Dan has never be a slouch when it comes to playing guitar but you can tell he's learned a lot recently because he's playing well and because he's really excited to play.
I’m now convinced Dan must have an alternate Jazz persona a la Duke Silver from Parks and Rec, which has begun bleeding into his regular Prog-Rock Dan persona by way of the pork pie hat.
I’m just here to comment that last night I played through 2 amps wet/dry for the first time (Matchless C30 & Fender Blues Deluxe). I will never be the same. After 5 minutes our drummer commented “that sounds unreal…but is it always gonna be that loud???” Thanks gents, cheers from Chicago
Consistently, my best tools for practice have been other instruments. Every time I de-emphasized guitar to learn bass, drums, keys, etc I came back to guitar with a much deeper connection to the music, rather than just to the mechanics of playing guitar and always sounding like an exercise.
Many years ago when I first met Johnny Marr, amazing ex-Smiths guitarist, I was lucky enough to jam with him and now have a good friendly relationship with him, his advise to me playing with a metronome or click track was to think of it as your best mate or another band member and try to lock in with it like you would another musician, this worked for me and improved my timing and playing greatly, now I really enjoy playing to a click and can totally feel a groove around it in my head and body.
Of all the pedals I had ever purchased, the first time I purchased my Ditto was when playing in my apartment truly became a blast. I couldn't believe what I had been missing out on for so many years.
I had a jazz band leader give me a great tip: always have the subdivisions going in your head. So if all you have is a clap (beats 2 & 4) have the 16th notes (1|||2|||3|||4|||) going in your head regardless of how many notes you're playing, like a hi-hat. It works, especially for slow tempos and long pauses.
Oh my god, thank you guys. That iReal pro app is the type thing I’ve been looking for, for so long. This has made practicing/jamming sooo much more fun. Helped my time, tremendously as well. Thanks so much guys. Love the channel!
The best, most informative TPS episode to date. Period. Not just for me, but for many younger, less experienced players. I've been using a metronome for practicing my phrasing for years (put the work in, kids. I promise...you're not playing "in the pocket", as much as you believe you are!). And the latest Yamaha amp lines are a revelation. That amp doesn't exist to replace your Super Bass or your AC15...it exists to improve what's coming OUT of those amps. It's definitely worth it and can help you be a better player...get one asap. Top notch jobs fellas.
100% with you on the THR. I spent years basically not playing at home, despite having a ton of stuff to work with, because nothing worked that well at home volume or sounded good. Got a THR, anything sounds good plugged into it, everything's easy, and suddenly the motivation to play is there.
Re: time feel practice. Slower tempos require more internal subdividing of the beat. Will help out with your accuracy. Really nailing the click. Great video idea!
Dan. Careful with your swing feel. Shuffled 8ths with heavy accents on each downbeat can sound a little stiff. Try evening out the 8ths and don’t accent your lines. Or accent offbeats instead: “beeBOP beeBOP.....” instead of “BAPbooo BAPboo...”.
Cool tools. I've got them all except for the Boss Headphones. Instead, I've been using the Fender Mustang Micro headphone amp with great results for silent practice. Thanks for that metronome practice tip!
Hi D&M, in Hong Kong in quarantine, day 12 of 14. THR10C packed in the checked luggage and took the neck off my EJ strat and carried body and neck as hand carry. Got through HKG quarantine checks, into the hotel, new strings on the strat and two weeks of rocking out in the hotel alongside some periods of work. Great amp and everything you said is true. So convenient. All the best TPS and all in the community. It’s a pleasure to be a small part of it.
Probably one of the most important shows you've done for the likes of me, trying to practice (quietly) effectively, in small gobbets of time. Thank you guys, thank you.
Great suggestions. Here is another - Fender Mustang Micro. I chose it over the WAZA Airs because (1) I can use my own headphones / in ears / etc., (2) much cheaper. I can also plug it into a more complex signal chain to include my effects, and also to output to something other than headphones (like my powered monitors). Great practice tool for not much money.
Metronome on 2 & 4 is a trick I learned from Carol Kaye. Not sure if she came up with it herself, but I count it as yet another of her many valuable contributions to music and especially bass.
Best thing about iReal Pro: You can loop any part of the song to work on only specific bits. Especially if you’re just starting out to improvise over jazz standards that have a lot different keys, it’s super useful to break it down a bit!
I LOVE THAT APP. You can quickly chart out any progression you want. I use it just over a couple chords if need be. And it’s sterile enough that it leaves room for you to work on your feel too.
My best practise tools are TPS episodes. I watch them while practising/noodling and it gives me a clear hour or two of finger exercise! (And I get older and wiser at the same time)
There are a couple of other cool features in iReal pro which are useful. 1. You can loop chords. So for example if you want to work on specific changes, you can just loop those chords and play over them. 2. If you go to the ‘long notes’ function in the iReal sound section, you can put the click on 2&4 and have a string pad behind you. This is great because you can hear your lines against the harmony of the chord.
