BenEllerGuitars

I’m alive!

The wisdom teeth surgery was a success!!! I have been coming back to reality and watching the LotR trilogy all day, taking it easy. Kate has been taking great care of me with the meds and yogurts and stuff. Doctor said everything went just as planned.

The entire procedure was just very surreal for me. I guess I was in that twilight phase, where I knew what was happening to me, but just didn’t care and would just opt to sleep instead. Like a very weird dream.

I want to thank yo...

Going under the knife tomorrow! YIKES!!!

Well, as you can see, this has been a long time coming… but finally, thanks to you guys and your support, I have the means to get my wisdom teeth removed!

I was originally scheduled for the 20th but they had a last minute cancellation and they’re getting me in tomorrow morning. That’s probably for the better, as I am supposed to be playing a show with Andy Wood and Greg Koch in Knoxville on the 23rd! Getting put fully under, then getting all 4 removed (plus my bottom left molar t...

WW330, Journey "Lights" Solo Breakdown!!

Hey y'all!!! As promised, here's a complete breakdown of this legendary Neal Schon solo!!! So tasty. This is such a great one to learn to work on your bends, vibrato, and feel. Neal is the king! Let me know other classic Journey solos you all would like to see broken down!

Pre-Patreon repost! WW218 with Andy Wood

Hey y'all! I had a request to repost the TAB on this oldie, so i'm happy to oblige. Good timing, too, as Andy and i have been in the studio working on his new album for the past couple weeks! I really think we are doing something super special here... is there any behind the scenes stuff you'd like to see?

Patreon Exclusive! Let’s Learn LIGHTS!!!

That Journey repost request yesterday got me all kinds of inspired! Working up a full Lights solo lesson for y’all, and I thought I would bring you along the ride for the transcribing process. Enjoy! And HOW SICK is that new Luke III?!?!

Pre-Patreon! WW177 John 5 Banjo Business!

By request! Here's another oldie from the dry erase board TAB days. 

Ya know, sometimes i get complaints from people about the handwritten tabs, but myself, (especially now that he's gone) when i see the handwritten TABs my teacher Ben Franklin used to send me home with, it really warms my cold dead heart. Whole lot more personality and memory tied to those than a guitar pro file, know what i mean? But then, i am a sentimental old fart so what do i know hahaha 

Enjoy! An...

By request! Pre-Patreon TAB, WW38 Journey Lights!

Old one by request! Be sure to let me know any other pre-Patreon stuff you all want to see on here!

Man, Lights is my FAVORITE Journey song. I think i need to do the entire solo rather than just this one tasty segment. Thoughts??? Any other favorite Neil Schon solos that need a lesson?

Soldano SLO100 versus Mini 30 w/Ryan Bruce

Yeeeeah!!! First of MANY videos with me and Fluff from our recent Sweetwater trip! I’m seriously blown away by that Mini! Which do you prefer?!

The 5 Albums That MADE ME!

Who is on your Guitar Mount Rushmore?! You’re about to find out about the 5 albums that shaped me as a guitarist! The regular cut is on YouTube, but this is the super extended cut just for you all! More stories, more riffs, more better. Thanks for all the support, and let me know in the comments what 5 albums shaped YOU!!!

Doing an FAQ with Ryan Bruce! Post your questions here!

Hey y’all!!! I’m once again heading over to Sweetwater HQ out in Fort Wayne Indiana to film a bunch of stuff with Ryan “Fluff” Bruce! We are gonna be doing a big FAQ thing, so hit me with any questions you’ve got for us! Music stuff, gear stuff, YouTuber inside info, ANYTHING you wanna ask us! Post away!

Cheers y’all, hope everyone is well!

-B

It’s time to MASTER James’ downstroke technique!!

Hey guys! Since Master of Puppets is back on the charts again, it seems like the perfect time to work on our downstroke technique! You gotta have it if you want to do this legendary tune justice. Tune in, strap low, and down pick with me!!!

