This is Why You Suck at Guitar: You Don't PIVOT!
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- Опубліковано 26 жов 2022
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Its Uncle Ben Eller here back again with a brand new installment of This is Why You Suck at Guitar!!! On episode 26, we are going to explore the secret technique ALL the pros use to slip and slide all over the neck with ease. Somehow, i've NEVER seen anyone talk about this unique "pivot" technique that you're going to need to play songs like Blood and Thunder by Mastodon or For Whom the Bell Tolls by Metallica, among HUNDREDS of other classics.
It doesn't matter what style of music you play or if you're a beginner or advanced player, this will change the way you play! Grab your favorite axe and learn how James Hetfield, Brent Hinds, Dave Mustaine, and many more make it happen!
Gear:
Jackson SL3 Soloist
Fractal Axe FX 3
What technique do you suck at? Let me know in the comments and get ready to see it on a future installment of TIWYSAG!
This is pure gold, uncle Ben saved me from a problem I didn't even knew I had. Not the first time and most certainly not the last, thank you so much.
on the same boat here. Thanks uncle Ben🤘
The other thing I had noticed when constantly sliding the thumb instead of pivoting is that it becomes very difficult and inconsistent to land on the power chords accurately.
I've comfortably sucked for 30 years. Rarely learn anything "ah ha" anymore. Never thought about this for those rapid chord slides...what a great technique! Thanks.
looking back 10 months later this was the most important guitar lesson when i started
Uncle Ben once again teaching me things that seem obvious after he shows me, but that I never would've thought of on my own. Thanks Ben!
That's exactly it! I never thought of this!
This combined with controlling of tension is honestly gonna make overall playing WAY easier for lots of people. I stumbled upon experimenting with this a few years ago, and this video has further refined it all for me.
Uncle Ben the GOAT
Yeah, I think as many people are going to be struggling doing quick power chord (or perfect 4th chord) changes because they grip far too hard. A good, but old example of this is playing the intro to Rainbow's lost in Hollywood, although there's not a lot of good quality video showing Blackmore playing it. Yngwie did a version with Alcatraz (infamous for the video version where his guitar cuts out) but he cheeses it by playing a single note riff instead.
Been playing for some 15+ years and never knew about this ! 😱
Makes so much sense, I’ve been playing these type of riffs in hard mode for no reason.
Same
if you pay attention you can see how economic and ergonomic the picking and finguering hand of bill kelliher is
Going to name my first born son Finn Guering now
@@breatheinthepinkair mike litories is better
Thumb pivot is such an important technique for bass. It makes huuuuge fret stretches easy peasy.
Yooo, thanks for reminding me that it also applies to bass!
I just tried it on the low B string and managed to play the fret pattern 1-4-2-5-3-6-4-7 without changing hand position and it felt super relaxed.
Seven fret reach on the thickest string at the first frets, that’s insane!
I never cared a lot about my technique but this time I gave it a try:
I can 100% recommend at least testing "The Pivot" for like 15 minutes. I personally had great first results and see a lot of potential & improvement in this technique especially for my love of chromatic melodies and riffs! Thanks a lot to Ben and to the Patreon Supporter!
Not gonna lie, I thought I was doing it wrong the whole time. I always pivoted my thumb while playing rhythm. It always felt good to me, but when seeing some players live, they never did. I tried to learn without pivoting and it was more difficult. I eventually decided to switch back (Thank God lol) and I've been more consistent then ever!
As long as what you're doing works for you, it's not wrong.
Never thought I’d crack up at a tutorial but the reverb every time he says pivot is fucking gold, it’s for sure gonna help me remember it at least
I just spent ten minutes trying this out. I thought it would take some getting used to, but it is super intuitive. You literally added 20% more better control to my playing.
In recording, that 20% improvement might turn out to be 20 miliseconds improvement in tightness.
When our hands synchronised better, we get clearer brighter attack.
I can't wait to apply this and get more better, moving my arm-hand less.
I’ve been playing guitar for 36 years and I never even thought about this before. You kinda blew my mind, dude.
Ok, this is a weird place for this question so pardon my rudeness. But I am a beginner. I am having a hard time not muting the bottom string when I play chords. Any advice?
