So impressive to have this subject covered by a pedal maker. Caring about customers without relentlessly pushing product. And you covered it well. Thank you.

One really important thing you didn't mention; practicing bends to hit the correct pitch.

It's not a wrong note if you hit it twice.;)

1.Tuning is so important, but so is intonation. One must check their bridge settings religiously. There is nothing more satisfying than a guitar that's in tune. 2. Palm muting. It's all just drunken campfire music until you start to incorporate palm muting. And it truly is an art. One should spend time each day experimenting with palm muting. 3. Turn down the gain. SRV showed us that amazing tone can be had with little to no distortion. Listen to Cold Shot. Even the solo is played clean. Can't Stand The Weather is another example of how good a clean amp can sound. 4. Standing up is great advice, but dance too. Don't just stand there. Get into it. Even if it's just 3 chords repeating the whole time. You have to feel the music. Dance with it. Close your eyes. Groove! Let the music enter your soul. This is how you go from average to excellent. And all you have to do is immerse yourself into the music. Look at SRV's face when he plays. That boy is feeling every note. 5. This is still to do with 4., but..... play simple things and play them well. If all you are doing is playing a D,G and C chord, don't act like a snob that's too good to give these three chords your full attention. Play those three chords like your life depends on them. Try to play that D chord like no one has ever played it before. Make it the finest D ever heard by man. Nothing is so easy that it doesn't deserve your full attention and effort. And it's sometimes really fun to get into three chords so deeply that your mind is completely free from any other thoughts or experience other than just those three chords. 6. Never practice scales! NEVER! EVER! This may sound like heresy, but many great guitarists will say the same thing, and the reason is clear.....If you practice scales you will sound like you are playing scales. Hey, the mind and fingers operate on memory. And so when you go to play a solo, you're fully inclined to play what you have practiced. So never practice scales. OH, ya, have diagrams of scales plastered all over your walls so you memorize them all, but never just go up and down the scales with your fingers. Play licks. Practice the solos to all your favorite songs. And don't try to play the solos note for note. Otherwise you'll end up just ripping off other people's licks. Allow yourself to deviate from the record. Make the licks your own. But still, it's from practicing your favorite artists solos that you will learn how to create your own amazing solos. 7. Practice at slow tempos. So you think you learned a song pretty well? Now practice it as half speed. That's right, play each note perfectly. Make every transition perfect. Make each note sound out clearly. Dissect your playing. Listen to how you mute the strings, etc. It's about giving total attention to what you're doing. And it's fun. It's so awesome to stand in a quiet room under a bright light and just go over a song, or lick, and just fully perfect every little nuance about it. 8. My playing improved ten fold when I stopped smoking weed. I thought the weed would improve my concentration and really allow me to focus during my practices. Well, as soon as I quite smoking weed, my playing went through the roof. It was the best thing I ever did, but results may vary. 9. Oh you newbies are so lucky today with your internet. In my days it was hard to find good lessons. Now you can get the best lessons for free all day long on KZfaq. So make use of this amazing new world feature. 10. Solo over backing tracks. I bought a Fender G-DEC some 10 years ago. Well, that thing has backing track loops. Those loops allowed me to solo over backing tracks for hours at a time. And I did! And wow, did I learn a lot from doing that. It's one of the greatest inventions ever. Especially if you turn the tempo down, so you can think clearly about each note you are about to play. Because there's a lot to think about when learning to solo. You have to know the key, what chord is being played, what scales can be played over each chord, what the next chord will be, etc. And playing over the same simple backing track at low speed for hours is a great way to train you and your fingers how to solo. 11. Remember, music is all about relationships. Soloing is all about relating to the chords underneath it. And there are so many ways to relate them! There is no one way to solo. It's like painting pictures. There are a thousand different ways to solo over chords, but there is always some kind of relationship going on. When I solo, my mind is doing something like, "Okay, we are in A major 12 bar blues pattern. Let's start with an A major pentatonic lick and end it with a minor pentatonic lick. Here's the D major chord. I'm gonna stay in the A minor pentatonic and finish it with a D major pentatonic. E now. Let's play it safe and just stay in E major pentatonic. Back to A. Let's do a little Chuck Berry style double stops. And now some Lynyrd Skynyrd major pentatonic stuff. Oh the E is coming up. I'm going to play a little E major pentatonic before it actually hits. Wow, that worked! lol " 12. Don't get suckered into buying expensive guitars and amps. I talk from years of experience. Just buy a Fender Twin Reverb, a tube screamer, a wah, maybe an Electric Mistress or other modulation and a $500 guitar. From that set up you can sound incredible anywhere. If it works for SRV...it'll work for you too. I have a dozen guitars I bought used for under $200 that sound and play absolutely amazing. I also have a real 1964 Strat I bought in 1979 from Norm's Rare Guitars. So I know tone. And as amazing as that 64 strat sounds....my $200 Schecter C-1+ sounds and plays equally amazing. I just had to change out the volume pots for vintage taper units. 13. Always practice with a drum machine. These days it's less uncommon for people to practice without some kind of solid time keeping. But it's still important. Back in my days there were no drum machine, backing tracks or barely even any metronomes. When I started playing with a drum machine, I instantly learned how bad my timing was. Even if you practice with a drummer (like I did), use some kind of time keeping device. It's always funny to watch a drummer have to play against a metronome for the first time. It's such a shock to them to find out how sloppy their timing truly is. Most drummers will try to break the device in anger. 14. Use light gage strings. There's simply no sense in torturing your fingers with heavy gage strings. Heavy strings do not sound any better than light gage. Sure, SRV used very heavy strings and he could nail the Hendrix tones, but Hendrix played the lightest strings offered. So....see? Same tone, despite wildly different gages. 15. Don't buy fancy gear. Buy an older Fender amp. Period. Why? I'll tell you why. Because amps break. And when your boutique $3000 amp head blows up.....now you have to find someone to fix it. Everyone knows how to fix an old Fender amp. Not everyone has worked on your Three Monkeys, Frenzel or Line 6 head. And when you find someone who can work on it, you gotta pay shipping and extra money for the parts and labor. But an old Fender amp? You can usually fix the thing yourself. I use a Fender Blues Deluxe Reissue. I'm constantly blowing peoples minds with my tone. And if it breaks, there's a hundred people within driving distance who have worked on hundreds of these amps already. They know exactly what is wrong with it before I even bring it in. ("Oh, the *&^*%&$ always goes on those things") And so it's cheap and easy to get this amp fixed. Plus most times I can fix the amp myself. I wouldn't even dream of trying to fix a Line 6. Amps are so overrated. At the end of SRVs career, he was often seen using just two old Fender Twin Reverbs. Even a dreaded late 70's Twin Reverb with a master volume!!! There was a time these amps were loathed. Yet, there was Stevie playing the most incredible sounds you ever heard with one of the most loathed amps ever. Why? Simply because amps are so overrated. Just get a simple old Fender tube amp, and you'll have all you need in that department.

