Fun fact: him putting his pick down at the end of the video is actually a subtle nod to all of the guitarists watching this doing the same thing and giving up guitar entirely.
5his is what happens when you write impossible things on guitar pro ( a program ) and then practice them until they slowly be cone possiblle.. Tim's talent has been fed by tech in an excellent symbiosis ( i don't mean this negatively in ANY way to him, this is NOT a criticism), it's inspiring and amazing
Immaculate is a good term for Tim’s playing. It’s a little too ‘clean’ for my comfort, it’s like the uncanny valley of technical skill. I appreciate the discipline but something about the sterility turns me off
@@MrDmadness hes took full advantage of the tools we have today instead of learning the ''classic way'' when tabs sheets were used more or by ear. amazing
I can’t tell you how many times I’ve watched Tim play this, but it boggles my mind that he doesn’t even break a sweat or show anything that says this is difficult as heck.
@@digitalfluid I know it’s not just him but their individual parts are just so incredibly difficult and they play it like it’s nothing. Just a regular riff to them
The guy has been playing like this as soon as he started playing the violin. In an interview he mentioned how painful it was, in a literal way cuz he would get slapped when making mistakes. Polyphia started getting attention when they were basically doing only technical, super fast solos. What I mean is that Tim probably repeated this song so many times, especially for the recording, that it has become effortless, just an automatism. I wonder if he still actually enjoys playing this kind of song. Even for any average player, repeating a song ad nauseam to get it right is spoiling you from enjoying it in the end.
@@ihazhedont Of course he has practiced it a lot, but he would need to much less than the average player. I personally find even more joy after repeating songs over and over again, because once you really nail it you can jam out and feel the song more instead of the hyper focus on moment to moment technique.
I mean he's put everything into it since he was in his early teens. Anyone who puts their singular focus on a pursuit can get this level of mastery in it no matter what it is.
@@azurabun0 I remember this german guy I met in Polyphia's concert in Berlin. He said all the time "how can such a good guitar player be so damn handsome!!?" lol
Several of his composition videos he speaks about how his whole goal is to utilize the full 5 octave range for each chord progression across all their songs
@@Tony99992000 I've seen them, that's how I first heard of Tim. I was a Freshman in College when Passion and Warfare came out. First song I learned from Steve was Sisters, then For The Love Of God and Blue Powder. Polyphia is definitely unique!
No no no! Tim putting his pick down at the end of the video is actually a subtle nod to all of the guitarists watching this doing the same thing and giving up guitar entirely....AND going back to playing the violin that he gave up because it was too "NERDY" and instrument. What makes his playing unique and ridiculously good is he still has the chops from playing violin...the vibrato along the frets of the neck. The hybrid piking is akin to having a bow with several reaches. I LOVE LOVE LOVE his drummer picking up on the jazzy flamenco percussion. I used to play violin, mandolin and guitar while flamenco-tap-stomping and this drummer REALLY knows how to groove really smoothly and then stomp like a real flamenco stylist. VERY nice. He's an extremely mature player for someone his age, classical training at its best AND he PLAYS AND PLAYS AND PLAYS, you can tell he loves the instrument!
The part from 8:03 is even more insane, since he's not only using normal hybrid picking but mixing fingerpicking with sweep picking as well. All the while switching between muted and open sounds, crazy stuff indeed!
I never noticed the hybrid picking. I was just amazed at the dexterity on his left hand. But now I'm seeing both of those and he's somehow doing this perfectly _at the same time._ I do not understand this man
i can't recommend the band "chon" enough if you're interested in hearing more jazzy/rocky/virtuoso/instrumental work featuring unique voicings & hybrid picking. those guys & polyphia are massive role models for me as a guitarist
It's crazy, he's doing so many things so quickly all at the same time that some of his motions across the fretboard look smooth, free and flowing while others look rigid, but are also so fast they look robotic. Very cool.
Wow! A guitar teacher who will say positive things about Tim! That alone is worth a sub! Most reactions to Polyphia will say anything other than praising just how good he is! 👍🏻
@@TempleMusicAcademy it’s true! I’ve even seen a guy suggest that the band get other people to write their music rather than just say “yeah, those kids are pretty good!” 👍🏻😂❤️
It was an absolute pleasure seeing Polyphia live - so very lucky to see them in such a small venue, too. Not to mention, the sheer articulation of notes through every instrument was simply a masterclass on all levels.
honestly, even without all the fancy stuff, this would still be a banger. It just has great chord progressions and melodies. When you have that underlying your amazing technical skills, you are unstoppable. Honestly, I think they've reached a new plateau. Going back and listening to G.O.A.T after hearing Playing God, they have absolutely levelled up.
It's the blend of genres that gets me, the way they've progressed from metalcore/neoclassical roots to combining trap, hip-hop, modern pop and instrumental prog rock is the kind of thing that doesn't happen very often. Super intelligent composition and arrangement that gives each player a space in the mix, you'll notice that Tim and Scott rarely play around the same areas of the fretboard to make sure they both sound distinct.
What I find the most interesting about this is there is no vibrato in the entire song. Not even on held notes. He kinda plays like a keyboardist in that way, which is interesting because there's vibrato on their heavier stuff all over. Also the ease at which he plays this is midblowing. I wonder how many takes it took. I'm hoping at least 5 to make us mortals feel a tiny bit better!
