Ben Eller My vote is for Dweezils solo on my guitar wants to.. one of the best shred solos of all time! And the video is very much ”Uncle Ben Approved!!
Can you explain the pickslanting or the picking motions in more detail? I've struggled with this exercise as I increase speed. Also, there is a variation where Mr Big, goes from the e to the b twice. What are effective mechanics in both cases?
Another awesome exercise, thanks a lot. I can't believe the picking progress I've made in those past 3 weeks of lockdown & homeoffice. And I noticed one thing: Having the guitar in your hand and playing some exercises has unbelievably positive effects to stay calm and focussed during even the most annyoing and tensed Skype business meetings. Side note: Make sure the mic is muted!
Hey, Uncle Ben. In Chattanooga, our schools have moved to online for the rest of the year. I'm Zooming my students live some, but I started a RUclips tutorial series. While the chemistry material is a bit cut and dry, I thought about how to actually cover the material, pace it, explain it in 8 minute vids. I decided to do the Ben approach- some humor, "stepdad speed", FAQ's, things that still mess me up, this is why you "struggle" at Chem, etc. You've made me change my teaching style. Sending a small thanks to Patreon. Thanks a bunch.
04:19 Only a true genius could work in a Missy Elliot reference into an electric guitar lesson and not make it super weird or out of place. Kudos, U.B., Kudos.
Thanks Uncle Ben excellent variations on a classic exercise.. If I'm being completely honest I suck it string skipping and also alternate picking that starts on an upstroke... and I'm currently working on legato and timing right now as well so there's a lot I suck at... lol
Uncle Ben is one of only a few guys on the planet who has the personality and technical proficiency to actually improve upon a Paul Gilbert lesson. Thanks again for making learning fun, Uncle Ben!
This is super bad ass. Thanks Ben. It kinda reminds me of drumming exercises as well. Two para diddle diddles and a para diddle. Flips from right handed to left handed lead.
I had to come back and remind myself of the other suggestions in this video. The main lick is already quite useful on it's own. Ben and Bernth have been the two best RUclips guitar instructors I've found.
Excellent lesson Ben, as usual, and for those who don't think there's a point to these exercises, I refer you to "Blow by blow" by Geoffrey Arnold Beck & a track called "Scatterbrain" oddly enough, it was a similar picking exercise he used to warm up, 'cept he rarely plays with one! They jammed on it, turned it into a fusion classic & it probably covered the mortgage on the mansion for a few years or more.
Awesome exercise! Such a simple concept. One extra note shifts the picking pattern. I’ve always heard guitarists say that inside picking was their downfall. I’m a decent guitarist. I’m certainly no Uncle Ben, but I do okay. And for some weird reason, I’ve always started my picking pattern on an upstroke so I got good at inside picking. So it’s the outside picking that I need to work on. Thanks!
Uncle Ben, could you please do a riff/solo or just check out Toxik album ‘think this’ from 1989 it has to be one of the most underrated thrash albums that involves some of the most incredible guitar playing I’ve ever heard, I just feel this album is severely under looked and it’s a damn shame for such a musical masterpiece in metal, sorry for the random request but I appreciate all of your lessons and all you do for guitar players!
Love that Guitar but would prefer a Maple fret board to give it that 80's shredder guitar look . Plus I just prefer Maple fret boards its a feel thing !!
Great exercice! I thought about using all the modes and navigating through all the inversions on the neck using this same pattern that you proposed. Like that, in one sequence we can go through all strings flying through the neck until the last fret
I actually liked the punisher, I find it rather relaxing and soothing. But I suffer from insomnia, so my brain might be a bit off. But this variation on the Gilbert 6 pack looks nice also, I was getting bored of that pattern. Amazing work Uncle Ben!
The "dollar store John Wick" got me bad xD Always love your tuts. When are you gonna give us your ineffable opinion on the gear, man!? I need some new pedals and I'd love to have your advice on cost vs performance (and don't think I haven't already looked, I'd just rather have that uncle wisdom)!
Awesome , start a lick or phrase on an upstroke first.... tumeni years of starting everything on a damn downstroke . Freaked me out a bit at first ..... now 😍. Thanks UB , you rock !
You evil genius! Just found this and diggin' this lick for alt picking drills. Also diggin' the George Lynch hangs out with Siegfried and Roy super-Strat. MK
Great video, man! Where do I suck?... Hmmm.... wide interval tapping. Not really because it's technically too hard. But the problem is: WHERE TO LOOK and WHEN? Any good advice on that would be great! Quarantine-greetings from Germany! (Acutally home office).
