Ritchie Blackmore's Man on the Silver Mountain Arpeggios with Ben Eller | Crosspicking 101!

Downloadable TABS, bonus lessons, backing tracks, and MORE available on my Patreon page! / benellerguitars ! This week you also get a bonus lesson on another way to tackle these arpeggios with hybrid picking! You're gonna love it!
instagram: BenEllerGuitars #weekendwankshop #weekendwankshop264
Hey guys! Its Uncle Ben Eller back again with a new episode of Weekend Wankshop! The other day on my Patreon page, my man Kasper suggested i do a lesson on how to improve crosspicking speed. He used the chorus section of Ritchie Blackmore's Rainbow song "The Man on the Silver Mountain" as an example of a hurdle he was trying to overcome. I checked it out, and it seemed like a perfect thing to break down on Weekend Wankshop!
So this song features some 3 string 16th note arpeggios on the high strings, and with the moderate tempo of 107 BPM, its a GREAT place to get started with this technique before you move onto more ferocious things like Tumeni Notes by Steve Morse.
In this video, i'm going to first show you the arpeggios he's playing, then give you some insight on how to improve your crosspicking, then show you how to master licks like this by learning each 4 note segment as a single "chunk" of muscle memory, and how to make it a repeatable, reliable part of your playing! Its everything you need!
Playing my Suhr Alt T into the Fractal Axe FX III
Let me know what YOU want to see next on my channel in the comments below!

[@BenEller]

TAB will be up on Instagram in just a little while! Search #weekendwankshop264 . Had an early soundcheck, I’ll get it up on there shortly!

[@jaycobmercado1409]

Uncle Ben, u should sell t-shirts, hoodies, caps and mugs that says ''Less clicking and more picking'' I would 100% buy that merch no doubt!

[@paranormalrushhour]

Ben I want you to know, although I joke about the punisher, it's seriously the best damn exercise I've ever found! I'm forever grateful to you for showing it to us...that combined with my Petrucci signature Flow picks is the reason I will never again play at stepdad speed! 😆

[@gigaphonicon]

I love rainbow those 70s hard rock albums are amazing

[@orange70383]

What Ritchie has is the most graceful fluid finger movement on the fret board, it's like a dance, I've not seen anyone else play like that.

[@repetitivemotion]

Ritchie is the GOAT. More Blackmore please

[@nickgreen4731]

I've been working at this passage for literally years. I am FINALLY getting it nearly up to speed. Plenty of little tips here helping me out, like the palm muting and the anchoring. Also I was playing the final two triads in the wrong position, the A shape up at 8 and 10. Much harder and a bit dumb of me... 😁 But this middle section is probably even harder than the actual solo, which is saying something!

[@John3_16andthensome]

It's too bad I don't have moderate to severe ulcerative colitis or chron's disease because then I could watch the 101 ads for it that keep interrupting this lesson and maybe, just possibly, benefit from both!

[@BenEller]

Top Jimmy Hahahaha

[@shilpwift3366]

Did you really sing so good that the roof fell in and they didn't even stop the show?

[@John3_16andthensome]

@@shilpwift3366 Not I! But the real Top Jimmy, aye! For DLR would never lie!

[@EddyHabits]

Fantastic lesson. Your attention to detail and clear explanations are amazing. Your own guitar playing serves a great model to work towards, too. So clean and flowing. Thank you.

[@WODZIO1988ns]

No diskiles that means it's good place to learn guitar

[@richwest6282]

Greats stuff, Ben; Ritchie was/is indeed the master. Would love to see you tackle Kill the King; especially the solo to show it's actually doable for us mortals, lol.

[@pathaden]

One of THE greatest who had feel and chops...Riffs galore and slick solos.. I also wanted to add, great explanation Ben on how to adjust your hand picking and wrist to create an easier feel to play this technique

[@seanandben]

Way cool lesson Ben! How about Richie's solo in Lazy? Not the live one where he forgets where he is and just stops. :-) I think Richie is a great blues player, but most people think of his "neo-classical" playing and neglect his blues feel and playing, which is a shame.