I like the fact that u could just try to sell us a pedal but you're just being an honest person

Love this company and Brian. He's actually a player, not just trying to sell you something. A Wampler pedal is definitely next on my list!!

Something that helps me is recording myself and listening to it. The first time I did this I was shocked at how sloppy my playing was. I had lots of extemporaneous sound I wasn't controlling the way I should have been.

Dude, this is a list video in which the 12 ways ARE ALSO LISTED ON THE DESCRIPTION. YOU ARE A FUCKING HERO. Subscribed.

Few things I've picked up over the years: I feel like I've never practiced one day, I have, I just love playing so that's what I do, if you 'just play" you're going to get better. When I first tried to play it was just so boring to sit there and bang my head against a wall, so I quit for years and picked it back up later and decided I would only ever do what I thought was fun. Another thing this did for me was helped me develop my own style. When you play guitar there are no rules and you don't ever have to be like anyone else if you want. I dig so many styles of music so something that, I'm sure, helped me with timing was when I would play guitar to styles of music that don't have a lot of guitar like some Rap, Hip-Hop or Electronic music... the beats are almost always consistent and coming up with your own guitar parts to stuff with none is fun, at least for me. If you don't like those styles of music maybe drum loops or something would be better. I agree with playing loud! There's just something about feeling the music that just drives your soul, at least for me. I also love watching videos like this and reading about everything I can and that's where I get a lot of 'new idea' inspiration. There's nothing like reading a guitar mag interview with one of your favorite players and then taking some tip or something they do and try to insert it into what you do. Sometimes the mistakes you make will actually end up being some of the coolest parts you'll do so always keep in mind that not all mistakes are bad. Anyway the Wampler Pedal Vlog is rad! Really dig it!

laughed out loud when you hit the guitar to get it to the right note, that's a great trick!

