Oh man, I would kill if you had Weekend Wankshops JUST for Nuno licks and riffs. Man's playing style is as slippery and stylish as an eel at an awards show.
Nuno is the face of unfairness, insane guitar player, writes the coolest shit, looks good af, gets all the chicks, has no hair loss, what else could you want?
I have been looking for a quality lesson on this riff for YEARS... thanks so much Ben, you make it look easier than I could have ever imagined from all the (incorrect) tabs I've seen
After seeing Nuno playing this a thousand times, I am pretty convinced he actually plays it legato rather than alternate picking and the compression comes from his very trembly-presence-y sound and muting during legato, which is one of his favourite techniques. If you look at his right hand, he only picks the first note in every string.
I thought so too at first but really theres only a micrometer of difference between hitting the string on the way up or not. If you listen carefully on the album you hear the tell tale "eek" of the pick hitting the string twice. To be in the groove the emphasis is definitely on the down strokes though. But yeah I bet if he played it only with the left hand and palm mute all but some notes would be there and "chug". It's all of it coming together (including his calluses) that makes his sound so fat (not his amp ;)).
fuck it man. you’re the first guy on the internet playing it perfectly right !! (except nuno lol) the picking hand especially is really on point and it took me months to understand how it worked and a ton of live nuno performances. congratulations brother !❤ keep it up
He-man Woman Hater was one of my favorites growing up. This song was the definition of a guitar-gasm...flight of the wounded bumble bee followed by an epic rock song. The riffs, fills, melodies, and the solo were all insane, completely off the charts. Nuno was one of the best. I haven't mastered the guitar well enough to even attempt to play this one out...still struggling to get a pinch harmonic to come out right. Super impressive job on the riff, Ben!
When I first heard Nuno play I was blown away. I couldn't figure out what he was doing, much less play what hes playing. So I spent a lot of time trying to break I down so I could learn it. I have to say those few months really developed my ear and overall playing.
Pornograffiti is without a doubt one of the finest albums ever. Randomly the intro and outro solos on He Man Woman Hater are played by Dweezil Zappa! I know it states that on the album sleeve but loads of people have missed that.
Dude! You're the best at playing this riff like Nuno, hands down... Even heard a version from Rick Graham (amazingly technical guy) that didn't sound anywhere near as good. Amazing! Thanks for the tips
This is the 1st TRUE video tutorial on how to play this riff CORRECTLY!!! It's a common mistake to play the main sequence of this riff with the "standard alternate picking shape for sextuplets". Aka: down, up, down // up, down, up. So it's common to play it wrong (with a lot of troubles) with every note picked. ....it seems unbeliavable....or maybe this seems weird..... but Nuno doesn't pick every note....! All the live-videos of this song, shows undeniably this little detail. It's just enough to look CAREFULLY at Nuno's right hand. For the first time, a well-made tutorial...!!! Great job, Ben!!!
Thanks for this. I'll be adding this tune to my list tomorrow. I'm a big Nuno fan from back when Pornograffiti first came out 25 year ago, and it's remained one of my all time favs ever since. Sick guitar tone and playing on that album. I have an N4 in my guitar collection, and I can't help but bust out some Nuno riffs every time I pick it up.
One of my favorite things about Nuno is his rhythm playing is as impressive as his soloing. He's the complete antithesis of a lazy "chugging rhythm" player. There's always melody, interesting fills and grooves.
This one’s a barn burner! One of my all time fav’s too! When this came out George Lynch was interviewed in Guitar Player For The Practicing Musician and referring to Nuno was quoted saying “he’s a fiery little fucker”. Which for the times was the highest praise!
Yes! George is my hero & when he said that, I took notice & was not disappointed! He's also said "Nuno is very real to me". I think in that same interview.
This is really one of the trickiest riffs in rock/metal history. It shouldn't be as difficult as it is, but you've got to match Nuno's swagger in order to get it right, and that's no easy feat.
That is very much a "Feel" thing that is personal to Nuno, tbh. It's very hard if not impossible to replicate his feel. This is as close as I've ever seen
Always enjoy your videos man, keep up the great work. This is a massive long shot, but does anyone remember a video by Ben where he's talking about playing fast legato stuff and he specifically mentions Joe Satriani as having some really weird / fast / difficult legato lines? If anyone remembers it please let me know!
