Judy is absolutely right about learning other music to get better. I learned 1 Polaris song, 1 Periphery song and I feel much more confident in my playing then I did 5 years ago. Don't be afraid to challenge yourself. It's incredibly rewarding 💯
It took me WEEKS to properly play the Domination solo. I practiced almost nothing but that the entire time. It made me so much better at playing EVERYTHING. All the things I thought were hard before suddenly were stupid easy.
True! I like to practice while composing my own songs/licks. I usually make songs that are beyond my technical level and end up sometimes spending months practicing it. It helps me develop the technique that I need instead of some useless runs/exercises. It's also making my guitar playing unique and more enjoyable.
i accidentally learned alternate picking automatically and im really glad i did. sometimes i see people downpicking the fuck out of everything, and it gives me anxiety
I've been playing guitar for 15 years and I still learned/re-learned from this video. "Learn songs" and "Don't be a pussy" are the best bits of advice you can give to an aspiring guitarist.
I'm a BRAND NEW private guitar teacher and the analogy of "eventually It'll be a G Chord" is gonna be something that definitely goes into my little book of teacher lines lol HOLY SHIT! THIS WHOLE VIDEO IS GOLD!
About the tip on focusing on one thing at the time: I've tried to learn the main riff of "Poison Was The Cure" for ages. It's a very difficult riff. I used the classic "5-10 minutes every day" approach for like two months without any significant progress. Inspired by Uncle Judy's tip I thought "Fuck it. I'm gonna learn that riff right now, no excuses." I played the riff over and over again, as a whole and in short sections, with a metronome for like 3+ hours straight. Did I learn to play the riff at full speed in one long session? Not quite. But my max bpm went from ~120 to ~145, which is a very significant improvement. Someone might say it was waste of time. I say fuck that. Such an improvement feels amazing. I don't care if I didn't learn anything "new".
Judy hit the nail on the head with this one. I came to similar conclusions and have made more progress this year than anything in my 18 years playing and am having more fun than ever with the instrument. This is some old man wisdom coming from a handsome 30 days clean Macaulay Culkin impersonator
Refreshing video! I definitely don't have a humility problem, (I was taught by a jazz musician, 😱😱😭😭😭😭.) He made sure I didn't have an ego. Not that I did before. I used to say I'm good, meaning proficient, but now I don't even say that, (because people think you're being arrogant.) I just say I can play. And, when I go to the Guitar Centers, if there are 10 people there - 9 of them are better than me. And, while that may not ALWAYS be true, I adopted that mind set, because I'm able to just freely play without worrying about the Van Halen guy, the George Benson, or Djent guy. I'm the 80s ballad, (blues,) solos and jazz guy in the back while the others are ripping.
This is legit some of the best advice I've ever heard. Once you get passed the hurdle of learning the basics, you can easily wind up confusing yourself into forever grinding shit that doesn't matter. This is the only roadmap that will lead you anywhere
5:37 This mentality is exactly how I went about learning clarinet for 8 years and what got me into good orchestras. And this will be the exact mentality that helps me learn guitar. So succinctly put it brings a tear to my eye.
100% agree on alternate picking. That's your coordination primer. It's also the gateway to stuff like fast downpicking...it's the warmup towards that. If you legato everything, you start to lose the mechanical srength, but looseness you need for the aggressive stuff. You cannot be tense AT ALL when downpicking; it's gotta feel like knocking on a door. If anyone wants to not suck---1) 2NPS scales, 2) THE GODDAMN CIRCLE OF FIFTHS!, 3) 4ths tuning, 4) arpeggios. Those 4 things will yank you straight out of that intermediate purgatory that most of us get stuck in.
My main instrument is guitar but I decided to test the challenge yourself with a hard song method and started running an experiment. I said I'm gonna learn Nairian Odyssey by Tigran Hamasyan on the Piano by ear with almost no prior training. If it doesn't work out and I learn a bunch of bad habits, oh well, at least I don't play the piano as my main instrument. If I succeed, then really I shouldn't have any excuse as to why I can't pick up a ridiculously hard song on guitar and practice the shit out of it. I'm happy to say that after a little over 2 years I've got Nairian Odyssey about 50% complete. It feels SO REWARDING. I cannot stress enough how motivating it is to just dive headfirst into something and grind the hell out of it. 10/10 try it guys
I completely agree with the whole self admiration vs acknowledging your failures in certain areas, obviously there’s a line between being made aware of your short comings as a musician and actual mental abuse. But in my own experience as a young guitarist in school of rock and being constantly put on a pedestal ultimately plateaued my ability, when I decided to take up some classical guitar it completely changed my own perception of my ability in such a way where I’m never truly satisfied with my playing, hence I constantly push myself to improve, obviously we all need to be happy with the way we play a lot of the time but as I said it’s a fine line to tread
This is 100% accurate. 100%. I didn't want to say more but , here it goes: you listen to eh... famous modern guitar players in interviews, they always say " I didn't have a practice routine. I didn't learn licks. I don't recommend learning licks. I mostly learned song after song" But, you go to their online spaces and want to sell you precisely "their" practice routines, and 50 licks for x style. Ok, enough. Thanks.
