Johannes Ambs

Dear Allen,
After using your Ultimate Picking Program for 3 weeks now, I wanted to share my experiences with you and give you some totally honest feedback. This isn't going to be a short post, so only read it if you can spare the time. I will of course not be offended if you don't and I apologize in advance for my mediocre English.

First I want to give you an impression of me as a learning guitar player. I am 27 years old and have been playing guitar since elementary school. When I was 15 I began to practice a lot and have since then been really committed. I always tried to practice for at least 3 hours a day, read books about practicing the right way, purchased DVDs and programs etc... However, for the relatively long time that I have been actively trying to get good, I play embarrassingly mediocre. But although I am not a skilled player, I am a very experienced customer of guitar programs (it's something), so I think I am qualified to give valuable feedback.

The first thing I want to talk about is the format of your program. It is absolutely innovative and unique. I have never worked on my technique with this approach and it feels very refreshing to do something else then just "trying to play like the guy in the instructional video" for the 100th-time. The visual presentation and the videogame-esque feeling of achievement after bringing an exercise on the "next-level" is beyond awesome. I can't give that enough praise. It is motivating and helps me to stick with it.

The next absolutely positive point I want to address is the lesson material itself and the fundamental way the program works by forcing you to work on your weaknesses. The best way to express myself is probably to tell you another story about me. There is a good chance that I am the one person on this planet who has practiced a particular solo more than anyone else on the planet. When I was around 18 years old I wanted to learn downfall by Children Of Bodom. To this day I can't properly do that. But for the last 9-10 years the licks of that relatively short solo covered around 70% of my practice schedules, often 100%. I guess I am obsessed with that little piece of music that I still cant play. There are kids who shred it after half a year of guitar noodling, which is why I assume that there are many ways in which my method of practicing and my technique is fundamentally wrong. The point is, that my method has achieved one thing for sure: It kept me away from addressing weak points. I practiced the same patterns for hours year after year and although I don't really grasp why I am not an expert in the things I actually worked on, I can feel that it's very positive that the U.P.P. now forces me to do other stuff and take a step back. Doing the assessment test was kind of a humiliating process because I actually didn't know how bad I am in some areas. I had to turn the metronome down to unknown depths but am now slowly crawling towards the surface and that means, for the first time in years, the experience of some actual progress. Thank you for that. Forcing the student to focus on weaknesses is in my opinion the Program's greatest virtue.

Next I want to make a little productive criticism. There is of course a reason why people like me are unable to play on a higher level, regardless of the hours they have put in. That reason is bad technique, which is easily said. The point is, that it is almost impossible for a learning player to really know what he/she is doing wrong. I didn't realize that something feels wrong until I finally found out a different way to do it. Teachers on the other hand are unable to really tell whats going on, because the problem might not be a visible one. The Improvements I have made over the years never ever happened because I just "played something many times" (Jesus, I remember when I swore to practice nothing else until I would have played the first run of that cursed solo 10,000 times. I did that and it didn't really help. Yes, I counted). Occasional improvement always happened because I was able to apply something into my technique that I picked up from somewhere. Your advice like "keep the pick in touch with the string" is just gold. I already do this but it will be of great worth for a lot of players. But I want more of that. Slow motion videos are great and very interesting but I am more interested how playing "feels" for you, physically and mentally. I realize you talk about it and for me thats the most valuable part of the videos. Any material covering even more of that in future programs would make me very happy.

The lesson material itself is another big plus. I would say its a matter of taste to go through exercises that aren't exactly musical but it really isn't. I can clearly see how them focusing on the technical aspect is helping me with getting the most out of my practice time and that is what I want. Progress. Contrary to what some might expect, working with the program is actually my favorite part of my practice schedule. I work on it for an hour every day, before I practice something else.

This is my review, I hope it is of some value for you and I hope I was able to express myself more or less clearly.

Johannes

[Johannes has gained over 5 Notes Per Second on each exercise since finishing the assessment]

Peter Norquist

Your UPP is fantastic!

Your app has made me a 500% better guitar player since I bought it. The exercises are awesome, frustrating challenging, and most of all effective! I’m hoping you come out with an app for working on the fretting hand soon too. Thanks again!

[Peter has improved 5 notes per second on each exercise][The program is now giving him 3 exercises to practice]

Jamie Prouse

As an avid user of this program myself, for anybody who is questioning purchasing this I strongly recommended you do!

It's now a vital addition to my daily practise and not only is it really helping me nail my picking accuracy and speed it's also really fun to use. The time and effort put towards making this program shows and continues to improve with new updates and new features. It is awesome.

[Jamie has improved 9.5 notes per second on for exercise on average within about a week!][The program is now giving him 8 exercises to practice]

Brian Jetter

Thank you!
Man what a treat this program is. Just doing the assessment alone is eye opening and tons of fun. I have excitement just seeing each new exercise and video as its unlocked. Those videos are gold man. It's great to get your wisdom. Can't thank you enough for the work you did here. (oh and im ready for the legato one anytime bro lol) It's so easy to use & helpful too. It's re-invigorated my drive to pick my ass off and these stripped down transient exercises are awesome. I know the gains will already happen before the assessment is even done.

Josh O'Neill

Hi Allen,
I've been using your Ultimate Picking program. Bought it probably around a month ago. It's insane, I've never had such speedy growth in my playing. I just wanted to thank you for it. I'm sure I still have a long ways to go. Being able to rifle something out real quick is effortless now, instead of my hands getting jumbled in the mix. Again, just wanted to thank you and appreciate the amount of time and effort it must have taken to come up with!
And again thank you for the system. It's been the first time I feel confident in my ability to play.
Josh

[Josh has gained over 49 Notes Per Second overall since finishing the assessment]

Bruce C.

OK - I can see how this could really help with my picking. Thanks man! I feel like I have a teacher again

You are the only guitarist/instructor that addresses the problem that I have been agonizing over literally for years. And I've asked many people about this with no real answer - and that is - my arm tenses up when I practice a tremolo exercise. I can get it up to about 160 bpm then my arm tenses and I have to stop, I have been pissed off at myself because I cannot tremolo for an indefinite period of time. I see other guitarists do it but I can't. And absolutely nobody provides a solution to this except you. So thank you!!

I've been practicing never leaving the string! It's working - at least for one string now. But the tension on the arm is far less than before. I can go much longer on a tremolo than before! Now I have to incorporate that in all your exercises and the scales that I practice.

(**Bruce has already progressed 62 Notes Per Second overall within his first week of finishing the assessment test and practicing what the program told him to practice**)