@@somethingbl If you pay attention there are delicate vibrato's in there and that's the nature of vibrato, It has to be done mindfully and purposefully and it doesn't need to be huge but one could make an arguement that he doesn't bend at all
@@somethingbl I agree to some extent, they don't play your typical lead guitar and the vast majority of their music are hooks and fast riffs so there would be less opportunity for doing something like vibrato
Tim is impossible to listen to without rewinds. I feels ya. Great video btw man - I love that you're, for the most part, letting the music play through and not pausing every 10 seconds. When you do pause, it's at the right, important moments. Just wanted to give you some solid feedback. FYI, as a seasoned guitar player, I love seeing videos like this to be able to see him fully playing, like you mentioned. Absolutely incredible that he can play music like this with his eyes closed, relaxed, like nothing. He's nutty. Thanks again! Cheers!
Wow I really loved the way you educate me on this! You made laugh so hard when you said “I wished I saw him have a struggle it would made you feel better about yourself “ wow man made my day. I just saw this video of playing god for the first time yesterday been hooked since. Didn’t realize hybrid picking was the name of that picking, I copied tosin abasi when I saw him doing it been hybrid picking since that time
Normally I watch reaction videos just to see people having their minds blown by music from a completely different genre or culture or generation from them, but the way you and drumrolltony explain the technical aspects that you appreciate in the music you react to makes it that much better.
04:30 - i didn't have a term for this until now, i've always loved playing with scaleable chord progressions, and when i found polyphia recently i was like, yup, if my guitar wasn't collecting dust, this is the direction i would have gone in, the tools he uses when and why, is what makes him, a master
Dude, I have been playing guitar for 6 years and consider myself to be a pretty good guitarist. I have been struggling through learning this song for the past week, and I only have the first part down AT 0.7 SPEED. He is a rediculously talented guitarist blending classical and almost jazz aspects. I love it.
That pedal tone bit is so pretty. That's part of what I love about them is that it isn't just virtuosity; it's a brilliant song as well. That's a pretty rare combination.
Great video! I see why you're a music teacher. This is a great video for beginners to break down a song like this that might just seem like "shredding" or "flexing" when all Tim is shredding or flexing in this video is his understanding of the instrument and music as a whole. He's not just playing fast and clean, he's playing fast, clean, and brilliantly composing.
From what I heard he played violin since he's 3 yo. But what I wanted to know if Tim was / is classically trained especially classical guitar, because I saw he employed a lot of classical guitar technique (or at least inspired by classical technique) such as thumb+3-fingers picking (hybrid picking here), alternate chord voicing, the way his left thumb rarely went up from behind the neck, the way he used harmonics and muting the strings, etc.
There's a video where he's watching Polyphia covers and someone does an interpretation of a song on a classical guitar and Tim said something along the lines of "I've gotta learn how to do that". You could tell he was really intrigued by it and since then, he has been integrating a lot more classical techniques. So I don't think he's classically trained, but I'd say he has been inspired by it!
the classical techniques he uses are a lot more of a recent development, he started out just doing metal-like stuff but some the more recent releases use thumping etc. i believe the first release with actual thumping was his video “god hand”
As far as I know Tim doesn't have any formal guitar training unlike the violin lessons he had as a kid, he just taught himself and has been playing guitar for almost 20 years now.
I dunno, this is my first time seeing your channel but you seem like a good dude and genuine so subbed.. Tim's perfection in playing doesn't make me want to quit playing it inspires me to play much better . Tim scotty and their drummer ( who's name escapes me ) their drummer is one of the best drummers I've ever heard/ seen. Top 10 for sure and yet still so young, they will go so far, and I'll be there to bevinspired every time .
I feel that there is a mix of classical, flamenco, Bossa Nova and shredding guitar techniques melded together. As if DNA from Paco de Lucia, Anna Vidovic, Steve Vai, Toquinho de Morais and Eddie Van Halen was all mixed into a test tube child.
Tim and all the members are from Dallas Texas, but Tim moved to California during the pandemic. But they are originally a Dallas based band. Even the drummer who is the second drummer in the band I think is from Dallas as well.
i love this breakdown cause since i discovered polyphia i knew they were crazy talented but you put it into words very well with the knowledge of all the really technical stuff tim pulls off its cool to learn what some of that is like when you speak about the chord voicing its nice to hear things broken down from someone who really knows their stuff awesome video
This Ibanez nylon that he's playing isn't actually produced yet, his and Scott's are the only two that are actually out and about so far! The closest you can get to this style of guitar is the Godin Multiac nylon and its roughly $1.5k depending on the model. Not super unattainable for most people! I think I'm gonna wait for that Ibanez tho
ibanez sc500n is closer imo, but is much more difficult to acquire than the Godin. They were discontinued in 2000/2001 or someshit but Tim has one and it's largely the inspiration for these new electric nylons. I've also been on the hunt since the second I heard Playing God. As soon as they release these i'll be first in line lol. Such a fire guitar.
I think prince would have definitely been impressed by Tim's talent and surgical skill. R.I.P one of the greats. Love seeking new greats show casing their ability. Great work good video.
