Skip to content
Search

Latest Stories

Premier Guitar features affiliate links to help support our content. We may earn a commission on any affiliated purchases.

Get Even with Alternate Picking

Get Even with Alternate Picking
Ben Eller
By Ben EllerMar 19, 2022
Ben Eller
Ben Eller is a former contributor to Premier Guitar.
See Full Bio

Supercharge your alternate-picking chops with these even-numbered phrases.

Getting Even With Alternate Picking With Ben Eller

shred scales yngwie ben eller advanced technique lesson

The Latest

Exploring Open-String Voicings
Lessons

Exploring Open-String Voicings

The Cars 1978 self-titled album cover
Lessons

Elliot Easton Shakes It Up

Expanded Two-Hand Tapping
Lessons

Expanded Two-Hand Tapping

Diver Down Gets No Respect at All
Lessons

Diver Down Gets No Respect at All

Off the Record

Charlie Starr on 25 Years of Black Berry Smoke

More for you

Middle Eastern and Anatolian Rhythms Using Two-Hand Tapping

Middle Eastern and Anatolian Rhythms Using Two-Hand Tapping

Get exotic with these spicy two-handed patterns.

Keep Reading Show less

Most Popular

EarthQuaker Announce a Limited Edition Legacy Reissue of the Bellows Fuzz Driver
News

EarthQuaker Announce a Limited Edition Legacy Reissue of the Bellows Fuzz Driver

Keeley Oaxa
Pedals

Keeley Oaxa Review

Mojotone Introduces the Quiet Coil H-90
News

Mojotone Introduces the Quiet Coil H-90

Totally Wycked Audio Source Code
Effects

Totally Wycked Audio Source Code Review

Strymon Timeline MX effects pedal with various knobs and switches on a sleek black surface.
News

Strymon Announces New Timeline MX Multi-Delay Work-station

Boss XS-1 Poly Shifter
Pedals

Boss XS-1 Poly Shifter Review

The Musical Mind of Tom Bukovac

The Musical Mind of Tom Bukovac

Tom Bukovac is not a guitar player. Well, technically, he is—but more so, he’s a musician who plays guitar. He’s someone who always strives to make the best musical choice above all else. Bukovac, a first-call Nashville session guitarist and four-time winner of the Academy of Country Music Guitar Player of the Year award, has played on over 1,200 sessions for artists such as Taylor Swift, Keith Urban, and Sheryl Crow, while also being called upon to tour with heavyweights like Joe Walsh and Vince Gill.


Keep Reading Show less

One-Chord Vamps and the Truth

One-Chord Vamps and the Truth
Photo by Apolo Photographer on Unsplash

Improvising over one chord for long stretches of time can be a musician's best friend or worst nightmare. With no harmonic variation, we are left to generate interest through our lines, phrasing, and creativity. When I started learning to improvise, a minor 7 chord and a Dorian mode were the only sounds that I wanted to hear at the time. I found it tremendously helpful to have the harmony stay in one spot while I mined for new ideas to play. Playing over a static chord was crucial in developing my sense of time and phrasing.

Keep Reading Show less

Purposeful Pentatonics with Caitlin Caggiano

Purposeful Pentatonics with Caitlin Caggiano

It’s a familiar problem: You know your pentatonic scale patterns, but they’re only getting you so far. In this lesson, instructor Caitlin Caggiano breaks down the pentatonic scale and helps you elevate you patterns and deepen your playing. Want to learn how to make your pentatonics feel less boxy and more musical? How to use multiple pentatonic scales to emphasize chord tones? How to add certain notes to add more dimension and color to your playing? This lesson is for you.

Keep Reading Show less

Can You Make Pentatonics Better?

Can You Make Pentatonics Better?

Great music tells a story. It builds on a plot and holds the listener’s attention as the story unfolds. We are especially moved by soloists who bare their souls and who keep us riveted with every twist and turn from their narrative. Pentatonics are the backbone of modern guitar vocabulary. Partially because they just sound good, but also because they lay so easily on guitar. There are several ingredients that make a guitarist sound brilliant, but one of the most important is chromaticism. Could there a be a way we could combine these two? Let’s find out.

Keep Reading Show less