Learn Heavy Metal Guitar

Unless you are a massive Kiss fan, there’s a possibility you haven’t heard of Vinnie Vincent.  He actually first played for Kiss on the album Creatures of the Night, under the name of Vincent Cusano (even though Ace Frehley was on the original cover lol).

Well, he then played officially on the follow up album “Lick it Up”, and it has some amazing solos on there, I can remember first hearing the unique tone of the notes, despite the speed he played them at and always wondered how he did it.

As you see in the video below, the answered is revealed if you watch his picking hand closely.  Basically, he is using what is know as hybrid picking, this is a combination of picking with a plectrum and your fingers, a technique often used in Country music.

Now, Vinnie’s style is probably a bit over the top for most, and the speed was much more important in the 80s than it is now I guess, but it’s an interesting technique all the same, and also note how use moves his whole hand for picking rather than his ‘thumb and finger muscle’.