Interview with guitarist BERNTH

We are delighted to welcome BERNTH, an internationally recognised Austrian guitarist, composer and music educator celebrated for his extraordinary technical ability, creative performances and innovative approach to guitar playing.

From touring with extreme metal band Belphegor to performing with Seiler und Speer and developing a successful solo career, BERNTH has established himself as a remarkably versatile musician. Through his YouTube channel and BERNTH Guitar Academy, he has inspired guitarists worldwide to improve their technique and explore their musical potential. Here he talks about his journey, his practice and how to get the most out of 20 minutes a day.

Interview by Stefan Joubert

Stefan Joubert: Can you take us back to the beginning? You started playing guitar at the age of 13 and went on to study music professionally in Austria. What first inspired you to pick up the instrument, and which guitarists or musical experiences had the greatest influence on your early development?

BERNTH: I first got into metal through the nu-metal wave, listening to bands like Slipknot and Korn. But it was Metallica’s classic ’80s records that really inspired me to pick up a guitar. Their music made me realize just how much a great song can be driven by a powerful guitar riff. I still remember hearing the opening riff of “Battery” and immediately thinking, “I have to learn how to play that!” That was really the moment that made me want to become a guitarist myself.

Stefan Joubert: You graduated with honours from the Vienna Music Institute, where you studied jazz and popular music. How did your formal musical education influence your approach to guitar playing, particularly in terms of harmony, improvisation and technique, and how did it complement your interest in heavier musical styles?

BERNTH: Studying jazz has definitely had a big influence on my playing. I never became a jazz guitarist, of course, but learning about advanced harmony and incorporating seventh chords and altered chords into a metal context has given my playing a unique flavor, I think.

I also really enjoyed exploring fusion, especially because some of the most technically impressive guitarists come from that world. Seeing players like that at the institute was incredibly inspiring.

Even though I’m still a metal guitarist at heart, being exposed to blues, Latin music, jazz, fusion, pop, and many other styles really broadened my musical horizons. That’s something a lot of metal guitarists never get to experience in such depth, so I’m very grateful for that part of my education.

Stefan Joubert: Early in your professional career, you toured extensively with the Austrian extreme metal band Belphegor, performing across Europe, North America and Latin America. What were the greatest technical and physical challenges of playing such demanding music night after night, and how did those experiences shape your development as a professional guitarist?

BERNTH: The biggest challenge was definitely the DIY approach to touring. I was fortunate enough to skip the van touring stage and travel in proper tour buses from the beginning, but we didn’t have much of a crew or guitar techs to help us. That meant setting up all our equipment ourselves, playing a physically demanding show, and then tearing everything down and loading in and out every single day.

On many of those tours, we wouldn’t even take days off. For example, when we toured with Sepultura in the US, they had quite a few days off, but we would usually fill those gaps with our own headlining shows. So there was very little time to recover, especially considering how physically intense the music was, with all the fast playing, movement, and headbanging.

The crazy thing is that I had only played two or three live shows before suddenly finding myself in this professional touring environment. I had to learn incredibly quickly, and that experience shaped me not just as a live performer, but as a person as well.

Stefan Joubert: In 2015, you joined the Austrian pop-rock group Seiler und Speer, moving into a considerably different musical environment. How did you adapt your playing from extreme metal to a more song-oriented style, and what did that transition teach you about musical versatility and serving the needs of a composition?

BERNTH: When I started playing for a successful pop band in Austria, I developed a completely new appreciation for that kind of music. In the metal world, people sometimes make fun of pop artists because their songs might only consist of three or four chords, making them seem incredibly easy to play. But I quickly learned that being a professional musician in that environment can be extremely demanding.

I remember one particular situation where we were performing live on morning television at 5 a.m., with hundreds of thousands of people watching. I was playing an acoustic guitar plugged directly into the mixing console, and just minutes before going live, one of the musicians didn’t show up. I suddenly had to adapt to a completely different arrangement, quickly writing down the chords about five or ten minutes before the performance. Experiences like that really teach you how to perform under pressure!

Working in that environment also improved my playing and made me a much more versatile studio musician. During recording sessions, you might be asked to make something sound more Latin, more bluesy, or closer to a particular artist or song. You need to understand a wide variety of musical styles and be able to adapt immediately.

