I’m a huge fan of Ben Eunson’s educational material and when Ben emailed me to let me know about this latest update to his How To Warm Up book, I was excited to go through it.
In case you’re curious, here’s my earlier review back in 2023 of the earlier eBook version of this masterclass.
Firstly, this is no longer an eBook with accompanying video. With this update, this is probably best described as a guitar masterclass delivered via a beautiful and professionally shot video format, with accompanying text, notation (with tablature) and downloadable PDF booklet.
I wouldn’t call this a course, since it doesn’t go through a step by step linear format but is still organized logically so that you know what the masterclass contains.
This masterclass with 20 etudes is divided into three sections:
- Section 1: Arpeggio-Based Warm Ups
- Section 2: Scale-Based Warm Ups
- Section 3: Wide Interval-Based Warm Ups
This is a contrast to how people normally think of warming up, which is based on either which hands you are using (picking or fretting hand) or based on techniques (alternate picking, legato – hammer on and pull off, slides, vibrato etc.).
Ben explains the thinking behind this in the introduction of his masterclass:
I am not a fan of guitar warm-ups that focus solely on the physical aspect of warming up. I find it far more beneficial to warm up using tangible materials that you will actually use in your playing—for example, scale and arpeggio-based concepts. These types of materials are absolutely crucial parts of any improvisational vocabulary, so why not tackle these concepts when you first pick up the instrument, when your mind is fresh and most receptive?
With this philosophy in mind, I’ve developed 20 warm-up etudes that I’ve personally used over the last 20 years. These exercises target three essential areas: Arpeggios, Scales and Wide Intervals.
This musical approach is what makes Ben’s warm up masterclass different than how most people approach this topic.
In addition to all the videos that demonstrate the warm ups, you also get a downloadable 70-page PDF of the etudes so that you can follow the videos clearly or even work on the etudes using the PDF alone, once you understand how each etude works.
To be really honest, Ben’s material is really tough for me since he uses a combination of wide stretchy fingerings and legato playing to get his sound. Therefore, even completing a single etude is a serious workout.
If you happen to be like me, you might find that taking a single two bar phrase from Ben’s etude to be enough of a warm up, even if you don’t play a complete etude… and when you can do the complete etude, you probably have a lot of chops (or would have gained a lot of chops by warming up with these etudes).
Section 1: Arpeggio-Based Warm Ups
As I studied and played through these warm ups, it started becomimg obvious to me that these are not simply warm ups but serious technical etudes that can really help you be more fluent on the entire fingerboard.
In Etudes 3 & 4 of Section 1, Ben introduces etudes based on triad pairs that really get you playing all over the fingerboard. Although I have used triad pairs in my playing and writing, I had never worked on these as detailed as what Ben outlined. No wonder Ben sounds so good and confident with this material, this is just his WARM UP!
Etudes 5 & 6 goes through major 7th arpeggios in two different ways. Both are useful for getting good fingering habits for playing in the whole Ben Eunson legato heavy guitar style. Etude 7 goes though diatonic 7th chords and Etude 8 is one using diminished 7th arpeggios.
Section 2: Scale-Based Warm Ups
The first three etudes go through different sequences and Ben takes them systematically across different string groupings. By the time we get to Section 2, Etude 4, we get an etude that combines an open voiced triad and scalar line. This one sounds quite nice!
Section 2, Etude 5 explores a three note per string pentatonic fingering for A minor pentatonic which gets out from the typical pentatonic box fingering.
Section 2, Etude 6 and 7 focus on the Half-Whole Diminished scale. Both these etudes starts opening up “outside” kinds of sounds.
Section 2, Etude 8 uses two whole tone scales to create another kind of “outside” sound. This particular etude fascinated me a lot and I’ll need more time to digest it. But wow, it’s interesting!
Section 3: Wide Interval-Based Warm Ups
The first two of the etudes in Section 3 are based around 4th. The third etude is using a particular arpeggio which sound hip (I won’t you which one it is, but it’s pretty cool).
Section 3, Etude 4 is the 20th and final etude which is really a soloing etude that combines many of the concepts introduced in previous etudes.
Conclusion
All in all, after going through the entire masterclass, this is definitely not your usual “How to Warm Up” material. All these etudes are highly useful sounds for composing and improvising especially within a jazz guitar or fusion context. Most of these will be very challenging unless you’ve already been doing a lot of Ben Eunson inspired playing prior to this. For me, even after studying a lot of Ben’s materials, there is still so much for me to learn from Ben.
In conclusion, this is yet another great offering from Ben Eunson. I would recommend this to anyone fascinated with Ben’s playing and technical fluency. However if you are a complete beginner or an intermediate guitarist (from a technique standpoint), I must warm you that this masterclass is very technically demanding. That being said, if you are patient and take it in small bite-size chunks, you can get a lot out of the masterclass.
Pros: Great material that is well organized from a professional guitarist.
Cons: None
TLDR: If you’ve been looking for interesting ways to warm up before playing guitar, and you’re bored of just playing chromatic 1-2-3-4 warmups, check out this masterclass from Ben Eunson for new ideas that help you improve your command of the fretboard while you warm up too!
Get the masterclass here: https://bensguitarclub.teachable.com/p/how-to-warm-up
Check out some of my other reviews of Ben’s educational releases here:
Book Review: 50 Modern Jazz Guitar Phrases by Ben Eunson
Course Review: How To Practice Bundle: Volumes 1, 2 & 3 By Ben Eunson
Mini-Lesson Review: 5 Improvised Lines Over Major Chords by Ben Eunson
[Review Archive]
I wrote a lot of other book, course and video reviews too.
Check out the rest here:
[Read more reviews]
[Submissions for Review Consideration]
- Are you an author who wrote a jazz, guitar or music book?
- Have you created a DVD or an online video course or subscription based website?
- Would you like me to review your book/course?
Please send me a message at azsamad3 at gmail.com with:
For courses: a link to the course/video/product + access info etc.
For books: a link to the book (Dropbox) or PDF attachment (if it’s small) for review consideration.
Depending on whether I dig the book/course, I’ll let you know if I do plan to review it!
I cannot guarantee a review for every submission & if I’m not too into it, I may opt not to review it. I mean, it’s better to get a good review that for me to write a bad review just because it’s not a match for the kind of stuff I dig right? :p
NOTE: All reviews reflect my honest personal opinion so be aware that I will point out both cool Pros and Cons that I see in the work. You dig?