Hello and Welcome, Adrian!!

My name is Adam Steinz, and I am an Associate Instructor and an Administrator on the Pebber Brown Forum. Thank you so much for sharing your video! As I mentioned in my email response to you, students who post their videos here have a much greater chance of getting a response from Pebber, myself, and some of his more dedicated students. We are all here to help each other, and I think you will find the atmosphere encouraging!

I apologize for the delay in responding, but I would like to comment on each video, along with some general thoughts. You've got a great attitude and excellent attention to detail. It's refreshing to see the proper use of a metronome, as well. Let's review some other particulars:

1) VIDEO LENGTH & NUMBER OF VIDEOS: This is almost always an issue for new students. (My first video to Pebber was 10 MINUTES long!!). However, in order to get a better understanding of your progress, Pebber and I recommend performing each exercise for at least 60 seconds, and combining 2-3 techniques per video. Ideally, videos should be 2-3 minutes long. Again, posting videos in the Forum is much better than emailing them directly to us.

2) SAROD PICKING/SCALPEL PICKING: Technique looks really good, but again, this is based on a 36-second video. It WILL take time for this technique to improve. It took me 6 months before I felt comfortable utilizing Sarod and Scalpel Picking into my on-stage playing. I still practice this every day! Your Scalpel Picking is excellent throughout...You just need to work on your timing (I will address this below).

3) SPIDERS/PERMUTATIONS: Looks really good, including your timing!!

4) PER 2 BEATS 1-9 @ 100 BPM: Even though this requires use of the picking hand only, try to hold the guitar properly (don't grab the bottom of it like you do at the 40-second mark). Also, it is a little difficult to decipher the quarter notes, as if you were trying to pack in all the goodness at once. This will improve with practice, so I would love to see you re-visit this in January!!

5) PER 1 NOTE @ 50 BPM: Up until you were playing 7's, this was near flawless!! However, things were a little choppy with your 7's and your 9's...Again, this will improve with practice!!

I appreciate you taking the time to read my comments, and I hope you get something good from them. Remember, we are all here to help each other. There is no "graduation" from learning a musical instrument. Thank you again, and keep up the GREAT WORK, Adrian!!


Sincerely,
~Adam Steinz

Hello adto!!

The issues that Pebber pointed out do not have anything to do with your recording equipment and/or your recording techniques. These issues stem from your playing technique. I hope this clears up any confusion.

As far as Pebber demonstrating/playing 7's, I would suggest starting with his "TIMING Basics" videos. Regardless of being able to accurately play 5's, 7's, etc., Pebber demonstrates one of the most difficult techniques: Playing ONE NOTE exactly on the "click," so that you do not even hear the "click" of the metronome.

Finally, I think it is great that you want to skip ahead and check out Pebber's other YouTube videos...In fact, I watched HUNDREDS of Pebber's vids back in 2009 and early 2010 before I ever contacted Pebber directly!! That is what the videos are for, so we definitely encourage you to check out as much as you like.

Having said this, Pebber does not (and will not) send any out-of-sequence videos to any of his students. Pebber sends videos based on each student's performance and technique (which is why he recommends one student video per month).

Thanks again for your enthusiastic approach, and best wishes in the New Year!!