[@larryhenderson3721]

"Place in line" from " Who do we think we are" is one of my all time favorites.

[@seanandben]

@@kasperfauerby7389 I agree - there are lots of great solo's by Richie on Machine Head, and a lot of them make great picking exercises - Highway Star being a good example. I learned the solo from Lazy many moons ago, and it's mainly blues and pentatonic scale phrases, but played very fast! Richie's vibrato is very unique, and it's worth noting that he doesn't use the middle pickup on his strat's at all. In fact, more often than not he removes it and just puts an empty cover in its place. His Fender "tribute" or signature strats have no middle pickups.

[@robertritchie2860]

Don't forget his slide playing, it's amazing too

[@larryhenderson3721]

Hey Ben. Thanks so much for this one. Been a Blackmore fan since I first heard "Hush" on the A.M. radio. Yeah, a while back. I'm just learning, and your tips on palm muting are very helpful. Something I knew about but couldn't quite make work. So good of you to share. I saw the man play live, and have watched all the footage I could find. He picked each note so clean, and with such melodic style. I have seen and heard many legendary players; Richie Blackmore still tops my list.

[@guitarslinger32269]

I love Ritchie...and I've studied his style for decades. Yea, he loves the triad arpeggios; uses them a lot. I'm teaching "Ariel" as we speak, and it has a beautiful arpeggio sequence in the outro. Regarding fingering and potential "bleeding;" Ritchie is masterful at right hand damping. He creates such sweet tone through subtle damping. So, I wouldn't rule out some 1-finger/barre fingering with him; he controls the 'bleeding' with that aforementioned right hand. Nice lesson; thanks for sharing.

[@Dennizzz119]

Fuck being first, who cares.

[@alwolf2325]

Everything begins and ends with Ritchie Blackmore.

[@Stitsel]

He remains the undisputed center of the universe.

[@gbigwuk]

Uncle Ben. Could you do a piece on "well dressed guitar" by Steve Morse? I'd like to see your take on the picking. The string skip kills me off. Martin miller does it on his DP medely and interestingly hybrid picks it once then appears to alternate pick the second time . Cheers

[@maxfoth2]

I would seriously kill a man if it meant you'd upload more Ritchie Blackmore lessons!!

[@ischi8368]

Please don't kill Uncle Ben, then.

[@edmundquan4652]

Just learn kill the king lol

[@northeastbirdsmore2281]

If you play guitar ..you have a guitar hero ( usually several) Ritchie was and still is mine. If I had to choose an album I'm taking "Machine Head"

[@paulsamuel3226]

The solo to gates of babylon would be beautiful

[@mickeydt17]

One of the best lessons I have ever seen. The way you break down all the components (hand position, muscle movement, etc) is excellent!

[@BenEller]

Mickey DiTrana thanks man!!

[@hidragon91]

The intro riff from Hangar 18 is just the chorus lead from man on the silver mountain *MUSTAINIFIED*

[@hammer159]

Thank you!!! I’ve been screwing this up for YEARS. Now I know why. 👍🏼

[@paranormalrushhour]

Ritchie must be another victim of the PUNISHER!!! 😆

[@dickdastardly2560]

NOBODY breaks down lessons and techniques better than Uncle Ben!! Uncle Ben's videos are Key to Unlocking the guitar Masters of the World techniques and Improving Yours!!

[@BenEller]

Dick Dastardly thanks man!

[@adamblaha9838]

Ben, how does the pick thickness affect the technique? I seem to do everything right, but the pick always got stucked on the string when speeding it up....trying to do the curved movement, but with no great success yet....using 1mm pick...thank you

[@ravikant840]

A reminder to touch my lonely guitar.

[@patrickethington16]

Tumeni notes! Never got beyond step dad speed for that one.

[@GregHu77]

followed your wrist movement and managed to get it to speed after 20 years. Thank you you're excellent teacher!!!!

