Thanks for watching This is Why You Suck at Guitar: Learning Scales SUCKS! Grab the charts to go along with it here, plus HUNDREDS of other bonus videos, posts, TABs, and more: www.patreon.com/posts/this-is-why-you-100315149?Link&
HEY BIG BEN. GREAT VIDEO CAN I ASK WHERE YOU GOT YOUR HEAD STAND? THAT SOUNDS WEIRD BUT I DONT KNOW WHAT ELSE TO CALL IT HEAD FURNITURE HEAD HOLDER HEAD RACK FUCK I DONT KNOW LOVE YOUR VIDEOS MAN
Ben, my friend, you are the most accurate ,funny and solid type dude in what you teach. Take it from a guy who began in 1979 due to EVH and Joe Walsh, my main hombre`s along with a few others like Gibbons, Di Martini, Dimebag, Page, of course and Frank Zappa, jivin with his cosmic debris! I still learn every day and a big reason is your content on your channel. Keep it up Uncle Ben, ya don`t want a Sears Poncho, you need a real poncho, I mean Mexican pancho , hmmmmmm, ahhhh just forget it!!
7:40 no exaggeration, this tip about 1-string scales had a bigger effect on my playing than any other single bit of advice. Why: 1) seeing the scale linearly gets all of the "guitar junk" out of the way - you see the scale for what it is, a set of intervals that define harmony. This keeps you in the zone more like a vocalist or keyboard player. Guitar string tuning turns the simplicity of a scale into a maze. 2) memorizing scale boxes wasn't necessary anymore. You just start on one string, and then try jumping to an adjacent string from any and every scale degree. You start to see the boxes and positions yourself on the fly when you always know what scale degree you're on, because you know what the next interval is. 3) it works really great with the pentatonic scale. I never rehearsed the 4 other pentatonic scale boxes much, now I just sort of know them. 4) no need to memorize modes or their scale boxes *at all*. They're just different starting points on what you've already been practicing. 5) it demystifies how chords and scales work together. Triads work linearly too (they're just 3-note scales), so building little chord fragments on the fly happens just like it does for scale boxes, because you always know what degree of the scale you're on. It also helps with chord extensions, 11ths, etc.
Yes. This is exactly what worked for me. Learning the interval pattern and then just applying it to the fret board. After a while you just know where all the notes are and even if you are in an alternate tuning, you can just make it work.
When you said “corrected” I thought, “did he just slip in a reference to the Shining?” Masterfully done - the reference, the jokes, and most of all the lesson
I stumble upon your channel every few months and think "how do I keep forgetting about this guy." Your knowledge will hopefully go down in youtube history as one of the great YT guitar teaches. I hope your videos live on for generations because the knowledge and technique is so crucial, especially as modern metal progresses the way it is. Much love from a long time silent follower!
The incredibly useful lesson was great but . . . when you top it off with humor, then it's better than great . . . thank you (I'm 65 and learning howta shred mang)
One of your best videos. Great info and very funny too. I absolutely concur about the single string scales. I instinctively learnt those first as it was way easier for me and I've never had too much trouble breaking out of boxes as a result.
Great video made even better with mention of the almost forgotten Bubble Trousers and the almighty Alvin. Thank you. Some important messages and tips here and some answers to awkward questions too...
After mentioning the helicopter move I lost my train of thought and didn’t get it back. Hmm, guitars, helicopters, step moms, unsheathing….oh yeah something about Phrygian style.
Thanks Ben, this is the absolute best video on the Phrygian scale ever created for guitar players. I absolutely heard and saw all the biblical references to Vai, Satch, and Edward. And accidental Holdsworth (LMAO) is where I live most of the time. I got it now!
I forgot how much I enjoyed being told why I suck on guitar. Ben has a special quality that allows to say stuff like that. It would probably get me killed. Seriously though, Ben is the best teacher on the internet and helped me out of a deep hole and back to really enjoying playing. Thanks again Ben.
Yet another banger of a video, friend. You are an excellent teacher! I have spent time learning a lot of scale shapes and I know the shapes but as you've pointed out I have never been able to pull back the curtain and learn to have freedom across the whole neck. I can see how combining the vertical shape, three note per string shape, one string shape, and the little shape provides a clear roadmap to getting there. Your videos always make me feel excited to pick up the guitar and learn something new!
