Your Alternate Picking Exercise SUCKS! This Is Why You Suck At Guitar 17
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- Опубликовано: 30 сен 2024
- Downloadable TABS, bonus lessons, backing tracks, and MORE available on my Patreon page! / benellerguitars
instagram: BenEllerGuitars #weekendwankshop #thisiswhyyousuckatguitar
unclebeneller
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CONTENTS:
2:18: the regular 1234 chromatic alternate picking workout, and why it kinda sucks
4:50: how you should practice it instead
5:45: the secret all in 1 picking practice exercise you need in your life to become a shred god, THE PUNISHER
10:00: why THE PUNISHER works
12:11 the string skipping variation
Hey kids! Its a brand new episode of This is Why You Suck at Guitar, here with your best buddy, Uncle Ben Eller!!!
In this episode, i'm going to share a heartbreaking tale of an extremely handsome young man who spent his youth practicing the typical 4 note per sting 1234 chromatic exercise in his quest to build alternate picking power.... and failed, because that typical picking workout routine only works 50% of the potential string changing mechanics involved in alternate picking! Because i care about you all, i'm going to help you keep from repeating my mistakes.
I'm going to show you the BEST way to practice the traditional 4 note per string chromatic exercise, as well as show you all a brand new picking drill called the Punisher that is going to take you on a full-body workout designed to make you into an alternate picking MACHINE like John Petrucci, Andy Wood, Guthrie Govan, or Francis Bubbletrousers.
If you practice these things on the daily, i guarantee you'll be on speaking terms with your real dad again in NO time. What have you got to lose? Oh yeah, YOUR DAD!
Playing my Suhr Modern Satin into my Kemper Profiler, as usual.
Thanks for watching! What do YOU suck at that i should cover on a future episode of TIWYSAG?
Thanks everyone for watching! What do YOU suck at that i should cover on the next episode of TiWYSaG?
Sounds silly but could you do a part on the metronome? For years I practiced without and last couple of months I try with metronome. Problem is that I play the notes with each tick and just speed up the metronome to go faster. I struggle with eight and sixteenth notes, not to mention how to play with metronome when you are not playing notes constantly... Really appreciated!
Tremolo picking, please!
Sweep pick with multiple notes on each string.... like let’s say you have 2 notes on your high E string, 1 note on the B, 2 notes on the G, 3 notes on the D, 1 note on the A, and 2 notes on the low E..... The problem is not my fretting hand it is my picking hand. The main issue about the picking is having to pause on a string with multiple note on it and then moving to the next using the sweeping technique...... Can you help me?
This is a really good exercise for guitarists. You could do the same thing with scale and integrate the learning scales. I am practicing it with that. Have you got lessons on how to sweep?
Legatos, How to get good sounding and consistent pull-offs and hammer-ons would be really useful
...so that's why my legs are still skinny!
Circular pick motion helped me greatly strings skipping/changing. It increases your range greatly in opposition to standard up-down motion.
Holy hell the ascending version of this is tricky as hell. This'll be a GREAT exercise to get down!
Toby K. If you start on a downstroke, The Punisher is inside-picking on the ascent, and outside-picking on the descent, which might be why ascending is harder. You can experiment with starting this exercise on an upstroke, and confirm that descending becomes harder :)
Zappa picture in the background alone was worth the thumbs up!
You're a truly great and patient teacher and a blazing fast shredder. You are NOT a show-off as many others are. However, I notice you seem to believe your audience is a strictly a younger audience. You should get away from terms like "kids" and "stepdad speed" and "uncle Ben" etc. These indicate (though maybe not justifiably so) a condescending attitude toward us "older" guitarists. I am not a "kid". I have much experience both on and off stage. I am fairly well versed in theory and am what most people would call a melodic, tasteful soloist. I have been chasing shred secrets through YT videos for several years, trying to improve myself, but have found no satisfaction or sense of accomplishment. Shred playing for me has been like a brick wall (until I stumbled onto your videos). Thank you! I AM noticing marked improvement for the first time, and I am pleased, but again I am not a kid... AND I am not a stepdad! Thanks to your videos, I am learning "proper" technique, and feel I am now climbing out of the rut I have been in for so long.. So ease up my friend. By the way How do you get rid of the grey in "your" hair? LOL
You have to practice with up down picking as well. Or pick 2 3 3 notes per string one note 3 times becouse its always changing to down up down to up down up. Easy first step. Simple scale started on the 3rd string. After you can change two picks per note, and one picks per note up and down on the neck. You are improve after several hours.