Learning things outside of your comfort zone is rule #1 for me, especially to help with writing new music in addition to getting more skilled. Great list!
This is all hilarious but EXCELLENT advice. I challenged myself to learn Sentient Glow by Periphery and it took me well over a year to even get past the verse, but now I can play it and it definitely helped me to feel I can do more than i thought. I never imagined being able to play it, and now that I can, it inspires me to learn more
I’m currently returning to playing guitar and this is the only video that matters. I touched some grass and now I have no desire for new gear or anything, I just want to be constantly learning an instrument and it’s the only one I have in the corner of my room, so removing that “I want to be a guitarist” mentality was crucial for not giving a fuck. Just get good at any instrument for the sake of opening up your musical opportunities in the future
Ya kno what bro?... I really like this dude... For real, TH-cam, specially guitar TH-cam, needs more of this just straight honest, to the face, raw friggin content.... Thank you brotha, keep it up
Glad to know I'm on the right path. I picked up my guitar again after years, having spent them just occasionally noodling pentatonic. I decided I was gonna learn to play Them Changes by Thundercat, having never played without a pick before. I spent three months learning to play it with all five fingers. Like literally, little finger as well because, I don't know I'm fucking dumb or something. And low and behold, 6 months later, I'm learning the 5 string bass now. But every single song I learned after that, was insanely easy. It opened up a whole new world of possibilities because suddenly I could play with my fingers, and I was stuck in alternate picking minor pentatonic hell for literally years. Learned a bunch of chords that got me outside of powerchord jail. Learned some modes and shit. Finally can play the music I want to play. Before that, I was stuck with the skills of a 14 year old learning metal licks and chugga chugga shit. I gotta learn the fretboard properly and improve my theory, but still, I learned more, learning one hard song, than the last 10 years of aimlessly "playing" guitar. In just three months of focused practice lol.
You just earned a sub man 5:50 this has always been the mentality that i try to tell people since ive been asked multiple in my school how i draw so good and i know that im not its just that they have limited idea to what a "good" drawing is so i dont blame them for it and im happy whenever i teach them and see improvement. What people really need also in my opinion is perseverance because thats where most fail
DUDE as an amateur guitar player I needed this, your advice cut right through me and gave me the motivation to keep practicing and to learn hard songs (at my skill level). 'Preciate the tips my dude, have a good one!
I think there's a fine line between self loathing and genuine understanding of where improvement is needed. It is in fact possible to acknowledge ones successes and shortcomings simultaneously. Ingraining the sentiment of "I fucking suck" whether it be in school or in personal relationships, or as seen here, with skills, is not healthy. Even if this mindset provides a temporary source of extreme motivation to improve, being pragmatic is much more effective. At one point I had a roommate who was all "I suck at life I need to do xyz to make it better" and he would do them. After doing them, he still hated himself, and he would burn out because in his eyes none of the improvement had come to fruition (although it had), and then proceed to return to square one. If you fail to effectively acknowledge your successes, then in a practical and applicable sense, what exactly makes them better than failure? I see where the sentiment comes from, I saw it in a lot of male colleagues back in college. The result was almost always the same. Hard stop burnout. Obviously some people may find success from this mindset, but from the cases I've seen (and lived with), those people are, at best, very uncommon.
i've been spending like a month learning the solo from follow the reaper and finally playing that one lick clean it felt so fucking good I've set myself the goal of being able to play it well until me and the drummer of my old band (who's now switching to bass) manage to put together a new band
I’m so glad I stumbled onto this video. It’s what I needed. I’m about 25 days into learning the guitar. I absolutely suck and that needs to be reinforced. As a beginner, I think comparing progress to anyone else also brings you down, so that has to stop. I practice chords for 20 minutes or so, then do some scales for 20 minutes or so, then play some tabs or riffs and solos for 20 minutes or so. It’s working for me and me ADD
Definitely agree with the opening statement. Took me a bit to realise, but I can't often do things like barre chords because my wrists are prone to repetitive stress injury. If I blindly followed what everyone tells me to practice, my wrists could be in some bad shape rn compared to how they are
Man, I also have severe ADHD and only found out at like, 30 fucking years old. I feel you so much on that jumping between stuff. I'll come up with a nice lick, try to come up with a nice lick to follow it, and then 10 minutes later I've noodled so much I forgot what the fuck I even started on. I feel seen, thanks for that!
This is the first video I've seen from this channel. I feel so blessed to have come across this invaluable and inspirational advice from American Guitar PewDiePie ♥️
I love your energy man. i just came back from sweetwater hq in fort wayne and met with a guy who helped guide me down possible guitars to get as a beginner, with versatility in mind, and we looked at the PRS SE Custom 24, with a split coil pull system since i like to listen to rock and metal, then some jazzy tunes and some other various genres. It is a sweet looking and feeling guitar that has got me excited to get into this as a possible outlet for my ADD. I was just bit by the bug last week and now i am putting stuff into motion to get myself set up. That's pretty freaking sweet.
