Transcript

Hi, my name is Alex Skolnick. I've been playing the guitar since I was ten years old. When I was in high school, I joined a band of guys in their 20s called Legacy. We recorded our first album when I was 18 and changed our name to Testament. I spent the next five years on tour with groups such as Megadeth, Slayer, Anthrax, Judas Priest, White Zombie, and Iron Maiden. I got a lot of great reviews in guitar magazines and started showing up in reader's polls often as best thrash guitarist.

When I was 19 years old I developed an interest in jazz guitar and world music. This had a profound effect on my development as a musician and a guitarist. At 20 I got hired to write a guitar instruction column for Guitar World Magazine. I was the first thrash guitarist ever to do so. In the early 90s I left the band to pursue other musical interests. I recorded an album with the progressive metal band Sabotage. I played with Ozzy Osbourne. I was one of only ten guitarists ever to do so. I moved to New York in the late 90s to really pursue jazz full time. I got a degree from the New School University jazz program. I released my first jazz album, Goodbye to Romance, and it got great reviews in Downbeat, JAZZIZ, and a lot of other magazines. I've recently released my fourth jazz album, Veritas, which reached the top of the iTunes jazz charts, the top ten.

In 2005, I rejoined Testament and our reunion launched the band back to the big leagues. We did our highest charting album ever, called the Formation of Damnation. That received a Golden God Award. And we've since rejoined a lot of the bands we used to tour with. We're about to do a second album, a reunion album. It's called Dark Roots of Earth. I'm about to release a memoir. You can follow me on Twitter or on my website, www.alexskolnick.com.

I hope you enjoy my Howcast series on How to Play Heavy Metal Guitar.