Ultimately, that experience taught me that being a great professional musician isn’t just about technical ability. It’s also about versatility, preparation, and being able to deliver in almost any situation.

Stefan Joubert: Your career with Seiler und Speer has included extraordinary performances, such as headlining Vienna’s Donauinselfest in 2016 before more than 120,000 people. How does performing for an audience of that size compare with playing in smaller venues, and what have these experiences taught you about connecting with an audience?

BERNTH: Honestly, I’m sometimes less nervous playing in front of over 100,000 people than performing at a small show for an audience full of guitar enthusiasts who are watching every movement of my fingers on the fretboard!

At a certain point, these massive shows become so surreal that the whole experience almost feels too crazy to be nervous about. I know that probably sounds strange, but I think a lot of it comes down to preparation.

It’s extremely important to me to perform at the absolute best of my abilities, so whenever I have a huge show coming up, I practice relentlessly. I’ll spend hours working on individual guitar solos, making sure every little detail feels completely natural.

By the time I step on stage, I want to know that I’ve done everything I possibly could to prepare. And once I reach that point, I can stop worrying about the performance and simply enjoy the moment. That’s probably the biggest reason why I can stay relatively calm in front of such enormous crowds.

Stefan Joubert: Your guitar playing is particularly admired for its speed, precision and exceptional picking control. Looking back at your own technical development, which aspects of guitar technique were the most difficult for you to master, and what specific changes to your practice routine helped you overcome those challenges?

BERNTH: The biggest challenge for me was definitely correcting bad habits that I had developed over the years. I never had a guitar teacher who pointed out things like holding my pick incorrectly or moving my fretting-hand fingers too much, so I had to identify and fix these issues myself.

When I started diving deeper into guitar technique and documenting my progress on YouTube, I realized just how much work it takes to unlearn something you’ve been doing for years. You can’t simply change your technique overnight. Sometimes it takes months of consistent practice before a small adjustment starts to feel natural.

For example, transitioning from an open to a closed picking-hand position was a long process for me. Even though the adjustment might seem minor, completely retraining your muscle memory takes a tremendous amount of patience and repetition.

Overall, I’d say my picking technique has required the most attention and the biggest changes over the years. It’s also something I continue to work on to this day. I think improving your technique is really a never-ending process, no matter how experienced you become.

Stefan Joubert: Many guitarists associate shredding with speed, but your playing also demonstrates considerable attention to articulation, timing and musical expression. How do you approach balancing technical virtuosity with melody and emotion, and what do you believe distinguishes a memorable guitar solo from one that is simply technically impressive?

BERNTH: For me, fast and technical guitar playing can be just as emotional as any other style of playing. I think people sometimes associate emotion in music exclusively with slower, melancholic melodies, but emotion can also mean adrenaline, rage, aggression, or pure excitement.

I’ve always associated fast guitar playing with that incredible rush of energy you get from an intense song, the kind of music that makes you want to push harder at the gym or just gets your adrenaline pumping. That’s a very powerful emotional response in its own right.

At the same time, I wouldn’t want to make an entire record with ten songs that all have that same intensity. Some of my most successful songs on Spotify are actually acoustic pieces that are technically challenging but not necessarily fast.

I’m naturally drawn to technical playing because I love the challenge and the aggressive sound, but I also appreciate contrast and dynamics. Even I get tired of listening to nonstop shredding after a while! Not every song needs to be at a ten out of ten in terms of intensity.

Ultimately, I think the balance between those different musical approaches is what makes an album interesting and allows the more intense moments to have an even greater impact.

Stefan Joubert: Your instrumental single Farewell introduced many listeners to your work as a solo artist and reached the top of the US iTunes instrumental charts. What inspired you to create this composition, and how did its success influence your confidence and ambitions as an independent musician?

BERNTH: “Farewell” actually started as a pretty crazy experiment. I wanted to see if I could record an entire guitar piece underwater for a YouTube video. So I submerged my acoustic guitar, and as the water slowly filled the sound hole, I could literally feel the instrument deteriorating while I was playing. It started going out of tune, and I could even feel the neck beginning to warp.

That’s actually where the title “Farewell” came from. I was essentially saying goodbye to that guitar, because it was completely unusable after the recording!

