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Get off of youtube. You’re too low level and will never make it.

Suck my avocados…

typical learner today : "i just want to learn x polyphia riff... only 30 seconds its all I need for thick thok"

You can’t just wing it. You need training!

Great playing, and crystalline/ overdriven strat tone that really supports the complex chord voicings You're really eating up that guitar, nicely done It bugs me that you have thousands of people watching your lesson videos, but the "ingrates" can't be bothered to listen to your music I dig it, cool stuff

One of the issues is finding a good tutor, there are so many who claim to know how to teach, but turn out to be only capable of teaching beginners. Taking an intermediate to the next level requires a good instructor and that can be hard to find. So I use TrueFire and books and learn songs, also try and jam with players better than me.

I would have liked an irl mentor for drums but no one would have been able to teach me what i needed to learn it was just easier to self teach/ trail and error but obviously took a bit longer

So nice, chord please?

I have a teacher. I get weekly lessons. I’m 54 years old and started 4 years ago. The number 1 thing my teacher drills into me is timing and how to read/count rhythms. It took me a few years to learn how to play a bunch of chords and different techniques, what my physical limitations are with my tendinitis and arthritic fingers and skip songs that create problems for me and find songs I like that I can play. My teacher transcribes my favorite songs for me providing well documented song sheets in GP8, he helps me find songs with in my current skill level so I can incrementally progress. I started with easy rhythms like Poison, every rose has its thorns, and Dio holy diver. Now I’m learning odd time signatures like 6/4, or playing on off beats like Dokken songs often do. I would never be where I’m at with out my teacher. Someone with a music degree and has played professionally and taught privately for 30 years.

Spot on, Ben. So glad to hear someone say this! One of the best things I ever had was a teacher looking over my shoulder, giving me advice, and pointing out things I never noticed. So many of these guitar courses online don't address the fundamental principle that we NEED in-person criticism and validation. Will there be people like Stevie Ray Vaughan who learn by meticulously copying Jeff Beck records in their bedrooms? Sure. But, most people don't operate that way and there could be far more incredible guitar players in this world if burgeoning musicians would seek real teachers rather than tutorials and courses via a computer or tablet.

Guitar mentor believes guitar mentors are necessary. Groundbreaking stuff there. If only this guy had been around in the 70s, Stevie Wonder and Stevie Ray Vaughan wouldn't be trash.

Best alternate picking lessons!

Great video Ben. Today’s lesson was literally the best lesson I’ve ever had. You keep showing me things I didn’t even know I needed to know!

Hey Ben, I've been trying to get in touch about taking lessons; how's best to contact you?

Yes I will.

good stuff!

Great video as always, have been learning a LOT with your videos. Please, keep up with the awesome content!

Wow, heard it explained like this!

Good stuff man 👏

many thanks ❤❤❤❤

wow not bad, really good job

This is a very insightful video, especially for this beginner. I can establish these habits early on. Thanks!

I noticed recently that my short arm length forces me to slightly adjust arm positioning and contact points as im going through scale runs, otherwise i can not comfortably reach the lowest or highest string. Almost like a bit of a sweeping motion, but it makes it way harder and less consistent to alternate pick. It very often makes me mess up the very end of a lick cause im out of position or im struggling to maintain consistent picking while the arm is shifting. Havent really found a fix to it yet besides practice that inconvinient adjustment more.

Great topics of discussion that you select. In the early 80s a friend and I would discuss many of your topics this one included, before Yngwie appeared, before there was any shred instruction at all really, although DiMeola and others were around. We were figuring it out on our own, by ear only, bouncing ideas off each other about "how to move", how to think about the moves", "how it should feel". I don't see others on the web discuss these ideas as you do. It's just "now ill show you how to alternate pick this Paul Gilbert lick!" Again and again. You're doing a great service for the community by sharing your very introspective approach!

This is the first I have heard of you, but certainly not the last now! Sounds amazing 👏 well done. Heres hoping for much more exposure for you!

I wish there was a better word than "fresh" to describe this. Well done, mate 🔥

Cool Ben!

Nuce man❤

Very interesting! So your upstroke grabs fewer strings than the downstroke?

I use wrist but when I do my arm wiggles and looks like I’m using my arm when I’m using my wrist if you have any tips to fix that at all?

Light 8

haha this is guitarists doing drummer exercises

Yoh just missed the most important factor here. There's no way one should be playing faster alternate picking with this kind of thumb grip. And spider exercise is the best exercise one can do for pinky finger independency and tendon elasticity.

Great video! Off to practice 🤘

once again. Awesome stuff brother.

flying pinky

Damn I need to save n get a real guitar teacher. You're awesome Ben thanks.

Guitarmastery channel talks about this same thing but doesn't talk about going through the whole sequence note by note spotlighting one note at a time.

Thank you so much for sharing these ideas and exercises - slowly trying to fix some ‘bad habits’ as a self learner and these help tremendously

Thanks for the video!

Really cool! Jon Bjork has videos talking about these exact things. He calls the Accents the "Spotlight Effect" and the "slow fast playing" he calls Transition Time

Awesome!

Pretty much the Shaun Baxter exercise from back in the day. He was well ahead of the curve . Good vid

U deserve way more trafic, your content is amazing!

Could you please make a video on sweep picking - particularly muting techniques and right hand nuances

Any lesson on how to hold the pick

GUITAR instructor has a list of videos talking about her legendary master technique called NO TEMPO PRACTICE. She breaks down why slow practice is not good practice unless you have the right knowledge to do the right technique in a correct way!

Would love to see a video on hand synchronisation! I feel like I can get a decent tremolo going but very quickly my hands will go out of sync 😢

You always come up with new and enlightening stuff! 👍

Awesome brother