I'm now convinced I'll be hearing Ghost Ross yelling "Pivot!" late at night
We all had to learn this to play certain riffs, but it's weird how no one talks about it. Thank you Uncle Ben. You are the best Uncle in the whoooooole world 💞
Uncle Ben has helped me tremendously with this. Also, love the Ross "Pivot!" soundbite that recurs through the background! 🙂
oh that was from the video? i thought it was my drug induced schizophrenia
Great lesson, Uncle Ben!
Also, the addition of Ross' "PIVOT" with the reverb had me dying hahaha!!!
Every single "PIVOT" has managed to make me laugh, good one uncle Ben!
As someone who’s pretty technically savvy, I’ve never heard of this. I always get reaaaaally bad pain when playing a ton of power chords. I’m Gonna try this. 🤘🏻
Nothing beats a pristine clean snow white Jackson Soloist. That guitar makes me want to cry.
Best guitar tip I have seen in a long time. I struggled with this hard, and funny enough, was wondering the other day why the simple FWTBT riff was so difficult to play. Gamechanger for my rookie ass.
The "PIVOT!" bit got me every fucking time lol
Man! I just had to stop this video before even finishing it to say “Thank you, Uncle Ben!” Holy shit man, I am so glad you included that riff from “For Whom the Bell Tolls” and also showed it from the back angle with the pivot. I think this might be exactly the advice I needed to play that riff more better.
This lesson absolutely saved my life. You're right, no one has ever talked about this, not that i've seen. Gracias, Tio Ben
Hearing Ross scream pivot throughout the video made my day.
that "PIVOOOT!!" in the background with reverb..... killed me
Mind absolutely blown. I wish somebody showed me this sooner, thank you so much!
Me, too! I never had trouble keeping up with these riffs, but the squeaking thing drives me nuts.
I read the title in Ross' voice when I saw "PIVOT" in it!
Beautiful Jackson.
May it never get the dreaded "ding" at the tip of the headstock.
I was doing that pivot out of instinct, then I thought it wasn't proper technique, so I started attempting moving my thumb for the shifts and it made things more complicated... going back to the pivot.
That is a super sweet Jackson soloist.
As usual, uncle Ben never disappoints. Fantastic lesson.
Hahahaha. The reverb “Pivot!” is fantastic.
When I was your age (young) I could play those type riffs like no tomorrow. Arthritis in both shoulders now and I can't seem to play those chug a chug fast-switching riffs in Diary of a Madman anymore. My left fret hand has the shoulder in which bone spurs have cut a muscle, the rotator cuff, and it's hard and extremely painful to go fast in those two directions - up and down the neck. I can't even raise that arm above my head anymore. I can still solo and shred about as good as you so not all is lost. And after hearing your guitar I am currently fighting the addiction to head over to Sweetwater and plunk down on a new Jackson. Been eyeballing that new green glow model! Besides all my bitchin', loved the video and I've been a long time subscriber. Keep up the great content.
and just like that... the addiction wins. Saw the specific guitar I wanted was in 3 other people's cart so it was grab it or lose it and I got that huge sweetwater credit card doing nothing in my wallet, so... It's going to look so AWESOME in my studio! I feel like that scene in Rob Zombie's new movie where Herman Munster gets his first date and he's howling behind the door.
Well this is amazing. So much easier than trying to slide everywhere. A lot less tension in my thumb now. Much appreciated!
I'm typing this before I watch it because I have been struggling with Iron Man's 10th fret to 9th fret back to 10th fret transition in the main riff since I first picked up a guitar back in 2010. It's to the point now that my hand intuitively tenses up on me increasing my frustration over it. I really hope this gives me the answer to conquer it. Now on with the show.
I try to maintain a small but consistent amount of suck in my playing in order to get maximum benefit from Uncle Ben’s videos.
I've been throwing this at a few students just recently- due to the large interest in Master of Puppets. Really reduces friction overall for those sliding power chords!
Now this is new learning.
This is going to make my chords at least 10x more powerful.
It turned my power chords up to 11.