Awesome riff and great lesson. No one seemed to know whether he picked it or pull off/hammer on - looks like it’s a mix. There’s an interview where he was asked but he’s very much a “listen and play it your own way” guy and wouldn’t answer.
Nice! By the way I have the line 6 axsys 212 as well. I noticed the amp in the background. Mine was first edition, yours looks like the updated version at the time.
Thanks Uncle Ben! BTW your Rosanna lesson was the bomb! I've been trying to get that solo right for years, but within 24hrs of watching your vid, I had it down. You made a subscriber out of this old rockstar wannabe!
Man, Ben, I already thought you were a super cool guy, but when you said that Pornograffiti is one of your favorite records of all time, that did it. Anyone that says that is someone I can be friends with. I'd been hearing "Hole Hearted" and "More Than Words" since I was, I guess, around 8 or 9 (my mom loved the band and Nuno especially), but it wasn't until I bought the album when I was about 17 (in '99) that I discovered that Nuno Bettencourt is, simply put, one of the greatest rock guitarists ever to pick up the instrument. And if that weren't enough, he plays a ton of other instruments well, and he's a better singer than Gary Cherone! Wtf, man?!
Great vid. I love your lessons. The way you move swiftly thru them is so easy to follow. Some lessons are SO slow and monotonous. I mean obviously if your're good enough to be playing/learning this song, you shouldnt have to go thru each note, fret and string one by one. Thats my thought, anyway. So. thanks!!
You play it very nicely, for some reason this is like the most difficult rock riff for me to play, difficult to keep the other strings muted, difficult to keep it flowing and grooving.
That all-caps "REALLY" is unfortunate. As others have pointed out, Nuno definitely doesn't pick all those notes. It does sound like it, but it's because he has a strong hammer-on/pull-off technique, combined with a very dry upper-midrangey tone and heavy palm muting. You'll find this throughout Nuno's playing. He doesn't alternate pick nearly as much as one might think (though he can alternate pick like a beast when he wants). Keeping his right hand relatively free is what allows him to swing like no one else this side of Eddie Van Halen.
"Every track is full of just ridiculous, amazing guitar playing" When i first kissed you being the exception Nah pornograffiti is my favourite album of all time i love it
Nice .If you feel like it , I'd like to get your take on Nuno's solo from Get the Funk Out . I've even watched him demonstrate it and I don't get his turn arounds in each section of the tapping parts
I think Nuno didn't play two pick, one pull-off on down way part of riff. You can see on Nuno lessons he play one pick downstroke pull-off, pull-off, next string downstroke, pull-off, pull-off
After trying for a week and having a hard time sync'ing left and right hand going from 8ths to 8ths triplets, I decided to have look at Nuno playing this. I went to this video *ruclips.net/video/zSLvqwgXo2M/видео.html&t=3m39) Starting from 3m39s and setting playback speed to 0.5, it really looks as if the picking is 1. A string: Downstroke on C, hammer on to C# 2. D string: Upstroke on D string 3. A string: Downstroke on C#, pulloff to C, pulloff to A 3. E string: Downstroke on G#, pulloff to G, pulloff to E 4. G string: Downstroke to B, bend to C# This will make it easier (at least for me) to get the timing accurate enough on the triplet sections. But needs very accurate palm and finger muting (and Nunos Rat settings correctly) to get the right sound.
Oh man, I would kill if you had Weekend Wankshops JUST for Nuno licks and riffs. Man's playing style is as slippery and stylish as an eel at an awards show.
Nuno is the face of unfairness, insane guitar player, writes the coolest shit, looks good af, gets all the chicks, has no hair loss, what else could you want?
right?!
and he can sing pretty good too
AND DRUM! It's just absurd
To add to all the other stuff people are saying, he plays piano and is a badass bass player too
There's a Dorian Grey type portait of him hanging somewhere, it'a the only explanation.
I could watch Nuno lessons all day long. Well done, Sir.
I have been looking for a quality lesson on this riff for YEARS... thanks so much Ben, you make it look easier than I could have ever imagined from all the (incorrect) tabs I've seen
After seeing Nuno playing this a thousand times, I am pretty convinced he actually plays it legato rather than alternate picking and the compression comes from his very trembly-presence-y sound and muting during legato, which is one of his favourite techniques. If you look at his right hand, he only picks the first note in every string.
