One of my friends told me, "dont worry about technique. Just play what you like, and technique will come with it." After that, i found that i never pushed myself to do anything else. Focusing on technique will only make the music you want to play become easier.
Yeah you need to worry about it all for sure hahah.. i focused too much on technique and ear training and thought everything else would come naturally. I ended up in a bad depression after i had realized how wrong i was lol. Learning theory has been the best thing ive ever done for myself and it's so much fun, im finally gaining confidence as a musician. Going back to feeling like a total beginner though has been incredibly painful ngl. And still i wonder if my theory knowledge will ever catch up to my technique and allow me to actually use it all freely. Doesn't matter though cos i wont stop working! :)
I was that guy who believed studying music theory would somehow limit my imagination and creativity. Well, I'm 45 years old now, and after about 30 years of playing, I am in my 3rd week of actual guitar / music theory clases, and I'm so happy to learn the language of what has been my passion, music!
Picasso said it best: “Learn the rules like a pro, so you can break them like an artist.” I was very stubborn as a teen too... I felt like theory would somehow brainwash me into being a goody goody classical robot. It's that punk DIY mentality. Eventually I started to dial it down. Looking at yourself as a kid, and wish you could slap yourself across the face, is actually a good sign. It means we're growing.
I mean, music theory sucks. But that's a part of what we all love here (guitar). Learning music theory can encourage people to actually pick up an instrument and try to do something. Yep, understanding what you're doing is always better❤
Oh man, "Never study music theory", I have met way too many people who say that music theory is limiting their creativity and is a paint-by-numbers kind of thing. Music theory is far from it, it is a tool that can break down musical barriers, just like a sledgehammer smashing through a brick wall.
I like to think of music theory as a system of identifying the sounds we hear and having an organized understanding of them. Suggesting it destroys creativity is like saying a visual artist shouldn’t define and know colors and how they interact with each other.
Then you probably want to make "paint by numbers" songs... yes even "complicated" jazz is like that. Understanding the psychology behind music will help, sure, but i dont know how much it will help you make actual creative, that is, experimental music. In those genres there often isnt even a chromatic or even microtonal system cause they just use fluid pitch. How is music theory supposed to apply to that?
I had a friend that said stuff like that, and he's really into DND and playing casters. I tried to explain it to him like, sure, you can figure out the spells yourself, but it's gonna be a struggle unless you're a prodigy, and even then, and a caster needs tools to be able to perform at his best. Theory is the tools to help you wield your ax more efficiently. He still didn't like it. Lol
Heres some good advice... ALWAYS have your guitar hooked up and ready to rock at the push of a button, when inspiration hits... Nothing spoils the will to do a practice session like looking for cords, setting everything up etc etc ~
Agreed. That's exactly me for the last 15 years. I have loads of gear, but nothing is hooked up. I remedied that last night, FINALLY, and started jamming out on my untouched Ibanez RG550 Genesis. So glad I did. Gonna start playing every day like I used to
@@ThatMeansHesMad thats great ... dont ever stop, you know like i do that for people like us it is a path to fulfillment and happiness to keep making music !
WOW! AFTER 10 MIN AT 120 BPM I WAS INSTANTLY DOING THE CORRECT WRIST MOTION! The 3rd exercise is incredible! I advise anyone with a bad alternate picking techneque to try it. Thank you Bernth!
I'm not disciplined about my practice regime but as a 44 year old player who's only started to get remotely serious in the last 3 years or so I'd say the three things that are genuinely helping me to progress are: Working on basic music theory Starting to learn the fretboard better Working on some basic techniques Focusing on groove Drilling particular little moves/scale fragments or licks into my noodling. Basically, I don't have a practice regime but my noodling has become much more intentional and, yeah, my progress has increased significantly. Eric Haugen's channel is great for a more 'feel' focused guitarist and what's useful is that you get completely contrasting styles like Bernth and Eric and they completely agree about so many fundamentals. That's why they're fundamentals!
@@EldestSauce hahaha, yes my bed, the perils of starting on a list without planning the numbers out first. That said, we all know amateur guitarists can't count, anyway. ;-)
Re: people being against music theory- EXACTLYYY! Literally just saw a short of a guitar jazz teacher saying that you should be aware of the scale degrees that you're playing when playing through a scale- literally the most basic, common sense advice ever, and someone commented something like "pshhh, I played professionally for 30yrs and never thought about this. All you need is da feeeelz! Stop over intellectualizing it!", and it's just sooo "yawn" lol. Am 100% convinced that people just say this to have an excuse to not put in the work of learning it.
I find most guitar players think "play by feel" means "Play generic blues licks with random long bends and vibrato". They really ever play anything actually compelling or creative. Nothing wrong with the Dave Gilmour approach, but you have to be as good as he was at creating compelling melodies and structuring your solos.
All of us think in terms of shapes anyway, but I like and agree with bernth on this that you do need to see how all music is connected. It's like a big puzzle and all the knowledge fills in all those missing pieces. Honestly if you just learn every scale and chord with enough consistent practice you'll become awesome.
I skipped all the theory and practice routines, and tried to just play songs. Now, 15 years later i still am nowhee near being a guitarist, and i just can't seem to get inspired to do what i should've done in the beginning.
It seems like a common denominator in a lot of bad guitar advice is that people are really just making excuses for not challenging themselves. "Practicing technique and learning theory are bad." Oh really? Are sure it's not just that those things are hard to start and so you'd rather not?
Beginner here, and I can tell you for certainty that actually sitting down and learning technique and music theory, even at a base level, has helped me tremendously. Technique makes playing things easier. Music theory helps you understand what you are playing. It’s really not that complicated lol.
Alright, I’m convinced. Just subscribed and will probably check out that Patreon as well. Dude just NAILED every single bad habit that I’ve struggled against for 20 years as a self-taught musician impersonator.
When I was starting guitar my teacher literally told me “I want you to work on your technique first, technique is super important especially for the kind of music you want to play” almost two years in and I’ve made an insane amount of progress. Technique is absolutely important if you plan to play anything, for control and speed.