The YouTube video ended up going viral, which introduced the song to a much wider audience and brought a lot of listeners over to Spotify and iTunes. It’s become a very special piece for me, and I still perform it every night whenever I play solo concerts.

What makes me particularly grateful is that an instrumental acoustic guitar piece managed to reach such a broad audience and accumulate millions upon millions of streams. That’s certainly not something you can take for granted with this kind of music, and I’m incredibly happy that the song connected with so many people.

Stefan Joubert: Your music frequently combines modern metal guitar techniques with cinematic arrangements and atmospheric elements. When composing an instrumental piece, do you generally begin with a guitar riff, a melodic idea or a broader musical concept, and how do you develop those initial ideas into a complete composition?

BERNTH: When I compose, I usually start with a very basic chord progression. Sometimes it’s literally just four simple chords, and I build everything from there.

I rarely sit down and immediately write a finished main riff. Instead, I like to establish the harmonic foundation first and gradually make it more interesting. That might mean adding more colorful chords, experimenting with different voicings, or finding more creative ways to play the progression.

For example, instead of simply strumming the chords, I might turn them into arpeggios, incorporate tapping, or explore other techniques that give the music a completely different character.

So my favorite approach to songwriting is really to start by deciding on a certain atmosphere or vibe, choosing a key and scale, and finding a simple chord progression that captures that feeling. From there, I gradually develop the technical and musical elements until it becomes something much more unique.

Stefan Joubert: In 2020, you collaborated with David Hasselhoff on Through the Night, introducing him to a heavier musical style through your CueStack project. How did this unusual collaboration come about, and what did you learn from working with an artist whose musical background and public image were so different from your own?

BERNTH: With David Hasselhoff, we realized that he actually has quite a following in the rock and metal community. A lot of us grew up watching Knight Rider and Baywatch, so there’s definitely a nostalgic connection.

I remember he performed at a festival in Austria as a late-night act after Iron Maiden, and surprisingly, a huge number of metal fans stayed and partied to his music. That was really where the idea came from: Why not make an actual metal song with David Hasselhoff?

He was very open to the concept, although it ended up taking several years to bring the project to life. I had a great time writing the song, and it was amazing to see how positively the metal community responded to it.

The track even ended up being featured on The Joe Rogan Experience, which was pretty surreal! Looking back, it was definitely one of the more unusual collaborations I’ve been involved in, but also one of the most fun.

Stefan Joubert: You have also contributed guitar work to major productions, including a reimagining of Canon Rock for the final season of Netflix’s Cobra Kai. How does composing or recording music for a visual production differ from writing your own instrumental material, and what considerations become particularly important when the guitar needs to support a dramatic scene?

BERNTH: Writing music for productions like Netflix or the BBC has been a really interesting experience, especially because the process is quite different from what I originally imagined.

You might think that composers always get to watch the footage and write music specifically for a particular scene, but that’s often not the case at all. Sometimes you don’t get to see any visuals and instead receive a general description of the atmosphere or musical direction the production is looking for.

For example, when I worked on music for Cobra Kai, it wasn’t even clear whether the piece would be used for a fight scene or a montage. So rather than composing directly to picture, I had to create something that could potentially work in different contexts and give the editors some flexibility.

I really enjoy that kind of creative challenge, although I’d love to eventually work on a project where I can compose directly to the visuals and have a clearer idea of how the music will be used.

It’s been a great experience getting involved in that world, and now that I’m living in Los Angeles, I’m definitely hoping to explore more opportunities in film and television music.

Stefan Joubert: Your Escape the Internet tours have brought together musicians and online creators, including Charles Berthoud and Ola Englund, for live performances around the world. What inspired the concept behind these tours, and how has performing alongside musicians with different styles influenced your own creativity and approach to live music?

BERNTH: The main idea behind the Escape the Internet tours was to bring guitarists that people know from YouTube and other online platforms together on a real stage. I’ve always loved performing live, and I was convinced that people who enjoy watching these creators online would also love the opportunity to experience their playing in person.

We’ve already taken the project to China, South Korea, Australia, and pretty much all over Europe, and it’s been an incredible experience so far.