I can understand why so many people are calling this really inspirational. He actually has a really positive way of talking about doing hard work, not trying to talk about short cuts but still making everything feel possible and doable, and that starts to make me think that it's because it really is all doable. thanks!
To be honest, I can't make myself do any exercisises. I just pick a song or a solo I want to learn real bad, and then I practice it for weeks if not months working on the necessary techniques as I go. Works for me. I know that's not the Jedi way, but I get bored like 5 minutes into an exercise. Somehow I can sit there and practice a chunk of a solo for hours until I'm satisfied with the result, but I can't spend more than 5 minutes on an exercise. The only only exercise I do is the John Petrucci finger separation and stretching exercise from his Rock Discipline video, but I use it as a warmup basically.
I’m still only 1 year into guitar but what I’ve found to really help me improve is to spend at least an hour practicing improvisation. Like put on a song you really like and just learn the movements and rip it. KGLW songs can be really good for that
this is honestly one of the greatest and most honest and well done videos I've ever watched - facts on facts on facts - now I gotta get back to trying not to suck and pick my song to spend the next month on !!!! from one uncle to another - keep it up brother and thanks for sharing 🤘🏻🍎🎸🍏
Yup I used to practice for hours a day, minimum one hour, some days 5 or 6. I'm not even very good. But I would just find something I wanted to do, and then just do that thing as long as possible fighting cramps, fingers hurt. When I get bored I play for fun or practice stuff. Start incorporating it into other stuff, like the ability to switch on a dime is very key the way when you think of using it it's second nature. Eventually you'll have to hear yourself making mistakes and your neighbors thinking your a stoned guy who can't play. I mean, it sounds crappy cause you're adding your new technique into what you already know, so in-between is gonna sound like crap but just accept it and just make it sound good. After a few days you'll have the technique. You don't need to do hours every day. Not at all. U just need one or two days where you do nothing but practice your new technique for many hours, to get the pain and muscle training out of the way, then after that your fingers are gonna hurt but you just practice it every day a little bit, then rest. The next week you'll see a major improvement after your fingers don't hurt. My fingers don't even hurt anymore, I can play for 3 hours straight with almost zero breaks and it doesn't even affect me, maybe my spine. So. Keep practicing. !
Brother, I’ve been playing about 3 years but I’ve been in a rut for like a year and a half just stopped improving but this genuinely put me in the right direction of finally improving again
Ive never stopped learning songs that are hard. Im in the processing of covering the entire Heavener album from Invent Animate at the moment and after completing just 2 songs from it, i am 10x what i was. Atleast thats what it feels like. I was learning btbam epics in highschool and honestly nothing could beat that high back in the day. I still chase that feeling of GODMODE.
He speaks the truth. I liked and agreed with what he was saying. Telling it like it is in a very unapologetic way. A kick in the ass, more or less. I needed that. Thank you for posting this video.
I've been playing for 40 years, but I still learn new stuff from guys like you who make me think about things differently instead of showing an exotic scale. In conclusion, don't do heroin, it doesn't actually make you play jazz better.
first time i picked up a guitar i alternate picked and was immediately told "dont do that" when picking up. still dont know why he said that but i lived by it for about a year until 2 months ago when i realized playing motley crue would be a whole lot easier alternate picking. looked up covers and saw other people were doing it. i never really was into music just really liked playing guitar which is why it took me so long to realize other people were doing it a different way.
ngl this was actually pretty damn inspiring - I haven't played since my teens and now I'm trying to pick it all back up at 33, and I keep getting in my own way and going "Oh, you'll never be as good as if you'd just kept playing from 16, don't bother, you'll be dead before you're any good, you'll never learn anything awesome anyway so just don't bother" but I'm TRYYYYING to shut that voice up. This helped.
Hey dude I am playing since 1983 ish. I really do have an issue with limited vocabulary, but I heard what you had to say, and yes I do appreciate the content. Thanks, and you get a thumbs up from me. Keep up the upward climb and when you get to top of mnt. Everest, dont stop there - From Israel.
One of those 1st points I see as most important. Like those videos of players trying to make you hold YOUR pick the way THEY do. It's like... uh... my hands are WAAAAYYY bigger than that guys. Why would I EVER hold my pick in a way that actually makes me a WORSE player?!? The fuck? Lol. I hold the pick in the way that makes it easier for ME to play MY guitar. Sure... I'll TRY it and see if for some reason it MIGHT help... but them acting like holding it that way is OBJECTIVELY better is insane to me.
