Shred Guitar: A Complete System for the Rock Guitar Improviser (Contemporary Guitar Series) [Paperback]

Paul Hanson (Author)

Book Description

Series: Contemporary Guitar Series | Publication Date: December 9, 1996

A carefully planned and systematic approach to fretboard mastery, Shred Guitar is actually two books in one. The first half of the book, "Shred Guitar," is based around 10 popular rock chord progressions with full play-along tracks included on the accompanying CD. The second half of the book, "The Practical Guide to Harmony and Theory," is a guitar theory reference that contains 17 units of detailed information that will be useful to all guitarists.

Editorial Reviews

From the Publisher

A carefully planned and systematic approach to fretboard mastery, ^Shred Guitar} is actually two books in one. The first half of the book, 'Shred Guitar,' is based around 10 popular rock chord progressions with full play-along tracks included on the accompanying CD. The second half of the book, 'The Practical Guide to Harmony and Theory,' is a guitar theory reference that contains 17 units of detailed information that will be useful to all guitarists.

Product Details

• Paperback: 114 pages
• Publisher: Warner Bros Pubns; 1ST edition (December 9, 1996)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1576236048
• ISBN-13: 978-1576236048
• Product Dimensions: 11.7 x 8.9 x 0.4 inches
• Shipping Weight: 14.4 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (11 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #448,436 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

8 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Outstanding Hard Rock Guitar Solo Lesson, March 9, 2009

By 

JG (Dallas, TX) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Shred Guitar: A Complete System for the Rock Guitar Improviser (Contemporary Guitar Series) (Paperback)

First of all, let me say I have been playing the guitar and bass guitar for around 2 and 1/2 years now. I played piano for 3 and 1/2 (way back when I was a teenager some 30 years ago), so I already had a good musical foundation on which to build. I don't have a lot of free time, and chose to go the self-taught route with my guitar journey. Consequently I own around 50-60 instructional guitar and bass books (many with CDS) and DVDs, on different genres, including Jazz and Blues. Being an 80's kind of dude (not that I still like the spandex and make-up), I always wanted to be able to shred. This book, Shred Guitar, has been a great help in my quest.
First, in my opinion, it was excellently written. The author came across as being very skilled and knowledgable, as well as personable and witty. Compared to other books I own, the book has so much more clarity, and contains plenty of good, solid music theory and examples. It is my favorite of my hard rock/heavy metal instructional material, hence my reason for writing this review.
The recordings on the CD make for great music. The guitar used on the tracks has a lot of delay and distortion, but for Rock, I loved the tone. Of course, one should learn to play the examples without the effects, then once they are later added, the songs will be so much more easier to play well. I routinely play the CD in my car to I can really absorb what the tracks are about and train my ear. I also do it because I just enjoy the music on the tracks.
One reviewer complained about the speed of the some of the tracks. I too had a little trouble at first going from the slowed-down versions of some of the examples to the full-speed recording. Also, many tracks did not have slow versions. But now, after several months, my ear and mind are trained to where it is no problem. I can play them in my head at any speed, once I have heard them a few times. That being said, I don't think this book is one for absolute beginners. You will need a little experience before you can really take advantage of this book; however, if you go slowly enough through the book, it can get you there.
Thanks to this Book/CD guitar course, my arpeggio /sweep picking skill has really advanced, although I have not had the time to really perfect it. I plan to use the many examples to really concentrate on it later after I have mastered some other more pressing musical concepts.
Also my finger speed has increased, leading to my new-found ability to better play fast, melodic solos. I can also improvise better, and am able to utilize in my solos some of the various fast alternate picking/legato runs the book teaches.
The only weak point in this guitar course for me is that I am not a big fan of the Blues tracks, mainly because I never was a big fan of many of the Blues-based 80's metal songs such "Talk Dirty to Me" by Poison and Motley Crue's version of "Smokin' in the Boy's Room" (however, the Blues tracks still have definite instructional value). I like the more straight-ahead rock like the Scorpions' "Rock You Like a Hurricane" and Iron Maiden's "The Trooper." There are plenty of these types of examples in the book. And, once you master some of the applicable examples, you will be able to play these songs, and many other genres of heavy metal/hard rock music, with ease.

7 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Not just for the spandex set!, February 15, 2006

By 

Scott Hyatt (Santa Cruz, CA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Shred Guitar: A Complete System for the Rock Guitar Improviser (Contemporary Guitar Series) (Paperback)

Highly recommended for intermediate guitaristists of all stripes. Simply put, a great guide to improvisation posing as a book on heavy metal guitar technique. The Practical Guide to Music Theory and Scale Dictionary at the back of the book are both excellent reference guides. Emphasize the word "practical" here: Hanson gives great examples and analysis throughout, always showing what works where. Advancing guitarists working through the material will suddenly find themselves understanding chord, scale, and mode relationships--and have a lot more ideas to work with at jam sessions and band practice. If only Hanson would write a book on jazz guitar comping!

8 of 9 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Excellent value, May 4, 2005

By 

Brad Pattershall (Maine USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Shred Guitar: A Complete System for the Rock Guitar Improviser (Contemporary Guitar Series) (Paperback)

This book and its accompanying CD are superb. The 10 progressions take you through different modes/scales and offer several ideas and examples for soloing. All along, the theory behind the soling ideas and chord progressions is explained in detail. The advice about how to practice must be followed to fully benefit from the lessons, but then again, "no pain, no gain." Probably a better for fit for an intermediate player, but still extremely useful for any guitarist. Highly recommended, especially at the amazon.com discount price.