For the record the war that Mike's School walked out in protest because of, was World War II since Mike's 77 and all. 😂

Had 2 grip-masters. Red and yellow. Worked pretty good to start building the right muscles. I used to use a spiral bound notebook and practice skipping strings, now its one of my playing strengths. Great stories Mike.

I was blessed with an AMAZING band instructor. During lunch and recess in my middle school years, I’d just pop in and play guitar! He’s definitely the reason I’ve progressed so far.

I thought I was some kind of weird throwback until I watched this video. I re-write tabs with paper and pencil because it seems to stick better when I physically write things down. My grip-master is out all the time so I can grab it whenever. Do all the finger yoga as per your lessons. I'm sad every day that I only started playing after retirement, but better late than never. Your videos motivate me and are very entertaining (using your grip-master in your pocket??!! LOL). Your musical skills are amazing, as is your story-telling! LOVE MY SANCTUS SHIRT!

Had a few walkmans back inn the day, i got one for Christmas, like in 83 or so and my good bud, ended up getting the same one, but we didnt know until we both said hey we got the same ones lol

Oh you’re such a rebel Mike, a real Metalhead

2:10 this picks are still pretty great

I feel you bro...thanks for your amazing bro

I remember going through my jazz band charts during other classes, trying to figure out some fingering positions for the complex jazz chords. Also used to type out lyrics for songs on a TI-83 calculator when I was bored.

Love this! Congrats on 844k Subscribers! Your t shirt is design is barely visible now haha. I wish I had started learning in school. Alas the opportunity didn't come along 'til much later for me. I probably would've employed some of these techniques for sure. I did have a little cassette player, not a walkman though, some sort of budget one haha. Finger Yoga has been a life saver. The Finger Independence you show here is awesome, I actually use these from a video Phil Soussan put on his KZfaq channel. I don't have a GripMaster but I did buy a similar looking hand squeezable device to strengthen my hand/ wrist after the latest bout of pain I got. I did the EXACT same thing drawing out the neck when I was stuck on the fitting rooms at my old job, I'd use blank labels from the 5 packs of socks as they were long and skinny like a guitar neck, turn it over and draw out the frets, string, put in all the dots and go all different ways writing in the notes.

You mentioning using Finger Yoga and being careful not to use too much pressure on the guitar is really important! I do your finger yoga exercises almost every day . Thank you so much for sharing them on your KZfaq channel mike :) If you push down too hard you can cause injury. I try to use as little grip as possible to fret notes/ chords. And Ive discovered that you can usally push down with much less force than what seems necessary. It does take some practice though. However I think it's very much worthwhile. I'm also fond of 09 guage strings and using low action as it helps me to play progressive metal as well as rock and some classical and jazz music with as little pressure as possible. Of course there are tunings that work better with thicker strings and some people much prefer a higher string guage. So it's all up to preference.

Your stories brought back some memories of the early 90s. Those were good times.

This is what I needed. Thank you

I had a red gripmaster (bought it from Black Belt Magazine) and attended many Saturday school sessions. I can relate good sir.

Wow that’s a blast from the past ! I had a gripmaster lol remember going on holiday and bring it with me for the flight

I had always felt like school was a waste of my precious practice time, and i recently got a saturday school suspention. Yknow you're parents aren't going to let you crank your amp of play drums when you get home from saturday school, you have to find ways to be creative. And i think those are the most valuable learning experiences, and something positive to look back on. I recommend doing all these things, but what helped me the most wad writing in cursive full pages about anything guitar related, and hearing a full song in my head and play drums to it on my desk and chair.

Thanks Mike, that brought back some great memories! I did finger excersizes on my thigh and practiced licks and scales on my wrist. I even got away with bringing my guitar out in the back of a Reading class in '82. I can play just about every song and lead I learned by ear in the 80's, even if it has been years. Can't play most things I learn off KZfaq after just a couple of months without referring back to the video.

