Hey there, Wolfgang Amadeus Brozart

Ah, classical music... it brings to mind powdered wigs, tea, clothing with inordinate amounts of ruffles, and other things that are not metal. You may, in fact, think classical wholly sucks, but it doesn't; really! Even if you aren't a huge fan of the likes of Mozart or Beethoven, there's still a lot you can learn from them. Take, for example, this well-known epitomy of twinkliness:

Man, that's just... not metal and has nothing to do with shred guitar. Until I made this devastating arrangement, that is!



This first part is relatively straight forward, with tons of alternate picking in the middle. Mind the pick directions I marked; it may feel a little uncomfortable, but following them will get you used to weaving between 16th note groupings with downstrokes falling on the beat, and with upstrokes falling on the beat. Mastering both is pretty much essential if you want to be a great alternate picker! There's also a tiny bit of sweeping in the last section which sneaks up on you quick, so make sure to keep those 16th notes even. On to the next part!

Look at the first beat of the second measure above... it's a grace note, followed by a dotted 8th note trill, followed by a 16th note. Time-wise, I would err on having the grace note be slightly early, essentially part of the previous measure, so that the G A trill falls on beat one. This idea repeats twice, ending with the first measure of the next section... then all Hell breaks loose.

This sweepy mess would be played using both hands on piano, but we can make do as written (although it's tough!). I highly, highly, HIGHLY recommend you follow the pickstrokes and legato I notated precisely, or it will be almost impossible to execute. Playing this up-to-speed will require patience; work it REALLY slow, and good luck! If you have any questions on fingering (which powertab sucks at notating), ask and I'll gladly answer! We're coming up towards the end...

Things to note here; there is a very quick beat of 32nds in the first measure, a long trill in the third, and more sweep/economy picking madness in the fourth and fifth. You might want to use hammers and pulls for the 32nds, and you'll definitely want to follow the notated right hand motions for the fourth and fifth. And once you get to the end, repeat it all again from the top! hahahaha!

Hopefully I've shown you that even this piece, twinkly and piano recital-y though it may be, can yield many shred benefits. Practice it and enjoy it, but just don't go around calling it your own arrangement, or I will kill you.

See you next time!