The Great Kat, Sanguine Shredder

"Classical music, like Beethoven, Vivaldi, Mozart and Paganini, is a fast, furious and virtuosic, intellectual complex music form," said the blood-soaked, leather-and-fishnet-clad Great Kat -- who has a propensity for referring to herself in the third person and a gift for not-so-shameless self-promotion -- contextualizing the genre in relation to metal. She told Noisecreep, "Metal music is the only fast, furious and virtuosic popular music form in a totally raw and violent style."

The Great Kat is a Julliard-trained violin virtuoso who demonstrates the complementary aspects of classical and metal through her over-the-top, dominatrix persona, her self-styled 'shred/classical' genre and her instructional DVDs. With the rarity of her gift and the minority of her gender in this genre, she's been tearing up her fretboard and blistering her fingers for plenty of years. She claims she is "on an unstoppable mission to bring genius classical music to the masses using metal and shred." Those who don't hop on the Great Kat express are bound to get run over! Nevertheless, TGK was generous enough to offer tips on the art of the shred to our young, impressionable readers!

"Hard and fast" Shredding Technique: "The Great Kat shreds using the 'Paganini' violin technique, a special left-hand technique I learned at Julliard, transposed to the guitar, and strong accenting and attacks utilized in metal and Beethoven's music." Want evidence? Check out a clip of said technique on 'The Flight of the Bumble-Bee' from her 'Beethoven's Guitar Shred' DVD. You won't be sorry.

Other tips for future shredders in training? "Practice scales, etudes and studies. Use a metronome to keep precise tempo, and build up speed slowly until you are a shredder."

Her thoughts on the wildly popular 'Guitar Hero'? "'Guitar Hero' desperately needs a shred version! Can you imagine 'Guitar Hero' players trying to handle the Great Kat's 'The Flight of the Bumble-Bee' at 300 BPM?" We're wagering that it would be the most difficult song to master on the game.

And, of course, Kat also wanted us to remind everyone to check out www.greatkat.com. There's plenty of sanguine-soaked photos and shiny black leather, allowing her to serve as a metalhead's dream -- or nightmare, as it were.