On the metronome point: a lot of people think practicing is the time for pushing yourself and they end up setting the metronome way too fast, they play sloppy, and then they're even worse on the gig. Definitely, set it slow for subdivisions, so you will be internally responsible with articulating the rhythm. But even if you just did straight quarters with the click, still set it way slower than you think while practicing. The point of practice is to internalize and soak in the moves and changes. If you're smooth when slow in practice, you'll be smooth when fast on a gig. Great episode guys.
Lovely looking Casino. I recently bought a Gary Clark Jr. 'Blak n Blu' Casino and I've been blown away by it. Has full Gibson electronics and pickups and it's pure filth. Cleans up really nice as well for some nice warm jazz tones. Apparently Clapton has been seen playing one on stage quite recently too. Great guitars.
Just bought a second Boss RC-3 Loop station before watching this, invaluable addition to a pedal board for practicing, playing to a metro gnome/beats. Big thanks to Dan for mentioning the Neunaber Iconoclast a while back, I'm loving the sound through headphones from my Laney IRT studio.
Spark amp is the best thing I have bought for the last 10 years...Even if I have bought many guitars ( 3 Duesenberg, GIBSON, Maybach, Eastman, Tokai, etc....), boutique pedals and Fender Amp ! The Ditto looper is number 2 .
Woah! I’ve just got these on in the background while i’m working for some nice semi-musical interludes with the guys lovely chatter to keep me company, and suddenly out of nowhere I hear someone playing listenable jazz, and I look up and it’s Mick! Every video, you guys surprise us with something. Love it.
I'm sure this was mentioned somewhere in the comments, but there was a brilliant video of Pat Metheny giving a clinic at a music school in the 80s and he used a metronome in this fashion. He just set the click, put it on the floor and showed how he warmed up. It's a great way to breathe a little life into what might be otherwise mundane. Plus, it allows you to swing.
The single thing that has helped my jazz playing is learning a song. Now play the same song without playing those chords you just used, new positions or voicing and then repeat. Next step is start mixing those different chords/voicings together. After you are making noticeable progress, start dropping the bass note. Do that to one song a day and you will be shocked at the progress you can make because a TON of jazz songs are very similar when looking just at the chords.
I'm a huge iReal Pro fan. It's useful for a heck of a lot more than jazz. Seemingly any classic pop/R&B/funk/etc. song is available -- and being able to slow down the accompaniment, and then gradually bring up the tempo, is wonderful. Being able to practice a lick in any key, with the accompaniment switched to the desired key or playing any of scores of rhythmic styles, is so good.
I just tried the metronome on 2 and 4 and even changing basic chords became incredibly difficult all of a sudden. Thanks, guys. Thanks... 😩 (No, but really thanks! Have a nice week!)
I have a compulsion to do things the hard way, or "wrong" as the pros call it, so rather than a Metronome or a Looper, I use a Tremolo to simulate having friends to rock out with. Really tightened up my rhythm. 🤘
Cool thing to expand this first practice is to move those beats to every subdivision in a bar ( so in example- we have 1 beat per 1 bar and beat lands on 3 or "3 and", " 2 and" etc. ) Also very amazing practice for your time is to make metronome to beat just on 1. Then if you can make it you expand it to beat on 1 but every 2 or even every 4 bars. If you can make it to 4 you literally are turning into living metronome :D
I got the Rev D20 and a simple splitter box for some of these reasons. Allows me to use the audio out on my iPad and go into the amp but the D20 also allows me to use the headphone out with the cab unplugged for quiet practice all while being a great pedal platform and great anchor for the home studio
For the advanced variation of Thing 1: set your metronome to play triplets (or 12/8 with an accent on the first of every three) and play along to it with a 4/4 or square feel. Then, do the opposite. And then try playing triplet-double triplet-doubles (what drummers affectionately call "eggbeaters"). :)
Or to make things even more interesting (maybe?), put your metronome back to only playing on 2 & 4, and play along with it "normally", but use a wah and pulse your foot on all of the upbeats, or triplets, etc etc.
I’ve been using the metronome on 2 & 4 for the past year. I have noticed a huge improvement in my time. Playing in time makes everything else feel better.
I've been doing my 'silent' practice through a Fender mustang micro amp which works a treat - but it had never occurred to me that I could plug it into my pedal board! Thank you for showing how to do that with the Boss Waza headphones and opening up my silent practice world! Great show as always 🙂 🎸 🎧
Thanks for the pointer to iReal Pro last week. Been using it in conjunction with my guitar lessons and already see improvements in my phrasing. 100% would recommend!
Random bit of kit that is a great alternative to the Yamaha… the Boss Katana Head (not the air) The head has an internal speaker to play at practice and power scales down to 0.5w. It then can also be used as a 100w head with a cab, and as a power amp for another modeler, synergy system, or pre-amp pedal. For $350 US, it’s really an amazing tool that can sit on a night stand or play a gig and just about anything in between.
The sparse metronome thing is a really alienating thing but I find it really cultivates your sense of rhythmic imagination. Once I started viewing it that way and realizing that, especially if I were playing solo or just me and a singer, I had the sense of a band in my head and was responding accordingly in my playing, everything felt more complete even in the negative space. It’s a hard thing to articulate and masters like Charlie Hunter and Mark Lettieri just do this like it’s nobodies business but I think it starts there, with a strong sense of rhythmic imagination that is as strong as the melodic one we are usually working on
I have the WAZA Headphones and they are the best practice tool I’ve ever had. I use them every day. I Bluetooth my bands set list songs to them and learn parts and play along anywhere.... in every room in the house, in the garden and take them and a guitar away on holiday with me. Some of the tones are exceptional.