I have experience with bad advice nr 1 here: Back in 2011, I had a guitar teacher that tried to learn me master of puppets by Metallica without learning proper right hand technique. Let's just say that my right hand technique wasn't suited for thrash metal guitar playing back then 😁
I learned guitar music theory bit by bit over 15 years and it helped immensley. You do not forget it as I use it everyday. You can look at the guitar in your hands and figure things out. If you forget what the relative minor of D is, simply put your finger on a D note and move your finger 3 frets back toward the headstock. That is a B note. So B is the relative minor of D. How to find the octave iof each note easily. Learning your way around the fretboard pays many dividends when trying to add riffs and solos to the songs you play. I play at least one hour per day. I call it playing not practice, because I am playing songs I like and experimenting adding riffs and solos to them. It is not boring, it is fun, not practice. Relatives in music Always get along, unlike human relatives. The afore mentioned B is the relative minor of D. You can introduce a D major song with notes from the B minor scale, or use Bminor notes to add a riff to a D major song. So to me, every little piece of music theory I learned, I use all the time.
Learning some music theory was HUGELY helpful for me because it basically just increased my interest in music. So much cool stuff to learn that I could apply to just noodling and improv. It also helped me with learning things by ear, since I was able to identify what patterns musicians were going for. I'll share my favourite advice here. -Practice is important, but if you don't stop to have fun, you'll lose interest. -Go ahead and try to learn a song you know you can't play yet. You'll still learn something useful. Bat Country by Avenged Sevenfold was the song that massively improved my power chords. -Keep your guitar in a place where you spend a lot of time. The less barriers there are to playing, the more inclined you are to play. And as a beginner, any kind of playing can be practice as it will make you more comfortable with a guitar.
Awesome video. I always try to practice everything. Tapping, slide tapping. Picking, sweeping. Chords. Open string chords up and down the neck. Making off notes that aren't family to the key fit in context. Music theory gives you a baseline so you can break the rules and understand what you're doing. Language of music. Space between the notes was some of the best advice i ever heard for creativity. Create space. To be honest there are chords no human can play because the space is too great but all the notes would fit. Thanks for all your dedication to the guitar community.
I always enjoy your lessons,GREAT advice! I am a 48 year old guitarist, I have played since I was about 12. I also wish I had some pro lessons from someone like you, on the other hand I have fixed some of my weaknesses like good pick technique and precise timing(I never really used metronome when I started) via youtube teacher. I loved music theory, modes etc and taught myself even more than I learned in college courses. I always thought if you know theory its like a painter knowing his color palette, in this way you can be more creative and invent more original music. I would love to get some lessons from you Bernth one day. I live in Prague Czech Republic. Thanks, Rob from Citizen Pain
Thanks brother You’ve been an example for many many years - so nice to look at your thought processes and skills ⚡️🚀🎶 Mind blowing skills Fantastic stuff - thanks bro ✅🫵
Freakin' brilliant advice on going through the circle of fifths on the major scale in the same position. I actually applauded my screen when that clicked. Such a good way to learn to visualize the notes and the modes (if thinking of staying in one key). Why have I never heard that before!??
The thing with getting fast by low BPM increases is something I realized when I was trying to learn an 8th note run at 160bpm. No matter how slowly I increased it, it always led to me tiring out fast and feeling weirdly off about it. I went with going half-speed and then full speed (my guitar teacher at the time suggested it) and it helped a lot because it made me realize that it is indeed a different kind of playing, when playing fast. And that you have to kinda suck and be sloppy simply so your fingers and muscles get used to fast movements.
I ran across that problem where scales and theory limited me but that is far from the beginner. The problem beginners have is lack of knowledge and then repetitive scales give an exact sound as beginners have an exact limited sound. I found the solution is to play the theory you know but make yourself guess. After a while you have the ability to express yourself with theory and consistency.
Some useful information. I personally make sure that people start playing when focusing on technique; proper posture, decent understanding of how to hold a pick, that kind of thing. As for "don't bother with Music Theory"... it's the grammar and punctuation of music. It's how we communicate. The movement around the Circle of Fifths is a handy one - we tend to get stuck in boxes for our own safety when we practice major scales. Have never heard anyone say the picking hand should be anchored on the bridge. However, if I am playing acoustic, I like resting the crook of my elbow in the same position over the body, to make my strumming/picking consistent. A great video - thanks for sharing.
I heard all these terrible advice bits plus more. The best advice i got was learn to play how my hand allows due to injuries. I was 20 and broke my hand by punching a dude with a titanium jaw. It hurt so bad, but I have been left with wildly different sounding playing then others. I find learning everything for guitar has been an amazing bit of physical therapy for my hand and I can actually react faster since I picked up guitar. Thank You for making all these videos, it's helped so much.
"Broke my hand punching a dude with a titanium jaw" Bro did you fight a comic book villain?? That's hardcore lmao Also the advice you got is fantastic. Learning how to comfortably play is paramount for me. It applies to everyone.
Music theory is something I absolutely neglected for far too long... I was never mathematically minded, and still really struggle with a lot of those concepts. As for anchoring, I've always instinctively wrapped my pinkie around the treble pickup bobbin. Turns out Petrucci does that too - that's about as similar to Petrucci's playing as you'll get from me, if you were wondering lol
The alternate picking tapping out around 130bpm is my biggest regret practicing as a kid. I always thought more efficiently practicing would break the barrier but never did. Years later I finally did it and got a simple lick set up for the same picking angles up to 170bpm
That small burst exercise for speed was gold! I know how to walk and run but I have a problem when transitioning between both. This will surely solve the problem!
What i loved to do to exercise speed was picking a song or a solo i really liked. The first 1-2 runs were at a really comfortable speed so i could think about each note. Then i played it progessively faster to the point where it sounded sloppy, or my hand got stiff. If it got sloppy i played it a bit slower, if my hand hurt i played something else until it was loose again. The jumps are quite individually. Some RHCP or Bullet song i had to play slower to play them clean, some Sum 41 or Linkin Park stuff i almost doubled in speed to test my limit.
Dang, you just described EXACTY what happened to me when learning how to play banjo. The only difference is my right (picking hand) technique is what suffered and held me back. To be fair, most will tell beginners the importance of how you plant your fingers on the head, but it’s not enough. They don’t stress how important it is be mindful of tension. If you try to build up speed without learning to keep tension at a bare minimum, your accuracy will suffer but also you will form bad habits. My fingers would fly around and I didn’t even notice. I took a year off and started from scratch with all that in mind. So much better!