Thanks Uncle Ben!Whow!what a lesson, Something for everyone, and everyone gets a mention, Mel Bay, Tom quale, Allan Holdsworth!but pastor Frank sounds disturbing 🤔🤔
I kind of hit a wall with my guitar playing years ago because I never fully decided to dive head first into learning this stuff. I’m going to really make a challenge for myself and check out your site and give it a go.
I visited Mel Bay in '91 at his store in Kirkwood, Missouri, where he tried out and liked a guitar I had built. And yes, I seem to recall that even he employed some scale forms in his recital 😃
@randykalish7558: Are you sure you were talking to "The" Mel Bay, and not Junior, or some other random person working there? Cuz I'da thought ole Mel would be RIP in '91, lol. That guy's been around for a looooong time. I had his books when I was a kid, by the photos he was a grown-ass man. An' THAT was a loooong time ago! 🤪
"The" He showed me photos of himself with Johnny Smith aboard their boat, fishing on a high Colorado lake: their favorite thing to get away from it all, except they couldn't get away from the scales. Mel Bay: Feb.25, 1913 ~ May 14, 1997 🙏
Get that metronome out every single time you practice scales. Slowly increase the speed while playing your scales on time. Obvious advice, but we're all guilty of playing without the metronome.
I have no business with playing guitar, only listening, but you are so effin entertaining, this is a like and subscribe. Oh, I suck at playing Warhammer 40k. Doing it for 12 years now and can't, for the love of the False Emperor, build a competetive list. Not if my life depended on it!
:41 in, what do I suck at the most…? This is broad, it encompasses a LOT and not to say I don’t have hundreds of other issues but clicking my brain on AS I’m playing. Making it multi-task. Can’t plan much further ahead than identifying octaves for position shifts while keeping my groove and playing my changes and lines.
Scales and Mel Bay, Hal Leonard publications, and many others were the backbone of my learning. Those crusty, brittle yellow pages are missed. P.S. Mom says hello.
This is amazing! Thanks Mr.Uncle Ben Sir, I've been so stuck in box patterns of scales for a long time ,this lesson is totally going to assist me in navigating my way outta there😀👍
Loving this video. Seems like a lot of instructionals wanna teach you "how to play your first song!" But I'd rather understand the theory and skill and practice those, so I could ideally play more songs sooner once those are mastered. Plus seems like practicing this kind of stuff will help improve my dexterity and ability to improvise!
I worked all that out by myself years ago but with a slightly different approach. I used the pentatonic minor scale, then added the two notes to get the natural Minor scale, then moved one note from the natural minor to get Dorian mode , moved one note to get Phrygian and so on.... then I did the one string bit....cool video Ben...
O’ how ironic it is that the ‘Breakthrough Guitar’ bloke is the ad that appears before Uncle Ben comes to teach something of actual value. Thanks, Unc.
@@BenEller 100%. Although I am one of your ever-loyal Patrons so here’s a big bundle of literally some cash 💰 In all seriousness, this is a great lesson. Many thanks. Glad you’re loving the KM Schecter too. I’m a recent convert to Schecter with my Aaron Marshall and Nick Johnston Indonesian models. Incredible instruments.
Uncle Ben, funny as hell , as always! Damn you son of a your best friends mother! You gave the gift of bringing great useable information and make it in a great stand up comedian way to the listener. Always lightbulbs moments here. Thanks for the years of joy and making us less sucking every time!! You rock dude!
This is one of my favorite videos that you have done. Gave me a new way to look at things that I already use. Also a master class in double entendre lol
Thanks for watching This is Why You Suck at Guitar: Learning Scales SUCKS! Grab the charts to go along with it here, plus HUNDREDS of other bonus videos, posts, TABs, and more: www.patreon.com/posts/this-is-why-you-100315149?Link&
HEY BIG BEN. GREAT VIDEO
CAN I ASK WHERE YOU GOT YOUR HEAD STAND? THAT SOUNDS WEIRD BUT I DONT KNOW WHAT ELSE TO CALL IT
HEAD FURNITURE
HEAD HOLDER
HEAD RACK
FUCK I DONT KNOW
LOVE YOUR VIDEOS MAN
Ben, my friend, you are the most accurate ,funny and solid type dude in what you teach. Take it from a guy who began in 1979 due to EVH and Joe Walsh, my main hombre`s along with a few others like Gibbons, Di Martini, Dimebag, Page, of course and Frank Zappa, jivin with his cosmic debris! I still learn every day and a big reason is your content on your channel. Keep it up Uncle Ben, ya don`t want a Sears Poncho, you need a real poncho, I mean Mexican pancho , hmmmmmm, ahhhh just forget it!!
