does anybody know what bass shredding is?

just heard it....dunno really....

prof_nutbutter:bassist:

it's all about destroying a bass!

nah, not really...

It's slang for playing bass really fast, just shredding notes all over. Most often shredding implies quantity but not quality IMO :rolleyes:

Interesting that you say that and have shawn lane and symphony X in your sig! In my experience it usually doesn't mean a lack of quality. "that guy shreds" is usually taken as a compliment from what I've seen.

if u want bass shreddin....get any mr big stuff or billy sheehan...he'l show u a few shredding maneuvres! ;-)

seriously, Billy sheehan is like shred miazaki

Billy is cool but I have never heard him solo in a song just heard some live improvised solos.

Does any of you guys know some cool songs to listen to for som great shredding by billy or the guy from symphony x, or perhaps you know some other cool bassshredding songs by some great player.

cliff burton R.I.P

john aldrete from racer x is a killer bass shredder.


Kyle Honea has a bass solo album out that is pretty much over the top bass shredding with tapped arpeggios and sweeps and stuff. Randy Coven and Scott Hubbell are ridiculously good as well. Coven played with Yngwie Malmsteen's band for awhile and now has a solo album out called "Witchway"

Shredding is a style of playing invented by guitarists where you play a bunch of notes really really fast and don't really care what they are.

The reason shred is useds as a compliment is non musicians and guitarists alike think shredding is da bomb.

It is funny to see how shredding is over- and underrated at the same time.
I think that if a person has to shred it has to be done properly. Then it will sound enjoyable.
That also sounds stupid if a band tries to build a cool song and the songs only purpose is to contain as much shred as possible.

Most shredders DO care about the notes they play, look at Michael Angelo for example he never plays a single note wrong or out of key.

Could it be that most of those who whine about shredding cant shred? I think you shouldn´t approach any kind of music narrow mindedly it´s just music.

I think shredding is pretty cool.

P.S. That Kyle Honea guy was excellent!

Originally posted by Krogolas
Could it be that most of those who whine about shredding cant shred?

Along with a few baffoons that like to show off every chance they get and leaving a bad taste in everyone's mouth I think you hit the nail on the head. The great majority of people who can play super fast don't do it everytime they get a chance. Like anything else, it should be a vehicle for what you hear in your head. And remember, shredding isn't all about distorted guitars ripping off romantic composers. Listen to Coltrane solo on 'countdown'.

That´s just the narrow minded approach, if you don´t like it don´t listen to it. Simple?
I think that if somebody approaches music from a shreddy angle they have the complete right to do so. I admire them for their work they have done practising so that they could express theirselves musically.
I´m sick of all those "rock-cops" who are always telling how it should be done. So what if somebody shreds it is only music.

Yeah and you dont need a distorted guitar to shred. Jeff Berlin shreds, Jaco shreds, Jack DeJohnette shreds for example, and shredding is a very old phenomenom, don´t forget that.

bascially get any live Mr big tunes, billy will rip into them, shreddtastic! or "shy boy" in the dave lee roth band -its not just shredding, its just full of cool licks and techniques

the dude from racer x - get the tune scarified

john myung from dream theater can play fast but isnt really a shredder -although in my opinoin he's the best player out there

also ron thal the guitarist is also a ****in great bass player!


also check out guthrie govans brother! cant mind hs name!

Shredding, despite my previous post, isn't a terrible thing. But I've delt with numerous guitarists who have nothing else. There needs to be a dynamic, contrast. For every 32th note you play at 280 bpm you should be able to play a whole note at 60 bpm. For every melodyless solo you shred your way through, you should play a slow simple melodic solo that tells a story in a musical sense.

I use to hate solos all together. Victor Wooten was getting all sorts of recognition because of his ability to double thump his ass off and that's all I heard. Listen to this way fast shreddy bass playing... ooh. I wasn't impressed.

Well that's a bit harsh. I was impressed. "This guy's a technical whiz." I though, but I saw nothing more. Then I heard him lay down some funky ass grooves. And some of the simplest playing come out of those hands. It was Sunset Road by Bela Fleck and The Flecktones that made me decide Victor Wooten is fantastic. Give it a listen. If he would have played one more single note in the entire song, it would have ruined it. I heard quotes from him saying his main goal is to make the music groove and I though that was complete bull****. You do not need double thumping to make music groove, there is no arguing that. But that man can groove.