Patreon only VLOG time!!! Try this wide range tapping pattern i just found!

hey y'all!!! i had a minute between lessons today to film a little Vlog for for y'all demonstrating this sick 4 NPS wide range tapping pattern i just came across. I'm trying to come up with a cool WW lick using it, but i haven't settled on anything yet! Give it a try and see what it do for you! 

Hope y'all are having a good week. Got some RAD stuff hitting the channel for you all soon!

Me and Nick Bowcott need your help!!

Hey guys!!! Ok, here’s the deal… next week, myself and Ryan Bruce are headed back out to Sweetwater again to film a TON of videos for y’all. But while I’m out there, I’m not gonna miss the opportunity to hang with the legendary Nick Bowcott some more! We have a couple video ideas planned, but there’s one I need your all’s help with…

What are the best clean intro riffs to metal songs?!

Any subgenre, any decade. Cemetery Gates? Sanitarium? What makes the cut?! I ne...

By request! TAB for WW23

As always, i'm happy to fulfill your quest for pre-Patreon WW tabs!!! Here's one from waaaaay back in 2015. Heck, i need to brush up on this one again, myself, i love those one string rippers! Enjoy! 

PS maybe i update this lesson soon with a quality backing track to go along with it? Into that idea? 

How i Use 4 Note Per String Scales!

They're big. They're stretchy. They're intimidating! How do we use 4 note per string scales, anyway?!?!

Well, for me, i like to break them into smaller chunks with position shifts to create patterns that cover several octaves and don't require any crazy stretches, like this rad pattern i made in in the key of E Major! Get your alternate picking on and master this thing and add these ideas into your playing today. Grab the practice tracks and TAB, you're gonna rip it! 

Playing Rig Roll at Sweetwater GearFest 2022!!!

Hey guys!!! As many of you saw, i was recently back out at Sweetwater for GearFest 2022, and it was a BLAST! So many fellow 'Tubers, so much sweet gear, and so many fun events, like the Rig Roll they had set up for maximum guitar entropy! Behold as i roll the dice for a random rig and attempt to plod through as many cursed riffs as possible (yes, Stairway was originally in there, but the audio was completely unusable due to a crazy delay loop we accidentally made hahaha)!!! 

Enjoy!...

Patreon exclusive! 16 Minutes of Hair Metal Magic

Hey guys! Just posted up the "10 minutes of hair metal riffs with my Friedman BE100" video for the public, and i'm here to give you all the GOODS with EVEN MORE classic 80's riffs! Can you name them all?!?!

I'm thinking about turning this into a legit series for gear demos. No talking, just "ten minutes of X with X".... for example, i could do 10 minutes of Primus riffs with my Spector bass, or 10 minutes or Cantrell riffs with my Les Paul. I think that's a pretty fun way to demo my fav...

The Music Store That Started it ALL for Me

Hey guys!

Do you remember your first guitar store? I know i do! For a lot of young players, their experience of getting into music might be as simple as a few clicks to buy a guitar then its off to youtube to learn how to use it. But for my generation, and every generation before me, it all began at our local music shops! 

(boy howdy do i feel old talking about "my generation".... yikes!)

Lloyd's Music Mart in Morristown TN was such an important place for me. After 49 y...

Headed to Sweetwater Gear Fest!

Hey y’all!

Tomorrow, I head back to Fort Wayne, IN for Sweetwater Gear Fest!

This is going to be a lot of fun. This time around, it’s invite-only for YouTube nerds like myself. I’ll be spending time with PRS, Dunlop, EBMM, Marshall, Martin, Spector, and a WHOLE LOT more, plus hanging with some of the best YouTube dudes in the biz like Robert Baker, Pete Thorn, and MORE! Some of my amazing buddies will be making appearances, too, like Mark Lettieri and Emil Werstler. It’s...

The Best Van Halen Riff You've Never Heard! WW328

Its the baddest riff, and its been hiding in plain sight for SO LONG! I know you all will dig the complete breakdown of one of the baddest Van Halen riffs ever. Grab the TAB below, and be sure to stick around for the drum and bass breakdowns later in the video!!!