My stepmom gave me few words of wisdom and encouragement: "Stepson, only I suck in this house."
now that's some wisdom!
"The missionary position of scale patterns." 😂
Ben deserves an Oscar for ALL THE wordings in this video. 😂😂😂
Dammit, he uploaded it over a week later!
7:40 no exaggeration, this tip about 1-string scales had a bigger effect on my playing than any other single bit of advice. Why:
1) seeing the scale linearly gets all of the "guitar junk" out of the way - you see the scale for what it is, a set of intervals that define harmony. This keeps you in the zone more like a vocalist or keyboard player. Guitar string tuning turns the simplicity of a scale into a maze.
2) memorizing scale boxes wasn't necessary anymore. You just start on one string, and then try jumping to an adjacent string from any and every scale degree. You start to see the boxes and positions yourself on the fly when you always know what scale degree you're on, because you know what the next interval is.
3) it works really great with the pentatonic scale. I never rehearsed the 4 other pentatonic scale boxes much, now I just sort of know them.
4) no need to memorize modes or their scale boxes *at all*. They're just different starting points on what you've already been practicing.
5) it demystifies how chords and scales work together. Triads work linearly too (they're just 3-note scales), so building little chord fragments on the fly happens just like it does for scale boxes, because you always know what degree of the scale you're on. It also helps with chord extensions, 11ths, etc.
Yes. This is exactly what worked for me. Learning the interval pattern and then just applying it to the fret board. After a while you just know where all the notes are and even if you are in an alternate tuning, you can just make it work.
Totally agree, and I'd add that if you learn scales and triads on piano/keyboard, that helps with understanding a ton, too.
It's also the case that, depending on the context, you do not necessarily need to be 'in scale' all the time, as long as you start and resolve in key.
Holy crap!!! Commentary was freaking on FIRE!!! Best. Channel.EVER!!!!
JESUS CHRIST!!! THIS IS THE BEST CLASS ON SCALES I'VE EVER HAD!
Whatever your pastor did to you, it wasn't your fault.
the pun per minute ratio is Airplane level. A++
Shoutout to your pastor for impregnating all this knowledge into you. Very helpful video Uncle Ben!
When you said “corrected” I thought, “did he just slip in a reference to the Shining?” Masterfully done - the reference, the jokes, and most of all the lesson
I stumble upon your channel every few months and think "how do I keep forgetting about this guy." Your knowledge will hopefully go down in youtube history as one of the great YT guitar teaches. I hope your videos live on for generations because the knowledge and technique is so crucial, especially as modern metal progresses the way it is. Much love from a long time silent follower!
(1:41) excellent choice of axe Uncle Ben! Love the color too...❤
Thanks!
@@BenEller I will be buying that exact guitar in a couple months. Is it as amazing as it looks and sounds?
@@APK-pn4qhYES! It quickly became one of my favorites. It’s a 10.
@@BenEller ooh I can't wait! 🤘😎🤘
I just kept thinking you were about to bust out Sails of Charon 😁😁
This was a step up in the humor part of the videos, stellar teaching as always hahaha
I see Pazuzu hiding out in the background. 🤘👿
Love the pixelated video game intro on the videos!
The incredibly useful lesson was great but . . . when you top it off with humor, then it's better than great . . . thank you (I'm 65 and learning howta shred mang)
Me too, right! At 65 I'm just learning what I shoulda known back in 1966.
I literally laugh out loud to the video…cause Ben is a MASTER who doesn’t take himself too seriously. Channel is bad ass 😎👍🏻
Nice shining reference
Love this channel! My guitar teacher loves this channel! #BenEller for prez! Make America shred again!
Bro. I literally figured this out on my own yesterday and now i see this. Damn^^
One of your best videos. Great info and very funny too. I absolutely concur about the single string scales. I instinctively learnt those first as it was way easier for me and I've never had too much trouble breaking out of boxes as a result.
Awesome as usual, Uncle Ben! My stepmom says hi.
That Jackson gets me bricked upppp ❤
When I think of scales I think of reptilian scales. Man I suck!
sounds like something a reptilian would say..
No you don't. Reptilians are cool as long as you don't attack them. Then it's your problem. 😂
😂
Dude have you ever considered doing stand up? Cuz u r HILARIOUS!!!!
The innuendos are slaying me!