This has been my go-to exercise since I was probably 17 years old and my picking still sucks.
I can't believe I never had any friends dope enough to introduce me correctly to Metal. I've been a professional blues/jazz guitarist for awhile and nobody even thinks I know what metal is. I'm going to prove them wrong. This exercise is killer man. I can't believe how difficult it actually is. I did it for like 20 mins and immediately recognized a positive response.
same here
Uncle Ben where you been at bro? Help me with pinch harmonics! I want to sound like Zacc Wylde
CLos where have I been?! Haha putting out at least one video a week for the past 4-5 years hahaha! Have you watched “your punch harmonics suck”?
Can you guys help me how to practice the punisher with metronome? I mean, how do i set the metronome to get the constant tempo?
play in 1/8th notes. 1 and 2 and 3 and 4 and 1 and..... start slow and work your way up in 5 bpm increments.
13:10 sick Leviathan cover
I just tried the punisher for the first time and my hand packed up her things and left me
Think yourself lucky, things could have been worse. She could have taken your house and your last name as well!
I think you literally just described my biggest fears.
Including my hand leaving me and not wanting my last name. Tha fuq.
I FED YOU.
Jonathan L ooooooojooooooo
Jonathan L oojoooooooooooojooooojotttrtt
LOL, try the spider exercise as well haha
I definitely wanna get 2 birds stoned at once. I’m not the best at book learnin but I got my grade 10.
Cameron Fisher you think season 12 was the last season
i would much rather be Uncle Bens 49 year old kid than pick like a step dad for all my days to get the respect of my real dad when attempting to do something harder than Chinese algebra ;)
the fukn way she goes
my fav rickyism
Time to turnips in heat boys
Uncle Ben is officially my unofficial guitar instructor, officially.
Nice
Exercise:
6:40 ascending
8:47 descending
12:19 variation
Underrated comment, thanks.
You are my hero
No homo
This exercise sounds like an upset giant mosquito flying around in the room.
R&R has no P
thanks man
This can easily drive one to the edge of insanity in no time.....
I hear you ! It's about as melodic as a car crash...heheheh
Add some delay and a phaser. That'll help.
Yep, ! but keeping Focus you achieve ZEN
That's the challenge, and thats where practice growth happens.
"chromatic 4 string exercise your step-dad showed you" lmao
No it was my Grand dad....LOL!
Later he's say "if you want your real dad to respect you again...." f**kin hilarious
But John Petrucci showed it to me :((
THE river shen? Its an honor, sir!
@@szymonbalcer he's a hack!
This is also a great combo exercise for 2-finger bass technique. “Index or middle finger” is similar to “up or down” problem. I call the skill of moving easy in all direction “symmetry”. Been practicing “The Punisher” (damn, such a cool name) in different variations for several years, and it keeps my hands in shape, especially when I can’t practice a lot (well, it’s always now). Thanks for the video, Uncle Ben!
I see your point! I will try this.
Andriy Vasylenko I've always wondered if there's a channel like yours but about guitar. I think Ben is fine, but sometimes also too specific and covers stuff a beginner like me can't relate yet.
Andriy Vasylenko hi frrrriend
Love your videos!
I’ve been playing for 7 years and I’ve always struggled with alternate picking.
I watched this video along with the chunking one, and it all finally clicked and I am making massive gains within hours.
I cannot thank you enough Ben, your channel is a treasure.
Alternate picking should be second nature. Keep it up its as easy as breathing. Peace
Omg same. When I was first learning I hated it so never practiced. Now 10 years late I really regret it
AzzalFox hang in there. Honestly, repetition and patience will make all the difference.
Can you share the title of the "chunking one"? Very curious. Thanks!
You ain’t gotta lie to kiss ass bro
This Guy Just Directly Told Me That I Suck.
Hes not wrong in my case
But you do suck
@@behindthen0thing Says mr blyat
I hate you for this. Thank you.
