BenEllerGuitars

WW351: EJ Cascading Pentatonic WORKOUT!

Hey y'all!!!

Well, the Woodshed Guitar Experience was AMAZING! It was so great seeing so many of you all face-to-face and getting to hang out, chat music theory and technique, and slam a couple cold beers! It was also a tremendous honor to share the stage with the likes of Andy Timmons, Andy Wood, Greg Koch, Jordan Rudess, Mark Lettieri, Seth Rosenbloom, Brent Mason, and of course... the legendary Eric Johnson!

I made this exercise as a great way to learn and practice the two fund...

PATREON ONLY! Arpeggios from HECK ft/YingYang Milkshake

Happy Labor Day, Patreon People!!!

So, you may have noticed i didn't upload a new video last week... but i DID make one. And then, i chickened out about posting it because of the massively litigious reputation of one ruffled-shirt wearing shredder!!! But after passing it around to a couple buds and getting feedback that it might be the best video i've ever done, i knew i had to share it with you all... so here we go!

That's right, its a special WW episode hosted by YingYang Milksh...

WW350: Big Economy Picking Energy Etude!

Want to stimulate the economy?!?! Pick like a pro by practicing this awesome economy picking etude! 

This thing has some strategically-placed rest strokes with pauses attached to them so you can reflect on your picking perfection and build yourself into a more better shredder. Learning economy picking by practicing non-stop 64th notes is NOT the way to learn it! You gotta have pauses like this to make sure you're nailing the technique. Lets do it!! 

Grab the TAB and prac...

Repost because this still rules! How to find the chords of EVERY KEY, EASY!!!

Still one of the best videos I've ever made! This is the coolest trick to find the basic chords that belong in any key, and ANYONE can do it! Its so easy!

What theory topic would you like to see a video on next??? Lemme know! 

See y’all in the SHED!

Hey everyone!

Hope to see you fine folks at the Woodshed Guitar Experience this weekend! I leave tomorrow for 4 days of epic jams, teaching, and tomfoolery amongst such beasts as Eric Johnson, Greg Koch, Andy Timmons, Mark Lettieri, Brent Mason, Andy Wood, and MORE! It’s gonna be wild!!

If you just happen to have the week and some dough laying around, you can still use my promo code (UncleBen100) at checkout for a $100 discount! Don’t delay, sign up today!!!

Do y’al...

Patreon Exclusive! Reacting to My First Band's First Album, SUPER CUT!

What was i doing when i had been playing guitar for like 1.5-2 years?!?! You're about to find out! 

I had so much fun making this video, revisiting these tunes from 2003, talking with the guys from the band, and poking fun at my own playing! There's some stuff on here that is SO CHEESY, but i'm still proud of what we did. I hope you all enjoy it!

You'll find downloads of all 6 songs below, plus the shorter regular cut thats on my main feed. Lemme know what you all think!

Jake E Lee’s Tone in a Box! The Friedman JEL-20!

It’s time for a brand new Meet the Machines! I know y’all Jake E Lee, and now you can bring his signature tones home in a small watt package from Friedman! This amp is NUTS. It does everything from sparkly shimmering clean to boosted 800 filth. It’s honestly hard to find a bad tone in this thing!

Use the captions in the bottom left of the screen to navigate the video if you’re a skimmer, or let it roll and hear the myriad of amazing sounds lurking in the Friedman JEL-20. Let�...

Reacting to the first song my first band ever wrote! Patreon only!

Hey y’all! Happy Monday!

I’ve got a fun watch just for you all, and I need your help!

So last week I found my first band’s first cd, way back from 2003! I want to share it with you all and talk about all 6 tracks in a Riff Retrospective, but I wanna do it the best way possible for y’all! So I set up yesterday and recorded this as kind of a test run. It’s only about the first song on the album. It’s a trip down memory lane! Really fun listening to what I sounded like w...

The Downwards Pickslanting PUNISHER is here!

Lets go!!!!

Y'all know my legendary PUNISHER exercise, but what if you want to hone your DWPS skills so you can catch up to Yngwie, Zakk, and EJ?! This is for YOU!

This is quickly becoming one of my favorite daily workouts. I think you'll love it, too! Snag the TAB and practice tracks below! I'll be uploading the Guitar Pro file shortly, stay tuned!!

EDIT: uploaded the Guitar Pro file on here! Thanks to my buddy Brent for cranking that out for me. Shred it!!! 

LEVEL UP Your SHRED SKILLS!

Hey y'all! Here's a GREAT way to look at the different approaches to shredding! Lets take a look at 3 increasingly difficult ways to play the same lick, talking about the pros, cons, tips, and tricks you need to know to LEVEL UP today!

