BenHigginsOfficial

End the nightmare of slow hands and sloppy technique this Halloween!

Use code: SCARY to get 20% off all courses and bundles!

20 hours ago | [YT] | 29

BenHigginsOfficial

Halloween SALE - 20% OFF all courses and bundles for a scarily short time!
Don't be terrified of bad guitar technique any more!
Use the code: SCARY

1 day ago | [YT] | 25

BenHigginsOfficial

1 DAY TO GO!

If you’ve been following these posts over the last few days you’ll notice that we’re focusing on melodic string bending and vibrato this time. And few players are such masters at this as the one-and-only Joe Satriani

Joe’s never played a bad note. Fact. The dude knows the guitar inside and out and he knows how to control that sound

If you take a leaf out of Joe’s book and learn how he does those really screaming high notes then you’ll have another gold star against your name, along with the title ‘BADASS’

Seriously, it’s not that hard to do. Just do it. I’ll show you how. It’s not rocket science. You’ve just got to stop hiding from this stuff and give yourself permission to do what the legends do

So that’s Jason Becker, John Sykes, Gary Moore and now Joe Satriani that we’re going to use as our inspiration to level up your string bending and vibrato. If you don’t want to be able to do that then you don’t wanna get better on the guitar. It’s that simple

4 days ago | [YT] | 50

BenHigginsOfficial

When it comes to wild string bends, driven by raw emotion – there are few hands that can wring all the juice out of a guitar string like Gary Moore. What a legend

Respected by bluesman, shredders and non-musicians alike, Gary's ability to weave melodic passion using the most expressive guitar techniques is worth studying. As with the Becker and Sykes sequences that I'm throwing your way, this exercise is another step further in dominating the hell out of your fretboard

If you go through these musical sequences and actually practice them then your fingers will feel like they've been upgraded. It's like Bruce Banner turning into The Incredible Hulk. Just without the green skin...

Being able to play with tastefulness and feel is something all guitarists of any age can learn - whether you're 21 or 71

You don't need to have lightning fast fingers. You just need to be good at bending and vibrato - and that is WAY more attainable as a short term goal for any guitarist - including you

And, as I said, you don't need to be super fast to do it. You just need to be willing to weather sore fingertips for a few days. I'm 100% sure you can do that

Better bending and vibrato makes you sound like a pro guitarist, even with two to three notes - because the whole quality of sound is way better. You can get that power-up almost instantly by getting those two techniques under your control

Episode 34 of The Complete Guitarist drops on Tuesday, 28th October.

5 days ago (edited) | [YT] | 45

BenHigginsOfficial

If you want iron fingertips with skin like leather, then learning to bend strings like the epic John Sykes is gonna get you that instead of than hiding in a corner, crying at the thought of sore fingertips!

We’re gonna push your fingers and get them cranking out some truly anthemic sounding lines, just like the greats. Having speed is great but what about the moments in between? The emotion, the passion?

That’s where badass string bending and emotive vibrato come in. They are the techniques that make the guitar sing. Without them, it all sounds flat and lifeless

Most guitar players try and run away from really mastering these techniques because;

1. They’re lazy or

2. They don’t think they can do it

Don’t let those negative, loser thoughts infect you. I know you’re better than that. You've got what it takes so let’s get that fire into your playing by mastering these techniques. You can do this - I know you can

Episode 34 of The Complete Guitarist drops on Tuesday, 28th October! Click the link below and get full access to all previously released lessons!

6 days ago (edited) | [YT] | 43

BenHigginsOfficial

4 DAYS TO GO!

If you want to sound like you know what you’re doing on the guitar then you can’t skip string bending and vibrato. If you do skip those techniques then you’re going to be cursed with sounding out-of-tune, out of key and your soloing will make people cringe

That’s why the upcoming episode of The Complete Guitarist is going to really focus on melodic control over the guitar. And we dive right in with some expressive bending and vibrato in the style of the legendary Jason Becker

So instead of oodles of sweeps – we’re focusing on Jason’s beautiful bending and vibrato skills. And for those of you who want to take the challenge further, there’s some slick alternate picking for you to get your hands on

Guitarists who can control their bends and vibrato sound tasteful and sophisticated and I want that for you too. So let’s do this

1 week ago | [YT] | 73

BenHigginsOfficial

Everybody has different goals on the guitar and different songs and solos they wanna learn. But the barriers to achieving those goals are always the same

Getting it up to tempo and synchronizing both hands

In other words; speed and technique

Let's say you're trying to nail that arpeggio sequence from Tornado of Souls but you're about 10 bpm away from full tempo. What's holding you back? Speed and technique

Why technique? Because there's roadblocks somewhere that are slowing you down during any transitions that cross strings or move to another fret... these little bumps in the road cause you to leak speed, keeping you from reaching full tempo

Maybe it's a particular technique you're struggling with; economy picking, string skipping or sweeping

Maybe you're struggling to nail a particular run that moves from one technique to another

Maybe you can pick fast but as soon as you need to cross onto another string the pick gets stuck and you miss the note

What is stopping you from nailing it, getting it to tempo and making it sound clean?