“If nothing else, just call it jazz” 😂 Love that - as well as everything in this whole video. Some great advice all around. And you make great pedals and amps! Thank you Brian!!

Best tip I've heard in awhile is to stand while practicing. Learning new songs and playing them on stage do always feel like night and day. Thanks Brian

Love that tip about incorporating wrong notes into your playing. The right note is just a half away, so don’t get flustered, and slide up into it. And if you play it again, it resisters with the audience that it was i tetional. Always suspected that there is a unintentional note on Allman’s at Fillmore East, but he resolves it so musically it ends up sounding really interesting.

Forget who said it or I'd give 'em credit-"You're never more than 1 fret away from the right note."

"If nothing else, just call it Jazz ..." My whole playing history has been one, big, 'Free-form Jazz exploration', a la Spinal Tap's hiatus ...

you can thank the goats for my subscribe...

As the late great Les Paul stated: “You’re only a half step away from greatness.” Brad Paisley just showed what that can look like. Thanks for sharing this Paislean trick Brian.

Cool I now know that I have a great guitar teacher because he wants me to play chords around scales and get creative! Plus he makes learning guitar so darn fun.

Play a E chord or any and throw your finger anywhere on the fret board and make a phrase around it in that key, great practice!

Wow that Tele nick has some miles on it. Like every note on every fret on every scale has been drilled to the bone. Impressed.

I'll add my two cents: Always have your amp on the floor. Never put an amp on a stand or a chair, it loses most of its low end and mid tones. If you want to hear its true tone at ear level, try sitting down on the floor in front of it, its pretty amazing. AND yes, play notes around the chords! Great bit of advice!!!

I love how “get things done” and playing with guitars are in the same video. To my wife, playing with guitars and music is all playing. “Getting things done” is housework and errands. I’m still trying to find out how to combine “getting things done” with building and playing guitars. I do notice the presence of farm animals so I’m sure there is lots of work that goes with that too.

The key to success is to leave in a beautiful and peaceful place like this.. I'm so jealous.. Your pedals are just fkn AWESOME by the way.

Every thing you said is straight on, if i had not learned to be comfortable with all those things i would have been all messed up first time i sat down with 4 other musicians and i have seen it happen to others who keep saying they just are not used to playing in a live setting.. I would even suggest picking ten songs and playing all the way through them while standing to gain stamina and confidence

"If nothin else, just call it jazz." -B Wamp's words of wisdom on how to handle wrong notes. Love it.

There's lots of folks who say there are NO wrong notes, only if you like the notes or not. It's pretty much true, imho. Beauty is in the eye (and ears) of the beholder. And if you do hit a note that sounds "wrong" to you, remember this - you're only one fret away from a a note will work better for you. It's the beauty of guitar, the one fret theory. Mr. Wampler gave a good demonstration of that. One fret either way and you'll hear something you like in most cases. Nice video, good and very basic information to help any guitar player sound better.

I found that a great practice tool, right here on KZfaq, is doing a search including the phrase “guitar backing track” it’s like karaoke but for guitar instead of voice. A lot of times you’ll find people of actually taking the original recordings and edit it out to Guitars. I’ll blow through a handful of these as exercises on the days when I don’t really feel like practicing. For solos, there’s also different styles and keys such as “ blues in E minor guitar backing track” etc. I put it through my PA and blend my guitar to match. Occasionally I have to stop just to enjoy the backing track. (SRV’s Pride & Joy guitar backing track is great all by itself!). Enjoy!

You know what else helps, even it costs money?? The Wampler Tumnus!!!! Best pedal ever.

"just call it jazz" haha

On point, my favourite tips are chords vs. scales and the perspective on musical maturity and how that comes across with your emotional end product, great stuff....Thanks Brian! 🐐🐐🐐🐐🐐🐐

something that has helped me tremendously with speed picking clarity.... RELAX ! i've actually started slightly rotating my picking hand around in almost a circle as i pick, to force relaxation. Another trick to help relax is to pretend you have a small broom between your fingers and sweep the strings like you're dusting them.

