Learning how to SHRED....(tastefully, if possible)

[Snowdog79]

So I did something a little different a while back--a recording session for a prog-rockish band. Weird time signatures, lots of kooky guitar sounds, and a request to play as many notes as possible. Now, I was WAAAY into Rush back in my high school days, but recently I've been working more on my jazz and classical chops, and developing simple, in-the-pocket bass lines for country and pop recordings.

 

I want to take my live playing with this group to a higher level. I know there are some shredders on here, and I want to pick their brains for advice on how they went about building up the mentality required to trade solos with a guitarist who emulates Zappa and Vai. I know the first ingredient is practice, and I've been woodshedding major and minor scales all over the fingerboard (using Joel Di Bartelo's excellent *Serious Electric Bass* book), but I'm unsure where to proceed from here.

 

What kind of scales and modes would be most applicable in a shred guitar power trio? How can I keep from sounding like I'm a jazzer trying to rock? The keyboard player has recently left the group, and I'm stepping up to play all his solos and such. Any advice would be appreciated!

 

If you want to hear some of the songs, go to www.jasondavismusic.com and look under the music section. The disc I played on is the first one, "147...& Beyond", and I'm only on three tracks--"I Can't", "Blacken the Sky", and "Penguin"

 

Thanks for the help!

 

~Jeremy Hull