Most of the things said in this video are true. The whole thing about "focus on your weaknesses" is not a good advice, though. The opposite is correct. Focus on your actual strengths and develop those as far as you can. This is what most successful guitarists did. Tom Quayle is self-admittedly not the best picker in the world. He has developed one of the best legato techniques in the world, though. That was his strength. He worked around the whole alternate picking thing with his legato and hybrid picking techniques and he is all the more recognizable for it. Andy James, a very good alternate picker, has trouble with bi-directional sweeping, because of the way he holds his pick. So, instead of relying on bi-directional sweeping, he avoids that stuff by playing arpeggios preferably as string skipping sequences with the occasional sweep. The same is true for Paul Gilbert, for the same reason. And I could go on and on with other examples. All the greats have made a strength out of circumventing their weaknesses in some form or another.
The choice of guitar is super important, while doing research I discovered that my way to play guitar corresponded to playing the 12-string guitar and since I played with a 12-string I am a really better and I take more fun to play
When I first started playing,I had a cheap assed Es-335 copy that was bigger than I was and a cheap acoustic…Both guitars had action that was high as giraffe balls …. When my parents realized that I wasn’t just “going through a phase” and broke down and got me a legitimate guitar,I was like greased lightning on it because I spent my first 2+ years playing on guitars that were incredibly hard to play…. That may not work for everybody though because these guitars were so frustrating to play,many people would probably get discouraged and quit first.
Thankya Uncle! I struggle with sweeping and i realized early on that while a thumpy rhythm is great alternate picking while palm muting just is amazing with the right sound if anyone has a recommendation for a fuzz pedal thats dangerously metal throw it in the comments
Not sure if it’s exactly what you’re looking for, but check out Blackhawk Amplifiers. He makes insanely killer fuzz and distortion pedals that sound amazing and have tons of gain.
I think the learn/practice one thing at a time is so important. So many of us (especially me) start something and then never fully finish it. Now I won’t move on to the next song or lick until I have it hammered in. You develop skills through learning songs, I think anyways
Broke my left elbow in 2008. Ever since it's hard have my hand go palm up which makes it difficult to play with my ring finger and little finger. So I constantly have to do exercises and stretches on those two fingers and my wrist or else It gets very difficult to play. So frustrating. If I want to play I must keep up on practicing and stretching.
Dude for years I was like “oh haha learning songs is stupid I wanna make my own songs” and then recently I decided to learn the Unravel riff for fun. Two months. It took me, a guitar player since the age of 12, two months. Best decision I’ve ever made.
I actually had the opposite problem, I focused on only alternate picking because it felt more rhythmically natural, economy picking felt really awkward, but because of that sweeps are way way harder.
"two weeks" yeah, more like two years for certain songs now, tbh, two months learning altitudes did miracles with my technique even if i wasn't able to play it fully after this time.
This is unironically some of the most inspirational content I've watched since starting on guitar.
I agree. Old guy has been inspired to actually learn some tough stuff!
Same here, been playing for like 4 years so far and this is the best way I’ve heard it said
using hard songs to learn everything you need is the key of all, keeps you motivated and amused while learning the tecniques needed
Uncle Judy is giving us the keys to the Lamborghini.
10/10 Comment
10/10
@@asphalion8291 😁
🤣@@alexanderhanksx
Uncleangelo Judyio
This really had those "you're gonna go far kid" vibes to it
I was waiting for it at the end…
That "don't be a pussy" part is one of the best advices ever
Judy is absolutely right about learning other music to get better. I learned 1 Polaris song, 1 Periphery song and I feel much more confident in my playing then I did 5 years ago. Don't be afraid to challenge yourself. It's incredibly rewarding 💯
You've got killer taste! What tunes did you learn?
@@alexanderdenison2950 i'd also like to know
Absolutely improved my rhythm by learning how to groove like Misha
It took me WEEKS to properly play the Domination solo. I practiced almost nothing but that the entire time. It made me so much better at playing EVERYTHING. All the things I thought were hard before suddenly were stupid easy.
I’ve been there… but I quite before I master it… need to come back to this one.
What did you use to practice?
i decided to try the same thing. been going at it for 3 days or so and its getting better
True! I like to practice while composing my own songs/licks. I usually make songs that are beyond my technical level and end up sometimes spending months practicing it. It helps me develop the technique that I need instead of some useless runs/exercises. It's also making my guitar playing unique and more enjoyable.
i accidentally learned alternate picking automatically and im really glad i did. sometimes i see people downpicking the fuck out of everything, and it gives me anxiety
I used to do that, at 200 bpm. My shoulder gave in, now I alternate pick xD If I downpick for a while my whole arm hurts. Don't be like me lol
@@BlackMetalPidgeon666sometimes you gotta downpick at 200 bpm
Uncle Judy inspired me to give up on everything in my life and descend slowly into madness. Thanks Judy! 10/10 would recommend
I've been playing guitar for 15 years and I still learned/re-learned from this video. "Learn songs" and "Don't be a pussy" are the best bits of advice you can give to an aspiring guitarist.
I'm a BRAND NEW private guitar teacher and the analogy of "eventually It'll be a G Chord" is gonna be something that definitely goes into my little book of teacher lines lol HOLY SHIT! THIS WHOLE VIDEO IS GOLD!