I gave up on the Boss Waza Air but on seeing this I think I'll give it another go. I've invested in some Curt Mangan strings (9.5's) and really liking them upto now I was a die hard Elixir user on 9's but find the Curt Mangans really nice in feel and playability so thanks for that guys. Keep on rockin'
Thanks for introducing iReal pro to me Dan. I almost never have any structure in my practice sessions but that makes it almost like a challenge - love it!
Spent last night jamming with my brother in law while we sat outside enjoying some beers. He had his acoustic and I had my tele through my katana air. Setup a clean tone and an overdrive tone and switched between the two as needed. Greatest tone ever? No, but tons of fun and the most practice I’ve had in weeks
Absolutely true about the headphones. I use noise-cancelling headphones with my Tone Master Deluxe Reverb by just using the DI out with an XLR female to stereo mini jack cable, using the line level as a master volume control (no additional headphone amp/interface required) and that isolation is superb for silent playing, especially with the reverb/tremolo or a bit of delay from the Strymon Volante.
It’s Friday, it’s 12 o’clock, it’s TPS! Which is effectively the modern day equivalent of Crackerjack for a bunch of us 70s born nerds. Happy Friday folks.
@@mikeclarke4002 we have to pay TPS if we want pencils. For some reason @thatpedalshow isn't covered by the BBC license fee. I know, it's an outrageous state of affairs.
Every year that goes by you guys remind me more and more of a married couple, such synchronicity and so many tense moments when you feel you're annoying each other :D love it!
Would love to see you guys do a video on the THR amp with pedals and its own presets. You guys do such a great job getting killer sounds out of everything!!!
Great ideas for practicing ! (Sorry, that's how we spell it over here.) But I'm not used to such a short video. I'll have to go to the archives to play another episode that I haven't seen yet.
As a dad in a not to big flat I can say that the Boss WAZA Airs are the best home practice tool since the guitar itself. There’s no fussing around with wires and takes three seconds to get going. The preset switches on the side are great. I only wished they’ve made it possible to record the output via USB.
This video came out at a great time for me. I've just got back into playing after basically a decade away from it (kids, life, etc). It has been a real slog practicing, mainly because it's so disheartening knowing how I could previously play, and how far from that I now am. I really liked Dan's tip with the metronome for getting a feel for time. I used to play with one to work on speed but this way is a great idea. I use your shows as inspiration to keep going with it, so thank you! Cheers guys.
Recently, I discovered IK multimedia's Amplitude 5 amp sim and now use it as my main practise tool: the sound is quite good through a set of monitors and the built in DAW/recorder is great for working on your timing as you can see when you're on or off the beat just by looking at the recording (particularly helpful for working on 16th's) and you can play back at 1/2 speed too . The neighbours don't seem to complain either. However, it's not a massively satisfying sound as it lacks the warmth of a valve amp in the room so you lose some of the subtle differences between the different amps and pedals. So when I want to just play, the sound of my 1 watt value amp & pedals, even at just 70 db, is better even if the neighbours are less happy. So I'm quite envious of of your setup, and that you get to play load. That's something I've never experienced and I'm sure I'm not the only one.
Good suggestion on the looper- I've neglected that myself and have been using a basic TC Ditto for years; but I recently upgraded to one of the larger Boss units (partly to force me to learn/use it more!) and it's made a lot of difference for practice being able to store backing tracks etc
I don’t know why it took me this long to put 2 and 2 together, but I always get quickly bored by how my THR10 sounds, so I just stuck my H&K Tubeman in front of it. With headphones on, the way it compresses and adds harmonics tricks my brain enough to get past the things I normally don’t like. And now there’s footswitches. It’s a solid fix for anyone that struggles with solid state circuits, and the Tubeman isn’t crazy expensive.
EHX's Freeze pedal does that pad thing for playing over chords. You can learn about chord & scale relationship by actually listen what they sound like. Loopers are excellent for practicing and laying grooves.
An excellent episode! I've just downloaded iReal Pro ... can't wait to take it for a spin ... will have to be tomorrow as it's 10:18pm in Sydney lockdown and I am without Waza-phones. Brilliant idea with the metronome providing the 2-4 ... making it a groove. Thanks chaps! [Edit] Spent 20-30 mins on iReal Bossa Nova #1 ... which includes a chord change I had no idea about before. Now able to identify what works, what doesn't and why. Brilliant! Worth the price of admission and have only just started! Thanks again for this tip.
Playing with and around the metronome is a great concept. Totaly new to me. Just recently I found a video in witch Carol Kaye talked about it, too. For her it's about making the metronome swing. I think it's really cool. Makes it less boring and more musical.
The Yamaha THR has a very handy headphone jack. It can also stream your music, while you play guitar. I don't know if the BOSS Waza headphones can do that.
Great video! U guys should do this type of content more often. Too much is about consuming gear etc. we need to stop and enjoy what we have once in a while. And these tools are very good for anyone interested in playing guitar.