I thought so too at first but really theres only a micrometer of difference between hitting the string on the way up or not. If you listen carefully on the album you hear the tell tale "eek" of the pick hitting the string twice. To be in the groove the emphasis is definitely on the down strokes though.
But yeah I bet if he played it only with the left hand and palm mute all but some notes would be there and "chug". It's all of it coming together (including his calluses) that makes his sound so fat (not his amp ;)).
nope. he picks the first two notes and does a pull off to the open string. i’m not sure if i’m clear but hope you’ll understand 😂
have a great day
All this time I thought he was picking every single note.
Of course we didn't have RUclips
I started to watch Nuno just yesterday, and Uncle Ben uploads a tutorial today. You're awesome sir
Man I'm a big kid and you are one of my favourites on YT. Thanks for the great stuff and all.
fuck it man. you’re the first guy on the internet playing it perfectly right !! (except nuno lol)
the picking hand especially is really on point and it took me months to understand how it worked and a ton of live nuno performances.
congratulations brother !❤ keep it up
He-man Woman Hater was one of my favorites growing up. This song was the definition of a guitar-gasm...flight of the wounded bumble bee followed by an epic rock song. The riffs, fills, melodies, and the solo were all insane, completely off the charts. Nuno was one of the best. I haven't mastered the guitar well enough to even attempt to play this one out...still struggling to get a pinch harmonic to come out right. Super impressive job on the riff, Ben!
Man, thanks for all your work. You're making guitar better for everyone.
One of the best riffs of all time
When I first heard Nuno play I was blown away. I couldn't figure out what he was doing, much less play what hes playing. So I spent a lot of time trying to break I down so I could learn it. I have to say those few months really developed my ear and overall playing.
I’ve struggled (even with tab, as you mention) to nail this riff. Often close; never right. You nailed the nuances I was missing. Great lesson!
I’ve been waiting a long time for this video from you uncle Ben! Awesome! More riffs from Nuno please! Thank you sir!!!
That is such a great tune from one of my all time favorite albums.
Pornograffiti is without a doubt one of the finest albums ever. Randomly the intro and outro solos on He Man Woman Hater are played by Dweezil Zappa! I know it states that on the album sleeve but loads of people have missed that.
DZ is an amazing guitar player.
Riff “nailed!” Now for that solo!
not really but lick them boots
First time viewer, great lesson man! Thank you! Rock on!
You know a riff is good when you can slow it down to a snail's pace, and it still sounds just as good!
Dude! You're the best at playing this riff like Nuno, hands down... Even heard a version from Rick Graham (amazingly technical guy) that didn't sound anywhere near as good. Amazing! Thanks for the tips
Finally someone nailed it. Thanks mate.
The "Rise" solo got me checking out older stuff while waiting on the release of the new record! Thanks for the lesson Uncle Ben!
*Dude, your vids are great. Just well done all around. You're an asset to the guitar community. Thanks for what you do.*
SUCH A BADASS RIFF! MY FAVORITE EXTREME SONG!
Excellent Ben. I've been trying my own versions of this for years. This is the first one I like. Thanks.
step dad speed makes me laugh every time. great lesson ben. this is killer
Awesome lesson for an awesome song from an awesome teacher! Thanks so much Uncle Ben! 👍🤘
Thanks Ben! One of Nuno’s best for sure!
This is the 1st TRUE video tutorial on how to play this riff CORRECTLY!!! It's a common mistake to play the main sequence of this riff with the "standard alternate picking shape for sextuplets".
Aka: down, up, down // up, down, up.
So it's common to play it wrong (with a lot of troubles) with every note picked.
....it seems unbeliavable....or maybe this seems weird.....
but Nuno doesn't pick every note....!
All the live-videos of this song, shows undeniably this little detail. It's just enough to look CAREFULLY at Nuno's right hand.
For the first time, a well-made tutorial...!!! Great job, Ben!!!
One of the best riffs that no one seems to know. Great tutorial.
Thank you!!! a Nuno bettencourt fan. He's deserving of way more respect.