I am currently in high school and all I really do is the rhythm pats but I am gonna start using the other things

i was nodding while you were talking about holding picks in school because i do that too, then i realised i was holding a pick right then 😂😂

Great tips, Mike! See ya around

I actually have a gripmaster too, mines blue tho, i bring it to school and fiddle with it when im not doing something important 😅😂

Bro with you talking about all this reminded me that I also did the majority of what you were talking about here. Thanks for that nostalgic feeling for myself

Hi Mike -we are nearly the same age, and yours has become my favorite channel. It amazes me how for some of those who hated school, decades later have great things going on; where-as some portion of us who got straight A's then compelled into engineering, tech, whatever, but still passion for guitar, lives kinda suck... Anyway, can't wait to watch all your videos! - though I spent teens more into pop/rock then metal and didn't start guitar until the end of 80's, loved trying Def Leppard, White Lion, Boston, etc. (plus used the Grip Master :) but then was so disappointed by 90's music that other stuff took priority -after a few years kind of just did acoustic for a couple decades. Excited to now be jamming on electric again!

Dude! Not only do I still have all the bad tab books you keep featuring, but I also still have my Gripmaster - even the same colour, the red one. Keep up the good work.

Lately I played bass a lot and I think it has similar effect as the Gripmaster strengthening the left hand.

They have these guitar neck practice things now, for if youre some where to workout your fingers on the guiitar

My exact Grip Master was sitting beside me when I found this video. I usually keep it at work but today I just happened to have it at home with me. Dumb, I know, but I chuckled a little.

dang, nice to hear im not only one doing these things(writing riffs from memory, having guitar pick with yourself whole time) in middle school (and i thing i will start carrrying the pick thing again, it could puy me in good mood sometimes)

One day in middle school... i was very bored for some reason and i wrote down the lyrics to ac/dc bad boy boogie

I may have to pick up one of those grip masters (or whatever they're called now). I wasn't sure they actually be worth the time and money but I sit around a lot at work and could easily do that and the finger independence exercises.

I have a few years on you Mike, and wished I had stuck with playing like you did (I still play, but definitely not religiously like I used to). Anyhow, thanks for sharing, I love the stories, especially this one since it's so relatable. A lot of the stuff you touched on, I did as well (the Walkman in school, owning a grip-master, getting in school or after school detention and finding ways to entertain myself musically, tabbing things out from my head and playing them later, etc.). Thanks for sharing, it was like a walk down memory lane for me, LOL!

One thing I used was an iRig. That worked real well for me recording “professional” sounding tracks in GarageBand. Allowed me to plug my guitar into my phone basically. All without disturbing others too much.

im 13 and i have problems focusing in class( i probally have adhd) and this will help me a lot with being bored and wanting to play guitar

i broke my wrist about 9 years ago, my surgeon recommended one of those Gripmasters to me. super helpful in my recovery. using that along with gentle flexibility stretching brought my grip strength and range of motion back to pre-break levels. if it weren't for him, a routine, and some tools i'd still be asking my parents to open pickle jars for me!

I've been playing for almost 3 decades, and a whole lot of practice came in the shape of visualising, much like the lad here talked about in the video. I did learn to play drums without a drum set. . The more you advance, the better you get at visualising doing something and then replicating it on the instrument. It is not so difficult to know which air guitarists actually know how to play guitar! I played trumpet for years in school and high school, sold the trumpet, did not play for 20 years, but sure as hell I did keep at least the knowledge of how to make the notes, pretty much just by "fidgeting" at work even when I was answering a call. Got me a trumpet for a while, and while I seemed to have most of the muscle memory from the lips, I could still do the correct notes with the valves. In the end, it's a bunch of stuff that gets to be almost involuntary. Like making grooves with your teeth and saliva, which usually it's so quiet nobody even hears it but it sounds loud enough for your internal ear. Or singing in your head or super quietly music you know, a song or anything that just pops up in your head unannounced.

7:30 Funnily enough if you play that fortnite festival (the rock band game mode) you can set your controls to a ZXCV or ZXCVB for expert. or whatever line of keys you want. but that really really boggles your mind with finger independence.