Great video, excellent tips guys. 100% agree with you on the THR10iiW, mine was an absolute godsend during lockdown last year. All my gigging gear was stashed unused in the understairs cupboard, and our already small house was now a home office/school. I use mine with a Line6 G10 wireless adaptor, so it's super quick to set up and grab 20 mins practice, be it on the kitchen table or on the sofa with headphones. Dan's point about it being quick and easy to set up (and fun!) rung so true as we all juggled multiple roles whilst confined at home. We're slowly back rehearsing now, but I use the Yamaha all the time still, learning new tracks for the bands. Wife not convinced about it being a living room furnishing however 😉
If I could share what's helped me practise and improve various techniques... Rocksmith on the PC (or consoles) is a fantastic "game" (more of a learning tool) to focus your practise in certain areas. I sometimes struggle to hold myself accountable so having a list of goals in the training modes, and completion percentages/scores on songs really helped me track my progress. It also got me to improve in areas I'd normally avoid because they're not "fun". It's vastly improved with an ASIO interface to reduce latency, otherwise it sounds super delayed. I also love learning songs through it because the charts (a bit like tabs) are very accurate, as well as the tones it simulates and automatically switches for each section. You can repeat problem sections of songs, much like you suggested with the loop pedal, but you can hear the backing track as well. And slow it down if needed... There's a Jam Mode similar to the iReal Pro backings you showed in the video. There's DLC for some of my favourite bands, that are kind of pricey per song but not too bad once they go on the occasional sale. And silly mini-games that make practicing certain techniques like scales and hammer-ons much more fun to run through. Anyway, I found it really helpful to progress and push my playing in new areas. I've hesitated to recommend it to absolute beginners in the past, as it doesn't really teach you know to start from absolute basics, but as a tool for amateur/intermediate guitarists it's bloody awesome. Maybe it just speaks to my 'gamer' brain, after playing years of Guitar Hero and Rock Band but it's helped so much, and would recommend it to anyone who's interested.
@@nishanabulike2748 There's an optional addon that lets you import songs from the older one to the newer one, so maybe add the older one and the addon to your wishlist and then when they go on sale, you get some extra tracks and can also try out the older program if you like.
I like practicing with a drum machine and looper. There are a number of ways to do this, but I'm currently using the NUX MG-30, which I can recommend for $300 US. Also has amp modeling, built-in effects, tuner, etc.
![How To Set Your Amp For Pedals [Gain, EQ, Volume & FX Loops]](http://i.ytimg.com/vi/wdUGAmYqiDc/mqdefault.jpg)
![New Year, New Pedalboard? [Mick Goes Back To ‘Basics’]](http://i.ytimg.com/vi/pTA1REG-cXY/mqdefault.jpg)
Dan has never be a slouch when it comes to playing guitar but you can tell he's learned a lot recently because he's playing well and because he's really excited to play.
I’m now convinced Dan must have an alternate Jazz persona a la Duke Silver from Parks and Rec, which has begun bleeding into his regular Prog-Rock Dan persona by way of the pork pie hat.
u
I’m just here to comment that last night I played through 2 amps wet/dry for the first time (Matchless C30 & Fender Blues Deluxe). I will never be the same. After 5 minutes our drummer commented “that sounds unreal…but is it always gonna be that loud???”
Thanks gents, cheers from Chicago
YES! Drummers saying it’s loud!? Hahahaahab! Heard it all now. :0)
Ah drummers hey?!
Consistently, my best tools for practice have been other instruments. Every time I de-emphasized guitar to learn bass, drums, keys, etc I came back to guitar with a much deeper connection to the music, rather than just to the mechanics of playing guitar and always sounding like an exercise.
Just came back to guitar after a year or two of mostly piano and wow, my understanding of my fretboard has massively increased.
Many years ago when I first met Johnny Marr, amazing ex-Smiths guitarist, I was lucky enough to jam with him and now have a good friendly relationship with him, his advise to me playing with a metronome or click track was to think of it as your best mate or another band member and try to lock in with it like you would another musician, this worked for me and improved my timing and playing greatly, now I really enjoy playing to a click and can totally feel a groove around it in my head and body.
Coool! Please give him our regards and an open invitation to TPS, either here or there! Love Johnny!
@@ThatPedalShow I sure will, a great guitarist of his time and a lovely down to earth normal bloke.
HONK!!!
With mates like that who needs TH-cam gear shows!
Of all the pedals I had ever purchased, the first time I purchased my Ditto was when playing in my apartment truly became a blast. I couldn't believe what I had been missing out on for so many years.
I had a jazz band leader give me a great tip: always have the subdivisions going in your head. So if all you have is a clap (beats 2 & 4) have the 16th notes (1|||2|||3|||4|||) going in your head regardless of how many notes you're playing, like a hi-hat. It works, especially for slow tempos and long pauses.
Oh my god, thank you guys. That iReal pro app is the type thing I’ve been looking for, for so long. This has made practicing/jamming sooo much more fun. Helped my time, tremendously as well. Thanks so much guys. Love the channel!
The best, most informative TPS episode to date. Period. Not just for me, but for many younger, less experienced players.