Re: learning melodies/solos from other instruments or vocal- I love Jerry Douglas solos and decided to learn dobro. Even though I haven't started dobro yet, I figured it would help to learn to play his solo on guitar so I'd have it in my head (Let Me Touch You For Awhile). It was so much fun and instructive to learn his phrasing (playing upbeats instead of downbeats, for one) and also to mimic his sliding into notes using bends instead. Opened up a whole realm of possibilities in my guitarplaying.

#1 best lesson I've learned: Practice it the way your going to perform it. i.e.... If your standing during performing, stand up during practice. Great video, and of course.... Tune your insturment. That's what professionals do.

Something I do is purposely hit a wrong note while practicing and make a bend or a repetition out of it in case I do it during a live performance.

as far as neighbors, I find it easier to ask for forgiveness than to ask for permission. works

Great advice about playing and learning chords around the neck. Learning a song you don't like from a genre you don't know well helps too.

"If nothing else, just call it jaz." Ha, that was great. In fact great video and advice.

I hate playing standing up- always have. But learning to outline chords with notes changed everything for me. Most players I know end up in the same place I was at- they noodle around in scales and it never really sounds very melodic or musical but we're convinced that learning all those notes is the key- if we just knew all the notes that would potentially work- surely, we could find a melody in there somewhere. But it doesn't work because we're approaching playing backwards- you're supposed to hear the melody in your head and just play it really. That's the absolute easiest and best way to come up with a lead line- forget scales, forget chord shapes, and shut up- listen to the rhythm, now what do you hear in your head? Play it, and don't pay any attention to where it's at on the neck- just make it sound right. Most ppl are shocked to find they can do this- it's not really that difficult. Especially if you've been noodling around in scales for years already. But- i you really must have some sort of guide as to where to start- using chord shapes beats using scales any day. And I don't necessarily mean the exact chord shape they're playing either- maybe they're playing a D major- I would find the D major Bar chord- now I would look for a perfect 5th or 3rd- to give it that "major" feel. But- if they're playing a D minor- same thing accept this time- I'm going to concentrate on the flat 3rd- which is what makes a minor chord sound minor. In other words- I'm going to concentrate on whatever note it is that defines the chord they're playing. That way your melody is helping to color the chords and give the song the feel it's supposed to have.

I think adding the tone possibilities of the amps mid/bass/treb would be a good bases to go over in basic plug in to your tone concept. hearing you tone become apart of its sound from the basic's is truly where it starts. great video!

Thanks for the great suggestions. Good video. I know the thread is a bit dated, but I'd respectfully offer one more suggestion (borrowed from classical training/instruction): "Economy of motion" -- use only enough movement to sound the note properly, but at the same time, DO use enough force and movement to sound the note (notes, or chords). Practice difficult passages VERY SLOWLY and play only as fast as can be played without error, THEN gradually speed up tempo to reach final 'correct' tempo.

Great video! Even if you know these tips already, they're so basic and so essential that it NEVER hurts to remind yourself of them many times over.

Agree about vibrato. Some people that are really good players lack a good vibrato. Brings a certain emotion to the song/lead.

That tele sounds great man!

Les and Mary used to do the "trick" in their performances.

I spent a week as a teenager studying one specific vibrato note - Eric Clapton on Tales of Brave Ulysses. At the time it was a turntable at half speed and painstakingly figuring out how far above and below the note he was going and then at full speed to get the speed right. It's stuck with me for decades, and have been complimented on my vibrato over the years. I personally don't care for the really wide/slow vibrato that some major players use, but it's their signature and individual taste, obviously.

If nothing else just call it jazz, love it.

Excellent advice once again.

Fantastic material Brian. I knew all of this but I love how you delivered it

I would add: 1 practice as much as possible in the circumstances of what you would really like to be doing in front of people or to record. i.e. your 'real' sound at stage/recording volume with a band playing tunes right through with NO BREAKS. Where most players come unstuck is having a too small (usually bedroom-sized) comfort zone and too easily being taken out of it. Get your real live sound sorted then get out and play wherever you can it really is the only way. 2 try and only play music that sounds good, whether you like it or not or whether it's just for money or whatever, if it's not working on its own terms don't do it. 3 controversial here - don't worry too much about the metronome/drum loop thing. Everyone has timing, or will get it, if they're relaxed with the music they're playing it will just happen. If you haven't got it yet just play with others on things you are comfortable with and relax, a metronome or drum loop won't harm your playing but it won't help much either.