[@jg0r]

The comparison between resting your hand to sign a paper and palm muting is wonderful. Thank you for that tidbit I can share with my students for years to come.

[@thirdhemisphere]

Crosspicking this part in the original tempo of an album version is ok, but if you're going to approach the live version, heard on On Stage and Deutschland Box Set, then you either gotta be a young Steve Morse clone or find another way. It's about 28% faster! Note, Ritchie doesn't play these arpeggios in those versions, leaving them wisely for David Stone. kzbin.info/www/bejne/eZm8hoaMj9uei5I What I found to be a viable way is, first of all, using 3 fingers in the left hand, not two, and using a hybrid picking pattern: D U U 2 3 2 D D. This is much easier to play fast, however, you must pay all attention you have to the rhythm, since this approach lends itself nicely for lopsided and weirdly syncopated mess of a rhythm. Play slow!!

[@ischi8368]

Geeeeeeeez... I have been playing this way too complicated. Thanks, Uncle Ben!

[@schenkerrothmoore]

Thanks Uncle Ben! An encyclopedia of lead guitar in 19 minutes. This rivals the Star Trek episode Amok Time for getting so much in in so little time!

[@michaelburtyk5562]

Maybe on the record he cross picked it …but live they played to fast to use this technique… he played on two strings with a pull off from the first two notes on the same string..watch live videos of Dio playing this with Other players… all of them like Doug Aldrich use pull offs.

[@rumy6871]

@BenEller Hi Ben, very good lesson. However, I think you might give the isolated track a listen. Blackmore does not play the pattern as you have demonstrated. Interesting, I cannot find a live version where he includes the part. He plays chords instead.

[@scorchin6481]

Went to see Pat Travers, left wanting to be Ritchie Blackmore, and hoping someday to Sing Like Ronnie 🤔#1980

[@qwertybase]

Just found your channel few weeks ago, really like your way of teaching. Works well for me. I have learned guitar mostly by ear and your tutorials add content and details into that - Even after 30 years of noodling by myself 😄🤘

[@kkendall1964]

I was just thinking. I wish someone would do a lesson on the arpeggios in the song " Man on the Silver Mountain" . I do a KZbin search and Uncle Ben has just what the doctor ordered!

[@theeagleman8975]

I'm not 100% sure about the wirst motion on picking, I like to play more classical stuff like bach and I've found the best way to get his fast cross picked sections is to almost pick normally but you wanna have a bounce in your wrist almost like strumming chords rather than twisting your hand, I also forgot to mention the way you hold your guitar, hold it with the neck higher like how classical guitars are held, in the position because of the angle it's easier to reach the other strings allowing you to do fun things like jumping 3 or 4 strings at once with ease

[@WarmProp]

Marshall mentioned 👍

[@JAEZSC90]

this was one of the hardest guitar parts for me, i learned this song over a year ago and regularly practiced the arpeggio section then would get frustrated couldn't get it up to speed. then once i'm able to play it at tempo but just this section alone it's all good until i try to play the entire song then i get to this section and choke.

[@nickven156]

Hi! Thanks for the lesson. I'm learning the song also for myself, but i can't seem to mute the high e when i play the arpeggios And if i don't mute the strings i get lots of unwantwd noise. Any tips?

[@marysisken2889]

Your 101's are brilliant. Good job Ben.

[@tonywolford1]

Thank you I am trying to improve this is awesome lesson thanks for slowing it down and technique

[@calebsj]

kzbin.info/www/bejne/r4fWfWuCm8mmh9k is this cross picking? I def do a lot of direction changes. when you're demonstrating the first D minor arpeggio you are using sweep picking just thought I'd point that out haha

[@ray.a7343]

What is the picking positions?it looks like u start up up down down then the next section it looks like u pick down up down up ? Lol on 5,6,7,6, part

[@navnithgrewal3915]

OMG YES YES YES THANK YOU FOR DOING THIS

[@SamBarvels]

Great lesson as always. I hope you can cover more rhythm stuff. I always had trouble with that funky guitar riff from Another One Bites The Dust. I hope you can cover that at some point. Hanks!