I've been using a metronome for practicing my phrasing for years (put the work in, kids. I promise...you're not playing "in the pocket", as much as you believe you are!).
And the latest Yamaha amp lines are a revelation.
That amp doesn't exist to replace your Super Bass or your AC15...it exists to improve what's coming OUT of those amps. It's definitely worth it and can help you be a better player...get one asap.
Top notch jobs fellas.
100% with you on the THR. I spent years basically not playing at home, despite having a ton of stuff to work with, because nothing worked that well at home volume or sounded good. Got a THR, anything sounds good plugged into it, everything's easy, and suddenly the motivation to play is there.
Perfect timing! Have spent the whole afternoon catching up on the TPS episodes. Big Hi! From rainy, locked down Brisbane.
Hello Brizzy! Lockdown, argh. Argghhh!!!!
Must’ve had 2 cases. Lock it all down!
It’s in our DNA to play with D&A. Yes, indeed (most of the times) sometimes simple is beautiful and will get us further than complex. Thanks! 🙏
Re: time feel practice. Slower tempos require more internal subdividing of the beat. Will help out with your accuracy. Really nailing the click.
Great video idea!
Dan. Careful with your swing feel.
Shuffled 8ths with heavy accents on each downbeat can sound a little stiff. Try evening out the 8ths and don’t accent your lines.
Or accent offbeats instead:
“beeBOP beeBOP.....” instead of “BAPbooo BAPboo...”.
I learned the 2/4 click trick from Tomo Fujita, the Berklee teacher a few months ago. Totally great idea and I’m amazed no one thought of it sooner.
Cool tools. I've got them all except for the Boss Headphones. Instead, I've been using the Fender Mustang Micro headphone amp with great results for silent practice. Thanks for that metronome practice tip!
Hi D&M, in Hong Kong in quarantine, day 12 of 14. THR10C packed in the checked luggage and took the neck off my EJ strat and carried body and neck
as hand carry. Got through HKG quarantine checks, into the hotel, new strings on the strat and two weeks of rocking out in the hotel alongside some periods of work. Great amp and everything you said is true. So convenient. All the best TPS and all in the community. It’s a pleasure to be a small part of it.
Probably one of the most important shows you've done for the likes of me, trying to practice (quietly) effectively, in small gobbets of time. Thank you guys, thank you.
Great suggestions. Here is another - Fender Mustang Micro. I chose it over the WAZA Airs because (1) I can use my own headphones / in ears / etc., (2) much cheaper. I can also plug it into a more complex signal chain to include my effects, and also to output to something other than headphones (like my powered monitors). Great practice tool for not much money.
I bought the THR after the last time Dan recommended it. I love it! Play it every day.
Metronome on 2 & 4 is a trick I learned from Carol Kaye. Not sure if she came up with it herself, but I count it as yet another of her many valuable contributions to music and especially bass.
Best thing about iReal Pro: You can loop any part of the song to work on only specific bits. Especially if you’re just starting out to improvise over jazz standards that have a lot different keys, it’s super useful to break it down a bit!
I LOVE THAT APP. You can quickly chart out any progression you want. I use it just over a couple chords if need be. And it’s sterile enough that it leaves room for you to work on your feel too.
I'd never have expected a World According To Garp reference in a TH-cam Guitar video haha. Well done, Dan! Great video, gents!
Practicing with metronome on beats 2 & 4 is an old yet effective trick. You do it to develop your swing. I had a teacher who taught me that.
Drummers should use this technique 😀
My best practise tools are TPS episodes. I watch them while practising/noodling and it gives me a clear hour or two of finger exercise! (And I get older and wiser at the same time)
Mick seems to be enjoying the Casino post-pickup change. Splendid sounds, lads.
Muchly. It’s a very satisfying low volume guitar!
There are a couple of other cool features in iReal pro which are useful.
1. You can loop chords. So for example if you want to work on specific changes, you can just loop those chords and play over them.
2. If you go to the ‘long notes’ function in the iReal sound section, you can put the click on 2&4 and have a string pad behind you. This is great because you can hear your lines against the harmony of the chord.
Greetings from Nevada (where the fire season has started) My Positive Grid Spark practice amp came yesterday, so your tips are timely!
On the metronome point: a lot of people think practicing is the time for pushing yourself and they end up setting the metronome way too fast, they play sloppy, and then they're even worse on the gig. Definitely, set it slow for subdivisions, so you will be internally responsible with articulating the rhythm. But even if you just did straight quarters with the click, still set it way slower than you think while practicing. The point of practice is to internalize and soak in the moves and changes. If you're smooth when slow in practice, you'll be smooth when fast on a gig. Great episode guys.
Had a looper station. Got a Trio+. Which is a lot more than a looper. Makes playing more fun.
Lovely looking Casino. I recently bought a Gary Clark Jr. 'Blak n Blu' Casino and I've been blown away by it. Has full Gibson electronics and pickups and it's pure filth. Cleans up really nice as well for some nice warm jazz tones. Apparently Clapton has been seen playing one on stage quite recently too. Great guitars.
Nice - sounds very cool Chris!
For learning songs I'm also a big fan of the various tools for slowing down the tempo while leaving the key alone.