Hey I have exactly the same sort of scenario as you, except I just play guitar. I struggle with a lot of tension in my upper picking arm. It's the same muscle near your shoulder that is used when extending our arm out in front of you in the air. Even when I can tell that I am tensing and my arm is fatigued and slower than usual from the tension, I can't figure out how to consistently stop it. I'm seeing some improvement from just actively trying to fix it, but do you have any other advice possibly? It's been nearly my biggest issue since I started playing.
@@mypetmoose2079 it’s hard to say not knowing what you’ve already tried, but there are some things you need to make sure you’re doing. Make sure to sit up straight. Use a straight back chair without any arm rests. Make sure your guitar has plenty of support to where you don’t feel like you have to hold it up. Just guessing that’s why your shoulder hurts.
Hell yeah!! These exercises are gonna be my focus for the next couple of weeks. Thanks for the free advice. Been a long time sub and appreciate the quality advice.
Bernth and Uncle Ben Eller are my Marty Schwartz. They teach guitar in a way that I can actually understand and that synchs up with my brain. Thank you guys for your balanced approach to shred and musicality.
ive been working through 3 of your 30 day patreon courses so far and they helped me so much in becoming a better guitar player! i'd really enjoy a string bending or a dedicated string skipping 30 day course since i'm still struggling a lot with these techniques, if others are interested aswell :)
Thanks so much for saying #3 - I'm so sick of seeing this advice about just playing a few bpm faster every day. I do start practising something at half speed and build it up when learning something tricky, but that's more about memorising the actual notes well enough to be able to play it faster. Fast playing is just a different technique. Whenever I see people give this advice I am sure that they are just repeating what they've heard elsewhere and haven't actually done it this way themselves.
Another way a lot of my friends got rid of the flying pinky was actually using that instead of the ring finger when doing power chords. Your exercise is perfect for moving this to an even further level.
Tonight at my personal lesson, we totally talked about the 4th bad advice. I tend to anchor all of the time so I'm working on limiting that anchor. I still believe there's times for that of course
To me the advice about not having to bother with music theory was just a filter. For a while I ignored it as I was advised, but then eventually I fell deeply in love with the music enough that I wanted to figure out how the hell they worked, how the gears fit together. Naturally, I just start looking up all these things about keys, accompanying scales, what triplets and quintuplets are. Honestly if anyone loves playing music enough, they will inevitably start learning music theory.
Thank you for this advice and exercises Bernth! I'm very fortunate to be learning all of this when I am still 16. I've been playing since I was 10 years old. I have a great passion for the guitar, and I only want to get better at it. I will be taking music theory this year with my guitar teacher (Don't worry, he actually teaches me the right things 😂 ). I am very excited to enhance my playing, and music theory gets me another credit for school, and who wouldn't want that 😂. I am definitely going to include these exercises in my practice routine. Thanks again!
Man every time I watch your videos I learn more and more, I wish I would have studied theory when I started out. I too have been playing for more than 20 years and I believe I sound better now than I have then.
I'm a bass player. On one hand, I go by the James Jamerson philosophy that "if you don't feel it, don't play it.", so you should have some good feelings, values, and attitudes about your playing and learning. On the other hand, if you want to learn something, and really become good.... you need to practice!! Anytime you wanna learn something and revolve around it: Practice Makes Perfect!!
"Start slow and pick up speed" has some merit, but not specifically when it comes to the goal of shredding. It does help to give yourself some leeway to play a song slow-ish but building up 1 bpm at a time is also not ideal. Just practice until you're comfortable at a faster speed, closer to the desired tempo.
Is not about muscle memory. The thing is our brain has a min time to process and feedback information, so at some speed we can only process like 2, 3 (or more) notes per action white during slow practice we can process every note and action. This basically change the “kind” of skill for out brain, so we have to practice faster to learn to play faster…
re-starting guitar after many year of non-practice, trying a different aproache, this video is amazing, make me want to learn more seriously, i'm thinking of maybe go see a teacher
The Theremin, Synthesizers and electric Guitars are still among the least developed instruments because they appeared in our history relatively late. The Bratsche came a bit earlier, but also, according to my violin friends is not as developed as the violin. I really wish there would be a comprehensive method that leads an intermediate Gitarrist to this stage where he can play songs from different artists in a coherent manner. The latest step in this direction that I have personally seen and experienced is the guitar Institute of technology in Los Angeles. We really should have more Metal conservatories.
Some of the best advice I have heard for a long time mate.. Almost every guitarist I know cannot read music or has any real music theory knowledge , I find working with such people to be very frustrating.
Excellent video, thank you so much for sharing. As far as learning music theory, I've never heard this explained, even when introducing it, like you just did. Why do we always use a C scale as reference? Instead of starting at A? Thank you again! Much love
The thing with technique is that many of the best guitarists had an awful technique but sounded amazing. For me personally technique really helped me to grow🎉❤
Plan your practice routine Practice with intention Record your practice Take note of your problems bc believe me we all forget whatever Find video or friends that you can helps you along the way. Rinse repeat. Happy practicing Btw i only practice once a week. Does not have enough time for it doing double job now
Dood! I have been trying to control my pinky. I've been doing all sorts of things, even taking my phone at work and holding it like a guitar and moving my pinky around. But this pinky technique you recommended seems so obvious! I'm tots throwing this in my routine. Additionally, I've been told learning theory will only destroy my creativity! I listened to that for a long time and avoided it. But the second I dove into theory my playing started sounding so much better, plus I know what to do, and my creativity was only enhanced. That was the worst advice I ever received and it slowed my progress so much.
Any education for guitar is important. But theory makes one more knowledgeable and well versed. However it's vital in that it helps everything. There's really no debate or argument. It's an individual journey.
This video feels more like a huge commercial for this guy's guitar lessons on Patreon. He might not have been taught how to properly play guitar back in those days, but I'm sure as hell he learned music business really well.
I think that these bad advices are generally bad…but it could depends… I mean, what if a guitar player studied too much and he find himself “locked-in” what he studied and he is not able to do anything really from his heart? In this case it could help to leave behind theory (at least) and try to break-free… Of course, not forever…but it could surely helps! The master solution is always to listen to ourself and try to read situations and understand what we need in every milestone of our growth, as a musician and as an “instrument-player”.