We also recently announced our next tour for February and March 2027, which includes London and several other cities across the UK. I’m really looking forward to meeting more guitar enthusiasts there!

What makes this project so special to me is the opportunity to collaborate with such amazing musicians. Everyone brings something completely different to the stage, and that makes the shows really exciting, both for us and for the audience.

I’m sure we’ll continue taking this project to even more places around the world in the future. It’s simply too much fun not to!

Stefan Joubert: You worked with Ibanez to develop your BER10 signature guitar. Which features were most important to you during the design process, particularly regarding neck feel, playability and tonal versatility, and how has your understanding of guitar equipment evolved throughout your performing and recording career?

BERNTH: When developing my signature guitar, the most important thing was to create an instrument that I would genuinely want to play myself. I never wanted to just put my name on a guitar and sell it to my audience. This is literally my main guitar, and you can see me playing it in pretty much every video I’ve released since its launch.

I also wanted to find the right balance between affordability and premium quality. A lot of my audience consists of younger guitarists, so releasing a $10,000 signature model wouldn’t have made much sense to me. I wanted to create a professional instrument that people could realistically afford without compromising on the features that matter most.

Some of the details were very personal to my playing style. For example, I wanted the volume knob moved slightly farther away from the picking area so I wouldn’t accidentally hit it while playing. The neck profile was also extremely important to me. I’ve never been a fan of overly thin necks because I tend to apply a little more pressure with my fretting hand, so I wanted something that felt comfortable and supportive.

I’m really happy with how everything turned out. We managed to find a great middle ground between quality, playability, and price, and the fact that it’s been my main guitar ever since probably says more than anything else!

Stefan Joubert: Since launching your YouTube channel in 2018, you have built an international audience through a combination of exceptional performances, creative guitar experiments and educational content. What originally motivated you to share your playing online, and how do you balance creating entertaining videos with maintaining your artistic identity as a professional musician?

BERNTH: The main reason I started making YouTube videos was actually pretty simple: I never really had any friends who were as obsessed with guitar as I was! So I figured, why not try to build an online community of people who share that same passion?

In the beginning, I mostly documented my own progress and talked about guitar technique, practice routines, and the challenges I was working through. That’s something I still do today on my second channel, BERNTH Guitar Academy, which has already grown to over 200,000 subscribers.

My main channel has gradually evolved into something more focused on entertainment and creative guitar performances. I wanted to make videos that aren’t just interesting for guitarists, but also accessible to anyone who enjoys rock and metal music.

That approach has helped the channel reach over 400 million views so far, which is honestly incredible to me. What started as a way to connect with a few like-minded guitar enthusiasts has turned into something much bigger than I ever imagined, and I’m really excited to see where it goes next!

Stefan Joubert: Through BERNTH Guitar Academy, you have developed instructional programmes such as 10 Steps to Modern Shredding and Sweep Picking Masterclass. What inspired you to create structured courses rather than relying solely on individual tutorial videos, and how has your approach to teaching guitar evolved as your student community has grown?

BERNTH: The idea for my guitar courses actually came directly from my audience. People kept asking me how I personally practice, how I developed my technique, and which exercises I use to improve specific aspects of my playing.

I realized that while YouTube tutorials can be incredibly helpful, they’re not always the best way to learn something systematically. People watch videos in a random order, jump between different techniques, and often lack a clear direction for their practice.

So I started developing structured training programs that guide players through a specific process, whether that’s seven days, 30 days, or ten weeks. The idea is to give them a clear roadmap with exercises that build on each other, rather than just a collection of unrelated lessons.

The results have been amazing. I’ve seen so many guitarists make incredible progress simply because they started practicing in a structured way for the first time in their lives.

So far, I’ve been able to reach somewhere between 40,000 and 50,000 players through my Patreon and Guitar Academy programs, and that’s incredibly rewarding. I’m always excited to develop new courses because I know there are still so many guitarists out there who could benefit from this approach.

Ultimately, I’m just trying to create the kind of learning resources I wish I’d had when I first started playing guitar.

Stefan Joubert: Your teaching frequently focuses on overcoming technical limitations, particularly picking speed, hand synchronisation and unwanted tension. From your experience, what are the most common reasons guitarists reach a technical plateau, and how can students distinguish between a problem caused by insufficient practice and one caused by inefficient technique?

