement N.W.O.B.H.M (New Wave of British Heavy Metal) and has cited bands of that genre among his favorites. Later influences were Slayer, Possessed, Mercyful Fate/King Diamond and Metallica. In 1982 Chuck formed the metal band Mantas and in 1983 at the age of 15 recorded a four track demo "Death By Metal". He changed the band name to Death in 1984. In 1986 he joined the Canadian band Slaughter, but within months came back to his band Death releasing their debut album "Scream Bloody Gore in 1987. This album is considered to be a blueprint for death metal music and made death metal a more recognised genre. They went on to release 10 albums with his fast, relentless and shredding solos. During this time Chuck played guitar in the project Voodoocult on the album Jesus Killing Machine. In 1999 Chuck formed the band Control Denied, he continued to play with them throughout his brave battle with cancer. Chuck was a hugely important musician, composer and pioneer in the development of the death metal genre.*********TONY SMOTHERMANGreece born guitar virtuoso, Tony Smotherman first musical influences were Bach and Paganini, who inspired him to play classical guitar. He was chosen Middleburg High School's "Most Talented Senior." and selected as a member in the annually published book Who's Who Among American High School Students. His musical work was submitted to Queen Elizabeth II. Her Highness sent notes of encouragement, describing his classical guitar skills as "highly sophisticated." Tony was next influenced by Jimi Hendrix, Yngwie Malmsteen and Ravi Shankar when he took up electric guitar. His eclectic mix of influences sets him apart from all of his peers with his own distinct sound, innovating new techniques and combining a huge array of different styles. He was invited to perform his work in an instructional and performance series in the Grand School of Music at the Grand Opera House in Wilmington. DVDs of this series have been released. He has also released 3 CDs and two instructional videos, Virtuoso Techniques and Licks of the Absurd and has acquired endorsements with Halo Guitars, Line 6, DR Strings, EMG Pick-ups, Stylus Picks, and Mid-East Musical Instruments.*********MATTIAS EKLUNDHSwedish vocalist and guitarist Mattias "IA" Eklundh is best known for his work with the power trio Freak Kitchen, recognised by his distinct, unconventional and complicated cutting edge style of playing. After starting on the drums at a young age, he began playing the guitar at the age of thirteen. His main musical influences are gypsy jazz, Miles Davis, Slayer, Kiss and Zappa. He played in the bands Frozen Eyes and Scratch 'n Sniff before he formed his own band Freak Kitchen in 1992. He has recorded several solo albums, and made appearances as a guest musician for Swedish heavy metal bands like Evergrey and Soilwork. In 2005, he also co-formed a second band, a touring super-group, the Jonas Hellborg Trio with friends Jonas Hellborg and Niclas Campagnol. This year Mattias has been voted "Best New Talent" in Guitar Player Magazine's 2007 Readers' Choice Awards.*********LATVALA ROOPEFinnish pioneering heavy metal guitarist Latvala Roope co-founded the legendary metal band 'Stone' at the age of only 15. This influential band released four studio albums, the live Album "Free" , a compilation album and a dvd (released 2007) "Get Stoned, Stay Stoned". In 1991 he released an instrumental work with his brother, entitled Latvala bros. He then played with Dementia, and in 1995 he joined Waltari for 6 years, after which Latvala joined Sinergy. He joined his other present band "Children of Bodom" in 2003, having less than 4 weeks to learn their 20 tour tracks. Over his career he has also worked, guested and recorded with, to mention some, Corporal Punishment, Shaman, Cleverboys, Nomicon, Airdash, Warmen, Alaska Evil, Pornonorsu, Barathrum, Jailbreakers, Cross Of Iron, Soulgrind, Ei Siis/On Siis, Gloomy Grim, Heavyn, Nightmare, To/Die/For, Walhalla. Latvala was the first real "guitar hero" of Finnish Metal, he is the main influence of many Finnish guitarists especially Alexi Laiho from Children of Bodom, and is a huge influence in the Finnish metal scene. Latvala is at present an active member of Sinergy and Children of Bodom. *********DIMEBAG DARRELL Texan guitarist Darrell Lance Abbott aka Diamond Darrell aka Dimebag Darrell, musical roots were in Country Western music and he would record with local musicians, including a rare recording with Dallas musician "Throbbin Donnie" Rodd's "Country Western Transvestite Whore" which features him on lead guitar & lead vocals. His influences included Randy Rhoads, Eddie Van Halen, Kal Edmondson, Rusty Burns, Pat Travers, Jimi Hendrix, Tony Iommi and Ace Frehley. Darrell and his brother Vinnie formed heavy metal band Pantera in 1981 recording 10 albums. After Pantera disbanded in 2003 the brothers formed Damageplan making 2 albums. He also recorded one album with his side project band Rebel Meets Rebel. Darrell played guest guitar solos on many Anthrax songs from their John Bush era; Anthrax bassist Frank Bello said "Darrell was basically the sixth member of Anthrax". He also performed a solo on the title track from King Diamond's Voodoo album, and played a guitar solo which has been put in the Nickelback song "Side of a Bullet". Shortly before his death, he recorded as a guest soloist on a Premenishen track titled "Eyes of the South". Darrell wrote a long-running Guitar World magazine column, which has been compiled in the book "Riffer Madness". On May 17, 2007 Dimebag Darrell was posthumously inducted into Hollywood's RockWalk.