Hi, I'm 12 and I am In the same situation as you where. Thanks for the advice, Love you're content👋

So.... Mike you never mentioned whether your walk out was for the war or against? Either way, great to hear your origin story - from Art of War to Art of Guitar! 🤘

This was basically me in highschool. I luckily didn't have to deal with the walkman or detentions but I definitely did most of this stuff. I bought that red grip master and I'm sure it helped me get more comfortable with my hand movements. Drawing scale patterns and writing down chord progressions or licks in my head too. I still keep those notebooks around with all of that stuff. I definitely put more effort into guitar than into the lessons.

Oh the trouble I got into because I wanted to learn how to play. I figured out in Jr. High when the band room was empty. So would go in there and pick up a acoustic guitar they had and learn stuff. Of course I’d get caught and sent to my counselor office. After several in school suspension’s and Saturday’s and many calls to my parents they finally relented and let me play! That’s when my parents bought me my first electric and I have never looked back! Now as a proud father of 3 boys my middle son is obsessed with piano and guitar and is very talented. He been at it for several years now and is showing me guitar stuff! BTW, he’s been taught and continues to learn music theory which in my opinion is so important. Thanks Mike for the content and informative episodes!

Spending Saturday in detention? I think they made a movie about that...

I always had a pick with me. I would do a version of finger yoga where i would tap the fingering of a song or scale I was learning on the desk.

For the sake of curiousity did you happen to keep any of those old ideas notebooks? Seems like interesting art pieces.

“Is that your hand in your pocket kind of squeezing or are you just glad to see me?”

I used to think that those grip masters were gimmicks but looks like they work after all. I had a cheaper version of that and it's a sponge that is used to train fingers for rock climbing. One thing l learn from the video is the "random finger tapping" part. That is definitely something I realised that is a not intuitive for me and I have to be conscious enough to get my brain and fingers to work together.

Keeping a pick handy while driving etc, practice rolling it around in your hand, making it appear and disappear, really good for learning how to put a pick away and bring it out again, transitioning from finger style to pick style.

@TheArtofGuitar Hey Mike 👊🏻😁🤘🏻 6:06 I bought my very first *Gripmaster* (also in Red) around 5 Months ago, which was about 4 Months after I started playing & learning Guitar back in March this year. I use mine whenever I see it laying there and I have the opportunity using it, because I've got nothing better to do with my hands at the moment 😅 While watching something etc. or I intentionally use it every Time BEFORE & AFTE I play Guitar on Both of my Hands equally to warm up/ cool down my Muscles etc Almost everyday for at least 7 to 15 Minutes over the day. It really helps a whole lot getting warmed up a lot faster instead of ONLY Stretching/ Finger Yoga + plus playing alone. And now I've used it so much in just those few months, that it's gotten all wiggly and loose at some spots^^ And since I also started my KZfaq Channel about a month ago, which means I play even more on a daily basis right now to record VIDEOS, I definitely need to buy a new & fresh Gripmaster soon I guess haha 😂 ~Det . . . . . . . #det3rnate #youtubeguitarist #gripmaster #griptrainer 😤🤘🏻

That's how I am with work, I have to be in at 4pm. Meaning I have to put my guitar down and head out. So needless to say I'm late EVERYDAY!!

I graduated high school 2 years ago but in my senior year towards the end I would bring my guitar into class with a backpack gig bag instead of my school bag and use a little practice amp whenever I could. Toward the end of senior year there was a lot of down time and we didn’t need our books just iPads so I said screw it and started bringing my guitar

Duuuude this is the greatest thing, we would have been metal head twins if we went to the same school. We're the same age too. I did everything you just described while I was bored in class. I still have my notebooks of random tabs I would write out in class. It got so out of hand that my friend who had a crappy Johnson strat guitar, unbolted the neck and brought that to school to practice finger positions on the neck. We would pass each other in the hall and hand the neck to each other like a baton 😂 I don't know how the teachers never took it away from us.

If you've ever seen Dr Strange Love, you can get to the point where your arms will act independent of your will. Its really crazy! 😲

I used to do the Walkman trick, but I had my own technique. My earpieces snapped off, so I would wear a jacket and run one cord up the arm and put the earpiece in the palm of my hand and rest my head on my hand with my elbow on the table. The things I had to do in the late 80s / early 90s to listen to music.