Sir I saw you using Ibanez in most of your videos. I am also a Ibanez fan and user but at the same time I am glade to know from you that, why you mostly prefer to use the Ibanez ? Is Ibanez your personal favorite ? By the way sending you lots of love and wishes from BONGAIGAON, ASSAM, INDIA😊love you sir 🧡🧡🧡🧡🧡 🤍🤍💙🤍🤍 💚💚💚💚💚
The Ibanez AZ guitars have a lot of modern features and a medium neck shape It's basically the optimal guitar for people who like a medium neck shape. (I don't like medium, I like thin)
Gold content as always Bernth, I'm considering signing up to your Patreon and wondered; does each tier include the benefits of the previous tier? If I sign up for the personal coaching tier, will I also have access to "Gold Member" and "Full Member" content?
The worst guitar advice I've ever received is that first I need to learn to play the guitar AND ONLY THEN I could approach learning to play bass. Following this costed me double the money and time I would've spent otherwise.
I have been playing for 10 years all by myself really, no wonder I suck I didn't get even bad advice let alone good. It's so hard not to look at the final result (bernth) and not see the hours and hours of practice that went into it.
One of my guitar teachers told me to play fast it’s taking small movements and playing them a billion times over and over. Seems like good advice from what this video teaches
There are a lot of guitar players that don't have an in depth knowledge of theory that are great players, but can't communicate what they're doing. Theory doesn't just help you grow as a musician, it helps you communicate with other musicians as well.
jesus man, i havent been playing for very long, but having the speed i worked for over two months to get to, finally cracking a somewhat tolerable sound at 100bpm,it being referred to as walking speed has me terrified of whats to come. that being said, I'll definitely start movijg up in higher bpm increments instead of four to eight bpm once i got it down somewhat.
At first in music school the director told me I play lot of complex things, but you don't know what you're doing. I had only been playing by ear, copying, learning from others etc. I'm sure there's as many opinions and thoughts as there are guitar players. I copy stuff and it comes out me.
I have a question do you think using ur thumb to mute the low E bad for chords that only have 5 string chords? It feels comfortable to me but others say it’s bad
you can also, for instance on the Cmajor cowboy chord, use the pad of the finger you have on the A string to mute it, it really doesn't take much to mute a string. Of course, it requires finesse and gets frustrating to unlearn other habits to make it work. I've sadly just opted for 'pick accuracy' which has made me forget how to strum in its entirely....
Telling beginners that they shouldn't focus on technique is like telling someone they don't need to learn chords before playing music! Every skill, whether it's sports, cooking, or art, benefits from mastering the fundamentals. Imagine you wanted to be a football player and instead of the coach coaching you he simply said "do whatever you feel is your style" ... Just imagine hiw dysfunctional those players and that team would be. 😂🏈👀
Hi Bernth, this is incredible material and very helpful. I'm considering the Patreon but not sure if I need a computer to get the full benefit of the courses and materials. Can you clarify please?
In a similar vein, have you noticed the difference in skill between modern and traditional urban sculpture? Modern pieces often emphasize 'concept' over craftsmanship, with little visible technique in their execution. This nukes any real 'wow factor.' This shift comes from the broader cultural belief that 'technique isn’t necessary,' a notion that's permeated other areas of society as well...
people that dont know about music theory say "you should master on the music theory". other hand, people that know everything about music theory say "dont focus on music theory, it kills your creativity". People that can play any song by ear say, 'Music theory is overrated, just play what you feel.' Meanwhile, people that rely on sheet music say, 'Theory is essential to understanding the structure of music. And.. People that write experimental music say, 'Forget theory, let your intuition guide you.' But people that compose for orchestras say, 'Mastering theory gives you the tools to express any musical idea you want
Hi. Interesting video, I'll save it. I have a problem : I CANNOT move my ring finger if I leave my pinky on the string. Is that normal ? Did you have this problem ? Thx
I’ve always always ALWAYS emphasized technique. You can learn and memorize every piece of theory there is, but if you cannot physically play it in the manner you want, what’s the point?
Become my guitar student and get access to over 20 full online courses here: www.patreon.com/bernth
When can I join for $5 tier. It is sold out. I use to be a member and want to come back.
I always enjoy your videos 🤘🤘
One of my friends told me, "dont worry about technique. Just play what you like, and technique will come with it." After that, i found that i never pushed myself to do anything else. Focusing on technique will only make the music you want to play become easier.
@@BDarOZ I flip flop between both of those.
Yeah you need to worry about it all for sure hahah.. i focused too much on technique and ear training and thought everything else would come naturally. I ended up in a bad depression after i had realized how wrong i was lol. Learning theory has been the best thing ive ever done for myself and it's so much fun, im finally gaining confidence as a musician. Going back to feeling like a total beginner though has been incredibly painful ngl. And still i wonder if my theory knowledge will ever catch up to my technique and allow me to actually use it all freely. Doesn't matter though cos i wont stop working! :)
I was that guy who believed studying music theory would somehow limit my imagination and creativity. Well, I'm 45 years old now, and after about 30 years of playing, I am in my 3rd week of actual guitar / music theory clases, and I'm so happy to learn the language of what has been my passion, music!
Picasso said it best: “Learn the rules like a pro, so you can break them like an artist.”
I was very stubborn as a teen too... I felt like theory would somehow brainwash me into being a goody goody classical robot.
It's that punk DIY mentality. Eventually I started to dial it down.
Looking at yourself as a kid, and wish you could slap yourself across the face, is actually a good sign.
It means we're growing.
@@yuugen999 love the quote. I hadn't heard of it til now and it makes perfect sense.
I mean, music theory sucks. But that's a part of what we all love here (guitar). Learning music theory can encourage people to actually pick up an instrument and try to do something. Yep, understanding what you're doing is always better❤
@@Quangang-yu4qe basic music theory really helps me continue when starting out, I had a shit ton of fun just making chords progressions.
The way I've always heard it described for self-taught/theoryless musicians, is that you've learned to speak the language but not read/write it.
Oh man, "Never study music theory", I have met way too many people who say that music theory is limiting their creativity and is a paint-by-numbers kind of thing. Music theory is far from it, it is a tool that can break down musical barriers, just like a sledgehammer smashing through a brick wall.