I have a feeling Judy used to be a blue collar guy, PBR, the humor. Reminds me of all the construction guys I work with
Yes sir, pool cleaner at 14-15. Landscaping- lawn maintenance for the rest of my teens
@@unclejudymusic holy shit you're mexican?
thank you for being a genuinely different, funny, and interesting guitar youtuber who provides helpful advice and not elitism. truly one of a kind
About the tip on focusing on one thing at the time:
I've tried to learn the main riff of "Poison Was The Cure" for ages. It's a very difficult riff. I used the classic "5-10 minutes every day" approach for like two months without any significant progress. Inspired by Uncle Judy's tip I thought "Fuck it. I'm gonna learn that riff right now, no excuses."
I played the riff over and over again, as a whole and in short sections, with a metronome for like 3+ hours straight.
Did I learn to play the riff at full speed in one long session? Not quite. But my max bpm went from ~120 to ~145, which is a very significant improvement.
Someone might say it was waste of time. I say fuck that. Such an improvement feels amazing. I don't care if I didn't learn anything "new".
No joke but I went 32 hours in a span of 4 days learning dyers eve.
@@daoyang223 That's the way to go.💪🏻
Judy hit the nail on the head with this one. I came to similar conclusions and have made more progress this year than anything in my 18 years playing and am having more fun than ever with the instrument. This is some old man wisdom coming from a handsome 30 days clean Macaulay Culkin impersonator
Refreshing video! I definitely don't have a humility problem, (I was taught by a jazz musician, 😱😱😭😭😭😭.) He made sure I didn't have an ego. Not that I did before. I used to say I'm good, meaning proficient, but now I don't even say that, (because people think you're being arrogant.) I just say I can play. And, when I go to the Guitar Centers, if there are 10 people there - 9 of them are better than me. And, while that may not ALWAYS be true, I adopted that mind set, because I'm able to just freely play without worrying about the Van Halen guy, the George Benson, or Djent guy. I'm the 80s ballad, (blues,) solos and jazz guy in the back while the others are ripping.
This is legit some of the best advice I've ever heard. Once you get passed the hurdle of learning the basics, you can easily wind up confusing yourself into forever grinding shit that doesn't matter. This is the only roadmap that will lead you anywhere
Most of the time I forget that Uncle Judy actually knows music
The neglecting Alternate picking, because Legato works just fine.
Is very relatable.
OR... "I can't sweep for shit, so I will just tap intervals really fast!" 😆
5:37 This mentality is exactly how I went about learning clarinet for 8 years and what got me into good orchestras. And this will be the exact mentality that helps me learn guitar. So succinctly put it brings a tear to my eye.
100% agree on alternate picking. That's your coordination primer. It's also the gateway to stuff like fast downpicking...it's the warmup towards that. If you legato everything, you start to lose the mechanical srength, but looseness you need for the aggressive stuff. You cannot be tense AT ALL when downpicking; it's gotta feel like knocking on a door.
If anyone wants to not suck---1) 2NPS scales, 2) THE GODDAMN CIRCLE OF FIFTHS!, 3) 4ths tuning, 4) arpeggios. Those 4 things will yank you straight out of that intermediate purgatory that most of us get stuck in.
My main instrument is guitar but I decided to test the challenge yourself with a hard song method and started running an experiment. I said I'm gonna learn Nairian Odyssey by Tigran Hamasyan on the Piano by ear with almost no prior training. If it doesn't work out and I learn a bunch of bad habits, oh well, at least I don't play the piano as my main instrument. If I succeed, then really I shouldn't have any excuse as to why I can't pick up a ridiculously hard song on guitar and practice the shit out of it.
I'm happy to say that after a little over 2 years I've got Nairian Odyssey about 50% complete. It feels SO REWARDING. I cannot stress enough how motivating it is to just dive headfirst into something and grind the hell out of it. 10/10 try it guys
I completely agree with the whole self admiration vs acknowledging your failures in certain areas, obviously there’s a line between being made aware of your short comings as a musician and actual mental abuse. But in my own experience as a young guitarist in school of rock and being constantly put on a pedestal ultimately plateaued my ability, when I decided to take up some classical guitar it completely changed my own perception of my ability in such a way where I’m never truly satisfied with my playing, hence I constantly push myself to improve, obviously we all need to be happy with the way we play a lot of the time but as I said it’s a fine line to tread
This is 100% accurate. 100%. I didn't want to say more but , here it goes: you listen to eh... famous modern guitar players in interviews, they always say " I didn't have a practice routine. I didn't learn licks. I don't recommend learning licks. I mostly learned song after song" But, you go to their online spaces and want to sell you precisely "their" practice routines, and 50 licks for x style. Ok, enough. Thanks.
Learning things outside of your comfort zone is rule #1 for me, especially to help with writing new music in addition to getting more skilled. Great list!