He saved me a whole lot of brain cells and hours of coming up with my own little "exercise" to get me to the next level. They are definitely PUNISHERS!!! LOL
Shows us a practice exercise... plays the riff Slayer has been trying to compose for thirty years.
I feel so bad for you Uncle Ben.
You had to practice those crappy exercises for hours back in the day.
Us kids are lucky to be born in a time where we can have Uncle Ben and Master Troy Grady to give us the secret to shred awesomeness.
Mr. Metalhorse hahaha I suffered so you don’t have to!!!
True
Ben Eller guitar Jesus
Dude I’m so sick of Troy Grady I’m 55 and have met many stylists that play with great speed and articulation I often show struggling pickers that you can plat this stuff flat picking thumb and forefinger, thumb and middle finger, thumb and 3rd or 4th even holding the pick between any 2 fingers and fanning, no pick legato, hybrid, round picks, coins, palm mounting at the bridge, finger mounting like Michael Angelo Batio, no mount float, whatever, I once used the “stylus” pick for over a year it was probably the time of my cleanest and fastest playing and there was 0 tilt or goofy rules you just do it till it sounds like a balloon in the spokes of your bike to quote Paul Gilbert
Furryz I'd like to see that.
I bet that we would be able to see that you don't actually use a flat picking angle when you shred you just think you do. The movements are necessary man.
Reverse Cow Girl :).... I;m 54, this stuff is brilliant.... just quit my job so I can do more of this stuff!
no more picking like a stepdad!
I think this exercise has really impacted my playing. Over the past year my alternate picking has transformed from something my stepdad would not approve of to something that may bring my biological-stepdad back from the corner store. Once I get sweeping down I may actually be able to nail some of those intense Dethklok songs. Thanks Uncle Ben.
....I was literally doing the typical chromatic exercise a few moments ago when I decided to practice while watching your video. Ah well, time to reaffirm how much I suck with good ol' Uncle Ben! :D
You can kill three birds by doing this with actual scales/modes. And again with chord tones. Nice exercise!
get 3 birds stoned*
Two birds stoned at once. And doing the piledriver and reverse cowgirl had me dying. Love your videos
Trailer Park Boys made that saying popular. Hilarious.
I usually practice unplugged while watching series or movies.
I do the same thing,kills the monotony of picking exercises.
you should be concentrating on the muscles your using, but practice is still practice
@@stoOberp it should become muscle memory after a while
@@benparsons4979 it will become muslce memory alot faster if you dont watch TV Haha
me too!
The reverse cowgirl part is still uncomfortable. Makes my capo tired.
You said a capoo?
I think the expression "Practice makes perfect" is deceiving. "Perfect practice makes perfect" is more accurate IMO.
So profound and deep. You’re blowin’ minds, kid.
I made that up 😒
My orchestra teacher in school always used to tell me that lol. Practice doesn't make perfect, only perfect practice makes perfect.
My band director used to say all the time "practice makes habit." So you can practice and pick up bad habits that have to be undone later.
Practice doesn't make perfect, practice makes permanent.
I like the Punisher because not only is it extremely useful to practice, but the dissonant melody is a lot more intresting than just straight chromatic.
It's not chromatic, he's missing a note on every string change except G to B.
It's also a complete waste of time.
@@clarkfeeley1959 i wouldnt say its useless, maybe for you, but its really good for separating the fingers, and also good for practicing string skipping and alternate picking (obv). and it is technically chromatic, cuz the notes dont follow a scale and they are in ascending order (doesnt matter if he skips a note except g to b).
@@clarkfeeley1959 he said its more intersting than just chromatic bro not that is was chromatic LMAO-
Ah love the rickyism
Get 2 birds stoned at once 😂
Lol I'm disappointed no one else in this comments section has mentioned it. One of the best shows I've ever watched. And re-watched, re-re-watched etc) 😂
@@larswalther1902 and rewatched and rewatched 😂
It was great.
Why have a couple of shit branches when you can have the whole shit trolly?
Stephen Greico nice shit analogy rick
This exercise is harder than my stepdad
69 likes
@DeSalvo 😂😂😂
@Charles X coming form a guy who says YALL, that's pretty hilarious
You and me both. Damn you, Petrucci!