I like to think of music theory as a system of identifying the sounds we hear and having an organized understanding of them. Suggesting it destroys creativity is like saying a visual artist shouldn’t define and know colors and how they interact with each other.
Then you probably want to make "paint by numbers" songs... yes even "complicated" jazz is like that. Understanding the psychology behind music will help, sure, but i dont know how much it will help you make actual creative, that is, experimental music. In those genres there often isnt even a chromatic or even microtonal system cause they just use fluid pitch. How is music theory supposed to apply to that?
@@dinonuggies2276 🤣🤣🤣
I had a friend that said stuff like that, and he's really into DND and playing casters.
I tried to explain it to him like, sure, you can figure out the spells yourself, but it's gonna be a struggle unless you're a prodigy, and even then, and a caster needs tools to be able to perform at his best.
Theory is the tools to help you wield your ax more efficiently.
He still didn't like it. Lol
@@dinonuggies2276you dont know anything about what you are talking about so you shouldnt be speaking on it.
Heres some good advice...
ALWAYS have your guitar hooked up and ready to rock at the push of a button,
when inspiration hits...
Nothing spoils the will to do a practice session like looking for cords, setting everything up etc etc ~
Agreed. That's exactly me for the last 15 years. I have loads of gear, but nothing is hooked up. I remedied that last night, FINALLY, and started jamming out on my untouched Ibanez RG550 Genesis. So glad I did. Gonna start playing every day like I used to
@@ThatMeansHesMad thats great ... dont ever stop, you know like i do that for people like us it is a path to fulfillment and happiness to keep making music !
WOW! AFTER 10 MIN AT 120 BPM I WAS INSTANTLY DOING THE CORRECT WRIST MOTION!
The 3rd exercise is incredible! I advise anyone with a bad alternate picking techneque to try it. Thank you Bernth!
I'm not disciplined about my practice regime but as a 44 year old player who's only started to get remotely serious in the last 3 years or so I'd say the three things that are genuinely helping me to progress are:
Working on basic music theory
Starting to learn the fretboard better
Working on some basic techniques
Focusing on groove
Drilling particular little moves/scale fragments or licks into my noodling.
Basically, I don't have a practice regime but my noodling has become much more intentional and, yeah, my progress has increased significantly.
Eric Haugen's channel is great for a more 'feel' focused guitarist and what's useful is that you get completely contrasting styles like Bernth and Eric and they completely agree about so many fundamentals. That's why they're fundamentals!
Are you finding any of those basic music theory lessons online?
That's 5 things.
@@EldestSauce hahaha, yes my bed, the perils of starting on a list without planning the numbers out first. That said, we all know amateur guitarists can't count, anyway. ;-)
@@2hi2dye Zombie guitar is absolutely amazing for basic music theory and guitar theory, he explains everything with great clarity and no fluff.
Re: people being against music theory- EXACTLYYY! Literally just saw a short of a guitar jazz teacher saying that you should be aware of the scale degrees that you're playing when playing through a scale- literally the most basic, common sense advice ever, and someone commented something like "pshhh, I played professionally for 30yrs and never thought about this. All you need is da feeeelz! Stop over intellectualizing it!", and it's just sooo "yawn" lol. Am 100% convinced that people just say this to have an excuse to not put in the work of learning it.
I think people believe it, at least I did until I actually learned it.
I find most guitar players think "play by feel" means "Play generic blues licks with random long bends and vibrato". They really ever play anything actually compelling or creative.
Nothing wrong with the Dave Gilmour approach, but you have to be as good as he was at creating compelling melodies and structuring your solos.
All of us think in terms of shapes anyway, but I like and agree with bernth on this that you do need to see how all music is connected. It's like a big puzzle and all the knowledge fills in all those missing pieces. Honestly if you just learn every scale and chord with enough consistent practice you'll become awesome.
I skipped all the theory and practice routines, and tried to just play songs. Now, 15 years later i still am nowhee near being a guitarist, and i just can't seem to get inspired to do what i should've done in the beginning.
It seems like a common denominator in a lot of bad guitar advice is that people are really just making excuses for not challenging themselves. "Practicing technique and learning theory are bad." Oh really? Are sure it's not just that those things are hard to start and so you'd rather not?
Beginner here, and I can tell you for certainty that actually sitting down and learning technique and music theory, even at a base level, has helped me tremendously. Technique makes playing things easier. Music theory helps you understand what you are playing. It’s really not that complicated lol.
Dude the last one is exactly what I needed to hear
Alright, I’m convinced. Just subscribed and will probably check out that Patreon as well. Dude just NAILED every single bad habit that I’ve struggled against for 20 years as a self-taught musician impersonator.
When I was starting guitar my teacher literally told me “I want you to work on your technique first, technique is super important especially for the kind of music you want to play” almost two years in and I’ve made an insane amount of progress. Technique is absolutely important if you plan to play anything, for control and speed.
Me and him are starting to go through theory now and I’m honestly excited, shocker yeah Ik a guitarist who actually wants to learn music theory lol
I have experience with bad advice nr 1 here:
Back in 2011, I had a guitar teacher that tried to learn me master of puppets by Metallica without learning proper right hand technique. Let's just say that my right hand technique wasn't suited for thrash metal guitar playing back then 😁
I have a wild guess of what your right hand was suited for back then 😂
okay that pinky exercise is 🔥I've been just trying to willfully keep my pinky down and it's frustrating lol.
I learned guitar music theory bit by bit over 15 years and it helped immensley. You do not forget it as I use it everyday. You can look at the guitar in your hands and figure things out. If you forget what the relative minor of D is, simply put your finger on a D note and move your finger 3 frets back toward the headstock. That is a B note. So B is the relative minor of D. How to find the octave iof each note easily. Learning your way around the fretboard pays many dividends when trying to add riffs and solos to the songs you play.
I play at least one hour per day.
I call it playing not practice, because I am playing songs I like and experimenting adding riffs and solos to them. It is not boring, it is fun, not practice.
Relatives in music Always get along, unlike human relatives.
The afore mentioned B is the relative minor of D.
You can introduce a D major song with notes from the B minor scale, or use Bminor notes to add a riff to a D major song.
So to me, every little piece of music theory I learned, I use all the time.
Learning some music theory was HUGELY helpful for me because it basically just increased my interest in music. So much cool stuff to learn that I could apply to just noodling and improv.