*********JANI LIIMATAINEN Jani Liimatainen power guitarist from Kemi, Finland started his professional career with the Finnish band Altaria playing both the guitar and keyboards, but better known as a founding member of the power metal band Sonata Arctica. He is mainly a self taught guitarist, experimental in his techniques. Early influences were Dream Theatre and Freak Kitchen. He is now endorsed by Ibanez and plays the Ibanez JPM4 and a Destroyer DT 200 Custom. Jani also found time to form a second band with fellow Sonata Arctica band member, keyboardist Henrik Klingenberg, the death metal band Graveyard Shift . *********RON THAL ~ BUMBLEFOOTRon Thal aka Bumblefoot is from New York City, known for his punky guitar riffs, fast shredding, plus at times, a quirky and experimental style. He has 2 solo albums in his own name, and 6 albums using his pseudonym Bumblefoot, singing lead and playing lead guitar under both names. As well as his busy solo career he has worked on video games, TV shows and recorded with Q*Ball, Guthrie Govan, Mike Orlando, Christophe Godin, Freak Kitchen, Phi Yann-Zek, Mistheria, Richard Daude, Jessica Simpson which certainly shows his guitaring versatility. 2006 saw him replacing shred guitarist Buckethead in the hard rock band Guns 'n' Roses, Bumblefoot also appears on the Guns 'n' Roses' new album, Chinese Democracy, which has been in the making for the last 13 years.*********JOHN 5 ~ JOHN LOWERYJohn 5 was born John Lowery at Grosse Pointe, Michigan. Over the years he has been influenced by Hendrix, Steve Vai, Kiss, Les Paul, Chet Atkins, Buckethead, Albert Leean and other greats. He started playing guitar at the age of seven. At 18, he moved to California to pursue a career as a professional session guitarist. His first band in LA, was Alligator Soup, but he soon began working on a number of projects for Bob Marlette, which included TV shows, commercials and film soundtracks. He joined Marilyn Manson in 1999, for which to some people he is most famous for, but he has played with and/or recorded with a host of great rock names including Dirty Trixx, Raven Payne, John Wetton , Robin Zander, Pepperland, Wilson Phillips, Salt-N-Pepa, Rick Springfield, Red Square Black, Night Ranger, Lita Ford, Ryan Downe, froSTed, Leah Andreone, K.D. Lang, David Lee Roth, Rob Zombie, Garbage, Meat Loaf , Paul Stanley, FeFe Dobson, Static-X, Mike Libertoski and so many more. He endorsed Ibanez for a while, but he know has his own signature telecaster with Fender. He is currently the guitarist for Rob Zombie, working on his solo projects and song writing.*********EDDIE VAN HALEN Edward Van Halen, born in The Netherlands, moving to California, America with his family in 1962. He first trained as a classical pianist (his amazing keyboard playing can be heard in #1 hit, "Jump".), but expressed himself better on the drums and from the age of 12 on guitar . He was highly influenced by the British band "Cream" , also guitarist Brian May and fusion guitarist Allan Holdsworth. As a teenager, he co-founded the band Mammouth, which evenually changed it's name to Van Halen. Eddie pioneered many guitar techneques, but he is most famous for the 'two-handed tap', which became his trademark (and over the years it has been copied by many other players). With his awesome speed, new techneques and tasty phrasing, he quickly became one of the world's top guitarists. He has worked with the likes of Dweezil Zappa, Jeff Porcaro, Steve Lukather, Thomas Dolby, John Waters, Brian May, Michael Anthony, Alex Van Halen, Sammy Hagar, Ted Templeman, Donn Landee, David Lee Roth, Quincy Jones to mention a few. Eddie remains one of the world's top guitarists.*********STEVE VAISteve Vai was first inspired by the likes of Jimi Hendrix, Led Zeppelin, Alice Cooper, Jeff Beck & took lessons from now guitar virtuoso Joe Satriani, before attending Berklee College of Music in 1978. Steve worked with Frank Zappa for a few years; in 1994 Steve received a Grammy Award for his performance on the Frank Zappa song Sofa from the album Zappa's Universe. In 1982 he moved to California where he recorded his first solo album Flex-Able. In 1985 he replaced Yngwie Malmsteen as lead guitarist in Graham Bonnet's Alcatrazz with whom he recorded the album Disturbing the Peace. Later in 1985 he joined Van Halen front man David Lee Roth's group to record the albums Eat 'em and Smile and Skyscraper. In Steve's career he has to toured, played or recorded with most the greats in the world of rock including Ozzy Osbourne, Alice Cooper, Yngwie Malmsteen, Randy Coven, Bob Harris, Whitesnake, Gingger, Glenn Hughes, Wild Style, Joe Satriani, Billy Sheehan, David Lee Roth, Western Vacation, Alcatrazz, Shankar, Rebecca, Public Image Ltd., Joe Jackson, Al Di Meola, Yardbirds, Joe Lynn Turner, Gregg Bissonette, Thana Harris, Eric Sardinas, Steve Lukather, The Devin Townsend Band, Munetaka Higuchi with Dream Castle, Bob Carpenter, Mike Keneally, Dave Weiner, to mention some. In April of 2007, Steve confirmed the release of his next record, called Sound Theories, on June 26.