Dear Marty, let me just say that ever since I saw you at the guitar clinic here in Hong Kong a year ago now, I haven't stopped practising. I remember telling you at the signing session that I played a Gibson SG and that I was going to get an Ibanez because of their thin necks and you said yeah, they were good. And get an Ibanez I did. After that now my practising must have paid off because a couple weeks ago I was comfortable enough to play my first performance - a guitar battle against someone onstage at school (the first lick I played was actually inspired from the beginning solo bit off Gimme A Dose). So right off the bat I'd like to thank you for just being the Marty Friedman whom I get my motivation from and look up to so much. Anyway, enough mush and to the questions :) If you were to play in a guitar battle would you improv through the entire thing, or practise your licks like mad beforehand? Do you think there is any way to beat your opponent other than by just simply playing super fast licks? And Marty, if you were to battle any guitarist now who would you take on? I think I got creamed at the battle because I was so nervous but I will try harder at the next one in a few weeks. Thanks again Marty, for your time, your music and your quality shredding. I hope we meet again in the future! \m/

Cynthia

I remember you! Guitar "battles" are a good challenge for amateur players to get out there and put some pressure on themselves. You NEED that pressure to truly improve, so I recommend doing it as much as possible. That said, there is no right way to do it...When I was a kid I was in one and all my fancy technical stuff didn`t get nearly as much response as my rival`s cheesy simple bonehead licks. As we both kept advancing til the final round, I knew I had to do something drastic so I smashed my guitar to bits. I won...