It also helped me with learning things by ear, since I was able to identify what patterns musicians were going for.
I'll share my favourite advice here.
-Practice is important, but if you don't stop to have fun, you'll lose interest.
-Go ahead and try to learn a song you know you can't play yet. You'll still learn something useful. Bat Country by Avenged Sevenfold was the song that massively improved my power chords.
-Keep your guitar in a place where you spend a lot of time. The less barriers there are to playing, the more inclined you are to play. And as a beginner, any kind of playing can be practice as it will make you more comfortable with a guitar.
Awesome video. I always try to practice everything. Tapping, slide tapping. Picking, sweeping. Chords. Open string chords up and down the neck. Making off notes that aren't family to the key fit in context. Music theory gives you a baseline so you can break the rules and understand what you're doing. Language of music. Space between the notes was some of the best advice i ever heard for creativity. Create space. To be honest there are chords no human can play because the space is too great but all the notes would fit. Thanks for all your dedication to the guitar community.
I always enjoy your lessons,GREAT advice! I am a 48 year old guitarist, I have played since I was about 12. I also wish I had some pro lessons from someone like you, on the other hand I have fixed some of my weaknesses like good pick technique and precise timing(I never really used metronome when I started) via youtube teacher. I loved music theory, modes etc and taught myself even more than I learned in college courses. I always thought if you know theory its like a painter knowing his color palette, in this way you can be more creative and invent more original music. I would love to get some lessons from you Bernth one day. I live in Prague Czech Republic. Thanks, Rob from Citizen Pain
Thanks brother
You’ve been an example for many many years - so nice to look at your thought processes and skills ⚡️🚀🎶
Mind blowing skills
Fantastic stuff - thanks bro ✅🫵
Freakin' brilliant advice on going through the circle of fifths on the major scale in the same position. I actually applauded my screen when that clicked. Such a good way to learn to visualize the notes and the modes (if thinking of staying in one key). Why have I never heard that before!??
The thing with getting fast by low BPM increases is something I realized when I was trying to learn an 8th note run at 160bpm. No matter how slowly I increased it, it always led to me tiring out fast and feeling weirdly off about it. I went with going half-speed and then full speed (my guitar teacher at the time suggested it) and it helped a lot because it made me realize that it is indeed a different kind of playing, when playing fast. And that you have to kinda suck and be sloppy simply so your fingers and muscles get used to fast movements.
Some say your muscle memory will fuck you over that way, because it memorizes wrong movements. What would you reply to this statement?
I ran across that problem where scales and theory limited me but that is far from the beginner. The problem beginners have is lack of knowledge and then repetitive scales give an exact sound as beginners have an exact limited sound. I found the solution is to play the theory you know but make yourself guess. After a while you have the ability to express yourself with theory and consistency.
Some useful information. I personally make sure that people start playing when focusing on technique; proper posture, decent understanding of how to hold a pick, that kind of thing. As for "don't bother with Music Theory"... it's the grammar and punctuation of music. It's how we communicate.
The movement around the Circle of Fifths is a handy one - we tend to get stuck in boxes for our own safety when we practice major scales.
Have never heard anyone say the picking hand should be anchored on the bridge. However, if I am playing acoustic, I like resting the crook of my elbow in the same position over the body, to make my strumming/picking consistent.
A great video - thanks for sharing.
I heard all these terrible advice bits plus more. The best advice i got was learn to play how my hand allows due to injuries. I was 20 and broke my hand by punching a dude with a titanium jaw. It hurt so bad, but I have been left with wildly different sounding playing then others. I find learning everything for guitar has been an amazing bit of physical therapy for my hand and I can actually react faster since I picked up guitar. Thank You for making all these videos, it's helped so much.
the bloke you jobbed wasn't the bass-player was he
@@GaZonk100 no, thank God. Cause that woulda been the end of the band lol.
"Broke my hand punching a dude with a titanium jaw"
Bro did you fight a comic book villain?? That's hardcore lmao
Also the advice you got is fantastic. Learning how to comfortably play is paramount for me. It applies to everyone.
Music theory is something I absolutely neglected for far too long... I was never mathematically minded, and still really struggle with a lot of those concepts. As for anchoring, I've always instinctively wrapped my pinkie around the treble pickup bobbin. Turns out Petrucci does that too - that's about as similar to Petrucci's playing as you'll get from me, if you were wondering lol
The alternate picking tapping out around 130bpm is my biggest regret practicing as a kid. I always thought more efficiently practicing would break the barrier but never did. Years later I finally did it and got a simple lick set up for the same picking angles up to 170bpm
That small burst exercise for speed was gold! I know how to walk and run but I have a problem when transitioning between both. This will surely solve the problem!
What i loved to do to exercise speed was picking a song or a solo i really liked. The first 1-2 runs were at a really comfortable speed so i could think about each note. Then i played it progessively faster to the point where it sounded sloppy, or my hand got stiff. If it got sloppy i played it a bit slower, if my hand hurt i played something else until it was loose again.
The jumps are quite individually. Some RHCP or Bullet song i had to play slower to play them clean, some Sum 41 or Linkin Park stuff i almost doubled in speed to test my limit.
I’ve always had trouble figuring out how to use the circle of fifths. You definitely blew my mind there
Dang, you just described EXACTY what happened to me when learning how to play banjo. The only difference is my right (picking hand) technique is what suffered and held me back. To be fair, most will tell beginners the importance of how you plant your fingers on the head, but it’s not enough. They don’t stress how important it is be mindful of tension. If you try to build up speed without learning to keep tension at a bare minimum, your accuracy will suffer but also you will form bad habits. My fingers would fly around and I didn’t even notice. I took a year off and started from scratch with all that in mind. So much better!
Hey I have exactly the same sort of scenario as you, except I just play guitar. I struggle with a lot of tension in my upper picking arm. It's the same muscle near your shoulder that is used when extending our arm out in front of you in the air. Even when I can tell that I am tensing and my arm is fatigued and slower than usual from the tension, I can't figure out how to consistently stop it. I'm seeing some improvement from just actively trying to fix it, but do you have any other advice possibly? It's been nearly my biggest issue since I started playing.