My first classical guitar lesson was all about "How to handle your guitar little man." And the first advice was about left hand position on the neck, and the first thing to be done was, you guess it, positioning your thumb behind the neck at mid-height.
Thats what you show without telling by the way. It comes naturally maybe.
Best position to position your other fingers over the strings and frets 👌
I've been working on the Metallica riff for years and this made a huge difference for me. Thanks Ben, you're a great teacher.
Ben Stellar Eller 🤘
Bro Thank you! “Harvester of sorrow,” has always been my heel; this helps immensely
not only have you taught me more about playing guitar than anyone, you've now given me nightmares with that echo of Ross yelling pivot!!! Brilliant video and thank you for this one!
PIVOOOT! PIVOOOT! - Ross Gellar
Ross echoing "Pivot!" in the background had me dying! Showing my age too!
That's actually a technique I developed do to having neck dive on my guitar (Epiphone SG). I've always thought it was a common technique to use.
This technique has really made my Blazz playing more gooder.
those random ross's pivot screams got me. anyways thanks for the tip, something that i never said to a priest
This is exemplary critical analysis of a task.
I've had personal conclusions on this same topic that are completely opposite of your video. I had a beginner instinctive tendency for this "pivot" thing, and observe it in beginners too -- it's an instinct to hold on to the neck for dear life with some kind of anchor when other fingers are lifted or moving around, from fear of getting lost. I remember it being a hindrance, leading to weird stretches, running out of range if the power chords are more than 3 frets apart, less force to press down on the strings, more tendency to bend them out of tune due to pressing at weird angles. I actively worked on the thumb, so that it moves together with the whole hand, is kept on the back of the neck but no real force applied when not pressing the strings, so that there is no tendency for it to "stick" to the neck. It's doing its job in the back, but the fingers on the fretted side are the reference for navigating the frets, the thumb follows position shifting of the whole hand. I play thrash riffs, of the type you demonstrate too, and it definitely feels more natural and less "carpal tunnelly" awkward than the pivot thing. Precision of quick position shifts comes with some practice and it's no big deal really.
i am so glad i found this video early on in my guitar journey. rewatching it now a year later and it seems so obvious to me, but i know id be kicking myself if i hadn’t found it before.
Huzzah! So glad to hear that!
Brilliant! I said the 'pivot' line from Friends when I saw the thumbnail for this video, and then you actually said it in your video, Brilliant 🤣
Thank you, this is truly a gift I didn't know I want.
As a rhythm guitarist, I guess it's time to unlearn everything I've learned to far 😊
I concur, I need to relearn how to hold my guitar, I've always held with the thumb on top of the curve of the neck and never went to the middle or below which always caused me to react by squeezing harder, on the strings in a vain attempt to be more precise. A nice light touch is hard to learn since I'm used to lifting where grip strength is a huge component
my neck is kinda sticky so i was doing this naturally!
Thanks for the great lesson Uncle ben
I use this techinque from the very first moment i started playing guitar and i never knew about it until now that i watched this video. There's economy picking and there's economy hand movement, both are awesome ways to make everyting sound much clearer and effortless.
dude Uncle Ben you blew my mind just now. I have been struggling with this for ages.
Immediately improved my playing on "Harvester of Sorrow". Thanks
Nice Jackson, thanks Uncle Ben for this lesson
I was applying pressure with my whole hand instead of just the thumb. That hugely increases friction making even simple rythm parts hard, so I was always sticking to solo parts. This opened my eyes.
Haha, love the Ross sprinkled in there. Great lesson, Uncle Ben!
I have been playing for 50 years man and boy , I had no idea about this lol . Thank you
Master of puppets has also slippery riffs when the first line started😁🤘
Immediately practice it
Damn
It's works
Ahhh Blood and Thunder. Awesome video man! Great advice and explanation.
Ohhhhhhhhh! Makes sense! I've been sliding my thumb along the neck forever, thanks! 🤘👽🤙
I wrote a riff just the other day and this technique helps me do this particular riff so smoothly. Thanks Uncle Ben!
Wow. Those inlays are gorgeous!