Thanks for this. I'll be adding this tune to my list tomorrow. I'm a big Nuno fan from back when Pornograffiti first came out 25 year ago, and it's remained one of my all time favs ever since. Sick guitar tone and playing on that album. I have an N4 in my guitar collection, and I can't help but bust out some Nuno riffs every time I pick it up.
One of my favorite things about Nuno is his rhythm playing is as impressive as his soloing. He's the complete antithesis of a lazy "chugging rhythm" player. There's always melody, interesting fills and grooves.
Exactly!
Yeah! To me the only guitar player who’s playing never makes me bored to listen
You mean the ‘Woke’ D-tuned, power chorded, Djenty ‘sexually confused’ riffer??? OMFG I know who you’re talking about 😂
So true
Just like EVH, his guitar hero.
Well done! Thank you!
This one’s a barn burner! One of my all time fav’s too! When this came out George Lynch was interviewed in Guitar Player For The Practicing Musician and referring to Nuno was quoted saying “he’s a fiery little fucker”. Which for the times was the highest praise!
Yes! George is my hero & when he said that, I took notice & was not disappointed! He's also said "Nuno is very real to me". I think in that same interview.
This is really one of the trickiest riffs in rock/metal history. It shouldn't be as difficult as it is, but you've got to match Nuno's swagger in order to get it right, and that's no easy feat.
Uncle Ben this is gratuitous and lovely... Well done on your study of Nuno... Something for me to "attempt" tonight...
Love this. I feel like Nuno and Vito Bratta were the only two that took Eddie’s lead when it came to amazing rhythms.
You are an awesome teacher Ben! You remind me of Marcella Hazan it's the small details that make the dish.
Appreciate you doing some Nuno! Thanks for a thorough breakdown of this
Awesome breakdown Ben. Would love to see more nuno licks.
That’s bloody good. If I was pedantic I would say that Nuno swings it a bit more, but good job.
That is very much a "Feel" thing that is personal to Nuno, tbh. It's very hard if not impossible to replicate his feel. This is as close as I've ever seen
Awesome lesson sir!!
would love to see a lesson the Suzi solo. You have a video of playing it but a walkthrough would be deadly awesome.
Very well done.
thank you man for explanations! will master the riff this evening
Thanks for this underappreciated super heavy riff!
Decent lesson mate. Nuno is a weapon haha. Also like the print of Frank Zappa on the wall. Also a legend 😉
Thanks uncle Ben!!!
Superb.
Works reasonably well with my 7-string.
Cheers!
Great video so clear!!!!
That's exactly how I do it! Thanks for clearing that up for everyone ;)
Wow spot on, that is a tough one to hear accurately
Another cool percussive lick is that pattern in “No Respect”.
This is perfect thank you
Awesome Uncle Ben, please do more lesson on Nuno Bettencourt.
Always picked (tried) it,now I know it'd hammer and pull offs I'm amazed at nunos clatity
Yes mate. Nuno. Need MOAR NUNO!!
Thanks Uncle Ben :)
Attention to detail, I like it
Always enjoy your videos man, keep up the great work. This is a massive long shot, but does anyone remember a video by Ben where he's talking about playing fast legato stuff and he specifically mentions Joe Satriani as having some really weird / fast / difficult legato lines? If anyone remembers it please let me know!
Awesome riff and great lesson. No one seemed to know whether he picked it or pull off/hammer on - looks like it’s a mix. There’s an interview where he was asked but he’s very much a “listen and play it your own way” guy and wouldn’t answer.
Thank you for including upstroke/downstoke info
Ok. Consider my weekend full scheduled...
Hell Yeah! Go Kid Ego!
Nice! By the way I have the line 6 axsys 212 as well. I noticed the amp in the background. Mine was first edition, yours looks like the updated version at the time.
Nuno is an alien
Uncle Ben, I fucking love you. Thank you so much for doing this riff!
Love this fkn Riff!! Great lesson...
Thanks Uncle Ben! BTW your Rosanna lesson was the bomb! I've been trying to get that solo right for years, but within 24hrs of watching your vid, I had it down. You made a subscriber out of this old rockstar wannabe!