This is all hilarious but EXCELLENT advice. I challenged myself to learn Sentient Glow by Periphery and it took me well over a year to even get past the verse, but now I can play it and it definitely helped me to feel I can do more than i thought. I never imagined being able to play it, and now that I can, it inspires me to learn more
I’m currently returning to playing guitar and this is the only video that matters. I touched some grass and now I have no desire for new gear or anything, I just want to be constantly learning an instrument and it’s the only one I have in the corner of my room, so removing that “I want to be a guitarist” mentality was crucial for not giving a fuck. Just get good at any instrument for the sake of opening up your musical opportunities in the future
Ya kno what bro?... I really like this dude... For real, TH-cam, specially guitar TH-cam, needs more of this just straight honest, to the face, raw friggin content.... Thank you brotha, keep it up
Glad to know I'm on the right path. I picked up my guitar again after years, having spent them just occasionally noodling pentatonic. I decided I was gonna learn to play Them Changes by Thundercat, having never played without a pick before. I spent three months learning to play it with all five fingers. Like literally, little finger as well because, I don't know I'm fucking dumb or something. And low and behold, 6 months later, I'm learning the 5 string bass now. But every single song I learned after that, was insanely easy. It opened up a whole new world of possibilities because suddenly I could play with my fingers, and I was stuck in alternate picking minor pentatonic hell for literally years. Learned a bunch of chords that got me outside of powerchord jail. Learned some modes and shit. Finally can play the music I want to play. Before that, I was stuck with the skills of a 14 year old learning metal licks and chugga chugga shit. I gotta learn the fretboard properly and improve my theory, but still, I learned more, learning one hard song, than the last 10 years of aimlessly "playing" guitar. In just three months of focused practice lol.
You just earned a sub man 5:50 this has always been the mentality that i try to tell people since ive been asked multiple in my school how i draw so good and i know that im not its just that they have limited idea to what a "good" drawing is so i dont blame them for it and im happy whenever i teach them and see improvement. What people really need also in my opinion is perseverance because thats where most fail
DUDE as an amateur guitar player I needed this, your advice cut right through me and gave me the motivation to keep practicing and to learn hard songs (at my skill level).
'Preciate the tips my dude, have a good one!
I think there's a fine line between self loathing and genuine understanding of where improvement is needed. It is in fact possible to acknowledge ones successes and shortcomings simultaneously. Ingraining the sentiment of "I fucking suck" whether it be in school or in personal relationships, or as seen here, with skills, is not healthy. Even if this mindset provides a temporary source of extreme motivation to improve, being pragmatic is much more effective.
At one point I had a roommate who was all "I suck at life I need to do xyz to make it better" and he would do them. After doing them, he still hated himself, and he would burn out because in his eyes none of the improvement had come to fruition (although it had), and then proceed to return to square one.
If you fail to effectively acknowledge your successes, then in a practical and applicable sense, what exactly makes them better than failure?
I see where the sentiment comes from, I saw it in a lot of male colleagues back in college. The result was almost always the same. Hard stop burnout. Obviously some people may find success from this mindset, but from the cases I've seen (and lived with), those people are, at best, very uncommon.
i've been spending like a month learning the solo from follow the reaper and finally playing that one lick clean it felt so fucking good
I've set myself the goal of being able to play it well until me and the drummer of my old band (who's now switching to bass) manage to put together a new band
Holy shit, well done
why does this actually help. I genuinely needed to hear this haha.
Been playing for like 7 years now. Definitely gonna watch this before each practice session now. Thanks judy for making me hate myself
the most no BS and useful advices! well done, man!
I’m so glad I stumbled onto this video. It’s what I needed. I’m about 25 days into learning the guitar. I absolutely suck and that needs to be reinforced. As a beginner, I think comparing progress to anyone else also brings you down, so that has to stop. I practice chords for 20 minutes or so, then do some scales for 20 minutes or so, then play some tabs or riffs and solos for 20 minutes or so. It’s working for me and me ADD
I accidentally ready 25 days as 25 years and I was like... wut
Definitely agree with the opening statement. Took me a bit to realise, but I can't often do things like barre chords because my wrists are prone to repetitive stress injury. If I blindly followed what everyone tells me to practice, my wrists could be in some bad shape rn compared to how they are
Man, I also have severe ADHD and only found out at like, 30 fucking years old. I feel you so much on that jumping between stuff. I'll come up with a nice lick, try to come up with a nice lick to follow it, and then 10 minutes later I've noodled so much I forgot what the fuck I even started on. I feel seen, thanks for that!
This is the first video I've seen from this channel. I feel so blessed to have come across this invaluable and inspirational advice from American Guitar PewDiePie ♥️
I love your energy man. i just came back from sweetwater hq in fort wayne and met with a guy who helped guide me down possible guitars to get as a beginner, with versatility in mind, and we looked at the PRS SE Custom 24, with a split coil pull system since i like to listen to rock and metal, then some jazzy tunes and some other various genres. It is a sweet looking and feeling guitar that has got me excited to get into this as a possible outlet for my ADD. I was just bit by the bug last week and now i am putting stuff into motion to get myself set up. That's pretty freaking sweet.
I can understand why so many people are calling this really inspirational. He actually has a really positive way of talking about doing hard work, not trying to talk about short cuts but still making everything feel possible and doable, and that starts to make me think that it's because it really is all doable. thanks!
