Shane Gibson – Helps the Shredicine go Down

Helps the Shredicine go Down

Shane Gibson is another relatively new player on the scene but given his history and talent it must surely be only a matter of time before he becomes a familiar name to fans of contemporary guitar playing. Having graduated from Berklee, worked as a roadie for Kiss and subsequently gone on to play with Korn and Johnathan Davies he has also formed the band Schwarzenator with Thomas Lang.

Released in 2005 this instructional DVD is 57 minutes long shot in the usual CFH budget format but please, don’t let that put you off – it’s content and sheer value for money set this DVD ahead of many others that were shot with a higher budget. It also includes a 41 page .pdf which covers all the examples in complete accuracy which is fortunate as Shane isn’t afraid to let his formidable chops illustrate all his examples very clearly.

Kicking off on an acoustic guitar he illustrates several chops-building excercises with absolute clarity and if we’ve seen similar ideas before then these are still valuable for pick control and technique. Shane is a very rhythmically aware player and almost immediately we are presented with licks incorporating 16th notes and 16th note triplets, odd note groupings, economy and sweep picking – this is definitely aimed at the advanced player, or very competent intermediate shredder.

Moving swiftly on to a 7-string guitar he introduces a couple of further excercises aimed at increasing finger independance and pick accuracy before launching a demented series of licks utilising diminished arpeggio fragments, pentatonics played 313 style, arpeggio inversions and a healthy dose of legato – as before everything is concisely explained and played flawlessly (although the low B string does tend to buzz a little but that’s a very minor issue..).

Next up is one of his own compositions called “Squirrel gets LSD Acorn” which he uses to illustrate his favourite tapping techniques and also switches between time signatures – 10/16, 4/4 and 6/4 flow by in the space of a few bars but they never seem forced or laboured – simply musical. To his credit he doesn’t attempt to take up time with superfluous examinations of the piece when the tablature is available and as many of the techniques were covered previously then it shouldn’t present too many difficulties.

A short section on tapping follows before the last examples approach odd time signatures and polyrhythms as both a rhythm and lead guitarist – for me this is the “stand out” section of the DVD and whilst a little more explanation might be required for some players (Me, mainly)  Shane also takes the time to demonstrate “Two against Three” and other principles clearly without the guitar so that the counting methods he employs are demystified.

Be warned – “Insane Rhythms” can mess with the mind of some players as several examples incorporate odd meters, with 16th and 32nd note rests (in the space of the same bar) to spice up proceedings even more! Given many guitarists are rhythmically challenged then learning to properly read and count rhythm is going to be a skill you need to develop in short order – but this is superb inspiration to do so.

One of the most interesting videos I’ve seen in a while, Shane’s musicianship and technique really are first rate – very highly recommended.

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