I have that old REH(?) video of PG. I gave up as soon as I saw all that fringe hanging down around his fretting hand. I'm going to try this, Uncle Ben. My work-from-home office mates are a dozen guitars, so I don't have any more excuses. And my boss has no idea what I'm really doing.
That’s why I recommend taking lessons very early on in your process-if possible. That saves you decades, maybe even a lifetime, of stumbling across things (if you are lucky) that you could have learned in your first year. … without having to watch instructional videos, ha ha. But I know it’s a different time now, especially during the pandemic, you can pick up things online. Although, the key to lessons is having an instructor right in front of you, to correct things, and provide feedback before you get too set in your ways. Personalized feedback to fit your playing style, and goal(s). Kind of like taking a class online, you don’t get the full experience of learning, through debate with other students and your professors. That’s where a lot of the true learning takes place. Just some basic theory and technique training give you so many options, and opens up so many doors, and allows you to be much more creative and original. That way you start with a pretty high ceiling already. But online learning is here, and the wave of the future-for better or worse. Cool stuff here. And fortunately I had one of the top 80 shredders as my guitar teacher back in the mid-80s. Just by chance… cool how things work out! It is still fun to watch these short tutorials, maybe pick up something new, even at my age. Always a student. 🤘🏻 I got almost halfway through. One tip! Use your pinky!!! Not for the instructor here, but for anyone out there that is learning. 👍🏻 Develop your last two fingers early on. MAB has some absolutely amazing warm-ups that will do just that. You will thank me later on. It’s called a “closed-position,” basically one finger per fret-then work out from there. Looks a whole lot cooler, and will open up a lot of new licks for you… without limiting you. Unless you are the next Eddie, ha ha. Then go for it!!! 🤣 Remember, there is an art and science to everything. Aesthetics are key to Metal as well. 🤘🏻🤘🏻 Keep on jammin’!!! 🤘🏻🤘🏻🎸🇺🇸😎
So another cool Vai-like thing to do with this as you switch string groups .... Play exactly the same notes as you go to lower strings by shifting your position further up the neck. Kind of like that thing Vai did at about 4 minutes into the intro of I Know You're Here on that crazy 3 neck guitar.
good vid BTW. What I've learned about speed is pretty simple. the way you learn to play something at the speed you want to play it is by practicing it AT THE SPEED YOU WANT TO PLAY IT (and then some). ie, floor it until your brain and hands find the magic formula. PUSH your limits (assuming you've got the basic feel down). There are practical limitations on things though... just because you can pick something at a given speed (even if sloppy to start), doesn't always mean it will clean up entirely, regardless of how good you are or how much you practice it. Certain licks just aren't as amenable to warp speeds as other licks, regardless of who the player is.
Ay up uncle ben, even though the age I think you are puts you in the "distant cousin" category... Long time viewer, first time commenter, thanks for making me a good guitarist. Your last name also shocks me for reasons I'm not comfortable typing out. Thank you! Keep Shredding! Edit: This lick reminds me of "Crystal Mountain" by Death, but without the tapped 12th fret.
Funny enough I just started doing the punisher about 2 weeks ago and I feel like my alternate picking has already improved when moving strings. Riffs I had trouble with in the past have become easier
But...All my work is done in a Super Mega Proggy Time Sig. recently I've been fond of (e^i*pi +5) / sqrt(16) ... amazing feel. Please don't simplify that... it's less proggy in it's lowest form.
This is one of my favorite Uncle Ben recipes yet. It helped break a really bad habit of nicking the b string on my up stroke when playing the Gilbert lick on the high e and b. Foe some reason no matter how slow or how long I practiced that lick I would always hit the b string on the upstroke, it drove me freaking bonkers but It's completely fixed after learning this. Thanks Ben.
Thank you all so much for learning my Paul Gilbert Flip exercise! What do you want to work on next?
Ben Eller
My vote is for Dweezils solo on my guitar wants to.. one of the best shred solos of all time! And the video is very much ”Uncle Ben Approved!!
How eddie actually plays the "Jump" solo! Also Uncle Ben check out my RUclips channel and critique my playing plz!
You should do Shred Wars with Jared Dines or a video with Music Is Win!
Hey Ben, I really enjoyed your wait solo by white lion and would like to learn next, lonely nights solo by white lion aswell. Either way rock on \m/
Can you explain the pickslanting or the picking motions in more detail? I've struggled with this exercise as I increase speed. Also, there is a variation where Mr Big, goes from the e to the b twice. What are effective mechanics in both cases?
Ben, your humour is very appreciated by this shredder.
You don’t look like Steven Segal and that is a compliment.