What do YOU think is the most underrated EVH riff??? Let me know in the comments!

EDIT: I had this post scheduled with the TAB attached and it somehow didn’t upload… in the studio now, I’ll post it later! Thanks for...

Want picking GAINS?!?! Practice this! WW327

Here's a GREAT way to improve your hand sync and alternate picking chops!!! Practice this daily for a week and let me know what a difference its making to your playing, i know you all will dig this one!

Grab the practice tracks, TAB, and midi files below and start getting more better!! 

Because you asked for it! WW41, Charon hot lick

Hey y'all! I gotta a message requesting another pre-Patreon WW lesson TAB, so here you go!

I really need to learn the entire Sails of Charon solo, its beyond epic. Is that one you guys would want to see in the future?

Hope everyone is having a good day! Got a great workout video coming out for you all tomorrow, you're gonna love what it does to your playing! 

Patreon-Only Vlog! Let's learn some Skid Row!

Knocking the dust off Youth Gone Wild on a lazy Saturday evening! We are gonna be playing this one again for the first time in a WHILE at our June 11th Knoxville show, so i thought i would bring you all along for the ride!! Such a fun tune. Standard tuning, Gm (mostly)... a classic!

Hope you all are having a good weekend! What Skid Row songs should i do lessons on?!?!

Which Alice In Chains record should i listen to this week?!

Hey y'all! Hope everyone is doing great! 

I'm loving making these "this week i listened to..." videos! I've got this beautiful Les Paul Custom, a SICK Friedman amp, and a beautiful Spector bass around here, i figure that sounds like the perfect recipe for some AiC deep dives, right???

So which record should we dive into? Dirt and Facelift seem like the obvious popular choices. But i also LOVE the post-Staley stuff! Black Gives Way to Blue is a dang masterpiece. Just let me kn...

Patreon Exclusive! Phil X Pentatonics Part 2

Hey guys!!! Hope you enjoyed the Phil X Instagram lesson i just posted! Like i said, i am OBSESSED with this lick idea and keep sneaking it into everything i'm doing! Here's even MORE info on how to get the most out of it, and some of the things that helped me get it down! Enjoy!!!

ALSO, if there's any totally bonkers stuff YOU see on instagram that you want me to decode, please DM it to me on Insta!!! Would love to see what you all have been checking out lately! 

Phil X Pentatonic FURY!

Hey guys!!! I love nabbing ideas from my favorite Instagram follows, and the other day Phil X posted something i immediately knew i HAD to steal and incorporate into my own playing! Ever since i started doing this idea, it has been ALL OVER my playing! There's so much you can do with it, pentatonic or otherwise. Try it out, you're gonna rip it FAST! 

I'll be posting up the bonus lesson here soon, so stay tuned! Cheers, y'all! 

Oh MAN!!!! Listen to this!

Chilling at the end of a lazy Sunday, just watching guitar videos on the YouTube, and I came across this and had to share. I don’t really do any slide playing, but this sure makes me want to!!! Listen to how much detail is in every note. Watch his incredibly delicate and precise muting, especially with his pick hand fingers. Just amazing and beautiful stuff!

EXTENDED EDITION! This Week, I Listened to Mastodon: Leviathan

Hey guys!!!! Just for you all, here's a super long cut of my latest video, featuring even more riffs, theory breakdowns, and deep dives into Leviathan by Mastodon!!! I know you all will love it. These videos are SO fun to make, which album should i do next?!?!

By Request! WW186, Symphony of Destruction w/TAB

Hey y'all! Because you asked, here's another classic pre-Patreon WW episode + TABs! Let me know if there's other TABs from the early days that you'd like to see reposted! 

And here's the regular-sized cut, too!

Shorter and more to the point if ya ain't got all day!!! Plus its got a couple pics from our Mexico vacation at the front. Enjoy!