I was in between this video and some shorts and came back right at 2:00…
Whip out the boys!
Omg this was exactly what I needed you don’t understand how valuable this video was
Honestly man, a lot of the stuff you said really resonates and inspires.
Woah man... you just got a new fan.
Kudos to your style bro
0:08 WHAT THE FUCK THAT LIGHT ON THE MONITOR WAS PERFECT WITH THE BOTTLE
Dude, I thought I was tripping when I saw that!! 😅
To be honest, I can't make myself do any exercisises. I just pick a song or a solo I want to learn real bad, and then I practice it for weeks if not months working on the necessary techniques as I go. Works for me. I know that's not the Jedi way, but I get bored like 5 minutes into an exercise. Somehow I can sit there and practice a chunk of a solo for hours until I'm satisfied with the result, but I can't spend more than 5 minutes on an exercise. The only only exercise I do is the John Petrucci finger separation and stretching exercise from his Rock Discipline video, but I use it as a warmup basically.
Uncle Judy is wearing those Chuck Schuldiner - Death - Live in Eindhoven - 1998 (full Quality Video) (4K 60fps) Jeans
I’m still only 1 year into guitar but what I’ve found to really help me improve is to spend at least an hour practicing improvisation. Like put on a song you really like and just learn the movements and rip it. KGLW songs can be really good for that
this is honestly one of the greatest and most honest and well done videos I've ever watched - facts on facts on facts - now I gotta get back to trying not to suck and pick my song to spend the next month on !!!! from one uncle to another - keep it up brother and thanks for sharing 🤘🏻🍎🎸🍏
okay understoodd i gotta go watch every practice routine video
Yup I used to practice for hours a day, minimum one hour, some days 5 or 6. I'm not even very good. But I would just find something I wanted to do, and then just do that thing as long as possible fighting cramps, fingers hurt. When I get bored I play for fun or practice stuff. Start incorporating it into other stuff, like the ability to switch on a dime is very key the way when you think of using it it's second nature. Eventually you'll have to hear yourself making mistakes and your neighbors thinking your a stoned guy who can't play. I mean, it sounds crappy cause you're adding your new technique into what you already know, so in-between is gonna sound like crap but just accept it and just make it sound good. After a few days you'll have the technique. You don't need to do hours every day. Not at all. U just need one or two days where you do nothing but practice your new technique for many hours, to get the pain and muscle training out of the way, then after that your fingers are gonna hurt but you just practice it every day a little bit, then rest. The next week you'll see a major improvement after your fingers don't hurt. My fingers don't even hurt anymore, I can play for 3 hours straight with almost zero breaks and it doesn't even affect me, maybe my spine. So. Keep practicing. !
A good practice schedule most definitely works,I'm 4 years into playing and got a good band
Brother, I’ve been playing about 3 years but I’ve been in a rut for like a year and a half just stopped improving but this genuinely put me in the right direction of finally improving again
I like the honesty in this video and I fully agree with you, Uncle Judy♥
Ive never stopped learning songs that are hard. Im in the processing of covering the entire Heavener album from Invent Animate at the moment and after completing just 2 songs from it, i am 10x what i was. Atleast thats what it feels like.
I was learning btbam epics in highschool and honestly nothing could beat that high back in the day. I still chase that feeling of GODMODE.
This is my new favorite channel on youtube, some of these videos feel like a fever dream.
I would just like to say that I was Judy’s guitar teacher when he was 16 and I *did* encourage his alternate picking.
Experience is talking. Very good things to take into consideration. Great post. Thank you Uncle Judy.
Universal knowledge for any practice and honestly an excellent video. Homie’s got life chops
This is such a valuable video for every guitar player out there. Thank you so much for making this!
He speaks the truth. I liked and agreed with what he was saying. Telling it like it is in a very unapologetic way. A kick in the ass, more or less. I needed that. Thank you for posting this video.
Just started playing this year and you know what? You inspired me. I'm going to try and learn one of those Polyphia songs everyone talks about.
i love this guy drinking red ribbon and doing upperdeckys while shredding he’s awesome
Alternate picking is the first thing I learned how to do I started of playing mandolin the thing I suck at & I suck at really bad Bar chords.
I've been playing for 40 years, but I still learn new stuff from guys like you who make me think about things differently instead of showing an exotic scale. In conclusion, don't do heroin, it doesn't actually make you play jazz better.
first time i picked up a guitar i alternate picked and was immediately told "dont do that" when picking up. still dont know why he said that but i lived by it for about a year until 2 months ago when i realized playing motley crue would be a whole lot easier alternate picking. looked up covers and saw other people were doing it. i never really was into music just really liked playing guitar which is why it took me so long to realize other people were doing it a different way.