Ouch...."tell her I said hi" 😂😂😂
Great video made even better with mention of the almost forgotten Bubble Trousers and the almighty Alvin. Thank you. Some important messages and tips here and some answers to awkward questions too...
I come here for the Dad jokes and you never let me down Ben!
Top notch humour and top notch lesson!!
Amazing Uncle Ben. You make my guitar playing mo better.
After mentioning the helicopter move I lost my train of thought and didn’t get it back. Hmm, guitars, helicopters, step moms, unsheathing….oh yeah something about Phrygian style.
Very useful information. You explained it way better than I ever could when I've tried.
Also, heavy on the Uncle Ben jokes. Loved it. Lol
Excellent!
Very Rad!! Love that guitar and color too!!!
Thanks Ben, this is the absolute best video on the Phrygian scale ever created for guitar players. I absolutely heard and saw all the biblical references to Vai, Satch, and Edward. And accidental Holdsworth (LMAO) is where I live most of the time. I got it now!
Explained in a way even my crazy brain comprehends!
Thanks Ben, good video!
Some legit advice and a great lesson, questionable comparisons. Classic Uncle Ben
your lessons are the best sir, Thank You!
Duuuuuuude!! The snark jokes were off the charts for this one! 😆 Well done!...oh yeah, the video was helpful, too
This is why I like Open C-esque tunings. Scales become less “a pattern to play on the neck” and more a proper roadmap because it’s Easier to learn
Uncle Ben (and his similes) is on fire 😎
Love the fret board on that guitar!!!❤❤❤
Very helpful! I’ve been doing the single string scales using a metronome and doing legato, helped tremendously!
UNC! Creepin up on 500k. Woot! 🤘
The chromatic scale is so underated.
Damn Ben, slid the "your mom" joke in there in the first 90 seconds.
Thank you uncle Ben! I’m an intermediate bassist trying to get to the advanced stage. I want to lay down some Cliff Burton style bass.
Thank you Uncle Ben... love you man! ✌️💜🙋🏻♂️
Ben your metaphor game was on point for this one. 😂
I forgot how much I enjoyed being told why I suck on guitar. Ben has a special quality that allows to say stuff like that. It would probably get me killed. Seriously though, Ben is the best teacher on the internet and helped me out of a deep hole and back to really enjoying playing. Thanks again Ben.
My brain mostly knows this stuff, but it gets a lot more better to my hand fingers when Uncle Ben 'splains it.
Such a great lesson! Thank you for sharing! Also these tones are amazing. Would love to learn more about the gear you’re using.
Incredible knowledge and dude you are hysterical
Ben’s got spring fever.
I've never had a problem learning scales, it's the other stuff like really understanding theory, phrasing and being musical I suck at.
Yet another banger of a video, friend. You are an excellent teacher! I have spent time learning a lot of scale shapes and I know the shapes but as you've pointed out I have never been able to pull back the curtain and learn to have freedom across the whole neck. I can see how combining the vertical shape, three note per string shape, one string shape, and the little shape provides a clear roadmap to getting there. Your videos always make me feel excited to pick up the guitar and learn something new!
Thanks Ben, this came at the right time. Just like me right before my parents get home from Costco.
Thanks Uncle Ben!Whow!what a lesson, Something for everyone, and everyone gets a mention, Mel Bay, Tom quale, Allan Holdsworth!but pastor Frank sounds disturbing 🤔🤔
Can't think of a better sales pitch. Thanks again Uncle Ben
Funny bugga!
"Eddy Van Scalin'" 😂
And leave my mum out of this and I'll leave *this* out of your mum
Cheers for the video!
I kind of hit a wall with my guitar playing years ago because I never fully decided to dive head first into learning this stuff. I’m going to really make a challenge for myself and check out your site and give it a go.
Excellent overview!
I visited Mel Bay in '91 at his store in Kirkwood, Missouri, where he tried out and liked a guitar I had built. And yes, I seem to recall that even he employed some scale forms in his recital 😃
@randykalish7558:
Are you sure you were talking to "The" Mel Bay, and not Junior, or some other random person working there?
Cuz I'da thought ole Mel would be RIP in '91, lol.
That guy's been around for a looooong time.
I had his books when I was a kid, by the photos he was a grown-ass man. An' THAT was a loooong time ago!
🤪
"The" He showed me photos of himself with Johnny Smith aboard their boat, fishing on a high Colorado lake: their favorite thing to get away from it all, except they couldn't get away from the scales. Mel Bay: Feb.25, 1913 ~ May 14, 1997 🙏
Scales not a problem. Major issue for.me is speed. Cannot get past a plateau/barrier. Simply cant break through it
Get that metronome out every single time you practice scales. Slowly increase the speed while playing your scales on time. Obvious advice, but we're all guilty of playing without the metronome.
