My favorite parts of Michael Angelo's seminal instructional video Speed Kills are the impromptu, undocumented solos that pop up occasionally throughout the DVD. There are precisely four of them, and I like to think of them as being named by the huggably cheesy dialogue that invariably surrounds them. If you're familiar with the video, you might recognize such basement-tape classics as The Art of Playing Lightning Fast, The Keys to the Lamborghini, You Can Just Kick Back, and Tendonitis.

These solo-ettes are exciting because they display Mike at his most instinctive and uninhibited. When you tell an experienced guitar player to rip, what emerges is that player's subconscious view of the fretboard. In other words, there's simply no way to control every note in real-time at shred tempos, so your hands settle comfortably into patterns that were burned in through hours of practice. In Mike's case, those patterns usually involve alternate-picked scales that cover huge expanses of fretboard territory and frighten away small furry mammals like you and me.

The Tab
Take for example the very first of the Speed Kills mini-solos. Right after the video's intro, Mike leans purposefully toward the camera, peers through his massive permed mane, and intones: "What I'm going to show you in this video is how to master the art of playing lightning fast." With that, he unleashes sixteen vicious seconds of three-note-per-string fury, and Lightning Fast is born:
Michael Angelo's Lightning Fast   -   (374.91KB MP3) 
m.1						  m.2
-------------------------------------------------|--------
----------12-14-15-14-12----14-12-------12-------|--------
-12-14-15----------------15-------15-14----15-14-|-12-14--
-------------------------------------------------|--------
-------------------------------------------------|--------
-------------------------------------------------|--------
 d  u  d  u  d  u  d  u  d  u  d  u  d  u  d  u    d  u

 

  

   

    
------------------------------------------------------|---
----12-14-15-14-12----14-12-------12------------------|---
-15----------------15-------15-14----15-14---12-14-15-|---
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 d  u  d  u  d  u  d  u  d  u  d  u  d  u    d  u  d
   


  


 



m.3		    m.4			m.5

 

  

   

    
----------12-14-15-|----------12-14-15-|----------12-14---
-12-14-15----------|-12-14-15----------|-12-14-15---------
-------------------|-------------------|------------------
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-------------------|-------------------|------------------
-------------------|-------------------|------------------
 u  d  u  d  u  d    u  d  u  d  u  d    u  d  u  d  u
   


  


 



		 m.6		     m.7

 

  

   

    
-15-14-12-------|----------12-14-15-|----------14-15-17-|-
----------15-14-|-12-14-15----------|-14-15-17----------|-
----------------|-------------------|-------------------|-
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----------------|-------------------|-------------------|-
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 d  u  d  u  d    u  d  u  d  u  d    u  d  u  d  u  d
   


  


 



m.8		 m.9		     m.10

 

  

   

    
----------15-17-|-19-17-15----------|-17-15-14----------|-
-15-17-19-------|----------19-17-15-|----------17-15-14-|-
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 u  d  u  d  u    d  u  d  u  d  u    d  u  d  u  d  u
   


  


 



m.11		    m.12                m.13

 

  

   

    
-15-14-12----------|-------------------|-----------------|
----------15-14-12-|-------------------|-----------------|
-------------------|-14-12-11----------|-12-11-9---------|
-------------------|----------14-12-11-|---------12-11-9-|
-------------------|-------------------|-----------------|
-------------------|-------------------|-----------------|
 d  u  d  u  d  u    d  u  d  u  d  u    d  u  d u  d  u
   


  


 



m.14			          m.15

 

  

   

    
---------------------------------|-----------------|------
---------------------------------|-----------------|------
---------------------------------|-----------------|------
----11-9-------9-----------------|-------9-12-10-9-|------
-12------12-10---12-10-9-12-10-9-|----10/----------|------
---------------------------------|-12/-------------|------
 d  u  d u  d  u d  u  d u  d  u   d  d  d u  d  u
   


  


 



m.16	          m.17                 m.18

 

  

   

    
-----------------|--------------------|-------------------
-----------------|--------------------|-------------------
-------9-12-11-9-|-------11-14-shake--|----------11-14-12-
----11/----------|----12/-------------|-11-12-14----------
-12/-------------|-14/----------------|-------------------
-----------------|--------------------|-------------------
 d  d  d u  d  u   d  d  d  u           d  u  d  u  d  u
   


  


 



                          m.19

 

  

   

    
-------------------------|--------------------------------
-------------------------|----------12-14-15-14-12--------
11---------------11-12-14|-12-14-15----------------15-14--
---14-12-11-12-14--------|--------------------------------
-------------------------|--------------------------------
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d  u  d  u  d  u d  u  d   u  d  u  d  u  d  u  d  u  d
   


  


 



	          m.20			     m.21

 

  

   

    
----------|----------12-14-12-15-12-|-17-15-14----------|-
----------|-12-14-15----------------|----------17-15-14-|-
-12-14-15-|-------------------------|-------------------|-
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----------|-------------------------|-------------------|-
----------|-------------------------|-------------------|-
 u  d  u    d  u  d  u  d  u  d  u    d  u  d  u  d  u
   


  


 



m.22		    m.23		m.24

 

  

   

    
-------------------|-------------------|------------------
-------------------|-------------------|------------------
-14-12-11----------|-------------------|------------------
----------14-12-11-|-------------------|------------------
-------------------|-14-12-10----------|------------------
-------------------|----------14-12-10-|-12--shake--------
 d  u  d  u  d  u    d  u  d  u  d  u    d
   


  


 






At first glance, Lightning Fast may look like nothing more than a long string of alternate-picked notes, starting on a downstroke and finishing 11 scary staves later.  But if we dig beneath the surface, we'll see there's a lot more going on here.