@@mypetmoose2079 it’s hard to say not knowing what you’ve already tried, but there are some things you need to make sure you’re doing. Make sure to sit up straight. Use a straight back chair without any arm rests. Make sure your guitar has plenty of support to where you don’t feel like you have to hold it up. Just guessing that’s why your shoulder hurts.
@@cb73 I think you’re right on the money with my posture. I have awful posture in general when standing. Thanks for the reply!
Hell yeah!! These exercises are gonna be my focus for the next couple of weeks. Thanks for the free advice. Been a long time sub and appreciate the quality advice.
As always man thanks for the solid advice and guitar licks to practice .
Bernth and Uncle Ben Eller are my Marty Schwartz. They teach guitar in a way that I can actually understand and that synchs up with my brain. Thank you guys for your balanced approach to shred and musicality.
ive been working through 3 of your 30 day patreon courses so far and they helped me so much in becoming a better guitar player! i'd really enjoy a string bending or a dedicated string skipping 30 day course since i'm still struggling a lot with these techniques, if others are interested aswell :)
Thanks so much for saying #3 - I'm so sick of seeing this advice about just playing a few bpm faster every day. I do start practising something at half speed and build it up when learning something tricky, but that's more about memorising the actual notes well enough to be able to play it faster. Fast playing is just a different technique. Whenever I see people give this advice I am sure that they are just repeating what they've heard elsewhere and haven't actually done it this way themselves.
Another way a lot of my friends got rid of the flying pinky was actually using that instead of the ring finger when doing power chords. Your exercise is perfect for moving this to an even further level.
Tonight at my personal lesson, we totally talked about the 4th bad advice. I tend to anchor all of the time so I'm working on limiting that anchor. I still believe there's times for that of course
I hope you have a picking technique video. Cheers! 🍻
To me the advice about not having to bother with music theory was just a filter. For a while I ignored it as I was advised, but then eventually I fell deeply in love with the music enough that I wanted to figure out how the hell they worked, how the gears fit together. Naturally, I just start looking up all these things about keys, accompanying scales, what triplets and quintuplets are.
Honestly if anyone loves playing music enough, they will inevitably start learning music theory.
Thank you for this advice and exercises Bernth! I'm very fortunate to be learning all of this when I am still 16. I've been playing since I was 10 years old. I have a great passion for the guitar, and I only want to get better at it. I will be taking music theory this year with my guitar teacher (Don't worry, he actually teaches me the right things 😂 ). I am very excited to enhance my playing, and music theory gets me another credit for school, and who wouldn't want that 😂. I am definitely going to include these exercises in my practice routine. Thanks again!
Man every time I watch your videos I learn more and more, I wish I would have studied theory when I started out. I too have been playing for more than 20 years and I believe I sound better now than I have then.
I'm a bass player. On one hand, I go by the James Jamerson philosophy that "if you don't feel it, don't play it.", so you should have some good feelings, values, and attitudes about your playing and learning. On the other hand, if you want to learn something, and really become good.... you need to practice!! Anytime you wanna learn something and revolve around it: Practice Makes Perfect!!
Really appreciate the advice BERNTH 🎸 thank you
"Start slow and pick up speed" has some merit, but not specifically when it comes to the goal of shredding. It does help to give yourself some leeway to play a song slow-ish but building up 1 bpm at a time is also not ideal. Just practice until you're comfortable at a faster speed, closer to the desired tempo.
Is not about muscle memory. The thing is our brain has a min time to process and feedback information, so at some speed we can only process like 2, 3 (or more) notes per action white during slow practice we can process every note and action. This basically change the “kind” of skill for out brain, so we have to practice faster to learn to play faster…
re-starting guitar after many year of non-practice, trying a different aproache, this video is amazing, make me want to learn more seriously, i'm thinking of maybe go see a teacher
The Theremin, Synthesizers and electric Guitars are still among the least developed instruments because they appeared in our history relatively late. The Bratsche came a bit earlier, but also, according to my violin friends is not as developed as the violin. I really wish there would be a comprehensive method that leads an intermediate Gitarrist to this stage where he can play songs from different artists in a coherent manner. The latest step in this direction that I have personally seen and experienced is the guitar Institute of technology in Los Angeles. We really should have more Metal conservatories.
Some of the best advice I have heard for a long time mate..
Almost every guitarist I know cannot read music or has any real music theory knowledge , I find working with such people to be very frustrating.
Where can one learn music theory for guitar
@@THELEGENDOFTIMES There are countless books available as well as 1000s of videos on youtube
Excellent video, thank you so much for sharing.
As far as learning music theory, I've never heard this explained, even when introducing it, like you just did. Why do we always use a C scale as reference? Instead of starting at A?
Thank you again! Much love
The thing with technique is that many of the best guitarists had an awful technique but sounded amazing. For me personally technique really helped me to grow🎉❤
Not gonna lie that patron plug sounded great. That's a lot of value added and compared to other guitar stuff/apps I feel you need real direction.
Plan your practice routine
Practice with intention
Record your practice
Take note of your problems bc believe me we all forget whatever
Find video or friends that you can helps you along the way.
Rinse repeat.
Happy practicing
Btw i only practice once a week.
Does not have enough time for it doing double job now
Awsome video man...very good advice, love your channel 😊
3:34 DUDE! This is the most diabolical guitar exercise I think I've ever seen in my life!
Dood! I have been trying to control my pinky. I've been doing all sorts of things, even taking my phone at work and holding it like a guitar and moving my pinky around. But this pinky technique you recommended seems so obvious! I'm tots throwing this in my routine.
Additionally, I've been told learning theory will only destroy my creativity! I listened to that for a long time and avoided it. But the second I dove into theory my playing started sounding so much better, plus I know what to do, and my creativity was only enhanced. That was the worst advice I ever received and it slowed my progress so much.
Any education for guitar is important. But theory makes one more knowledgeable and well versed. However it's vital in that it helps everything. There's really no debate or argument. It's an individual journey.
Funny, i thought i am the only one with the flying pinky finger thing, Thanks for your Videos Bernth!!
I really enjoyed this episode… thanks brother
This is incredibly helpful thank you! I have been paying guitar for about 2 an 1/2 years but I still can’t control my pinky or play fast. This helped
This video feels more like a huge commercial for this guy's guitar lessons on Patreon. He might not have been taught how to properly play guitar back in those days, but I'm sure as hell he learned music business really well.
