A guitar shred-off competition was held featuring three contestants.
Loudwire, an online American media, and entertainment source that covers hard rock and heavy metal music, held an impromptu guitar shredding competition in 2018.
They were sponsored by Seymour Duncan, a popular manufacturing company of guitar and bass pickups.
The competition was a rough one and three competitors climbed through the ladder namely, Elias, Ray and the 12-year-old contestant, Landon.
However, the competition did not end there, the three had to battle once more and only one of them could emerge from the top.
A Bullet For My Valentine guitarist was chosen as the judge.
This battle is going to be hard to decide, which is why Loudwire invited the lead guitarist from the popular Welsh heavy metal band, Bullet For My Valentine, to be the judge for the finale.
His name is Michael Paget, and he has been the band’s guitarist since 1998, the year the band was founded. His presence brought pressure to the three contestants, making them think of something to impress the crowd as well as the veteran guitarist.
Even so, what is guitar shredding?
Before we move on to the actual competition, here are some facts about shredding.
There are various techniques used in playing the guitar, and one of them is a technique called shredding.
This technique has become popular ever since it was introduced to the world by many famed guitarists. It is a playing style that incorporates various techniques including licking and sweep picking to name a few. As many jazz guitarists improvised these techniques, shredding was then known as another playing style.
The battle was on and it was a fiery one.
The rules are simple: each person should perform a 30-second impromptu piece featuring the shredding technique.
They are then judged by their performance to decide the winner. Elias was the first one to step up to the stage and pick up the guitar. He showed off some slow, soulful riffs and even charmed the crowd with a beautiful finish. The next was Ray, and he shredded fast like someone who was running for his life. Both showed skill but the final contestant showed off something more.
The final contestant showed something that blew everyone’s expectation.
The 12-year-old boy Landon was next, and people were pumped to see what he is going to show them.
The pressure was piled on top of him as he was the last contestant of the show, and he needs to up his performance to prove himself better than the other two.
He grabbed the guitar and then dug his pick on the strings. He pressed his fingers on the fretboard and performed some tremolo picking, a rapid shredding technique that produces a pleasant-sounding wavering effect.
To top it off, he pulled his vibrato bar to shift the notes to a prolonged, distorted sound.
He was already lost in his own world, rocking the guitar he is holding. However, there was little time to do more tricks and so he began to wrap the show. He finished his piece with an electrifying dive bomb, getting the whole crowd to cheer for him.
The winner was an easy and obvious choice for the judge!
After Landon’s performance, the host called the three contestants back on-stage for the announcement.
Without hesitation, the host pointed to Landon as the winner. He was given a new Flying-V electric guitar in the end. Just imagine the adrenaline rushing during that high-pressure moment, giving Landon a boost in confidence and skill. He definitely blew everyone’s minds away.
Listen to his awesome performance in the link below:
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