Takes me back when I started learning the Dennis Sandole approach to jazz, taught to me by one of his students. All my friends are telling me to play like Hendrix, with the thumb over the neck. The pivot is ingrained into my playing …..thanks Ben for sharing this valuable technique 🤘
yesssssssssss this is what we needed everyone no more forearm spasm's from crappy thumb positioning your the best uncle ben 👍
I feel like a fucken lad for having been doing this the whole time. Ben, you're fantastic, and make me feel like a better player than I actually am.
I've always been aware of the scratchiness of the position changes on my strings and I've never been able to help it much this fixes it tremendously. Thank you uncle Ben. I go riff now more better. You alright guy.
I've never ever thought about something like this pivoting thing in those nearly 20 years I play guitar and after watching this video I didn't even know what I actually do. So with guitar in hands I must say that I'm pivoting like crazy and whole the time I really didn't know or care about it. Interesting.:D Thanks uncle Ben!:)
Same. Took me a minute to even think what I do, and this is something I’ve been doing for years.
Hey! That thumb position question I asked a while ago got answered here, thanks uncle Ben !
Huzzah!!! Hope that helps!
The video I had on my playlist after this was one from the Revolver channel with the Mastodon guys playing their "top 11 heaviest riffs".
You can see Bill Kelliher playing one of the riffs from "Blood and Thunder", which has quite a few power chord slides, and he does exactly what Ben illustrates here.
I'd never even thought to do that, and I've been playing for a long time.
The pivot just came naturally to me when I started playing guitar. I've always done it. 🤘🏼🤘🏼
Can we take a moment and admire that gorgeous Jackson Guitar?
I do this, but I've never thought about it. Just came naturally. I had to pick up my guitar and play the riff to check lol.
Wow, just wow. That's exactly what I needed right now. Strugled with that For Whom The Bell Tolls part for quite a while. Thanks uncle Ben!
this is funny because the other day i was watching a short clip of trivium practising and i noticed this with Coreys playing and have been intending on investigating. but this saves me a lot of time! thank you!
This is gold. Been playing for 25 years and I’m now subscribing to your patreon
Uncle Ben’s point is proven simply by looking at the back of Dimebag’s neck on his original. You can see the massive crater from his thumb in Ola’s video from Dimes house. 🤘🏻uncle Ben
Thanks Uncle Ben! As soon as I saw the title I knew there would be a Friends reference
More better for sure. Man that pearl white Jackson is nice!👍
I mean I've written a song called
"Eat death" back in 1999!
And the way I played it back then was just can wear you out I've only played it once in a blue moon now and it astonishes me how gymnastic I was on a guitar back then. Because it can wear my hand out if I don't play it fast enough now!
🎸🎛🔉🎵🥁🤘🏻🎤🤬🎸🎼🎚🔊🎶
damn... that's really clever.
First you improved my down picking, next my alternate picking, and now I understand pivoting. Thanks a lot
after watching this video, I had to get up and go over and pick my guitar up and actually check how I hold the neck. I am very happy to find that I actually do exactly what you are telling me in this video. Hell yeah I'm actually doing some thing the right way kick ass.
Appreciated the running gag in this video
I never took notice of what I'm doing with my thumb while playing riffs like that. Now I realised that I'm pivoting in a similar way, but I do slide my thumb only thing is I slide it for less than quarter of an inch due to my thumb being little bit on a shorter side when I have to take the distance of two or three frets
Uncle Ben.
I really love your This is Why You Suck at Guitar series. So, awesome!!
Thank you, sir.
Really? What I won?
Man those details are so important, gonna try it out
Love you Ben, it always surprises me that more people just don’t naturally figure out a lot of the economy of movement techniques you teach, naturally through playing, your warren di martini videos were a big help
Good tip, sick guitar. Love those headstocks
Just started playing again since I was a teenager and I'm finding this channel to be helpful. Thanks for your work much appreciation.
I'm just happy to see the Fast Fret on the desk. I feel validated.
Oi laddie, I bleedin’ do pivot. Cos you talk about it is one of the reasons why I stand in extreme awe of your prowess, aptitude and talent with a guitar.
…and I’m 68. Saw LZ live on Dec 9 1971. 3.5 hours for One Pound Sterling.