Grab the TAB and practice tracks below, let's go!!! 

-BE

Just got back from Mexico City!

Hey y'all!

Been spending all day getting caught up on messages and stuff! Sorry for the delay, just got back from an AMAZING week in Mexico City! Man.... if you've never been, you GOTTA GO! Amazing, and very cheap on the American dollar. 

Had one of the top 3 meals I've ever had at Limosneros, the absolute BEST drinks I've EVER had at Handshake (seriously, life changing), rode a hot air balloon over the pyramids, saw some amazing museums, and more!!! Seriously amazing time. I...

Patreon Only! Monsters of Yacht: Bass Edition (LONG CUT!)

Just for you smooth sailors!!! Here's the super turbo champion edition cut of the newest Monsters of Yacht! For this excursion, I'll be laying down the low notes on the big guitar for you guys, which I'm so stoked about! I've been getting a lot of requests for more bass content on my channel, and this stuff is SO FUN to play. Hope you all dig!

There's loads of practice footage, theory talk, bass gear tips, and show footage in this one, so dive in!!! Thanks for all you do!

Here’s...

New series idea… tell me what you think

Hey y’all!

Sunday morning thinking here… I love this idea, but I wanna see what you all think!

My buddy Josh Rivera from sweetwater (the other dude in the Rig Roulette video from last year) hit me up with a cool idea. Rather than a straightforward lesson on how to play a particular song note for note, the concept for this series would be “here’s why every guitar player should learn (insert song title)”. You all know how much I value playing complete songs start to fini...

Tom Anderson Angel 7!!!

Holy moly, y’all. I don’t know the last time a 7 instantly connected with me like this one!

Anderson sent me this guitar as a loaner to get my thoughts on it since they’re getting more into the 7 string world. Just spent a few minutes on it today and it feels INCREDIBLE.

How many 7 stringers do we have in our group here??? Do y’all think I should do a Meet the Machines on it??

Patreon only! My sickest metronome HACK for MAX SPEED!

Patreon only video, as promised!!!

Want to know the craziest metronome hack? It seems like this shouldn't work, but trust me... it does. BIG TIME. After doing this for this video, my chops were on fire all day, no joke. Pretty amazing stuff, and i think there's a good bit of science behind it. 

Try it out and let me know how it goes! Thanks for all you do!

-BE

Is Spiro Dussias the String Skipping KING?! WW349!

Brand new Weekend (erm, Weekday) Wankshop is here! My buddy Spiro Dussias is a SHRED MACHINE. He posted this killer string skipping lick the other day, and i HAD TO rip it off (with his consent, of course) and repurpose the pattern into a sweet etude to help us build our chops and get on his level!

Grab those practice tracks and TABs below to begin your string skipping journey.

I love doing videos like this where i spotlight current hot players. Who should i check out next? Stephe...

Yacht Rock Review time!!!! Bass it up with Uncle Ben!

Hey lovely and loyal Patrons!

I've got another sweeeeeet gig this weekend with Knoxville's  premier yacht rock tribute band Smooth Sailor, and I'm bringing you all along for the ride! The set list is a 3+ hour monster list of amazing tunes by Steely Dan, Christopher Cross, Hall & Oates, and SO much more, this one has taken a lot of practice! Grab a seat and hang out with me as I go over some of the choicest cuts and try learning some new ones along the way. 

I plan o...

Patreon ONLY! I Can Has BLOOZ!

Here it is! The EASY way to start jazzing up your blues playing! This is so great, even if you're playing over a ZZ Top or Waylon Jennings tune. Its the perfect place to start breaking away from the pentatonic box!

Snag the charts and backing track below, this is gonna get your phrasing amped up FAST!

Thank you all so much!

-BE

Blues BONANZA ft/Corey Congilio!

Hey y'all! 

Here's a real fun video I got to shoot at Sweetwater Gearfest! Earlier in the day, I heard my buddy Corey Congilio blazing over some blues changes while making one of his own videos, and I knew I had to try and snag some of his secrets! In this lesson, Corey shows us how we can all spice up our blues playing by adding in arpeggios and targeting chord tones, rather than just playing the same minor pentatonic licks over the entire progression. He's got some really rad ide...

Yacht Rockin!!! Wanna come aboard?

I’ve got another yacht rock excursion with Smooth Sailor coming up! Knoxville’s premier yacht rock tribute band is having me aboard on the bass this time. Do you all want to come along for the journey? Last year, I did that Monsters of Yacht video where I was tackling this gig on guitar, and I’ve had a ton of requests for bass content lately! Should I do it?