A dynamic, contrast, it's nessicary.

Originally posted by ole Jason
Interesting that you say that and have shawn lane and symphony X in your sig! In my experience it usually doesn't mean a lack of quality. "that guy shreds" is usually taken as a compliment from what I've seen.
IMO both of those examples are not part of the majority of nowadays "shredders".

Shawn Lane was a great guitarrist, whose speed never got in the way of great (jazzistic) phrasing and general geniality (IMO) :)

As for Symphony X, any of it's members can be *really* fast but still playing great stuff behind that speed.
I for one absolutely loved former SX's bassist Thomas Miller bass playing, his technique... and his sound?... awwww :smug:

As for nowadays shred-frenzy... well... I could be here forever naming shredders that basically only play fast stuff, but when you get to decode it... :spit:

Originally posted by funkyfraz
john myung from dream theater can play fast but isnt really a shredder -although in my opinoin he's the best player out there

Listen to "The Dance of Eternity" Myung shows off his shredding skills, quite impressive. Like you said though, he isn't really a shredder, but he can shred. I like the solo he plays in his video, I think the solo's called "freeport jam" some very fast parts, but very tasteful.

the biggest shredder of them all is les calypool all he does is smack his bass in different ways to get different sounds o[ut of it, a shredder is someone "as a bassist" who often goes outside just laying down a groove and tends to put a fill in every verse or so.

Originally posted by bassplyr8145
the biggest shredder of them all is les calypool all he does is smack his bass in different ways to get different sounds o[ut of it, a shredder is someone "as a bassist" who often goes outside just laying down a groove and tends to put a fill in every verse or so.

First of all, do people really think his name is calypool? I mean honestly, because I've seen this typo very very often on here.

Second, I argue Claypool as a shredder. He mostly sticks to his really out there main riffs and doesn't fill nearly as much as you implied.

Originally posted by bassplyr8145
a shredder is someone "as a bassist" who often goes outside just laying down a groove and tends to put a fill in every verse or so.

I'd say that at least 75% of all bassists do this; I wouldn't describe it as "shredding" at all. I also wouldn't say Les Claypool is a shredder in the least. He rarely takes leads, and they aren't usually very good when he does-his strength is as a groove and rhythm player. I think of some of Billy Sheehan's solos as good examples of bass shredding.

When I saw this thread, the first bassist I thought of was Entwistle. I've seen some video clips of him performing what I felt was some "world class" shredding, both with The Who and also with his JEB band. Does anyone else agree, or am I dreaming? :)

Originally posted by mjw
When I saw this thread, the first bassist I thought of was Entwistle. I've seen some video clips of him performing what I felt was some "world class" shredding, both with The Who and also with his JEB band. Does anyone else agree, or am I dreaming? :)

agreed.

what tracks do you guys feel that Entwhistle is shredding on? just curious cause I didn't think he did much of that stuff, I think he's a great bassist though.

Originally posted by Wildside
what tracks do you guys feel that Entwhistle is shredding on? just curious cause I didn't think he did much of that stuff, I think he's a great bassist though.

I've a clip that you can download from my site that shows him playing at Woodstock with his JEB band. This is one where IMO he shreds a lot, especially near the end.

Have a look and let me know what you think:

JEB@Woodstock2 (http://bassguitar.us/vidClips/JohnEntwhistleBandAtWoodstock.mpg)

FYI, Slow-site + 3-minute clip = patience needed. ;)

Peace :cool:

He mostly shreds when he solos, try checking out the Who DVD that came out a little while ago. He gets a solo in there. He'll randomly throw in these very rapid fills throughout the entire concert though. Very shreddy. :)

It's the word "shredding", it just doesnt sound musical does it... it makes it sounds like some sort of macho competition... ;)

I'm not saying there's anything wrong with playing super fast, I have many records with playing that could be considered 'shredding' on them.
It's just that.. in my opinion.. those people who are famous for super fast playing quite regularly use it in place of a more musical alternative.. which is fine, I guess it's just not to my tastes.

