The first Speed Kills DVD begins with Michael Angelo Batio playing a lightening fast but interesting electric guitar solo. After just a few minutes of watching I started to laugh out loud. You know, the kind of involuntary, puzzled laugh that bursts forth when a magician does something truly unexpected and unbelievable.

I have never seen a guitar played that fast. It almost looked fake. Perhaps what is more amazing, however, is that Michael can actually teach these seemingly impossible techniques to us mere mortal guitarists.

If you have ever desired to play lead electric guitar solos for rock, hard rock, metal, blues, pop, country or improvisational jazz then please pay close attention to this review.

The Purpose

According to the author, Michael Angelo Batio, Speed Kills was created to be the ultimate guitar lesson on speed picking technique. This course concentrates on speed techniques that challenge even the most advanced players. Even so, an intermediate guitarists can begin working with this and expect incredible gains."

About The Author: Michael Angelo Batio

Mr. Batio has been referred to as the fastest guitar player on the planet. After watching his video guitar lessons I absolutely believe it. And as if that was not amazing enough, he actually taught himself to play a custom built, combination of a right-handed and a left-handed electric guitar both at the exact same time. Seeing this alone was worth the price of the first DVD.

Guitar One Magazine chose Michael Angelo Batio as the Number 1 Shredder of All Time.

Batio has created the ultimate face-melting instructional DVD says Guitar World Magazine.

One of the elements that make Batio such a master guitarist is his depth of knowledge about music theory and classical music. He has even produced a DVD called 25 Jazz Progressions.

Who Will Benefit Most From Speed Kills?

This guitar lesson course is ideally suited to intermediate guitarists that wish to improve their lead guitar skills and techniques with an emphasis on speed. Having a thorough knowledge of music theory is not necessary but having some basic understanding of chords, scale types and modalities would be useful.

An excellent preparation for this course would be the 6 part Metal Method Complete Video Guitar Lesson DVDs by Doug Marks.

Is This Speed Guitar Course For Acoustic Or Electric Guitar Players?

Electric guitar.

The Lesson Format

Each lesson begins with a brief talk by the author explaining the upcoming exercises.This is followed by a fast then slow video close-up demonstration and a clever play-along animated tab with sound.

The Contents of the Speed kills Lead Guitar Lessons DVDs

- A protective organizer case for the DVDs

- Printable PDF files with chapter lists and tabs for each lesson.

DVD #1 Speed Kills, This DVD introduces advanced picking techniques with a No Boundaries performance, tuning, tremolo picking, preventing hand injuries, alternative picking, hammer-on and Pull-off, arpeggio madness, diminished licks plus a discussion and solo performance of the Double Guitar.

DVD #2 Speed Kills 2, This DVD contains more advanced techniques plus developing essential warm-Up skills. 28 lesson groups with 69 exercises.

DVD #3 Speed Kills 3, This DVD contains the most challenging techniques plus advanced Shredding.

DVD #4 Speed Lives, Michael step by step teaches the song, No Boundaries. In the last section of this DVD you play the lead part over his rhythm accompaniment.

The Negatives

It was annoying to print out the support materials for each lesson even though it only took about 15 minutes for all four DVDs. I would prefer to receive them all pre-printed and bound. However, this would substantially increase the cost of the course so I suppose that it is actually a reasonable compromise.

The course would benefit from more topical details on the video titles. It can be a little confusing if you wish to return to a specific lesson.

The Positives

Receiving advanced guitar instruction from a true guitar virtuoso is a rare opportunity. Michael speaks and plays with confidence and humor. He is down to earth, articulate and easy to follow which is somewhat unusual for someone of his extreme playing ability.

The clarity of the video production is excellent. The close ups and angles of the shots are extremely clear and understandable. I am glad that this course is not made up of just video snippets but instead offers the richer learning experience that can only come from wall to wall video.

This course is incredibly affordable not only because the pricing is lower than most programs of this advanced level but, also because you can purchase just one DVD at a time with no obligation to buy any more.

Support

I called the toll free phone number to ask a few questions and was pleasantly surprised that Doug Marks, the creator of the Metal Method Video Guitar lesson program and publisher of Speed Kills, personally picked up the phone. Doug enthusiastically and completely answered my questions. He even thanked me for calling because he uses customer questions and comments to continually improve his course.

The Metal Method Company offers email, phone, mail and a student forum to answer questions. They also offer a fairly exhaustive frequently asked questions section at their website for quick reference.

The Price Analysis

Metal Method's Speed Kills Video Guitar Lessons contains the equivalent of about 6 months to over a year worth of guitar lessons if you were to space them out as if you were taking weekly lessons from a local guitar instructor.

A local instructor will typically charge anywhere from $20 to $50 per lesson. Your minimum cost at only $20 per lesson for 6 months would be at least $520.

The choice comes down to:

The Complete Speed Kills DVD Program at $64.80 to $79.80 USD, depending on how many DVDs you purchase at a time, or a local instructor at $520.

Guarantee

You can return the DVDs for any reason within 60 days of receipt for a 100% money back refund.

The Bottom Line

Let me see. Do I recommend the inexpensive, advanced speed technique video guitar lesson DVD series that is taught by Michael Angelo Batio, the fastest guitar player in the world, who just happens to be incredibly entertaining? You bet I do. In a heart beat. Speed Kills is truly a must have advanced electric guitar lesson course for anyone that is in serious pursuit of lead guitar excellence.