Ahh, but dollar store John Wick killed me audibly.
You do run like Segal though. I heard.
“Man, I’ve been playing guitar for 40 years, heh!”
A compliment... to Steven Segal.
Gay
Love these picking exercises. I love the fact youtube has such great instructors giving awesome free lessons. Rock on man.
Patreon , help a brother as he helps us!
Dude that plant is digging your shredding!
As an older beginner (52) can I just say that I am SMASHING through step dad speed thanks to Uncle Ben!
That Paul Gilbert REH video changed my life. Great lesson Uncle Ben!
Leon Todd thanks Leon!
Another awesome exercise, thanks a lot. I can't believe the picking progress I've made in those past 3 weeks of lockdown & homeoffice. And I noticed one thing: Having the guitar in your hand and playing some exercises has unbelievably positive effects to stay calm and focussed during even the most annyoing and tensed Skype business meetings.
Side note: Make sure the mic is muted!
Eager to practice picking exercises.... *learns entire Inspector Gadget intro instead*
Apparently that means 7empest intro is the inversion of this, number-wise.
Hey, Uncle Ben. In Chattanooga, our schools have moved to online for the rest of the year. I'm Zooming my students live some, but I started a RUclips tutorial series. While the chemistry material is a bit cut and dry, I thought about how to actually cover the material, pace it, explain it in 8 minute vids. I decided to do the Ben approach- some humor, "stepdad speed", FAQ's, things that still mess me up, this is why you "struggle" at Chem, etc. You've made me change my teaching style. Sending a small thanks to Patreon. Thanks a bunch.
04:19 Only a true genius could work in a Missy Elliot reference into an electric guitar lesson and not make it super weird or out of place. Kudos, U.B., Kudos.
Uncle Ben is a messiah. Period
The noodle at 3:55 is also a Philip Glass lick (if he can be said to have 'licks')
A paul gilbert exercise, but even better? 😳
Big fan from Saudi Arabia! Thought you might find it interesting how far your content is reaching😜 keep up the amazing work!
What happens if you suck at guitar in Saudi Arabia? Do you get your hands chopped off?
Man you are categorically one of the best if not THE best guitar teacher on RUclips. Hands down!!
Thanks Uncle Ben excellent variations on a classic exercise.. If I'm being completely honest I suck it string skipping and also alternate picking that starts on an upstroke... and I'm currently working on legato and timing right now as well so there's a lot I suck at... lol
Uncle Ben is one of only a few guys on the planet who has the personality and technical proficiency to actually improve upon a Paul Gilbert lesson.
Thanks again for making learning fun, Uncle Ben!
and just like pul he is down to earth and a joker we need more informative like him , bravo wish they came more btween 2001 to 2004 lol
This is super bad ass. Thanks Ben. It kinda reminds me of drumming exercises as well. Two para diddle diddles and a para diddle. Flips from right handed to left handed lead.
I’m your number one Canadian fan Uncle Ben 🤘🏻🇨🇦🤘🏻 since I started watching your lessons a few years ago my guitar playing has vastly improved
I had to come back and remind myself of the other suggestions in this video. The main lick is already quite useful on it's own. Ben and Bernth have been the two best RUclips guitar instructors I've found.
Excellent lesson Ben, as usual, and for those who don't think there's a point to these exercises, I refer you to "Blow by blow" by Geoffrey Arnold Beck & a track called "Scatterbrain" oddly enough, it was a similar picking exercise he used to warm up, 'cept he rarely plays with one! They jammed on it, turned it into a fusion classic & it probably covered the mortgage on the mansion for a few years or more.
Ben I’ve been watching your videos for awhile and they are awesome. PG is a absolute beast!!!
Awesome exercise! Such a simple concept. One extra note shifts the picking pattern. I’ve always heard guitarists say that inside picking was their downfall. I’m a decent guitarist. I’m certainly no Uncle Ben, but I do okay. And for some weird reason, I’ve always started my picking pattern on an upstroke so I got good at inside picking. So it’s the outside picking that I need to work on. Thanks!
Uncle Ben I’m a new follower on your Instagram
Keep shredding
-your good buddy, Tony
appreciate your vids man keep it up
Uncle Ben Gilbert exercise. This is great! Thank Uncle Ben!
The Inspector Gadget reference was just inspired. LOL.
"Ooooh inspector gadget " 😂 you kill me dude ...you rock 🎸
Cracked me up at "nephew Ben"
Also try same idea but going to the string below instead of the string above. Awesome lesson!