The other thing worth mentioning is that, in my experience (including myself) that style of playing is often favoured by kids and teenagers.
While, more mature musicians tend to turn their focus away from speed and more to what they actually want to say with their music.

This, taste or no taste, must say something surely?

:)

Entwistle and Billy Sheehan are two of my favorite bass shredders. Entwistle could do it, but he didnt do it all the time, same goes for Billy.

You are all correct IMHO about your picks...
Entwistle was an unbelievably fast (shredding) player. Sheenhan is also very fast...I've got some live footage when he was with Mr. Big and during a show in Japan he did a solo that was amazingly fast. I think quite a bit of his impact is lost because he uses distortion in his solos about 95% of the time.
John Myung with Dream Theater is probably the fastest person I have ever seen live. His fretting hand moves remarkably fast.

I HATE bass shredding... as I am improving, I tend to play slower

That is The Question. I never get to Shred live,
But sometimes when I get in the Mood at home, I kick on the Distortion and Flanger and Shred away.

[i]where you play a bunch of notes really really fast and don't really care what they are.

. [/B] That was the most ignorant post i've ever read. If you actually see a tab or piece of sheet music to a shred song, you'll see how much theory goes behind it. You can't write a neo-classical shred song by just using random notes/

Originally posted by canoscan
That was the most ignorant post i've ever read. If you actually see a tab or piece of sheet music to a shred song, you'll see how much theory goes behind it. You can't write a neo-classical shred song by just using random notes/


I you haven't spent much time in off topic have you.

Shredding is improvised, not something composed. It's when John Q. Guitarist or whoever picks up there instrument and just throw together a bunch of licks as fast as they can... oooh ahhh.

Neo-Classical artists compose their fast licks. If I considered them no talent shredders I'd have to say the same for Bach.

Oh and tabs aren't going to show me the theroy that went into writing anything.

Uhh Uhh, that was a dumb post, ignorant uhh and asnine.

if a passage of music is "fast" ,"shredding" whatever, its got to compliment the song or go somewhere for the good of the song. Alot of "fast" stuff sounds like running straight up and down scales at the speed of light that sounds like a practice exercise that someone wood use to impress someone in a music store. Coltrane, holdsworth, jaco, willis, they can play fast with phrasing and melody, and if it dont have melody and diverse phrasing whether fast or slow, is just widdley widdley fingers floppin around in the breeze not saying squat.

I you haven't spent much time in off topic have you.

Shredding is improvised, not something composed. It's when John Q. Guitarist or whoever picks up there instrument and just throw together a bunch of licks as fast as they can... oooh ahhh.

Neo-Classical artists compose their fast licks. If I considered them no talent shredders I'd have to say the same for Bach.

Oh and tabs aren't going to show me the theroy that went into writing anything.

Uhh Uhh, that was a dumb post, ignorant uhh and asnine.

Well Stupid Matt your saying shredding is improvised but I never heard Entwistle shred in the wrong key. You can def inprovise and still play something that goes musically with the tune. These guys just know 17,000 ways to add something to a tune. Def a lot of talent when these guys shred! And I started learning off tabs and if you transcribe the tab you can def find the thoery in there. I'm not saying your wrong but I don't think Canoscan is eithier.

Where in the world did you hear shredding is always improvised? That would be like saying a 'groove' has to be improvised. Also, what difference does it make? Is a Beethoven cadenza less potent because it was improvised? I would lean towards the opposite.

if a passage of music is "fast" ,"shredding" whatever, its got to compliment the song or go somewhere for the good of the song. Alot of "fast" stuff sounds like running straight up and down scales at the speed of light that sounds like a practice exercise that someone wood use to impress someone in a music store. Coltrane, holdsworth, jaco, willis, they can play fast with phrasing and melody, and if it dont have melody and diverse phrasing whether fast or slow, is just widdley widdley fingers floppin around in the breeze not saying squat.


Where I come from in Australia, and lived through the late 80's metal phase, the term "SHREDDING" was usually associated with guitarists playings fast solo's and going off. I am shure there is no correct term for the word. Improvised shrimprovised, whatever. Music is either played for the music otherwise it is a selfish unmusical ego wank. Refer to QUOTE.

Since we've dipped into attacks and stupidity, we're done here.