*********JOE "SATCH" SATRIANIJoe Satriani, US guitarist and former guitar instructor, his self-released debut album, "Not of This Earth" in 1986 opened the way to a world of instrumental rock music in a pop-dominated world at that time. Influenced by Jimi Hendrix, Jimmy Page and Jeff Beck, he often incorporates a warm sound of guitar with a dominant blues and rock tone. He has had 13 Grammy nominations, reached the ten million mark in CD sales, and is listed as one of the top 10 greatest guitarists of all time. Joe was recruited by Mick Jagger as lead guitarist for Mick's first solo tour, and also worked with a wide range of guitarists from many styles, including Steve Vai, John Petrucci, Eric Johnson, Yngwie Malmsteen, Paul Gilbert, and Robert Fripp through the annual G3 Jam Concerts. *********TONY MacALPINETony MacAlpine is best known as a solo guitarist but he has worked with many different bands and musicians like Planet X, Steve Vai, Vinnie Moore, Mark Boals and Vitalij Kuprij. Chopin is one of Tony's major musical influences, he has a unique style blending elements of neo-classical and jazz fusion, his music made an immense contribution to the neo-classical movement of the late 1980s. Besides being a guitarist, Tony is also a classically trained pianist and violinist and plays all the keyboard parts on his own albums.*********MICHAEL ROMEOMichael Romeo was inspired at the age of 12 to play guitar by the band KISS, he takes his influences from Randy Rhoads, Steve Vai, Marty Friedman, Al Di Meola, Uli Jon Roth, J.S. Bach, Mozart, John Williams and Frank Zappa, and heavily from the neo-classical style of Yngwie Malmsteen. But Michael manages to maintain an identifiable signature that sets him apart from other players in this genre by fusing exotic scales and arpeggios, non-standard rhythms, and time signatures. An slight element of jazz is also fused into his music. Micheal is a founding member of the progressive metal group Symphony X, who he is currently playing with.*********TIMO TOLKKI Finnish guitarist Timo Tolkki played with the bands Antidote, Thunder and Road Block before joining Stratovarius in 1984. At this period his playing was more progressive and hard-edged making use of lower-register power chords, often in Eb tuning, and sometimes heavy palm muting, which made earlier Stratovarius songs rather dark and unnerving. Over the years Timo's style has gradually got more traditionally speedy and melodic that of power metal and neo-classical with various fast shredding techniques.*********HERMAN LIHerman Li from Hong Kong, formed the band Dragonforce in 1999, a band known for their dual guitar harmonies (Herman & Sam Totman), grandiose speed and style, and epic guitar. Herman, who is a self taught guitarist, is actually left handed, but as a child he could not afford a left-handed guitar, so he ended up playing right-handed! He won the 2005 Metal Hammer Golden Gods 'Best Shredder' award, also won 'Best Shredder', 'Best Metal', 'Best Riff' and 'Best New Talent (with 70% of the vote) in the Guitar World's Readers 2007 poll, and together with Sam Totman (Dragonforce's 2nd lead guitarist, also a great guitarist) won the 'Best Guitar Solo' with "Through The Fire & Flames" in 'Total Guitar' 2006 readers poll. Like Michael Angelo Batio, Herman is known for his signature guitar solos, wherein he frets notes with his left hand over the top of the fretboard instead of from beneath it. His other signature moves include "drum riser spin bounce" and the "whammy bar lift guitar slam." He also uses a Digitech Whammy II and a Digitech XP-100 Whammy-Wah to create some of his signature guitar sounds.*********BOBBY FERRARABobby, originally from Long Island, his jaw-dropping solo flurries, wah-drenched fusillades and high-energy freakout has won him New York's Hot Licks guitar contest twice, and have made him a world class guitarist. Bobby is an endorsee of GREM GUITARS. He also writes a bimonthly guitar technique/effects column called "The Clinic" for New Jersey's only heavy metal magazine, "Ironworx". Bobby Ferrara is one of the cleanest playing shred guitarists I have heard, and at such speed keeps the passion, he looses nothing. !!! ~ amazing musician ~ !!!MORE INFORMATIONORVISIT BOBBY FERRARA*********Allen "ROBOT" Van Wert FULLER BIOGROBOT has been credited as having a very futuristic sounding experimental style, exploding and breaking the limits of guitar based music. (without the use of FX or any editing tricks). This is true cutting edge guitar OR VISIT ROBOT~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~A tip for any young would-be shredders whether it be on guitar, piano, violin, sax, drums or even voice ... practise all your scales over and over and over again, get them PERFECT, THEN practice them faster and faster and faster, YES its back to the basics for a while, also jam with as many and listen to as many different muso's you can, & one day you too might be among the greats, at the least, you will be a far better & more talented musician!!