Hi, I’m Lars, from Germany. I already joined this forum back in 2018, but just noticed I’ve never posted anything until now…
I’ve been playing guitar for 18 years now (started in June 2002). I did take lessons for the first few years (acoustic/classical guitar though), but I’d consider myself self-taught when it comes to the techniques I mostly use. Unfortunately, my playing time doesn’t really show in my guitar technique - for most of those years, I’ve struggled to keep a good, effective and productive practice schedule. This year I’ve finally managed to turn that around, and have definitely seen results.
I’m mainly into prog, power and neoclassical metal, with Yngwie Malmsteen and John Petrucci being my biggest influences (along with Ritchie Blackmore, Joe Stump, and in recent years also Steve Lukather).
I discovered CTC on YouTube through the videos about Yngwie’s technique - and have been applying a lot of it when practicing. I was astonished at how easy a lot of his stuff actually feels…if you ignore the speed that is.
I’m still pretty slow. Depending on the phrase/lick, I’m no faster than 16th notes at 120bpm (quarter notes), at least when it involves string switching.
Cheers and happy shredding everyone,
Lars