A problem with speed and technique, baby

Every. single. time. It's a problem with speed and technique that prevents you from getting it up to tempo and synchronizing the hands

Whatever your goal is - getting it to tempo and synchronizing the hands are the mini goals that get you to the end goal. And if you're not getting those nailed, you're not gonna reach the end goal

That's why I created the Speed and Technique Masterclasses inside of The Complete Guitarist

Need to master the art of alternate picking onto another string whilst still retaining the same level of speed? Learn exactly how to practice that so that you nail this for good and never suffer from a stuck pick again. And you'll be surprised by the answer. It's not about doing more. It's about doing less. And that should be a relief to you because no more endless repetitions at limp dick speeds any more!

Can't seem to nail those Paul Gilbert string skipping licks? Bro, what are you playing at? I've got you covered for that stuff. I'll show you how to break that down and make it easy. No more reasons to fail after this

This stuff is NOT rocket science. It's all about HOW you approach it. If you practice like a nob, you'll get nob results. But if you practice intelligently, with attention... you'll get something entirely different to what you've previously been getting

You know the difference between robots and humans, right? Well, the people that are practicing mindlessly, repeating stuff, waiting and hoping that it will one day magically get better are robots. The idea that you can just repeat stuff whilst watching tv is an attractive idea because it reassures you that you can passively develop great skills whilst not having to pay attention. It appeals to the lazy part of us

Sure, it might help make some things feel ingrained - but only AFTER you've dealt with any technical problems that are holding you back. It's a luxury you get to after you've sorted your technique out - not before

But if you use your awareness and attention - that's what enables you to make massive progress. You have to BE THERE to see when it goes wrong so that you can put it right. You have to BE THERE to actively focus on hitting the correct note. To focus on being in time. To focus on hitting that upstroke in the right place. You get the picture

Laziness is attractive. But it doesn't get you what you want. It keeps you further from what you want

I say if you know what you want, go and get it. Don't wait for somebody to give you permission. You wanna be able to pick faster? Make it happen. You want to synchronize the hands? Well, make it happen. It's not difficult. You're making it difficult. Just move past the psychological resistance and give yourself permission to do it

So whatever it is that is stopping you from getting things up to tempo and synchronizing your hands together, the Speed and Technique Masterclasses will sort it the hell out. And you get these masterclasses as a member of The Complete Guitarist

But once you start unlocking this stuff, there's no going back to 'mediocre' again, okay?

If you're ready for that level of excellence, become a member today. No more playing around. Be the guitar player you want to be!

Ben Higgins

Aka

Lord Higgy

1 week ago | [YT] | 28

BenHigginsOfficial

If you want to feel really confident in your picking abilities then you're gonna want to do this...

Something players like Vinnie Moore are really excellent at are using picking to play ultra-clean, super-precise pedal tone licks

GEEK INTERLUDE: Pedal tones are those repeating classical sounding licks where one note is always repeating, acting as a tonal anchor point, whilst other notes are played around it. It comes from organ players, where the organist would depress a foot pedal to keep one note sustaining, whilst still being able to play other notes!

The result is that it sound f*cking badass but it's also a really cool physical feat to be able to pull off with the picking hand. Plus, it really cleans up your picking technique and makes your string crossing abilities unshakeable!

It doesn't stop there either. There's more 3-note-per-string adventure waiting for you on the other side. So if you want a picking technique that just works, whenever you want it to, learn this

The upcoming episode of The Complete Guitarist will set fire to fretboards on Sunday 28th September - 1 DAY TO GO! This musical sequence will be available with it then

1 month ago (edited) | [YT] | 42

BenHigginsOfficial

If you want to be able to play really tasty melodic runs that feature sudden fast flurries in them, then somebody like Steve Lukather is a great inspiration for that

Being able to go from a really tasteful, singing string bend to a lightning quick pentatonic descent is a signature move from such a master of melody

So we're gonna work on doing that. If you're comfortable with your pentatonic box positions (and most of you are, seeing as how everybody is trying to escape them!) then this is gonna use something you're already confident with – to turn the heat up a few degrees!

And there's also a surprising slide-based move waiting for you on the other side which is going to feel weird at first – but then makes you feel like a total pro (or should that be Toto pro?) when you nail it!


The upcoming episode of The Complete Guitarist will set fire to fretboards on Sunday 28th September - 2 DAYS TO GO! This musical sequence will be available with it then (along with everything else - more info tomorrow...)

1 month ago | [YT] | 36

BenHigginsOfficial

If you struggle with licks that combine different techniques like bending alongside hammer-ons and pull-offs, then this is gonna help you make everything natural and easy

Using repeating triplets with accurate string bends over a rocking, shuffle type rhythm (think UFO's Doctor Doctor) is something that Dave Murray is a master of. Melodic, tasty, yet deceptively challenging. It makes you pay better attention to your bending, your timing and the cleanliness of your legato technique

Put simply; this is gonna make your fretting hand more reliable and competent. That's a big f*cking win in my book!

The upcoming episode of The Complete Guitarist will set fire to fretboards on Sunday 28th September - 3 DAYS TO GO! This musical sequence will be available with it then (along with everything else - more info tomorrow...)

1 month ago (edited) | [YT] | 45