Man, Ben, I already thought you were a super cool guy, but when you said that Pornograffiti is one of your favorite records of all time, that did it. Anyone that says that is someone I can be friends with. I'd been hearing "Hole Hearted" and "More Than Words" since I was, I guess, around 8 or 9 (my mom loved the band and Nuno especially), but it wasn't until I bought the album when I was about 17 (in '99) that I discovered that Nuno Bettencourt is, simply put, one of the greatest rock guitarists ever to pick up the instrument. And if that weren't enough, he plays a ton of other instruments well, and he's a better singer than Gary Cherone! Wtf, man?!
Great vid. I love your lessons. The way you move swiftly thru them is so easy to follow. Some lessons are SO slow and monotonous. I mean obviously if your're good enough to be playing/learning this song, you shouldnt have to go thru each note, fret and string one by one. Thats my thought, anyway. So. thanks!!
congratulation man, yo do it as well as nuno
You play it very nicely, for some reason this is like the most difficult rock riff for me to play, difficult to keep the other strings muted, difficult to keep it flowing and grooving.
That all-caps "REALLY" is unfortunate. As others have pointed out, Nuno definitely doesn't pick all those notes. It does sound like it, but it's because he has a strong hammer-on/pull-off technique, combined with a very dry upper-midrangey tone and heavy palm muting.
You'll find this throughout Nuno's playing. He doesn't alternate pick nearly as much as one might think (though he can alternate pick like a beast when he wants). Keeping his right hand relatively free is what allows him to swing like no one else this side of Eddie Van Halen.
"Every track is full of just ridiculous, amazing guitar playing"
When i first kissed you being the exception
Nah pornograffiti is my favourite album of all time i love it
Great Lesson! Any chance of some more Nuno stuff?
I'm also waiting.
Insane ripping. Love it. Thanks East Tn
your "step dad" comments crack me up every time😂😂
Uncle Nuno Eller
Nice one
Nice .If you feel like it , I'd like to get your take on Nuno's solo from Get the Funk Out . I've even watched him demonstrate it and I don't get his turn arounds in each section of the tapping parts
I think Nuno didn't play two pick, one pull-off on down way part of riff. You can see on Nuno lessons he play one pick downstroke pull-off, pull-off, next string downstroke, pull-off, pull-off
Cool!!
After trying for a week and having a hard time sync'ing left and right hand going from 8ths to 8ths triplets, I decided to have look at Nuno playing this.
I went to this video *ruclips.net/video/zSLvqwgXo2M/видео.html&t=3m39)
Starting from 3m39s and setting playback speed to 0.5, it really looks as if the picking is
1. A string: Downstroke on C, hammer on to C#
2. D string: Upstroke on D string
3. A string: Downstroke on C#, pulloff to C, pulloff to A
3. E string: Downstroke on G#, pulloff to G, pulloff to E
4. G string: Downstroke to B, bend to C#
This will make it easier (at least for me) to get the timing accurate enough on the triplet sections. But needs very accurate palm and finger muting (and Nunos Rat settings correctly) to get the right sound.
Man that Suhr is one of the sexes guitars I've ever seen.
The palm muted runs in the riff would those be counted as 16th note triplets?
Correct!
Still of the night guitar solo please
Great lesson Ben. Can you teach the intro as well? :D
thank you !!!
Thanks for this. My fav Nuno riff. What’s the kemper profile?
What Kemper profile do you use for this? Do more Nuno clips please 😃
Would be fun to see a lesson on Cupid's Dead!
Great vid. What profile are you using to get that tone?
Hi Ben ! Can you do the riff from Dyers Eve ? Thanks
Ben, can you do how to really play wake up dead intro? or the verse riff of take no prisioners
NuclearBunny970 did the Take No Prisoners intro a couple weeks ago, search my channel!
Ben Eller yeah man, i saw that video but the rest of the song is a little hard to hear too, can you do the whole song?
There's a guy called metalbrayn101 who has lessons for the whole song (he's also covered a whole lot of other Megadeth songs too!).
I'm new to the channel. Could you do Ratt Your In Trouble solo?
Ben what profile are you using is that Marshall???Tnx
Harold hey man it's the same Amp Factory JCM800 I'm always using!
Can you do the lil jack horny solo by extreme as well?
Can you do Teacher’s Pet next? Or maybe the Watching Waiting solo?