"your seeing the intelligence in the chord voicings" This line alone made me subscribe. :) I'm not a guitarist and only a dabbling musician but I'm a music fanatic who grew up listing to The Beatles when they were together, to ELP, Yes who I have seen live, and through all kinds of styles (shout-out to the genius of Miles Davis & Sting). Through a guitarist friend I was introduced to the music of people like Steve Vai and Al DiMiola who I have seen play with Return To Forever, at a guitar clinic where I got to meet him, and from the second row with his band. It goes without saying, I'm a huge fan. I love the passion DiMiola brings. He's so Dynamic. So when I say Tim Henson blows me away, it's no small thing. From the first time I played the Playing God video when it went viral I was hooked. I watched and listened to everything I could find. Even the early stuff is incredible. Tim started with music at a very young age playing violin which he hated before picking up guitar not much later. But you can hear the result of that early musical education in everything he does. The amazing thing is he is really is just hitting his stride but in my mind he already belongs with the greatest musicians I have ever heard. Truly a game changer.
The truth is, the majority of the people on this planet can’t reach this level even with the same amount of practice. Just like im never going to run as fast as Usain Bolt even if i work 24/7.
New sub, thanks for the content. I found your video interesting informative and entertaining. I really like the modern finger picking and hybrid picking style guitar and enjoyed your reaction.
Just thought I'd share this: when you did the sound effect for the favorite kinds of runs around 3:20, the closed captioning for this video captured this as "Shocked a shotgun". I found this amusing.
I was lucky to bump into this band yesterday and Tim and his band mates are taking modern music in a new direction. Long over due and I for one. Loving it.
@5:02 Yes, it does! Thank you! I've loved Tim's work since seeing him about 8 years ago. My favorite guitarist, with Jon Butler & Jack White, since SRV, E VH, Jimi!
Check out his home studio tour. He shows some of his setup with his guitar and computer and I believe he mentions a bit of how his guitar is hooked up. The guitar he’s using is one of his signature guitars, and I believe he said it had 22 frets! You made a great guess!
His left hand looks like stop motion, I see his head moving normally, but its his hands, they both actually look like they have been edited, he is an incredible guitarist for sure.
New to the channel. Super cool to see a dude that understands the complexity of this guy. I see comments all over social media of claiming this guy just makes noise amd playing fast isn't playing good. I used to play but lost touch with guitar between kids and stuff. Tim has made me wanna get back into it while simultaneously making me never wanna touch a guitar again haha.
Haha I can feel that. The beauty of what he’s doing has been in the simplicity he approaches it at. I read that he said these were just gospel chord progressions that he’s inverted. It’s pretty awesome. Welcome to the channel!!
easy way to pull this off audio wise is sound blaster k3+. it allows guitar inputs directly into a pc. he's definitely in a studio setting, with all those acoustic panels.
The guitar he uses is his very own Ibanez TOD10N Tim Henson Signature just recently released this October. 22 Frets, a 46mm Saddle and a Fishman Sonicore Preamp System. Can’t wait to get my hands on it. Oh…here in Germany it‘ll retail at around 700 € (which is more or less the same in USD these days)
I think the fact that Tim used to play violin when he was a child really puts him on a different level to most guitarist at least when it comes to music theory 🎼 and flexibility on the instrument 🎸.
what you should really be reacting to is Sungha Jung playing this song after hearing it once on his live stream. The legend just figured it out on the fly. Absolute mad man.
It's an Ibanez TMX20N that's basically just been updated with better features but you can essentially buy this guitar so atleast it's technically accessible.
After listening to all kinds of bands from various genres throughout the years with their own styles and sound, nothing or should I say no one makes me want to pickup and learn how to play more than Tim Henson. I remember just listening to one of my go to metalcore stations on pandora and randomly polyphia comes on (ego death) so wanting to see where it goes I listen and just get blown away. I'm one of those people who listen to everything and can find good music from metal to country and polyphia just slams different.
For people wondering what guitar that is (probably not too many because most are prolly devout Polyphia fans) it is an Ibanez TOD10n Tim Henson signature guitar. They themselves reached out to Ibanez to have that guitar made. He explains it in his making of video. Highly recommend to watch that!
Heads up, I use a Helix to DI my guitar in and handle playback over speakers while only recording the guitar. The Helix handles all the effects - reverb etc - and it ends up perfect. There are other solutions, I know some folks use Neural which i haven’t tried personally.
People preach practice, which is absolutely essential to mastering something, but this is so much more than just thousands and thousands of hours of practice. Tim Henson has a gift that very few have, and his practice brings it out.
something i've noticed about truly impressive guitarists like tim and scottie, ichika nito, john 5, ect is that when someone asks how many hours a day they practice it's always a similar answer: "i'm not sure i'm just always playing"
The craziest thing about this genius is how many tracks he can play that are equally impressive. You might see a RUclips guitarist play one of his tracks but, he plays them all. And they’re all his. 🤩
I’ve been listen to this and nonstop for two weeks since I just recently discovered them only to have my Wife tell me that it sounds like what you hear on the Weather Channel whenever they do the local forecast. And I can’t unhear her saying that because she makes a good point.
one of the most impressive things about polyphia's composition to me is the way they incorporate natural harmonics into chords and runs without sounding like they're even going out of the way to do it. everything is just seemless
At 4:47 you say it is an inversion if you play the same notes using different stirntgs (and different strings). That is not what traditionally "inversion" means".
He was chaining together Spanish appreggios with muted notes and natural harmonics while he was positioning his hand with a banjo type picking. Or it that incorrect. Then he flips to jazz-classical scales. First time I heard him. I think he played banjo or learned primus on the bass and came up with it on guitar, just a guess
Little things I noticed from watching the video a few times At first I thought he was only recording the DI signal but then you wouldn't get all the additional percussiveness from this style of playing without a mic (would also explain why we heard him place his guitar pick on the table at the end), and upon closer look I finally saw that Tim does have in-ears on! Wireless ones, so it's much harder to notice the first couple of times!