Uncle Ben, could you please do a riff/solo or just check out Toxik album ‘think this’ from 1989 it has to be one of the most underrated thrash albums that involves some of the most incredible guitar playing I’ve ever heard, I just feel this album is severely under looked and it’s a damn shame for such a musical masterpiece in metal, sorry for the random request but I appreciate all of your lessons and all you do for guitar players!
Thank you for everything you do...especially for recommending the Swiss Picks.
Love that Guitar but would prefer a Maple fret board to give it that 80's shredder guitar look . Plus I just prefer Maple fret boards its a feel thing !!
OUTSTANDING!!!! Thanks uncle Ben....btw the Missy Elliott joke got me bad!!!! Hahahaha 👍👍👍👍👍👍🎸🎸🎸🎸🎸
Keep on rocking Ben!
Τhe introduction made me smile.👍 PS.This guitar is strikingly awesome!
Great exercice! I thought about using all the modes and navigating through all the inversions on the neck using this same pattern that you proposed. Like that, in one sequence we can go through all strings flying through the neck until the last fret
I already know which one you are talking about and I haven't even started watching your video! Your videos are the best dude!
Helped a lot dude thank you!!👏👏👏👏
And the hits keep on coming. Thanks for making my quarantine a shred-tastic!
Another fantastic alternate picking exercise. Thanks Uncle Ben! I'm not sure whom I like better, Paul or Flip. btw, you had me at Inspector Gadget.
1000 points for working a missy reference into your lesson!
I actually liked the punisher, I find it rather relaxing and soothing. But I suffer from insomnia, so my brain might be a bit off. But this variation on the Gilbert 6 pack looks nice also, I was getting bored of that pattern. Amazing work Uncle Ben!
1st 3 notes challenge. Uncle Ben said, 'Inspector Gadget'
I'm sayin, 'In the Hall of mountain king' (or in UK Alton Towers ad)
Go!
Catchy as hell ... And as a result, I've been humming the inspector gadget theme song all morning, thanks uncle Ben
I normally thumbs up your videos, but specifically I thumbs upped this video after the Missy Elliot joke.
Nice Uncle Ben.. I practice your punisher excercises (Normal & Mod) daily. Now I'm going to take this one and alternate it with the punisher. Thanks!
The "dollar store John Wick" got me bad xD
Always love your tuts. When are you gonna give us your ineffable opinion on the gear, man!? I need some new pedals and I'd love to have your advice on cost vs performance (and don't think I haven't already looked, I'd just rather have that uncle wisdom)!
Yes!I've been waiting for this video for a real long time
Sir, Thank you for practicing ideas 💕
Reminds me of Brian May’s outro lick for Killer Queen.
3:02 "you hear that Mr.Anderson?"
Awesome , start a lick or phrase on an upstroke first.... tumeni years of starting everything on a damn downstroke . Freaked me out a bit at first ..... now 😍. Thanks UB , you rock !
A ‘shredi knight my! 😂😂😂 I’m so stealing that gag!
just realized you uploaded this on my birthday cannot thank you enough for all the great content. Thanks for the birthday present!
You evil genius! Just found this and diggin' this lick for alt picking drills. Also diggin' the George Lynch hangs out with Siegfried and Roy super-Strat.
MK
Not only a really useful exercise, but also a really fun one. Awesome content as usual Ben
Nice one man. I've spent years and years and years playing and not even thinking about my picking
The punisher exercise was super helpful! I'll be practicing this one as well
Great video, man! Where do I suck?... Hmmm.... wide interval tapping. Not really because it's technically too hard. But the problem is: WHERE TO LOOK and WHEN? Any good advice on that would be great! Quarantine-greetings from Germany! (Acutally home office).
I have that old REH(?) video of PG. I gave up as soon as I saw all that fringe hanging down around his fretting hand. I'm going to try this, Uncle Ben. My work-from-home office mates are a dozen guitars, so I don't have any more excuses. And my boss has no idea what I'm really doing.
Great advise for everybody from beginners too people like me who have over 40 years of playing!!!!!!
Great stuff for beginners and advanced guitarists too.
you are a genius
OH - inspector gadget! - lol did that with gilligan’s island just yesterday ha ha too much fun
upvoted just for the Missy Elliot dare/joke
the un-voted and re-upvoted for the Inspector Gadget realization face hahah
Thanks Uncle Ben
This is exactly what I needed. Thanks 🤘🏻🤘🏻
How to change between upward and downward pickslanting in this exercise?
Fk’in hysterical! “Oooh - Inspector gadget...” Classic!
Very thorough. Really appreciate it.
Within a couple minutes it worked! Thank you
Excellent exercise and lesson!