"Jambi" and the Adam Jones Pull-Thru Technique!

Happy 4th!

By request, here's the TAB to go along with WW193, in which we uncovered Adam Jones' Pull Thru technique he uses on "Jambi" by Tool! This is so cool, percussive, and groovy, I've gotta write some riffs of my own using it.

Also, this video has over 700,000 views! WHOA!!!! Are there some other Tool songs/riffs I need to break down!?

Drop that D, grab the TAB, and riff with me!

-BE

The NICEST Nice Things from Gearfest 2023!

It's my birthday!!!! To celebrate, I made you a video!!!!

What's the coolest guitars, amps, pedals, basses, and mustaches of Gearfest 2023?! You about to find out! This turned out being one of my dumbest videos ever, I had such a good time putting it together. Hope you all dig it!

Thanks for all you do! Cheers!

-BE

How Metallica Wrote the BIGGEST Metal Song EVER!

Hey y'all!

What made Enter Sandman the biggest metal hit of all time!? IMO, it's the band's use of something I've been calling the "Overture Approach", and it's an amazing way to add continuity and strength to your own writing. Before James sings the first lyric, you've already been introduced to every melodic and rhythmic theme you're going to hear in the entire song! It's amazingly subtle, but super effective. Lets talk about it!

What's the BEST Metallica song, though? I think f...

Sweetwater GearFest next week! What do you want to see?

Hey y’all! As my my loyal of followers, you know I value your opinions on what you want to see on my channel the most. I’m currently trying to narrow down what I want to film at Sweetwater GearFest next week.

Myself and a bunch of other ‘tubers are being flown out to Sweetwater. There will be companies with booths showcasing their newest gear for 2023, and I can film whatever I want to with them. Kind of a mini NAMM where only YouTube nerds can attend. Plus, SW will be putting to...

Hair Metal review time part 2: the half step songs

As promised, here’s part two, with even MORE hot licks and classic tunes in Eb! Let’s roll!

Patreon exclusive! Hair Metal review time, part 1!!!

Let’s go!!!

For the first time ever, my hair metal tribute band Skankbanger is playing a show without its longtime lead guitarist, Ashley Lixxx (who bears a striking resemblance to Andy Wood). That means it’s up to Davey Stranger himself to carry the shred burden and tackle a 3 hour onslaught of 80’s classics. Can he handle the power?!? Let’s find out!

This is part 1, in which I go through the standard tuning songs plus the drop tuned stuff. Part 2 is coming, and it’s ev...

Patreon exclusive! Sharp VS Flat: The TRUTH

As promised!!!! A Patreon exclusive lesson just for you all, my most loyal and lovely believers! 

This is a little bit of a preview of the kind of content i'm going to be putting into lesson packages in the near future. The no-nonsense, easy to understand TRUTHS about music theory questions that have plagued guitar players since the dawn of the D chord!!! 

Why do we use SHARP sometimes and FLAT others?!?! 99% of guitar players don't know the answer. Its shockingly simple...

Brian May and the POWER of the PREBEND!

Hey y'all! 

Ever wondered what makes Brian May's Bohemian Rhapsody solo SOAR, SING, and SCREAM!?! Its the power of the prebend! There are SO many notes in this solo that aren't simply fretted, but blindly bent up before being picked. But why??? Thats what we're gonna talk about today! The third reason is one nobody ever seems to talk about, but it makes all the difference in the world. Get into it!

TAB for my transcription is included below. You'll notice i've tabbed out a fe...

NYC was a blast! Now, back to work…

Hey y’all! Just got back from a super fun friends trip to NYC. Saw a couple shows, swung by the Guggenheim, ate some amazing foods! But now I’m back and hitting the ground running.

First order of business is gonna be going over some tunes for the Skankbanger show this weekend; Ashley Lixxx (aka Andy Wood) is gonna be out of town Saturday, so it’s up to Davey Stranger (aka me) to do ALL the shredding! I gotta review a ton of tunes and solos, wanna join me for a little review video...

Patreon Exclusive! Lets build a NUNO TONE!

Hey y'all!

Come along with me for a tone voyage as i build my sound for the Extreme II Riff Retrospective! Using a couple AMAZING pieces of gear here, but i gotta say, the real star is the UA OX. If you know what you're looking for, you can do truly incredible things with that unit! Its the heart of my studio. Heck, i need to do a video all about it sometime.

Enjoy, and let me know if you all want more tone shaping videos like this one, i had a lot of fun making it for you all! 2023-06-05 14:01:11 +0000 UTC View Post