If you watch his making of video for this song he mentions the melody at 8:04 being one he generated on an arpeggiator. This guy brute-forced a melody that wasn't written with guitar in mind at all. In all the covers online almost nobody gets that part anywhere nearly as clean as Tim, even if they nailed the rest of the song.
I certainly appreciate the "hybrid picking" explanation. I had been dumbfounded how he was making so many notes, as if there were more than one person playing (actually, I thought it was suspicious, ha!), now I finally see his three other fingers picking (and notice his left hand manipulating the strings on the fret that aren't being hit by his pick - no wonder!).
though this is very modern music style song , I get a lot of spanish scales and harmonies also jazzy influences in this music piece which is really cool. from minute 03:02. he`s such a cool composer!
Not sure I see the point of "Hybrid Picking" when you can just use Thumb Pick and free up that index finger (for more versatility) like we've already been doing for the past 100+ years. Or we just reinventing the wheel for something new?
EB "though the term microtonal suggests that such music departs from a norm, most of the world’s music, of both past and present times, uses intervals greater or smaller than 100 cents. South Asian music theory posits a scale of 22 unequal intervals to the octave; although, in practice, a chromatic scale of 100-cent intervals is used, ornaments use intervals of smaller size. In Indonesian music, intervals of many sizes appear, including those of the slendro scale, which sometimes divides an octave into five equal intervals of roughly 240 cents each. Essential in Middle Eastern music are intervals of 150 cents (three-quarter tones) and 250 cents (five-quarter tones), along with half and whole tones (100 and 200 cents); some 20th-century Middle Eastern theory builds intervals from combinations known in ancient Greek theory as comma (24 cents) and limma (90 cents)."
![Noob To Max With DRAGON REWORK In Blox Fruits [FULL MOVIE]](http://i.ytimg.com/vi/LnBMOinoOvA/mqdefault.jpg)
![Can I learn Playing God on violin in only 30 minutes? [Polyphia 🎸]](/img/1.gif)
Fun fact: him putting his pick down at the end of the video is actually a subtle nod to all of the guitarists watching this doing the same thing and giving up guitar entirely.
Ahah best comment!
if i hadn't have seen this joke like 20.000 times, i'd probably say this:
someone doing something well should encourage you, not make you wanna quit
@@Centrifuge28 Yet you say it anyways! True though, you don't need to be an incredible virtuoso to write good songs
that "im giving up the guitar" meme is so cringe and annoying
@@DigitalBath306 why is this cringe and annoying? I am actually curious mhm
His articulation and tone control is nothing less than absolutely immaculate. What a player, and what a composer, too. Bravo.
EXACTLY. He is an artist not some guitar player who plays somebody else notes.
5his is what happens when you write impossible things on guitar pro ( a program ) and then practice them until they slowly be cone possiblle.. Tim's talent has been fed by tech in an excellent symbiosis ( i don't mean this negatively in ANY way to him, this is NOT a criticism), it's inspiring and amazing
@@MrDmadness Just like how the tony hawk pro skater games pushed skating as a sport and inspired a lot of innovation.
Immaculate is a good term for Tim’s playing. It’s a little too ‘clean’ for my comfort, it’s like the uncanny valley of technical skill. I appreciate the discipline but something about the sterility turns me off
@@MrDmadness hes took full advantage of the tools we have today instead of learning the ''classic way'' when tabs sheets were used more or by ear. amazing
I can’t tell you how many times I’ve watched Tim play this, but it boggles my mind that he doesn’t even break a sweat or show anything that says this is difficult as heck.
It's not just Tim, Scott made a video on his part of Playing God and it's just as good
@@digitalfluid I know it’s not just him but their individual parts are just so incredibly difficult and they play it like it’s nothing. Just a regular riff to them
Practice. Makes. Perfect.
The guy has been playing like this as soon as he started playing the violin. In an interview he mentioned how painful it was, in a literal way cuz he would get slapped when making mistakes. Polyphia started getting attention when they were basically doing only technical, super fast solos.
What I mean is that Tim probably repeated this song so many times, especially for the recording, that it has become effortless, just an automatism. I wonder if he still actually enjoys playing this kind of song. Even for any average player, repeating a song ad nauseam to get it right is spoiling you from enjoying it in the end.
@@ihazhedont Of course he has practiced it a lot, but he would need to much less than the average player. I personally find even more joy after repeating songs over and over again, because once you really nail it you can jam out and feel the song more instead of the hyper focus on moment to moment technique.
I feel like Tim is a true modern day musical prodigy
do an extent. fast difficult playing is amazing. But they lack a bit o soul. NOt complaining. Love them. But you have to be in the mood for polyphia
@@ScootsMcPoot hes one of the only ppl that has range. so he can play soul, it influences some of their riffs.
@@ScootsMcPoot how does it not have soul
@@MondoFlix just a bs subjective statement with no value
I mean he's put everything into it since he was in his early teens. Anyone who puts their singular focus on a pursuit can get this level of mastery in it no matter what it is.
There's also a drum playthrough of "Playing God" on the official Polyphia channel if you're into that sort of thing.
it was really good too at that
@@mizterxtwiztidtw1zt1done18 ah yes, clay and clay
you're not allowed to be this pretty and this good at guitar at the same time.
for real!!! how is this allowed??