I love that I’m in a part of the world where this is what I wake up to. Favorite part of my Friday mornings!
Hooray!
Its a pleasure to watch you Gents so evolved in your all-guitar fiending pursuits. Well done Sirs!
Just bought a second Boss RC-3 Loop station before watching this, invaluable addition to a pedal board for practicing, playing to a metro gnome/beats. Big thanks to Dan for mentioning the Neunaber Iconoclast a while back, I'm loving the sound through headphones from my Laney IRT studio.
Guys I bought a pair of these after your words on their abillities because I value your opinion and for me they are perfect.
Just messed around with the app for 10 minutes and already it’s one of my favorite tools. Brings a lot of things together. Thanks!
Spark amp is the best thing I have bought for the last 10 years...Even if I have bought many guitars ( 3 Duesenberg, GIBSON, Maybach, Eastman, Tokai, etc....), boutique pedals and Fender Amp ! The Ditto looper is number 2 .
Woah! I’ve just got these on in the background while i’m working for some nice semi-musical interludes with the guys lovely chatter to keep me company, and suddenly out of nowhere I hear someone playing listenable jazz, and I look up and it’s Mick! Every video, you guys surprise us with something. Love it.
I'm sure this was mentioned somewhere in the comments, but there was a brilliant video of Pat Metheny giving a clinic at a music school in the 80s and he used a metronome in this fashion. He just set the click, put it on the floor and showed how he warmed up. It's a great way to breathe a little life into what might be otherwise mundane. Plus, it allows you to swing.
Thank you both for all that you do...I appreciate ya
Ah, cheers bud 🤓🙏
The single thing that has helped my jazz playing is learning a song. Now play the same song without playing those chords you just used, new positions or voicing and then repeat. Next step is start mixing those different chords/voicings together. After you are making noticeable progress, start dropping the bass note. Do that to one song a day and you will be shocked at the progress you can make because a TON of jazz songs are very similar when looking just at the chords.
Dan, you're a really great guitar player. Thanks for this guys!
I love my Spark Amp and I'm not ashamed to say it! It is a great little amp.
I'm a huge iReal Pro fan. It's useful for a heck of a lot more than jazz. Seemingly any classic pop/R&B/funk/etc. song is available -- and being able to slow down the accompaniment, and then gradually bring up the tempo, is wonderful. Being able to practice a lick in any key, with the accompaniment switched to the desired key or playing any of scores of rhythmic styles, is so good.
I just tried the metronome on 2 and 4 and even changing basic chords became incredibly difficult all of a sudden. Thanks, guys. Thanks... 😩 (No, but really thanks! Have a nice week!)
Sometimes While sitting in my car waiting to turn, I start a beat going on my steering wheel with click from the indicator. All good timing practice.
Haha I do the same. It drives my wife nuts.
@@Billywagner22 try beatboxing 😂 she’ll love it!
I was doing that very thing today 🤣
Dude, yes I totally do that. Then again I've been playing drums for over 45 years so... ;)
I have been a steering wheel drummer for decades! Son loves it, wife hates it.
I have a compulsion to do things the hard way, or "wrong" as the pros call it, so rather than a Metronome or a Looper, I use a Tremolo to simulate having friends to rock out with. Really tightened up my rhythm. 🤘
Cool thing to expand this first practice is to move those beats to every subdivision in a bar ( so in example- we have 1 beat per 1 bar and beat lands on 3 or "3 and", " 2 and" etc. )
Also very amazing practice for your time is to make metronome to beat just on 1.
Then if you can make it you expand it to beat on 1 but every 2 or even every 4 bars.
If you can make it to 4 you literally are turning into living metronome :D
The metronome snare is gold! I use one all the time and this will totally change my playing in the pocket. Thanks!
I got the Rev D20 and a simple splitter box for some of these reasons. Allows me to use the audio out on my iPad and go into the amp but the D20 also allows me to use the headphone out with the cab unplugged for quiet practice all while being a great pedal platform and great anchor for the home studio
For the advanced variation of Thing 1: set your metronome to play triplets (or 12/8 with an accent on the first of every three) and play along to it with a 4/4 or square feel. Then, do the opposite. And then try playing triplet-double triplet-doubles (what drummers affectionately call "eggbeaters"). :)
Or to make things even more interesting (maybe?), put your metronome back to only playing on 2 & 4, and play along with it "normally", but use a wah and pulse your foot on all of the upbeats, or triplets, etc etc.
I know it's a show mainly about pedals and gear, but man I enjoy your playing. Both of you are terrific guitar players.
Thank you!
I bought the THR10 when it first came out in 2011. I've used it for at least 5-8 hours a week since and it's never had an issue. Brilliant investment.
I’ve been using the metronome on 2 & 4 for the past year. I have noticed a huge improvement in my time. Playing in time makes everything else feel better.
the 2/4 metronome exercise is great for jazz swing, its instant swing in a bottle
I've been doing my 'silent' practice through a Fender mustang micro amp which works a treat - but it had never occurred to me that I could plug it into my pedal board! Thank you for showing how to do that with the Boss Waza headphones and opening up my silent practice world! Great show as always 🙂 🎸 🎧
Thanks for the pointer to iReal Pro last week.