[@tommyibanez3958]

And if you wanna take the mechanics into crazyland....Lucretia

[@gtyrone83]

480 likes, 0 dislikes. 👍 Correction: 737 likes 0 dislikes

[@nonrevnosnibormetalbeerrev6251]

Ritchie is a monster guitarist

[@johnnydeeme]

Always great lessons. Would prefer without sustain, but I can live with it. Probably me moving into the jazz world...

[@stuforty2]

Great song ! The devil got her but hopefully she can be redeemed 😬

[@bama5490]

Awesome maybe you can cover Temple of the king as well always wanted to know how to play Temple of the king

[@joehahn8817]

I love the way you teach man. Of course it might be because it's Blackmore. Either way, you're technique for teaching is perfect in my opinion!!!

[@Kdog-hw6ri]

Loved Rainbow with Dio Best. As well as Sabbath

[@tapchapman]

Thank you! Ritchie Blackmore was the reason I wanted to learn the guitar - when I first heard Child in Time was a "wtf" moment. All your lessons are great, but having had some problems with this this section I really appreciate this specific lesson. Thank you :)

[@TheDogPa]

I only really celebrate one holiday...been that way for decades. April 6, 1974...the first time I saw Purple. Changed everything for me. Most of the show is online here, too.

[@THE_WOAT]

Very impressive lesson. Your ability to explain how to break this down into subcomponents and then link these sub parts into the whole is the kind of detail that will drive improvement. Thanks!!

[@martinopinto6323]

Dear Ben, I decided to subscribe to your Patreon. Your work for the guitar community it's just too much. Too much passion, too much quality, too much professionality. Thanks

[@BenEller]

Martino Pinto thank you so much!!!

[@caljerm]

that section always drove me nuts and made me feel like I had two left feet - for hands ;)

[@robbiegarnz7732]

Amazing lesson! I never would have figured out that key method!

[@wyzyguy726]

I learned this song in the last 3 months or so.. thinking it would be a fun easy open mic jam... Some days the arpeggios flow.. some days they get shat upon.... long story short... this is a dicey one to pull.. Love the song though.. whole thing is fun to play.

[@johnnydeeme]

I think it boils down to that picking process?

[@MrOldnslofly]

If you watch live videos ( which are rare to find quality) Blackmore opts for the chords and no arpeggios. That is how tricky they are!!!!

[@rebelrocker113]

Thanks for the great lesson And breaking it down 🎸

[@Lefty-Guitar-Enthusiast]

How do you afford all those Suhr instruments?

[@CalitranoN]

This is great Uncle Ben! i have to save this one, its worth going over. Great lesson my friend!

[@jacksonmarshallkramer5087]

That's not the best camera angle to see what is actually going on.

[@MikeBrownRehobothBeach]

I can only play it at stepdad speed :(

[@ALLENGERYTHM]

Harder but funner to play it like Gilbert.

[@RobertWestland]

Legendary hat trick - the song, the band and the player! 🤘

[@Guithulhu]

Ellerific!

[@GG256_]

The resting mute is SO weird for me, but makes sense. When i think of muting I think mostly of dead notes, muffling, or chugs, as a prog metal/jazz player. For silence, that's like tonal rocket science, but seems so simple. Nice lesson dude.

[@GG256_]

Thanks Uncle Ben! For reminding me I'll always suck at guitar! (Meaning I can always be better. :) )

[@ronaldososa1975]

Pleeeaaase Do some Shotgun Messiah!!!!

[@jswazz9264]

Ronaldo Sosa - hell yeah! Harry K. Cody had the chops!

[@noenduringcity]

Such a fantastic teacher. You're a legend, Uncle Ben.

[@seanquinn4707]

I think Richie just finger picked most all of the song excluding solo. I don't believe he used the pick on arpeggios. I am playing it with fingers seems easier for me.