@@azurabun0 I remember this german guy I met in Polyphia's concert in Berlin. He said all the time "how can such a good guitar player be so damn handsome!!?" lol
Several of his composition videos he speaks about how his whole goal is to utilize the full 5 octave range for each chord progression across all their songs
i didn't know he was able to play both guitar parts, i thought each guitarist worked on his own and added his unique twist. they are just that good
I follow Scott on RUclips too, he does play throughs of Polyphia songs too.
One thing I really like about the band is that both Scott and Tim know each other's parts.
As a guitar player of over 30 years, I have never seen anything like this, he could be the next if not THE GOAT...
I see what u did there 🌝
Check out Polyphia (Tim's Band) videos, they are amazing. Steve Vai actually plays with them on a track too.
@@Tony99992000 I've seen them, that's how I first heard of Tim. I was a Freshman in College when Passion and Warfare came out. First song I learned from Steve was Sisters, then For The Love Of God and Blue Powder. Polyphia is definitely unique!
Probably the closest thing would be Al Di Meola from the "old school". Orient Blue for example.
Probly
No no no! Tim putting his pick down at the end of the video is actually a subtle nod to all of the guitarists watching this doing the same thing and giving up guitar entirely....AND going back to playing the violin that he gave up because it was too "NERDY" and instrument. What makes his playing unique and ridiculously good is he still has the chops from playing violin...the vibrato along the frets of the neck. The hybrid piking is akin to having a bow with several reaches. I LOVE LOVE LOVE his drummer picking up on the jazzy flamenco percussion. I used to play violin, mandolin and guitar while flamenco-tap-stomping and this drummer REALLY knows how to groove really smoothly and then stomp like a real flamenco stylist. VERY nice. He's an extremely mature player for someone his age, classical training at its best AND he PLAYS AND PLAYS AND PLAYS, you can tell he loves the instrument!
The part from 8:03 is even more insane, since he's not only using normal hybrid picking but mixing fingerpicking with sweep picking as well. All the while switching between muted and open sounds, crazy stuff indeed!
That part looks like it's sped up. He's too good.
I never noticed the hybrid picking. I was just amazed at the dexterity on his left hand. But now I'm seeing both of those and he's somehow doing this perfectly _at the same time._ I do not understand this man
A hard day for him would be too much for our ears
i can't recommend the band "chon" enough if you're interested in hearing more jazzy/rocky/virtuoso/instrumental work featuring unique voicings & hybrid picking. those guys & polyphia are massive role models for me as a guitarist
I've never heard/read anyone mention Chon before! Bubble dream has been one of my favorites for a long time
I love chon
You guys know covet, right?
@@davidphilipp16 heck yeah!
@@BigSilky14 classic chon is fire, altho i feel like they just get better after every release
It's crazy, he's doing so many things so quickly all at the same time that some of his motions across the fretboard look smooth, free and flowing while others look rigid, but are also so fast they look robotic.
Very cool.
Wow! A guitar teacher who will say positive things about Tim! That alone is worth a sub! Most reactions to Polyphia will say anything other than praising just how good he is! 👍🏻
Really?! That’s unreal haha.
@@TempleMusicAcademy it’s true! I’ve even seen a guy suggest that the band get other people to write their music rather than just say “yeah, those kids are pretty good!” 👍🏻😂❤️
It was an absolute pleasure seeing Polyphia live - so very lucky to see them in such a small venue, too. Not to mention, the sheer articulation of notes through every instrument was simply a masterclass on all levels.
honestly, even without all the fancy stuff, this would still be a banger. It just has great chord progressions and melodies. When you have that underlying your amazing technical skills, you are unstoppable. Honestly, I think they've reached a new plateau. Going back and listening to G.O.A.T after hearing Playing God, they have absolutely levelled up.
I’m new to the band as of this week and I agree it just isn’t even the same
It's the blend of genres that gets me, the way they've progressed from metalcore/neoclassical roots to combining trap, hip-hop, modern pop and instrumental prog rock is the kind of thing that doesn't happen very often. Super intelligent composition and arrangement that gives each player a space in the mix, you'll notice that Tim and Scott rarely play around the same areas of the fretboard to make sure they both sound distinct.
Damn he’s so precise that his arms and hands look like stop motion animation.
it's wild because playing this shit is one thing, coming up with it is what really blows my mind
There's another "expert" that analyzed this song both in video and live and he wasn't prepared. He looked like he was lost.
What I find the most interesting about this is there is no vibrato in the entire song. Not even on held notes. He kinda plays like a keyboardist in that way, which is interesting because there's vibrato on their heavier stuff all over. Also the ease at which he plays this is midblowing. I wonder how many takes it took. I'm hoping at least 5 to make us mortals feel a tiny bit better!
Well here's a vibrato 7:32
@@shahin1231 ah yes, the delayed vibrato on a nylon stringed dying note that can't even be heard
@@somethingbl If you pay attention there are delicate vibrato's in there and that's the nature of vibrato, It has to be done mindfully and purposefully and it doesn't need to be huge but one could make an arguement that he doesn't bend at all
@@shahin1231 I'm not criticizing it, just something I noticed compared to Polyphia's other music
@@somethingbl I agree to some extent, they don't play your typical lead guitar and the vast majority of their music are hooks and fast riffs so there would be less opportunity for doing something like vibrato
What i love about the way Tim plays his guitar is that its so rythmic, it almost guides the drums to follow him, and not the other way arround
Nah man. The drums are on the tick and tight af.