That sound... Sum 41 "Grab the Devil by the Horns..." :P. Great video as always, uncle Ben!
I undestand completely! Inside P. is my worst enemy as well
Thank u Uncle Ben always helpful
I love that mid-lesson you figured out the inspector gadget theme 😂 great lesson though. Im really in need of some alternate practice
That Suhr looks amazing. I'll bet it plays even better.
Well, practice time. Thanks, Uncle Ben🎸🎶
That’s why I recommend taking lessons very early on in your process-if possible. That saves you decades, maybe even a lifetime, of stumbling across things (if you are lucky) that you could have learned in your first year.
… without having to watch instructional videos, ha ha.
But I know it’s a different time now, especially during the pandemic, you can pick up things online. Although, the key to lessons is having an instructor right in front of you, to correct things, and provide feedback before you get too set in your ways. Personalized feedback to fit your playing style, and goal(s). Kind of like taking a class online, you don’t get the full experience of learning, through debate with other students and your professors. That’s where a lot of the true learning takes place.
Just some basic theory and technique training give you so many options, and opens up so many doors, and allows you to be much more creative and original. That way you start with a pretty high ceiling already.
But online learning is here, and the wave of the future-for better or worse.
Cool stuff here. And fortunately I had one of the top 80 shredders as my guitar teacher back in the mid-80s. Just by chance… cool how things work out!
It is still fun to watch these short tutorials, maybe pick up something new, even at my age.
Always a student. 🤘🏻
I got almost halfway through. One tip! Use your pinky!!! Not for the instructor here, but for anyone out there that is learning. 👍🏻
Develop your last two fingers early on. MAB has some absolutely amazing warm-ups that will do just that. You will thank me later on. It’s called a “closed-position,” basically one finger per fret-then work out from there. Looks a whole lot cooler, and will open up a lot of new licks for you… without limiting you. Unless you are the next Eddie, ha ha. Then go for it!!! 🤣
Remember, there is an art and science to everything. Aesthetics are key to Metal as well. 🤘🏻🤘🏻
Keep on jammin’!!! 🤘🏻🤘🏻🎸🇺🇸😎
So another cool Vai-like thing to do with this as you switch string groups .... Play exactly the same notes as you go to lower strings by shifting your position further up the neck. Kind of like that thing Vai did at about 4 minutes into the intro of I Know You're Here on that crazy 3 neck guitar.
good vid BTW. What I've learned about speed is pretty simple. the way you learn to play something at the speed you want to play it is by practicing it AT THE SPEED YOU WANT TO PLAY IT (and then some). ie, floor it until your brain and hands find the magic formula. PUSH your limits (assuming you've got the basic feel down). There are practical limitations on things though... just because you can pick something at a given speed (even if sloppy to start), doesn't always mean it will clean up entirely, regardless of how good you are or how much you practice it. Certain licks just aren't as amenable to warp speeds as other licks, regardless of who the player is.
Ay up uncle ben, even though the age I think you are puts you in the "distant cousin" category...
Long time viewer, first time commenter, thanks for making me a good guitarist.
Your last name also shocks me for reasons I'm not comfortable typing out.
Thank you! Keep Shredding!
Edit: This lick reminds me of "Crystal Mountain" by Death, but without the tapped 12th fret.
Thank you for this i'm gonna do this together with the punisher.
Your new room looks really neat
Funny enough I just started doing the punisher about 2 weeks ago and I feel like my alternate picking has already improved when moving strings. Riffs I had trouble with in the past have become easier
Crap, now when I put on my pants, I will be thinking of alternating which leg goes first! Damm it Ben!!!
But...All my work is done in a Super Mega Proggy Time Sig. recently I've been fond of (e^i*pi +5) / sqrt(16) ... amazing feel. Please don't simplify that... it's less proggy in it's lowest form.
I love you uncle Ben
This is one of my favorite Uncle Ben recipes yet. It helped break a really bad habit of nicking the b string on my up stroke when playing the Gilbert lick on the high e and b. Foe some reason no matter how slow or how long I practiced that lick I would always hit the b string on the upstroke, it drove me freaking bonkers but It's completely fixed after learning this. Thanks Ben.
The "Inspector Gadget" thing got me going. I love how informative and goofy you are. Keep it up.
Wow those notes are also in G major, which is what I have already been practicing
Inspector Gadget, Haha. Love it.
That's a sweet looking guitar.
U r the man
Thanks for sharing this. That guitar is awesome!
Playing the intro to master of puppets with all alternate picking is pretty good practice too imo.
Fantastic Lesson - Thank you!!!
Paul....flip......Paul....flip LOL I love it!!!!!