Hope you have a swell year too Judy. Thanks for all the laughs and wisdom❤
This dude might be a great guitar player, but he’s an absolutely brilliant content creator.
ngl this was actually pretty damn inspiring - I haven't played since my teens and now I'm trying to pick it all back up at 33, and I keep getting in my own way and going "Oh, you'll never be as good as if you'd just kept playing from 16, don't bother, you'll be dead before you're any good, you'll never learn anything awesome anyway so just don't bother" but I'm TRYYYYING to shut that voice up.
This helped.
Thanks! Absolutely relate to this especially with point #1.
Hey dude I am playing since 1983 ish. I really do have an issue with limited vocabulary, but I heard what you had to say, and yes I do appreciate the content. Thanks, and you get a thumbs up from me. Keep up the upward climb and when you get to top of mnt. Everest, dont stop there - From Israel.
Uncle Judy is the edgy big brother in every 90s kids movie/comedy
One of those 1st points I see as most important.
Like those videos of players trying to make you hold YOUR pick the way THEY do. It's like... uh... my hands are WAAAAYYY bigger than that guys. Why would I EVER hold my pick in a way that actually makes me a WORSE player?!? The fuck?
Lol.
I hold the pick in the way that makes it easier for ME to play MY guitar. Sure... I'll TRY it and see if for some reason it MIGHT help... but them acting like holding it that way is OBJECTIVELY better is insane to me.
The truth was spoken
Most of the things said in this video are true. The whole thing about "focus on your weaknesses" is not a good advice, though. The opposite is correct. Focus on your actual strengths and develop those as far as you can. This is what most successful guitarists did. Tom Quayle is self-admittedly not the best picker in the world. He has developed one of the best legato techniques in the world, though. That was his strength. He worked around the whole alternate picking thing with his legato and hybrid picking techniques and he is all the more recognizable for it.
Andy James, a very good alternate picker, has trouble with bi-directional sweeping, because of the way he holds his pick. So, instead of relying on bi-directional sweeping, he avoids that stuff by playing arpeggios preferably as string skipping sequences with the occasional sweep. The same is true for Paul Gilbert, for the same reason. And I could go on and on with other examples. All the greats have made a strength out of circumventing their weaknesses in some form or another.
The choice of guitar is super important, while doing research I discovered that my way to play guitar corresponded to playing the 12-string guitar and since I played with a 12-string I am a really better and I take more fun to play
Well said and very on point.
What kind of lotion do you moisten your body with?
When I first started playing,I had a cheap assed Es-335 copy that was bigger than I was and a cheap acoustic…Both guitars had action that was high as giraffe balls ….
When my parents realized that I wasn’t just “going through a phase” and broke down and got me a legitimate guitar,I was like greased lightning on it because I spent my first 2+ years playing on guitars that were incredibly hard to play….
That may not work for everybody though because these guitars were so frustrating to play,many people would probably get discouraged and quit first.
I'm a drummer but all your advices are spot on
Subscribed. UJ is just what this world needs going into 2024
I needed to hear this Uncle Judy. 'preciate it homie
Uncle just doesn't miss with these
Thankya Uncle! I struggle with sweeping and i realized early on that while a thumpy rhythm is great alternate picking while palm muting just is amazing with the right sound if anyone has a recommendation for a fuzz pedal thats dangerously metal throw it in the comments
Not sure if it’s exactly what you’re looking for, but check out Blackhawk Amplifiers.
He makes insanely killer fuzz and distortion pedals that sound amazing and have tons of gain.
I think the learn/practice one thing at a time is so important. So many of us (especially me) start something and then never fully finish it. Now I won’t move on to the next song or lick until I have it hammered in.
You develop skills through learning songs, I think anyways
This is the 4th time in a row you have uploaded while I literally step in the shower lol
Big uncle is watching you
judy is in your walls
Stop stepping on the UncleJudy upload button
Broke my left elbow in 2008. Ever since it's hard have my hand go palm up which makes it difficult to play with my ring finger and little finger. So I constantly have to do exercises and stretches on those two fingers and my wrist or else It gets very difficult to play. So frustrating. If I want to play I must keep up on practicing and stretching.
Dude for years I was like “oh haha learning songs is stupid I wanna make my own songs” and then recently I decided to learn the Unravel riff for fun.
Two months.
It took me, a guitar player since the age of 12, two months. Best decision I’ve ever made.
Just found this guy for the first time. He knows his shit, and I love his style. I'd love to put pack a few *"PBR's"* with him !!! 😂🤣👍🏼
Wow ..I don't know why you wound up in my feed ....But I'm loving it!
This man said exactly what i wanted to hear
I actually had the opposite problem, I focused on only alternate picking because it felt more rhythmically natural, economy picking felt really awkward, but because of that sweeps are way way harder.
"two weeks"
yeah, more like two years for certain songs
now, tbh, two months learning altitudes did miracles with my technique even if i wasn't able to play it fully after this time.
I felt like I got whiplash watching this video.
The way you said, "legally" was great
u just changed my perspective on shit in a good way
All the best guitarists think they suck
I like how you’re just serving up this top shelf advice for free while pounding bud heavies and zyns
Uncle Judy made me wake the fuck up into the new year 😂