Rock Discipline - got a feeling it was all done on purpose ;) Hold the suckers back.
To be fair, rock discipline did cover quite a lot of string changing and skipping picking exercises
the speed bursts helped me though
The major arpeggio exercise, hitting the same note multiple times that was just after the chromatic excersize on RD was a way better picking excersize... if you had just watched the whole video...
Edit: Example 4; about 17 minutes into the video, great exercise.
I'm still gonna blast my digits with "THE PUNISHER" tho, looks sweet.
Another great exercise for string-skipping alternate picking is Jeff Waters' Spiderwalk excersize... what a finger destroyer
ruclips.net/video/vrErZdZaGpw/видео.html
As a guitar teacher myself, I greatly benefited from this. Never ever too late to stop learning new things. Well done.
The one thing that really struck me the most in this video is how you brought up practicing with distortion. I always remember the 'rule' when I started guitar was 'always practice clean, the distortion will cover up your playing!". Let me tell you, I played only jazz for close to a decade, I didn't even buy a gain pedal until about 3 years ago, and what struck me first was that I sounded TERRIBLE the moment I turned it on. Like a decade of clean, practiced picking went out the window and I was baring every technical deficiency I had to the world.
So you're saying the exercises you played clean for a decade sounded fine, but when you bought the gain pedal it made you realize what? That you actually play sloppy? And somehow the distorted sound made that apparent? Have I got that right?
@@ScottMartinD yes
If you really think about it, distortion will bring out more imperfections than it will hide. Distortion compresses your sound, so quiet mistakes get louder, plus it amplifies non-linearly, meaning unwanted frequencies will be created anytime there's a stray open string or harmonic ringing out.
Same here! I played mainly cleans and lately have been getting into a lot of metal guitar. And there’s just minor little things that having high gain has made me realize I do. Just little sloppy imperfections I wouldn’t hear when playing clean. But I like the “think AC/DC” tone. Not to distorted. Not to clean.
"Or you can get two birds stoned at once." Ha!
It was great I know it in Chinese. Useful proverb. As a guitar teacher I have too say this is a great lesson. So we'll explained
Trailer park boys Randy
Max Pinto
It’s from trailer park boys.
Ricky says it, not randy.
I caught that too
It's a Rickyism. TPB! 🤘
Originally part of Steve Vai's 8 hour practice routine!
gstube1 indeed
boy, that is going back a bit
@@breadyegg Guitar World c1990.....or thereabouts
Yup. I remember that. I have a book of tabs i printed out 15 years ago. VAI’s 10 hour workout is in there. This was the first exercise if i recall.
That gym reference hit way too hard.
Everyday is chest and arms day bru
hph081000 The Brofessor just confirmed that every day is in-fact armday.
not me. I have massive legs
Ypu arent reading the swoly bible
Don't forget leg day johnny bravo
Practice makes permanent, my dude.
Only perfect practice makes perfect.
Sh!t practice yields eternal excrement.
Anyway, thanks for this. Maybe I'll finally git gud now.
Thanks Uncle Ben for reminding me again why I suck at guitar.
I actually came up with that exact same exercise when I was visiting in Serbia back in 1993. Except I named it the confusion breaker because of its complex pattern. I used it for a long time as a warm up. What a coincidence! Lol
Lol
Been using this picking pattern as a warm up for years, and I usually follow it up with this one.
A ---------------1--------------2---------------3---------------4-
E ---1-2-3-4----2-3-4--1----3-4--1-2-----4--1-2-3-----After this "set", move it up to the A and D strings, and then the D and G strings, and so on. To descend, just play the thing in reverse.
Amazing! Thanks man!
That's a great warm up for the hand that goes on the fretboard thank you!!!
Practice does not make perfect, practice makes permanent.. if you practice something wrong then it's not perfect.
Practice makes better
@@behindthen0thing what hes trying to say is if you practice something bad, then youre just reinforcing bad habits. more practice does not equate to more better necessarily, it depends on the quality of your practice.
tried the punisher down and was like oh ok that's pretty easy, tried back up... nope
"Get two birds stoned at once," lol.
ikr
my brain hurts
edit: it doesn't hurt anymore. practicing is wonderful.