Been using it in conjunction with my guitar lessons and already see improvements in my phrasing.
100% would recommend!
Random bit of kit that is a great alternative to the Yamaha… the Boss Katana Head (not the air)
The head has an internal speaker to play at practice and power scales down to 0.5w. It then can also be used as a 100w head with a cab, and as a power amp for another modeler, synergy system, or pre-amp pedal. For $350 US, it’s really an amazing tool that can sit on a night stand or play a gig and just about anything in between.
The sparse metronome thing is a really alienating thing but I find it really cultivates your sense of rhythmic imagination. Once I started viewing it that way and realizing that, especially if I were playing solo or just me and a singer, I had the sense of a band in my head and was responding accordingly in my playing, everything felt more complete even in the negative space. It’s a hard thing to articulate and masters like Charlie Hunter and Mark Lettieri just do this like it’s nobodies business but I think it starts there, with a strong sense of rhythmic imagination that is as strong as the melodic one we are usually working on
I have the WAZA Headphones and they are the best practice tool I’ve ever had. I use them every day. I Bluetooth my bands set list songs to them and learn parts and play along anywhere.... in every room in the house, in the garden and take them and a guitar away on holiday with me. Some of the tones are exceptional.
I think you should have a TPS hat like Dan’s in the pedal store. Such a great hat!
I gave up on the Boss Waza Air but on seeing this I think I'll give it another go. I've invested in some Curt Mangan strings (9.5's) and really liking them upto now I was a die hard Elixir user on 9's but find the Curt Mangans really nice in feel and playability so thanks for that guys. Keep on rockin'
love the banter
iRealPro was my savior in my Jazz recitals at music school 😂
Dan, appreciate your Big Trees recommendation. That little amp helps me get the most out of practice.
Thanks for introducing iReal pro to me Dan. I almost never have any structure in my practice sessions but that makes it almost like a challenge - love it!
This is a great video - you guys definitely inspire to learn - which has to be one of the hardest things to do!
I just got the Ditto+ last week, what a great looper pedal, the functionality with the screen is amazing and it's still the same simple small pedal
Spent last night jamming with my brother in law while we sat outside enjoying some beers. He had his acoustic and I had my tele through my katana air. Setup a clean tone and an overdrive tone and switched between the two as needed. Greatest tone ever? No, but tons of fun and the most practice I’ve had in weeks
Absolutely true about the headphones. I use noise-cancelling headphones with my Tone Master Deluxe Reverb by just using the DI out with an XLR female to stereo mini jack cable, using the line level as a master volume control (no additional headphone amp/interface required) and that isolation is superb for silent playing, especially with the reverb/tremolo or a bit of delay from the Strymon Volante.
Thanks guys! Very practical recommendations easy to implement!
It’s Friday, it’s 12 o’clock, it’s TPS! Which is effectively the modern day equivalent of Crackerjack for a bunch of us 70s born nerds. Happy Friday folks.
No free pencils, though. Oh, was that that Crackerjack? I was born in the fifties!
CRACKERJACK!
Oooh I could crush a grape.
@@mikeclarke4002 we have to pay TPS if we want pencils. For some reason @thatpedalshow isn't covered by the BBC license fee. I know, it's an outrageous state of affairs.
@@benbutterworth7584 personally I'm considering ripping a tissue.
That clean tone with the tele is sooo awesome!
Love the iReal Pro and my Boss Katana for practice
Every year that goes by you guys remind me more and more of a married couple, such synchronicity and so many tense moments when you feel you're annoying each other :D love it!
You can change the “-“ to “m” (minor) in iReal’s settings if it’s confusing for anyone
Love the vids boys !!!
Would love to see you guys do a video on the THR amp with pedals and its own presets. You guys do such a great job getting killer sounds out of everything!!!
Second this! I have a THR 10 II and interested to know what fuzz and drive pedals will sound good.
Great ideas for practicing ! (Sorry, that's how we spell it over here.) But I'm not used to such a short video. I'll have to go to the archives to play another episode that I haven't seen yet.
As a dad in a not to big flat I can say that the Boss WAZA Airs are the best home practice tool since the guitar itself. There’s no fussing around with wires and takes three seconds to get going. The preset switches on the side are great. I only wished they’ve made it possible to record the output via USB.
This video came out at a great time for me. I've just got back into playing after basically a decade away from it (kids, life, etc). It has been a real slog practicing, mainly because it's so disheartening knowing how I could previously play, and how far from that I now am.
I really liked Dan's tip with the metronome for getting a feel for time. I used to play with one to work on speed but this way is a great idea.
I use your shows as inspiration to keep going with it, so thank you! Cheers guys.
Nice one Nick - welcome back!
You guys are a blessing. I am blessed. Thank you for the wonderful content!! Always!! 😍
Recently, I discovered IK multimedia's Amplitude 5 amp sim and now use it as my main practise tool: the sound is quite good through a set of monitors and the built in DAW/recorder is great for working on your timing as you can see when you're on or off the beat just by looking at the recording (particularly helpful for working on 16th's) and you can play back at 1/2 speed too . The neighbours don't seem to complain either. However, it's not a massively satisfying sound as it lacks the warmth of a valve amp in the room so you lose some of the subtle differences between the different amps and pedals. So when I want to just play, the sound of my 1 watt value amp & pedals, even at just 70 db, is better even if the neighbours are less happy. So I'm quite envious of of your setup, and that you get to play load. That's something I've never experienced and I'm sure I'm not the only one.