[@Homie3794]

Ritchie uses a pick in the live performances

[@ziggy72170]

Wow .. Great Tutorial !!👏👏👏

[@scottm121]

Wonderful explanation!! Thankyou for sharing. I really enjoyed this video. Love the subject tune for the lesson too so i guess thats why it makes sense .

[@ga41867]

Mind sharing your delay setting?

[@headbang71]

Inside picking b and e string

[@davidzamora9973]

The "turning a key" analogy didn't quite work for me when I was starting with cross picking. What made it click for me mentally was thinking of sitting at a table and "brushing" crumbs away from me for down strokes and "brushing" crumbs towards me for upstrokes. Like the motion you would use to brush crumbs off a table you are sitting at. I think this worked better for me because when we turn a key our arm is extended as opposed to when we brush crumbs away from us at the table our arm is bent like when we play guitar. At the end of the day it's the same motion. I was just losing the mental picture/idea of the motion I wanted on the way from turning the key in the door to plucking the frickin' string. I'm not trying to knock the key analogy. I'm just trying to give another option. :) cheers! And of course, great lesson!

[@BenEller]

David Zamora that works too!!! Brush those crumbs!

[@Dennizzz119]

I'd love to see some more Glam Metal riff lessons

[@97stratocaster21]

Not first.

[@CyberScorps]

Hell Yes Ben! 🙂👍🏻

[@BaronQ]

Nice job Ben as ever!

[@davidperezgonzalez1839]

TMNT NES videogame rock version sounding on background? The one that sounds on the map overlay.

[@BenEller]

David Perez Gonzalez you got it!!!

[@davidperezgonzalez1839]

@@BenEller what a hell of a game. Those jumps on the sewer, the aquatic phase, and the last room before the Shredder...

[@guitarsruinlives4497]

Dude thank you. MOTSM is my favorite song period. I have a tattoo about it in fact. Also I’m nuts. LONG LIVE DIO

[@pharaohhowell9915]

Lucretia. 😎

[@lalmalsawmachhangte620]

Uncle Ben is my step dad

[@CraigRMerriman]

Yes!!

[@TheDogPa]

That's how I'd do it if doing a studio version. I'd say you are right, and it is also a great exercise. Next...Burn...which I do pick out, even fast...took years.

[@EarthAltar]

Much easier, and cleaner sounding to play these triads on two adjacent strings. Start on the A note 14th fret G string, F 10th fret G string, and D 12th fret D string. Descend and ascend through the each triad shape in the same four note rhythm. I do find it easier to play the "D" shaped arpeggios on three strings, but use up up down down picking. All notes palm muted.

[@scottwaszak698]

It's the pre-chorus

[@thiagocarlosdeoliveira3087]

Thanks that's exactly where I am struggling right now. I was trying to sweep picking it, but it didn't sound good.

[@nickgreen4731]

Pretty sure Ritchie himself does play it exactly as you describe here, with constantly moving left hand fingers. I've seen some brief footage of him doing similar licks and it seems to be his preferred method.

[@jamie9680]

Perfect way to teach mate!

[@jkell1983]

Been having trouble with this section for years. Thanks Uncle Ben

[@UltraViolence74989]

Hey Unc, another great lesson. What's in that glass next to that $10kish worth of electronic equipment?!?!?!

[@kirkbolas4985]

You are correct. Ritchie indeed was cross picking during the execution of those motifs. I’m also a bassist and when cross picking on guitar, my wrist is using the same rotation motion as when I play slap and pop a la Larry Graham or Bootsy Collins. Using a metronome helps build precision with increasing speed.

[@robertritchie2860]

Great analysis

[@AnthonyBurrito1313]

So hard yet so fun

[@joeyvanostrand3655]

It must make you feel really good to know that other KZbin guitar teachers rely on your channel for material. I won't name names. last time I offered some constructive criticism, a dump truck full of sand fell out of someone's hipster mangina. You do a great job Ben. My playing has improved since becoming a patreon member and practicing your material. Thank you.🙃