I did the same things!!!!!! Only it was a shitty little cd player that skipped every time I moved it, I would bring picks to school and pick the side of my chair and from that It definitely helped alternate picking, kill em all was my first tab book and I brought it to school every day along with the best of slayer book haha, we would write ridiculous tabs that were totally awful. And I still constantly tap patterns with my fingers, and still use that hand gripper I got 15 years ago, I would definitely say all of those things helped future playing, for sure. I was literally just talking to my friend about this on the phone ten minutes ago, then right after I saw your video!!!!

Man this video is awesome. Keep it up, Mike, the part where u described you coughing while trying to hide the loud noise of the button on your old music player 😂😂😂 is Hilarious i started dieing laughing 😂😂😂 when you described what u did.

Careful with those finger strength things guys, dont get carried away, i fucked my hand up 3 months ago with one n it's still not healed, had to stop playing completely :( rip

It’s nice when you have to be somewhere a certain amount of time but u do something that you would normally do at home.

Ever have the stylus pick?

I just played with pencils. It's easy to get a rebound with so small "stick". After the sessions the table was full of marks from the pencil lol

Crikey.... talk about obsessed! haha

Haha I do this now at work!

I also have a grip master!

I often take a coin or my plectrum in my pocket and imagine playing something. and my smartphone is the fretboard

When did you first hear Death Metal? How did you react?

If you use a grip master, you should also use rubber bands to work out your extensors with rubber bands

I used the finger strengthener all the time until my wife yelled at me for making that squeaking sound. It really helps make the pinkey strong like a tree! When I first tried guitar there was no internet and I didn't know guitar action wasn't over 1/2 an inch. Tuners wow what an invention. Retirement gives you time but the pay isn't as good, my thumbs are worn out and it takes time to find the right-size guitar neck, of my 8 guitars only two are comfortable.

I took a bass to in school suspension. None of the teachers let me play it except the music teacher. He was mad i wasnt in school band. I said “yeah cause I’m not a nerd” i was a metal nerd. And normally a guitarist. I just had a new bass that week

Mike, your headphone hiding trick totally reminded me of something i did. Back in 2nd grade we had a cassettee player station with books and the corresponding cassettes to listen along as you read...but me and my best friend would bring our KISS cassettes and listen to those instead, while trying to remember to not sing along or bang our little heads. I so clearly remember listening to Kiss Asylum in that classroom to this day. Shout out Ms. Holm😂

the grip master thats what she said

I still own my grip master. I’ve had it for 16 years.

Mike plays guitar

Your classmates probably thought you were playing pocket pool 🎱 🤣

It’s funny that you have to explain what a walkman is 😂😂😂

There is not such thing as "school suspension" here in México. Back in the day (all the way up to earlies 90s) at the public schools if you misbehave the teachers would beat you up. No kidding, they will hit you with whatever they might get at hand. Most of the time they had the parent's blessing to do so, to beat the kid up for misbehavior. When I got into a private school I got surprised that the teachers/directors does not beat you or insult you, no matter how bad you behaved. Also, that there was a different teacher for each class, each hour.

Necessity is the mother of invention, right? I used about half of these techniques before I could buy a guitar to help prepare me.

I was in detention and wrote up a band logo and name Because I was bored

Here’s a suggestion, get homeschooled, you’ll have more time with your guitar than regular school.

Your stories reminded me of the Breakfast Club. Fun to hear! I used to get in trouble and my teachers would make me copy pages of the Webster's dictionary. 😂

No Dunlop tortex back then? How old are you dude? I'm 35 and I've been using Dunlop tortex since almost day 1 when I was 12/13. Those fender picks you shouted are fucking awful imo😂

Du u ude

Bro your upload times are whack… love the channel but you literally stream at like 4am uk time and I think it’s like 10-11pm for ET.

Chicken Shandwich

First 😁

Dude is having a mid life in almost real time.