Good suggestion on the looper- I've neglected that myself and have been using a basic TC Ditto for years; but I recently upgraded to one of the larger Boss units (partly to force me to learn/use it more!) and it's made a lot of difference for practice being able to store backing tracks etc
That Yamaha amp looks very nice. Sounds nice as well.
I don’t know why it took me this long to put 2 and 2 together, but I always get quickly bored by how my THR10 sounds, so I just stuck my H&K Tubeman in front of it. With headphones on, the way it compresses and adds harmonics tricks my brain enough to get past the things I normally don’t like. And now there’s footswitches. It’s a solid fix for anyone that struggles with solid state circuits, and the Tubeman isn’t crazy expensive.
EHX's Freeze pedal does that pad thing for playing over chords. You can learn about chord & scale relationship by actually listen what they sound like. Loopers are excellent for practicing and laying grooves.
An excellent episode! I've just downloaded iReal Pro ... can't wait to take it for a spin ... will have to be tomorrow as it's 10:18pm in Sydney lockdown and I am without Waza-phones. Brilliant idea with the metronome providing the 2-4 ... making it a groove. Thanks chaps!
[Edit] Spent 20-30 mins on iReal Bossa Nova #1 ... which includes a chord change I had no idea about before. Now able to identify what works, what doesn't and why. Brilliant! Worth the price of admission and have only just started! Thanks again for this tip.
Playing with and around the metronome is a great concept. Totaly new to me. Just recently I found a video in witch Carol Kaye talked about it, too. For her it's about making the metronome swing. I think it's really cool. Makes it less boring and more musical.
The metro gnomes are the names of the mascots for the metro centre which is a shopping centre in Newcastle 😋
The Yamaha THR has a very handy headphone jack. It can also stream your music, while you play guitar. I don't know if the BOSS Waza headphones can do that.
Yes, waza air does that too, and Its fantastic.
Dan, it's really cool to hear where your study is taking you! Great work, you sound very good.
That tropical disease line made me spit out my coffee.
Great video! U guys should do this type of content more often. Too much is about consuming gear etc. we need to stop and enjoy what we have once in a while. And these tools are very good for anyone interested in playing guitar.
Great video, excellent tips guys. 100% agree with you on the THR10iiW, mine was an absolute godsend during lockdown last year. All my gigging gear was stashed unused in the understairs cupboard, and our already small house was now a home office/school. I use mine with a Line6 G10 wireless adaptor, so it's super quick to set up and grab 20 mins practice, be it on the kitchen table or on the sofa with headphones. Dan's point about it being quick and easy to set up (and fun!) rung so true as we all juggled multiple roles whilst confined at home. We're slowly back rehearsing now, but I use the Yamaha all the time still, learning new tracks for the bands. Wife not convinced about it being a living room furnishing however 😉
If I could share what's helped me practise and improve various techniques... Rocksmith on the PC (or consoles) is a fantastic "game" (more of a learning tool) to focus your practise in certain areas. I sometimes struggle to hold myself accountable so having a list of goals in the training modes, and completion percentages/scores on songs really helped me track my progress. It also got me to improve in areas I'd normally avoid because they're not "fun". It's vastly improved with an ASIO interface to reduce latency, otherwise it sounds super delayed. I also love learning songs through it because the charts (a bit like tabs) are very accurate, as well as the tones it simulates and automatically switches for each section. You can repeat problem sections of songs, much like you suggested with the loop pedal, but you can hear the backing track as well. And slow it down if needed...
There's a Jam Mode similar to the iReal Pro backings you showed in the video. There's DLC for some of my favourite bands, that are kind of pricey per song but not too bad once they go on the occasional sale. And silly mini-games that make practicing certain techniques like scales and hammer-ons much more fun to run through.
Anyway, I found it really helpful to progress and push my playing in new areas. I've hesitated to recommend it to absolute beginners in the past, as it doesn't really teach you know to start from absolute basics, but as a tool for amateur/intermediate guitarists it's bloody awesome. Maybe it just speaks to my 'gamer' brain, after playing years of Guitar Hero and Rock Band but it's helped so much, and would recommend it to anyone who's interested.
Do you recommend one version of the game or the other? Steam has the "normal" one and the 2014 ver. as well.
@@nishanabulike2748 There's an optional addon that lets you import songs from the older one to the newer one, so maybe add the older one and the addon to your wishlist and then when they go on sale, you get some extra tracks and can also try out the older program if you like.
I’ve gotta say mick that epiphone is gorgeous.
This is one of my new favorite channels to watch. Thank you for the great content.
Thank you for being here.
Class ep boys. I loved it
I like practicing with a drum machine and looper. There are a number of ways to do this, but I'm currently using the NUX MG-30, which I can recommend for $300 US. Also has amp modeling, built-in effects, tuner, etc.