BERNTH: I think the most common reason guitarists hit a plateau is that they don’t structure their practice routines enough. They might sit down and practice for an hour or more every day, but they keep repeating the same exercises without really understanding why they’re doing them or what they’re trying to improve.

A lot of players also aren’t analytical enough about their own technique. For example, they might notice that their picking speed hits a certain limit, but they don’t understand what’s actually causing that limitation. Is it unnecessary tension, inefficient movement, or a synchronization problem between both hands?

Because they haven’t identified the underlying issue, they simply keep repeating the same exercises, hoping that putting in more hours will eventually solve the problem. Unfortunately, that’s often not how progress works.

In my experience, the biggest breakthroughs happen when players learn to identify their specific weaknesses, recognize bad habits, and work on correcting them with targeted exercises.

That’s exactly what I try to teach through my courses and Patreon community. I’ve seen guitarists make tremendous progress once they stop practicing on autopilot and start approaching their technique more consciously and systematically.

Ultimately, it’s not just about how much time you spend practicing, but how effectively you use that time.

Stefan Joubert: At the London Guitar Institute, many of our students are adults learning guitar for personal enjoyment or returning to the instrument after a long break. Your courses often emphasise short, focused exercises and structured practice challenges. How would you recommend that an adult guitarist with only 20 to 30 minutes available each day organise their practice to develop technique, improve musicality and maintain motivation?

BERNTH: If you have 20 to 30 minutes available for consistent practice every day, that’s already fantastic in my opinion! You don’t necessarily need to practice for three or more hours to make significant progress. In fact, I think someone who practices with focus for 20 to 30 minutes every single day can potentially achieve better results than someone who practices for several hours only a couple of times per week.

My first recommendation would be to identify what you actually want to play on the instrument. There’s no point in prescribing sweep picking exercises to someone whose main goal is to become a great blues guitarist. Instead, figure out which techniques are essential for the music you love and identify the biggest obstacles preventing you from playing it.

For most guitarists, alternate picking is a great place to start because it’s such a universal technique that applies to countless musical styles and guitar solos.

From there, I would recommend setting very specific, analytical goals. For example, many players struggle more with one picking direction change than the other because their pick grip or picking angle naturally favors certain movements. Identifying and correcting these imbalances can make a huge difference.

Personally, developing a more consistent picking technique, including closing my picking hand and keeping my fretting-hand fingers closer to the fretboard, helped me tremendously.

Ultimately, the key is to be very intentional with your limited practice time. Instead of trying to improve everything at once, focus on a few specific weaknesses, work on them consistently, and make sure every exercise serves a clear purpose.

Stefan Joubert: After building such a varied career as a guitarist, composer, performer and educator, you relocated to Los Angeles in 2025 to pursue further musical opportunities. How has this new chapter influenced your creative ambitions, and what projects, collaborations or musical challenges are you most excited to explore in the coming years?

BERNTH: Moving to Los Angeles has honestly been one of the best decisions I’ve ever made for my career. Back in Austria, I often felt quite isolated creatively because there simply aren’t that many artists doing what I do. I rarely had the opportunity to collaborate with other musicians working in a similar field.

Of course, Austria will always be home in a way, and I still love visiting. I’m really looking forward to performing there again in March, and hopefully I’ll get to spend a couple of extra days catching up with friends.

But professionally, moving to Los Angeles has opened an incredible number of doors in a relatively short time. I’ve had the opportunity to work with platinum- and diamond-certified artists, build valuable relationships throughout the music industry, contribute to film and television soundtracks, and sign with an amazing management company.

My management team also works with Papa Roach, and the company has connections to artists like Mötley Crüe, which is pretty surreal considering I grew up listening to many of these bands.

Another huge milestone has been securing a record deal for my upcoming band project, Ivory Black, through The Orchard/Sony. That’s something I’m incredibly excited about, especially because launching my own band has been a dream of mine for a very long time.

Beyond the business side of things, one of the best parts of living here is simply being surrounded by so many incredible musicians. For the first time, I’m regularly collaborating with artists in person rather than just connecting online.

There are so many exciting things happening right now, and I feel like I’m only getting started. I’m incredibly happy that I made the move, and I definitely plan on staying!

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