Gracias Tio Ben.
LycanElite de nada!
Hablas español? Jaja
Ben Eller made a spanish tuto
@@BenEller Sos un capo che
I want my real dad to respect me so I’m going to start doing this.
I see Steve Vai and Frank Zappa on the wall, i approve
The "Never ending story" song low key in the background, nice work! Quite ironic as well, as we guitarplayers always will find new ways to practice, complain, practice again. It's a never ending story! Cheers
It sounds even more crap than the regular chromatic exercise, but it makes so much sense and I can really tell this'll work! Thanks dude, much apreciated
I think it sounds kinda sinister.
About time you made more video's on this series, I've learned alot, keep up the great work.
Are you sure I suck at guitar? I mean, i have never played a guitar. Who knows, I might be great! Can I borrow your guitar?
*Actually:*
Your video makes a good point. Muscle memory learning CAN work against us depending on what repetitions we are chosing....
GREAT metaphor with the gym there. This definitely explains my lack of technical improvement lately.
“The reverse cowgirl” I’m DEAD!!!
"harder than Chinese algebra" lol... Being working on economy picking speed. This are Great exercises.
You can get two birds stoned at once....*clicks subscribe
“So your real dad will respect you” lmao!!!
Cool idea man, I've never looked at it from this perspective, makes a lot of sense
"2 BIRDS STONED AT ONCE!!!!!!" You. Rule.
Trailer Park Boys are geniuses.
Thanks, I used to not even think about whether I was picking up or down, now it's all my god damned right hand thinks about.
whats weird is that with this exercise I can do it ascending pretty decently but descending messes with me super hard
The four notes per string exercise is still a great exercise and I use it with my students, but it's not for building speed in your picking hand. (At least it shouldn't be.) The point of the exercise is to create perfect LH/RH synchronization. Developing this technique with a metronome makes chord changes, jumping in and back out of solos, etc., much smoother and gives you a sense of spare time / space between changes.
Best alt picking exercise: flight of the Bumblebee
“2 birds stoned at once.” Lol dude I was laughing so hard when you said that. Love you brother!
Thanks a lot for this incredible exercise. I’m Mo from egypt
That punisher thing is a lot like an exercise Guitar World published from Steve Vai's legendary 8 hour practice regimens. Great type of exercise for sure and worthwhile to share! Now I need to go do it again...
Great stuff dude! I've also tried an exercise by Steve morse: do the chromatic, but use only 3 positions/fingers instead of 4. That breaks the symmetry and makes you once start from a downstroke and another string with an upstroke. Once again: great content, uncle!
Good exercise but you could still spend a lot of time on it. But I have found bigger gains working on speed with one string...then two..then three and so on until you master speed itself it becomes just as big of a hurdle. Thoughts?
Great exercise! But 1 suggestion -- when I hear your new pattern, I hear it in 5's, not in 4's (12345 - 12345 - 12345...). I think it'd be easier for students to understand it if you teach it that way - after you hit the "5", you then go down to a new starting (low) note and repeat the pattern of 5, but 1/2-step higher - and so on. Just a thought -- great lesson!
Your shredding opening would make for a good alternate picking exercise.
David Nwokoye I think it's economy picked though.
Somekind of Dude nope, it’s alternate!
Ben Eller Then you're a better player than I thought ( I don't mean the opening of this video)
I see you everywhere
This is really a helpful exercise. I've been working on the punisher where you skip over a string and it's really a great workout. In fact it has an added bonus - - I have annoying neighbors who like to hang out right next to my house and they yell and scream and annoy the hell out of me. I just turn up my amp a little and 5 minutes of that string skipping exercise gets them to go somewhere else! Thanks for such a useful exercise!
LMAO@ 5 minutes of that string skipping exercise gets them to go somewhere else! That's funny :)
So when he's playing his recommended exercise, when he finishes the higher string with an upstroke, he will play the lower string with a downstroke.
Shouldn't he play an upstroke here as well to save energy/lower distance needed?
That’s a good question...I would think the same thing
Tommy Jenkins but wouldn’t you always want to Economy pick?