Tim is impossible to listen to without rewinds. I feels ya. Great video btw man - I love that you're, for the most part, letting the music play through and not pausing every 10 seconds. When you do pause, it's at the right, important moments. Just wanted to give you some solid feedback.
FYI, as a seasoned guitar player, I love seeing videos like this to be able to see him fully playing, like you mentioned. Absolutely incredible that he can play music like this with his eyes closed, relaxed, like nothing. He's nutty. Thanks again! Cheers!
Wow I really loved the way you educate me on this!
You made laugh so hard when you said
“I wished I saw him have a struggle it would made you feel better about yourself “ wow man made my day.
I just saw this video of playing god for the first time yesterday been hooked since.
Didn’t realize hybrid picking was the name of that picking, I copied tosin abasi when I saw him doing it been hybrid picking since that time
Tosin is also amazing!! Thanks for taking the time to comment
As someone who doesn’t know how to play guitar but enjoys the skill it takes, this was a great breakdown. Thank you
I haven't heard someone sing rhythms in years
Definitely a music teacher 😂
Subbed
Normally I watch reaction videos just to see people having their minds blown by music from a completely different genre or culture or generation from them, but the way you and drumrolltony explain the technical aspects that you appreciate in the music you react to makes it that much better.
I love @drumrolltony. Thanks for mentioning me in the same sentence ❤️
04:30 - i didn't have a term for this until now, i've always loved playing with scaleable chord progressions, and when i found polyphia recently i was like, yup, if my guitar wasn't collecting dust, this is the direction i would have gone in, the tools he uses when and why, is what makes him, a master
Dude, I have been playing guitar for 6 years and consider myself to be a pretty good guitarist. I have been struggling through learning this song for the past week, and I only have the first part down AT 0.7 SPEED. He is a rediculously talented guitarist blending classical and almost jazz aspects. I love it.
That pedal tone bit is so pretty. That's part of what I love about them is that it isn't just virtuosity; it's a brilliant song as well. That's a pretty rare combination.
also this is the first great video I've seen about his playing style, thanks so much dude! love the video and the analysis.
😁
Great video! I see why you're a music teacher. This is a great video for beginners to break down a song like this that might just seem like "shredding" or "flexing" when all Tim is shredding or flexing in this video is his understanding of the instrument and music as a whole. He's not just playing fast and clean, he's playing fast, clean, and brilliantly composing.
Scottie's playthrough has an absolutely amazing run of natural harmonics near the beginning, every member is worth a watch!
From what I heard he played violin since he's 3 yo. But what I wanted to know if Tim was / is classically trained especially classical guitar, because I saw he employed a lot of classical guitar technique (or at least inspired by classical technique) such as thumb+3-fingers picking (hybrid picking here), alternate chord voicing, the way his left thumb rarely went up from behind the neck, the way he used harmonics and muting the strings, etc.
There's a video where he's watching Polyphia covers and someone does an interpretation of a song on a classical guitar and Tim said something along the lines of "I've gotta learn how to do that". You could tell he was really intrigued by it and since then, he has been integrating a lot more classical techniques. So I don't think he's classically trained, but I'd say he has been inspired by it!
@@malcolmglennie9743 Ah I see, thanks ! That's cool.
the classical techniques he uses are a lot more of a recent development, he started out just doing metal-like stuff but some the more recent releases use thumping etc. i believe the first release with actual thumping was his video “god hand”
As far as I know Tim doesn't have any formal guitar training unlike the violin lessons he had as a kid, he just taught himself and has been playing guitar for almost 20 years now.
Tim is formed by the chugchugs and alternate pickin of the more recent core genres.
It's incredible how gifted this guy is. I can watch him play over and over and never get tired. Truly impressive.
It's just SO different and nothing like I've ever heard. I'm obsessed and blown away by this.
I dunno, this is my first time seeing your channel but you seem like a good dude and genuine so subbed.. Tim's perfection in playing doesn't make me want to quit playing it inspires me to play much better . Tim scotty and their drummer ( who's name escapes me ) their drummer is one of the best drummers I've ever heard/ seen. Top 10 for sure and yet still so young, they will go so far, and I'll be there to bevinspired every time .
Thanks for the sub! I appreciate your kind words as well it really made my day :)
I feel that there is a mix of classical, flamenco, Bossa Nova and shredding guitar techniques melded together. As if DNA from Paco de Lucia, Anna Vidovic, Steve Vai, Toquinho de Morais and Eddie Van Halen was all mixed into a test tube child.
The way they compose music is insane. Everyone in that band is low-key a musical genius, with a crazy level of talent and work put in. Wild
Tim and all the members are from Dallas Texas, but Tim moved to California during the pandemic. But they are originally a Dallas based band. Even the drummer who is the second drummer in the band I think is from Dallas as well.
Plano is not Dallas. Plano
@@cherylwurtz3787who wants to willingly admit they’re from plano though
i love this breakdown cause since i discovered polyphia i knew they were crazy talented but you put it into words very well with the knowledge of all the really technical stuff tim pulls off its cool to learn what some of that is like when you speak about the chord voicing its nice to hear things broken down from someone who really knows their stuff awesome video
Thanks so much!
This Ibanez nylon that he's playing isn't actually produced yet, his and Scott's are the only two that are actually out and about so far! The closest you can get to this style of guitar is the Godin Multiac nylon and its roughly $1.5k depending on the model. Not super unattainable for most people! I think I'm gonna wait for that Ibanez tho
ibanez sc500n is closer imo, but is much more difficult to acquire than the Godin. They were discontinued in 2000/2001 or someshit but Tim has one and it's largely the inspiration for these new electric nylons. I've also been on the hunt since the second I heard Playing God. As soon as they release these i'll be first in line lol. Such a fire guitar.