Uncle Ben is giving us the keys to the Lamborghini. Let's ride Shredmaestros....🤘
I have no business with playing guitar, only listening, but you are so effin entertaining, this is a like and subscribe. Oh, I suck at playing Warhammer 40k. Doing it for 12 years now and can't, for the love of the False Emperor, build a competetive list. Not if my life depended on it!
Absolutely gold right there folks!!!
Brilliant video, yes you're right I too always seem to start on the root note on the bottom e string...good advice
Fantastic explanation and demonstration. Thanks man!!
Best scale lesson I’ve ever seen.
I have to sub, this is too funny. You had me rollin in less than 3 mins with useful info. Plus that is a pretty nice gitfiddle you got there.
Mel Bay lol. Damm, that's a blast from the past!
The pile of books I had between playing drums, guitar, and piano when I was young were daunting.
Eddie van scalen… Yinying Milkshake…. Awesome 😅😅😅
:41 in, what do I suck at the most…? This is broad, it encompasses a LOT and not to say I don’t have hundreds of other issues but clicking my brain on AS I’m playing. Making it multi-task. Can’t plan much further ahead than identifying octaves for position shifts while keeping my groove and playing my changes and lines.
Endlessly entertaining and instructive. I feel more better now.
Great lesson, that one string scale pattern was game changer for me when I learned it years ago.
Haha .."tell her i said HI" LMAO😎🤘
Gotta love Francis Bubblestrausers
Meow at 2:00
Scales and Mel Bay, Hal Leonard publications, and many others were the backbone of my learning. Those crusty, brittle yellow pages are missed. P.S. Mom says hello.
Only the intro is enough to press the LIKE button! Now let's do some scaling!
That guitar looks awesome
This is amazing! Thanks Mr.Uncle Ben Sir, I've been so stuck in box patterns of scales for a long time ,this lesson is totally going to assist me in navigating my way outta there😀👍
Loving this video. Seems like a lot of instructionals wanna teach you "how to play your first song!" But I'd rather understand the theory and skill and practice those, so I could ideally play more songs sooner once those are mastered. Plus seems like practicing this kind of stuff will help improve my dexterity and ability to improvise!
Great lesson Ben! Rock on!
I worked all that out by myself years ago but with a slightly different approach. I used the pentatonic minor scale, then added the two notes to get the natural Minor scale, then moved one note from the natural minor to get Dorian mode , moved one note to get Phrygian and so on.... then I did the one string bit....cool video Ben...
O’ how ironic it is that the ‘Breakthrough Guitar’ bloke is the ad that appears before Uncle Ben comes to teach something of actual value. Thanks, Unc.
And for cheap as free, no less!
@@BenEller 100%. Although I am one of your ever-loyal Patrons so here’s a big bundle of literally some cash 💰
In all seriousness, this is a great lesson. Many thanks. Glad you’re loving the KM Schecter too. I’m a recent convert to Schecter with my Aaron Marshall and Nick Johnston Indonesian models. Incredible instruments.
I tell my students that the B string is the BAD one - I am going to add your BACK wall concept to it
Hehe he the Tom Quayle B string reference had me rolling
If you know, you know…
Uncle Ben, funny as hell , as always! Damn you son of a your best friends mother! You gave the gift of bringing great useable information and make it in a great stand up comedian way to the listener. Always lightbulbs moments here. Thanks for the years of joy and making us less sucking every time!! You rock dude!
Awesome. Wish I'd seen this video before spending 2-3 years working it all out on my own. Nice to have all that work confirmed tho.
This is one of my favorite videos that you have done. Gave me a new way to look at things that I already use. Also a master class in double entendre lol
My brain doesn't function correctly. Note tones don't stick in my brain. It is like my ears/brain are color blind but in tonal form. I hate it.
Thanks to you Uncle Ben I know most of this one but I still wound up learning something. \m/
You should patent the phrase “accidental Holdsworth”!
"Yingyang Milkshake" made me totally snot laugh out at work! Thanks again for the laughs and the killer tips Uncle Ben! Love your rice btdubz.
Sweet Jackson!
Also, mom says "hi!" :)
Well, you Sir, were on a roll ! LOL (extremely useful information btw!) Thanks for sharing Sir!!