@@stephengreico2810 I agree I always economy pick
@@stephengreico2810 You should be able to do it all proficiently really, if you only economy picked then when it comes to string skipping techniques for example you'll be at a loss. Why only learn what you think you'll need instead of learning it all proficiently and being able to use whatever you need as the moment demands, yknow
"If you always wanna pick like a stepdad..." baaaahaha, dude, you crack me up!
Also, for a while I was rockin the stepdad role and I taught her kid that crap. Thanks for the upgrade. The Punisher is a good name.
Been using this for some time. Thanks so much. Anyone have any suggestions on how to correct volume on alternate picking? Been fighting with it for weeks, trying to pay attention to keep the right hand movement balanced...while I do tend to play cleaner now for some reason, no matter the pick angle, I tend to hit harder downward than coming up. Driving me crazy. OCD is a hell of a drug.
That Punisher riff really reminds me of Erotomania.
I have started to notice some improvements in my playing already w only a few days subscribed. Appreciate your channel. Thank you
You are a master punisher Ben! I can't wait to get you and your good buddy to Ireland. On the subject of picking, is that a "new" type of pick you're using?
seanandben hell yes dude, looking forward to it! Yeah dude that’s a Dunlop Flow 1.5, my new addiction!
I just got some - very cool picks. I also got some of the A.J. flow picks - a bit of a step up for me as they're 2.0 and I'm used to 1.5, but I'll give them a go!
Show your Stepchildren. We demand it.
I watched this video 6 years ago and it changed my playing for ever, this exercise is truly one of the best Ive ever praticed
I’m so happy to hear that. Cheers!
Need a string skipping alternate picking practice routine....oops.. there it is..thx
I always learned to practice properly at the speed you can run but take a minute to practice blazing beyond your ability everyday too. You will start surprising yourself.
I agree,always try to rip for a few exercises even if it sounds sloppy. I didn't develop speed until I started pushing my speed.
Is that the ghost of "neverending story" I hear tastefully in the background??!!
I've always wondered why people practice things they will never play in a song. It's like practicing soccer when you want to get good at baseball.
To practice, you should practice with actual scales. Pick a key and start with open low E and work your way up in whatever pattern you chose until you hit the high E string, then go back down. Next move to F or F# depending on the key you are playing in. You can do all sorts of patterns, including string skipping, playing 4 notes per string (E,F,G,A on the E string, then B,C,D,E on the a string, etc.), play the notes backwards while going up the neck, or strings (a,g,f,e then b,a,g,f, then c,b,a,g, etc.) use weird fretting patterns such as shown in this video, play in 3, 4, 5 and 6 note patterns (e,f,g,a, f,g,a,b then e,f,g,a,b, f,g,a,b,c, then e,f,g,a,b,c, f,g,a,b,c,d, etc.).
One of the best things you can do while learning a solo is pick all the parts that are very hard and make finger exercise out of them. Pick small parts that are extremely difficult to play and play them over and over until they become easy. Mr. Scary is a great example of this. He said that opening part was very difficult for him, so to get better at it, play that part over and over until it is no longer difficult.
If you practice playing things you never want to play, you will get really good at playing things you never want to play. Practice playing things you want to play and you will get good at playing the things you want to play.
MAGA MAN
Awesome advice. Hail!
Reminds me of what Guthrie Govan says
Indeed, very effective. I used sidewinder accoustic solo for exercise when i started playing guitar, quite good improvement
Practice does NOT make perfect. Practice makes PERMANENT. Perfect practice makes perfect ;)
Thats what my master told me lol. 100% right
RUclips absolutely swarms these videos with ads
I've got the ultimate punisher, first you go to the string below, then u skip 1 string, then u skip 2 strings, until you do it in the low E n jump to de high E!!!
😲
Then you get a double neck guitar and jump between necks!
@@benitov6471 That's the spirit! 🤘
My brother showed me that too . I think it's easier to remember also .
You don't master it untill you play it at 300BPM sixteenth note
it is back, excellent
So brilliant. I can feel it working already 😁👍
It's actually funny, because the sound of the punisher exercise is the same sound my brain makes while thinking about it
Yes, I'd like to get two birds stoned and have my real dad respect me again. I'll get started on this right now.
alternatively you can just play 3 note per string scales, you'll get your alternating picking both starting on up, and down, and you'll also have useful notes depending on what key you'll play in.