I think prince would have definitely been impressed by Tim's talent and surgical skill. R.I.P one of the greats. Love seeking new greats show casing their ability. Great work good video.
"your seeing the intelligence in the chord voicings" This line alone made me subscribe. :)
I'm not a guitarist and only a dabbling musician but I'm a music fanatic who grew up listing to The Beatles when they were together, to ELP, Yes who I have seen live, and through all kinds of styles (shout-out to the genius of Miles Davis & Sting).
Through a guitarist friend I was introduced to the music of people like Steve Vai and Al DiMiola who I have seen play with Return To Forever, at a guitar clinic where I got to meet him, and from the second row with his band. It goes without saying, I'm a huge fan. I love the passion DiMiola brings. He's so Dynamic.
So when I say Tim Henson blows me away, it's no small thing. From the first time I played the Playing God video when it went viral I was hooked. I watched and listened to everything I could find. Even the early stuff is incredible. Tim started with music at a very young age playing violin which he hated before picking up guitar not much later. But you can hear the result of that early musical education in everything he does.
The amazing thing is he is really is just hitting his stride but in my mind he already belongs with the greatest musicians I have ever heard. Truly a game changer.
i love that guitar. The vines running up the neck are sick.
What guitar is it?
@@flippmogaming1 pretty sure it's a prototype and not on the market. Or it's in their limited production runs.
You become that amazing of a guitar player when you practice 12 hours a day as he did and probably still does. He is a legend
The truth is, the majority of the people on this planet can’t reach this level even with the same amount of practice. Just like im never going to run as fast as Usain Bolt even if i work 24/7.
New sub, thanks for the content. I found your video interesting informative and entertaining. I really like the modern finger picking and hybrid picking style guitar and enjoyed your reaction.
I’m glad dude! Check out Alluvial and my buddy Wes Hauch. They’re amazing.
Amazing breakdown. 👏👏🏻👏🏼👏🏽👏🏾👏🏿
Just thought I'd share this: when you did the sound effect for the favorite kinds of runs around 3:20, the closed captioning for this video captured this as "Shocked a shotgun". I found this amusing.
I was lucky to bump into this band yesterday and Tim and his band mates are taking modern music in a new direction. Long over due and I for one. Loving it.
@5:02 Yes, it does! Thank you!
I've loved Tim's work since seeing him about 8 years ago.
My favorite guitarist, with Jon Butler & Jack White, since SRV, E VH, Jimi!
finally.. a good review.. doesn't pause the video for minutes at a time... short pauses and explains the important.. thank you!
Check out his home studio tour. He shows some of his setup with his guitar and computer and I believe he mentions a bit of how his guitar is hooked up. The guitar he’s using is one of his signature guitars, and I believe he said it had 22 frets! You made a great guess!
Gz on 400k views :3 amazing vid!
thx for the content!
Always remember! Any guitarist can do this IF you start at slow BPM 😉 Never give up, stay inspired, shred for life!
Love it. Every reaction video I’ve seen to this guy… “whoa I just want to rewind that…that run…” 😂🤘👍
His left hand looks like stop motion, I see his head moving normally, but its his hands, they both actually look like they have been edited, he is an incredible guitarist for sure.
It's a pleasure for me as a 29 year old adult to know that he is product of the core scene 😂❤
Tim is the future of guitar. 🔥
yes, also ichika nito!! among my favorite guitarists
@@clouds7705 Absolutely! He finally started playing in public! 🤟🔥
New to the channel. Super cool to see a dude that understands the complexity of this guy. I see comments all over social media of claiming this guy just makes noise amd playing fast isn't playing good. I used to play but lost touch with guitar between kids and stuff. Tim has made me wanna get back into it while simultaneously making me never wanna touch a guitar again haha.
Haha I can feel that. The beauty of what he’s doing has been in the simplicity he approaches it at. I read that he said these were just gospel chord progressions that he’s inverted. It’s pretty awesome. Welcome to the channel!!
I subbed. Thanks for the explanation on everything you saw.
I have an Ibanez acoustic with an active pickup, tone controls, and a 9 volt battery. fairly cheap and Ibanez necks are always perfect.
First time viewing your content - love your energy and your take on this! New subscriber here - thanks for taking the time to create content. Cheers!
easy way to pull this off audio wise is sound blaster k3+. it allows guitar inputs directly into a pc. he's definitely in a studio setting, with all those acoustic panels.
great video! I love your personality. earned a sub
The guitar he uses is his very own Ibanez TOD10N Tim Henson Signature just recently released this October. 22 Frets, a 46mm Saddle and a Fishman Sonicore Preamp System. Can’t wait to get my hands on it. Oh…here in Germany it‘ll retail at around 700 € (which is more or less the same in USD these days)
He's incredible. I just came across Polyphia recently.
Love the intro and exit music. Who is that?
I think the fact that Tim used to play violin when he was a child really puts him on a different level to most guitarist at least when it comes to music theory 🎼 and flexibility on the instrument 🎸.
It's nice seeing someone review beginners guitar music so nicely.
what you should really be reacting to is Sungha Jung playing this song after hearing it once on his live stream. The legend just figured it out on the fly. Absolute mad man.
Seriously!? Well
Ok that’s something to look into
From what I've heard, the guitar here is a custom setup using piezo pickups with the nylon strings. Such a great tone.