I think that these bad advices are generally bad…but it could depends…
I mean, what if a guitar player studied too much and he find himself “locked-in” what he studied and he is not able to do anything really from his heart?
In this case it could help to leave behind theory (at least) and try to break-free…
Of course, not forever…but it could surely helps!
The master solution is always to listen to ourself and try to read situations and understand what we need in every milestone of our growth, as a musician and as an “instrument-player”.
After years of playing guitar (self taught), I did not realize how hard is to keep the pinky finger in control
the worst
Most of the pro's don't have full control either. Only a view like Petrucci or Satriani.
Sir I saw you using Ibanez in most of your videos. I am also a Ibanez fan and user but at the same time I am glade to know from you that, why you mostly prefer to use the Ibanez ? Is Ibanez your personal favorite ? By the way sending you lots of love and wishes from BONGAIGAON, ASSAM, INDIA😊love you sir
🧡🧡🧡🧡🧡
🤍🤍💙🤍🤍
💚💚💚💚💚
The Ibanez AZ guitars have a lot of modern features and a medium neck shape
It's basically the optimal guitar for people who like a medium neck shape.
(I don't like medium, I like thin)
Gold content as always Bernth,
I'm considering signing up to your Patreon and wondered; does each tier include the benefits of the previous tier?
If I sign up for the personal coaching tier, will I also have access to "Gold Member" and "Full Member" content?
The worst guitar advice I've ever received is that first I need to learn to play the guitar AND ONLY THEN I could approach learning to play bass. Following this costed me double the money and time I would've spent otherwise.
I have been playing for 10 years all by myself really, no wonder I suck I didn't get even bad advice let alone good. It's so hard not to look at the final result (bernth) and not see the hours and hours of practice that went into it.
The key to success is consistency. That’s it. I’ll leave that there.
One month ago a purchased an acoustic guitar. Before that I never held guitar in my hands. Do you think for a beginner this is the place to learn?
Any hand or back hand advice? Do u go to a physical therapist? Heard some are specialized in musicians
digging that guitar neck, what type of wood is that?
One of my guitar teachers told me to play fast it’s taking small movements and playing them a billion times over and over. Seems like good advice from what this video teaches
Thank you! Trully!
There are a lot of guitar players that don't have an in depth knowledge of theory that are great players, but can't communicate what they're doing. Theory doesn't just help you grow as a musician, it helps you communicate with other musicians as well.
jesus man, i havent been playing for very long, but having the speed i worked for over two months to get to, finally cracking a somewhat tolerable sound at 100bpm,it being referred to as walking speed has me terrified of whats to come. that being said, I'll definitely start movijg up in higher bpm increments instead of four to eight bpm once i got it down somewhat.
At first in music school the director told me I play lot of complex things, but you don't know what you're doing. I had only been playing by ear, copying, learning from others etc. I'm sure there's as many opinions and thoughts as there are guitar players. I copy stuff and it comes out me.
I have a question do you think using ur thumb to mute the low E bad for chords that only have 5 string chords? It feels comfortable to me but others say it’s bad
From my experience it's what you are supposed to do, unless of course It make you mute other strings that are supposed to be played.
you can also, for instance on the Cmajor cowboy chord, use the pad of the finger you have on the A string to mute it, it really doesn't take much to mute a string. Of course, it requires finesse and gets frustrating to unlearn other habits to make it work. I've sadly just opted for 'pick accuracy' which has made me forget how to strum in its entirely....
I'm quite annoyed that music theory wasn't taught at school. It's something that I've felt left a hole in my guitar playing for a while.
dude, even your sloppy playing sounds amazing
Telling beginners that they shouldn't focus on technique is like telling someone they don't need to learn chords before playing music! Every skill, whether it's sports, cooking, or art, benefits from mastering the fundamentals. Imagine you wanted to be a football player and instead of the coach coaching you he simply said "do whatever you feel is your style" ... Just imagine hiw dysfunctional those players and that team would be. 😂🏈👀
Hi Bernth, this is incredible material and very helpful. I'm considering the Patreon but not sure if I need a computer to get the full benefit of the courses and materials. Can you clarify please?
Music is a language and theory is a tool that helps you communicate more efficiently.
Hi! I'm a teen who loves guitar and I wanted to ask you which conservatory did you go to?(I'm considering going to one)
In a similar vein, have you noticed the difference in skill between modern and traditional urban sculpture? Modern pieces often emphasize 'concept' over craftsmanship, with little visible technique in their execution. This nukes any real 'wow factor.' This shift comes from the broader cultural belief that 'technique isn’t necessary,' a notion that's permeated other areas of society as well...
Another great video, thanks.
I was almost put off by the title actually.. I shouldn't have taken it so literally.😃
My head burns after 20 mins of theory,
YOURE A LEGEND
people that dont know about music theory say "you should master on the music theory". other hand, people that know everything about music theory say "dont focus on music theory, it kills your creativity".
People that can play any song by ear say, 'Music theory is overrated, just play what you feel.' Meanwhile, people that rely on sheet music say, 'Theory is essential to understanding the structure of music.
And.. People that write experimental music say, 'Forget theory, let your intuition guide you.' But people that compose for orchestras say, 'Mastering theory gives you the tools to express any musical idea you want
Great tips.
Vibrato and bending ARE techniques. I guess they mean "don't focus on techniques that I don't like and find your own voice that sounds like my one".
So is practice daily good or bad advice?
Hi.
Interesting video, I'll save it.
I have a problem : I CANNOT move my ring finger if I leave my pinky on the string. Is that normal ? Did you have this problem ?
Thx
Will there be more spots for the $5 patreon?
I’ve always always ALWAYS emphasized technique. You can learn and memorize every piece of theory there is, but if you cannot physically play it in the manner you want, what’s the point?
What do you think about Slash 3 finger playing solos mostly and ignore pinky finger to use ?
You're not Slash. 👍
@@WeiShihong oh thanks for reminding:)
@@bartukocakara7794 Always happy to help. ☺️
rule 3 is one that is so pervasive in every music scene
can i use the 4th exercise for learning sweep picking too
Thanks for your videos.
you have to forget the what your hand is doing, trust the move, trust the groove, and ALWAYS snap your wrist :D
i play everyday on guitar noj just because i have to be good, but i also very like it when i'm bored