Agreed.
Right, and you can do that at a reasonable speed quite soon, while this exercise can take hours to master on the fret hand
Thanks, Uncle Ben! You're the best.
Your stepdad is gonna be so pissed when he finds out you can play this.
Just don't dump too hard on your g string... makes a mess of your
playing..
Those top 3 strings always get me caught up unless I'm 110 percent warmed up.
I felt this exercise was more "punishing" for my left hand than my right hand. Honestly, I didn't feel it improved my alternate picking AT ALL. But it clearly is a great left hand exercise! Thanks very much
I use a similar exercice than what you're describing here but with a "spider" pattern or "revolving stairs" pattern (a better way to describe it). It's hard at first and the left fingers get kind of mixed-up but once you've practiced it a few times at a slow tempo and got the pattern in your head, it becomes a routine, it's a good and useful warm-up exercice. I've tried it on the 1st string and 2nd string and it gets harder and harder as you move away from the 1st string... Doing it with the 1st and the 6th strings is one of the hardest things I've ever done on a guitar. Anyway... Thanks for the "guitar aerobics" mentionning. I never knew such a book existed. I've been compiling all sorts of exercices on a little notebook I've had since 1996... It would have saved me some time if I'd known such a book existed lol.
Lesson starts from 6:43
Yes I have a dilemma since I was 14, and now I'm 54 years old LOL I took private lessons once a week in the back of a guitar shop in Queens New York in the late seventies.
I stopped taking the lessons once I reach the circle of fifths because I just could not understand how the application did its job. And I'm not exaggerating, till this day with the Advent of the internet, I still can't find anyone who could give me a satisfactory explanation.
It's ironic because every lesson prior to that went just fine, maybe I had some trouble with this one or whatever but I eventually learned the part...and in this case it isn't true.
I kind of get the idea of it but the part again, once again, no one has shown me how to apply it to Any Given song, I Don't Care What song you choose, I don't care what backing track you choose I don't care what Rhythm key whatever you use, just show me how it's used in a song and I'll personally fly to your place just to shake your hand. LOL
What’s the circle of 5ths?
The circle of fifths is actually good for harmonizing your riffs and music. The best way to visualize it, buy or draw a piano keyboard the notes on a keyboard is linear and not fluid like a guitar. Now start on the note of c, go five notes up you land on g. C chord is comprise of three notes, c e g. C is the root and g is the emphasizes. E is the note that blends them, the harmonizer. To find a chord on a piano the formula is starting on the c note go up three keys to e and two to g. You would say this formula, 1 2 3 play, (e note), 1 2 play, (g note). So if you're playing a riff in c and want to jump up to enrich the riff, you would go to g. The circle of fifths is to help you to learn chords, and compose music. Now look at the c note on the wheel of fifths, it's opposite is f#. So if I was composing a song and there was a chord jump from c to f#, I would want to transition from c chord to possible the a chord and go to f#. Honestly the guitar is a very fluid instrument, and even knowing a great deal of music theory, it gets confusing for me, because the notes are so fluid and honestly they are infinite, that is why there's mostly one way to play a piano but so many techniques to a guitar. If I was to teach the circle of fifths I would do it on a piano and not the guitar. I just started a month ago and I used the technique of finding chords on a piano to help me find them on the guitar and I'm realising why people feel it is so hard, the infinite ways to play a chord is undaunting. But to answer your question everytime you hear a chord played it is because it follows the rule of fifths. If you really want to learn it get a piano or a cheap keyboard, play it out first on there and then, when you play your guitar you will see the correlation to the strings. That's the best way I can explain it. Get a keyboard and look at the notes you are playing and when it hits you, man you will open up that axe, and play like you sold your soul at the crossroads. You will play and blend riffs like you are meant to. Like I said though it took a month just playing chords, no songs, three hours a day and then I dragged out my keyboard, because I was so mad at not figuring out how to blend the chords, and in two hours at staring at the guitar, getting mad, I started back to square one and asked, this question, what do it have in common? Then I figured out the sweet chords and how to blend in two days. It's not easy, it's how you look at it and what do you ask of it. Just get a keyboard, that's the important part to seeing it though.