It's an Ibanez TMX20N that's basically just been updated with better features but you can essentially buy this guitar so atleast it's technically accessible.
what song are they using in the intro and outro? onyone have an idea?
Love the language and vocabulary you use!
Incredible technique. Sounds so good.
3:08 that breath... :) priceless #amazing
After listening to all kinds of bands from various genres throughout the years with their own styles and sound, nothing or should I say no one makes me want to pickup and learn how to play more than Tim Henson. I remember just listening to one of my go to metalcore stations on pandora and randomly polyphia comes on (ego death) so wanting to see where it goes I listen and just get blown away. I'm one of those people who listen to everything and can find good music from metal to country and polyphia just slams different.
For people wondering what guitar that is (probably not too many because most are prolly devout Polyphia fans) it is an Ibanez TOD10n Tim Henson signature guitar. They themselves reached out to Ibanez to have that guitar made. He explains it in his making of video. Highly recommend to watch that!
the technical prowess and delivery is phenomenal.
Heads up, I use a Helix to DI my guitar in and handle playback over speakers while only recording the guitar. The Helix handles all the effects - reverb etc - and it ends up perfect. There are other solutions, I know some folks use Neural which i haven’t tried personally.
Remember guys polyphia sells their tabs on their website
People preach practice, which is absolutely essential to mastering something, but this is so much more than just thousands and thousands of hours of practice. Tim Henson has a gift that very few have, and his practice brings it out.
something i've noticed about truly impressive guitarists like tim and scottie, ichika nito, john 5, ect is that when someone asks how many hours a day they practice it's always a similar answer: "i'm not sure i'm just always playing"
@@SoggyBacco yup it’s definitely 99.99% of pure practice to get there
The craziest thing about this genius is how many tracks he can play that are equally impressive. You might see a RUclips guitarist play one of his tracks but, he plays them all. And they’re all his. 🤩
I’ve been listen to this and nonstop for two weeks since I just recently discovered them only to have my Wife tell me that it sounds like what you hear on the Weather Channel whenever they do the local forecast. And I can’t unhear her saying that because she makes a good point.
You'll miss her.
The weather channel where you live shreads progressive metal, what's the weather like there? 🤪
The bossanova part? Lol
one of the most impressive things about polyphia's composition to me is the way they incorporate natural harmonics into chords and runs without sounding like they're even going out of the way to do it. everything is just seemless
At 4:47 you say it is an inversion if you play the same notes using different stirntgs (and different strings). That is not what traditionally "inversion" means".
He was chaining together Spanish appreggios with muted notes and natural harmonics while he was positioning his hand with a banjo type picking. Or it that incorrect. Then he flips to jazz-classical scales. First time I heard him. I think he played banjo or learned primus on the bass and came up with it on guitar, just a guess
Little things I noticed from watching the video a few times
At first I thought he was only recording the DI signal but then you wouldn't get all the additional percussiveness from this style of playing without a mic (would also explain why we heard him place his guitar pick on the table at the end), and upon closer look I finally saw that Tim does have in-ears on! Wireless ones, so it's much harder to notice the first couple of times!
Have you ever listened to Josh Martin of Little Tybee? He uses some very different techniques as well. It adds some great sound to their full band.
He's wearing a earbud, i think's he recorded with a room microphone, playing unplugged :O
If you watch his making of video for this song he mentions the melody at 8:04 being one he generated on an arpeggiator. This guy brute-forced a melody that wasn't written with guitar in mind at all. In all the covers online almost nobody gets that part anywhere nearly as clean as Tim, even if they nailed the rest of the song.
They're from Plano, TX. Near Dallas.
He is from Plano, TX, Just north of Dallas
They’re from the Plano, TX area. Being from OKC myself, I’ve known these guys since before they got big. 😁
I certainly appreciate the "hybrid picking" explanation. I had been dumbfounded how he was making so many notes, as if there were more than one person playing (actually, I thought it was suspicious, ha!), now I finally see his three other fingers picking (and notice his left hand manipulating the strings on the fret that aren't being hit by his pick - no wonder!).
though this is very modern music style song , I get a lot of spanish scales and harmonies also jazzy influences in this music piece which is really cool. from minute 03:02. he`s such a cool composer!
Not sure I see the point of "Hybrid Picking" when you can just use Thumb Pick and free up that index finger (for more versatility) like we've already been doing for the past 100+ years. Or we just reinventing the wheel for something new?
Tim and the rest of Polyphia are incredible! This is my favourite song of theirs 🔥🖤
Man, that was fire... Just like all my guitars are right now
EB "though the term microtonal suggests that such music departs from a norm, most of the world’s music, of both past and present times, uses intervals greater or smaller than 100 cents. South Asian music theory posits a scale of 22 unequal intervals to the octave; although, in practice, a chromatic scale of 100-cent intervals is used, ornaments use intervals of smaller size. In Indonesian music, intervals of many sizes appear, including those of the slendro scale, which sometimes divides an octave into five equal intervals of roughly 240 cents each. Essential in Middle Eastern music are intervals of 150 cents (three-quarter tones) and 250 cents (five-quarter tones), along with half and whole tones (100 and 200 cents); some 20th-century Middle Eastern theory builds intervals from combinations known in ancient Greek theory as comma (24 cents) and limma (90 cents)."
There is a playthrough on this song with polyphias other guitarist, Scott Lepage, as well.. his channel is also worth checking out.