fastest guitar player in the world

This week’s guest blogger is John “Dr. Hot Licks” Taylor from Westminster, Colorado, USA, who achieved something akin to the holy grail for a musician in April this year, when he set a new record for Fastest Guitar Player by performing Flight of the Bumblebee at 600 BPM without error.

So many guitar players in the world love the idea of playing fast. For some of us playing fast just isn't enough; some of us want to be the fastest in the world.

I started playing guitar when I was about two months away from turning 14. I was 27 when I set the world record.

The song Machinehead by Bush was the song that made me want to learn guitar. All I really wanted to be able to do was play the opening riff. That didn't last very long. I soon began to listen to heavier bands like Iron Maiden and Helloween which made me want to play heavier and faster. Hearing Yngwie Malmsteen made me want to be the fastest player in the world.

I used to practice several hours a day during the first few years of picking up my new instrument. Sometimes it was only two hours. Sometimes it was up to eight.

The longer I played the less I would practice though, and focus more on writing my own material.

Around six years before my record attempt I decided to learn Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov’s  Flight of the Bumblebee, setting myself the challenge of trying to play it faster than the famous version by Dream Theatre guitarist John Petrucci. The fastest I ever got up to was 300 BPM, but the way I used to play it had a big break in the middle.

About 3 years later, a good friend of mine played me Brazilian guitarist Della Vega's record setting performance of the song. I was stunned, blown away, and very bitter. I couldn't believe how fast this guy was and didn't think anyone could ever play any faster. Seeing Vega then go on a Japanese TV show and play the same song at 370 BPM REALLY messed me up! I felt defeated. While the clip at least made me aware that there was a record for fastest guitar player and there was now something to aim for, I felt as though it was something I would never be able to pull off.

My downer attitude lasted about a week. Despite feeling terrible about what I had just witnessed, I began to relearn Flight of the Bumblebee and fill in the missing pieces so that I wasn't leaving any gaps in my playing. I wanted to learn the hard way. The right way.

I began practicing every day for around two months and gradually began to reach the 320 BPM mark. Once I finally hit the record mark I backed off on practice a bit. I would work on the speed of the song every other day or so when I wasn't busy with work. After about a year of this type of practice I finally decided to just go for 400 BPM.... and I pulled it off!

I told a friend about it and he said that I should just go for the record. So at that point I decided that yes, I am going to shoot for the record.

I wasn't very consistent with practice after that as I was busy trying to get my guitar/bass school off the ground while working full time at a warehouse. But, when I had some free time, I would practice Flight of the Bumblebee to keep my chops up and try to perfect my playing.

In August of 2010 I finally sent in my first application to Guinness World Records who sent me the  information I needed in order to properly set a new world record. In November of the same year I began to practice much more. I even started to do a new endurance workout for my right arm and left hand fingers designed after the way bodybuilders train which made a dramatic difference to the speeds I could reach with my playing.

Finally, near the end of April, 2011, I made my attempt at the record, playing Flight of the Bumblebee at 600 BPM at my local Guitar Center.

After making my attempt and collecting all the evidence to send off to Guinness World Records, my nerves were a total mess. I was very grumpy and irritable while I waited for a reply.

The first response I got from Guinness was an e-mail confirming they had received my materials. Of course, I didn't know that's what the message would say; so when I saw a new e-mail from Guinness World Records it felt like my heart almost exploded!

After reading that I could upgrade to a FastTrack service to receive an answer in 3 days I jumped all over that. The next three days were brutal torture. All the reasons as to why I wouldn't get the record were running through my head. All of my friends who were able to be in the crowd at my record attempt tried to assure me that I pulled it. Many people online who watched my attempt on video said I pulled it off. Of course, I wouldn't feel content until I heard from Guinness World Records.

Nerves jangling, after three days I called Guinness World Records on the phone at 4am in the morning here in Colorado to make sure my FastTrack service went through alright. The lady who I spoke with gave me far better news; not only had my application been received OK, but she was also able to inform me that I had indeed broken the record - I was now the world’s fastest guitar player!

I must have thanked her about a dozen times and told her how wonderful this news was for me. I was all choked up with tears in my eyes, my body was shaking, I was totally overwhelmed. Even now, just reliving that moment in my head as I write this, I have tears in my eyes.

I had a goal to be the fastest in the world, and Guinness World Records helped me pull it off.

Thank you SO much for making my dream become a reality. And of course, thank you to all my friends who supported me, my guitar teacher Eric Morrison, and my parents, Mark and Jane Taylor.

John Taylor,

source is derived from : http://community.guinnessworldrecords.com

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