He starts by saying it's hot out there. I wish it was a little warmer, watching this in the middle of winter and its 18 outside haha

"If nothing else, call it jazz"... Had me rolling!!! 😂

Great points! Top of my list is vibrato which I think a lot of people ignore when they first start because they just gotta go fast fast fast lol. Another one could be put down your pick and play with your fingers or vise versa, it helped me expand a little. And learning other instruments solos is definitely a good idea! It's where lead guitar came from anyway, mimicking sax solos and what not.

Great advice on learning riffs from other instruments, especially horns (sax, trumpet) As someone who wants to improve style I can appreciate where you are coming from on this. Playing scales around chords is hard, appreciate your video on that.

I love the Funkbox iPhone app for practicing, it's a drum machine emulator that allows you to control all the parameters of an actual drum machine (and tons of other stuff). Way more fun and way more musical than a metronome ever could be

If I hit a wrong note, I'll 'accidentally' drop my drawers as an effective diversion. My wife told me "just call it jazz and don't even try it".

That hit the guitar thing is genius.

Howdy Brian. Its Jerry from Terre Haute. You modded a hm2 pedal for me and made it a diezel bogner mod. Love ya man!

Like the lack of "Attitude". Thanks for your shortcuts. And for those who, heard the sound and attitude, before the understanding. Those who play, for playing, practice for practicing. If you can hear it and feel it. The rest is memory. Wish so many others, would just pick something up. Glad the old and new, have always got along. :) And have always been in the mainstream. :) Most of my "Geek/Nerd", friends play.

Good name for the next pedal if you haven't already... The goat

Excellent lesson

Good point about the vibrato. If you note good singers, they hold the vibrato until the end which adds a bit of drama to the situation. An ideal example is young Michael Jackson singing "I'll be there". He extends the word "there" on one breath for a few extra measures where you feel surely he's got to be out of breath. Only then does he put vibrato into his extra-long sung note. Him being a child at the time made teenie boppers cream with amazement that not only could he do that but that he had the maturity to appear to choose to try. It was probably Beryy Gordie leading but you can't take anything away from Michel for pulling it off and doing it live. If you apply that to guitar, you want a note that will keep its sustain so that you don't have to pick a second time before the vibrato. I consider that an instance of emotional connection with the audience which is the antithesis to playing for self-indulgent motivation.

I agree standing should be included in the early stages of learning guitar. It seems unnatural at first but if you decide to perform or join a band this will be the norm Oh unless your one of the masters like BB and Herbet in their later years who gave us some much and will always be a special place in our hearts.

...Excellent presentation! FYI, (at 8:16) often Brad Paisley plays a "bender" guitar...either a G bender or a B bender and he literally does pull into the note by raising the tone a half step or so.

I appreciate your help. You could just be plugging your pedals but you take the time to show us how to be better without buying anything. Thanks!

Just found your channel. Good Stuff. Enjoy the content and your sense of humor. thxs. Cheers.

Great video. Very practical, especially about using the chords and soloing. That really helps with playing good rhythm playing as well.

Thank you Brian! I love your videos. I've been playing most of my life but I always learn something when I watch your videos. I bought my first Wampler pedal a few months ago and it's absolutely excellent! BTW you are a very good guitar player... and I enjoy just listening to you play. 😊

playing a lot sitting can be less a hindrance if you play with a shortened strap. Get the guitar about where it is while seated... when standing.

Got some great nuggets in there.

Great tips, appreciate the clarity and honesty of these tips.

Ready for that solo...and TOTALLY wrong note right in the middle of it....LMAO

I love how the first tip to improve without buying anything is to use a good tuner... which, if one wasn't already doing, they would have to... buy, one.

I think standing while playing all the time was a huge help to me. it's definitely different than sitting. I gradually lowered the guitar until I struggled with licks then left it there.

You can see that "bumping the end of the guitar" thing on an old video clip of Les Paul and Mary Ford, I think it's on 'How High the Moon' from a TV show.

This guy has good advice and he's entertaining AF

Goats are awesome!

Nice tips, Brian!

Idk if I’d do the wrong note gestures you show but those are great ideas. I once saw big band trumpet player hit a snag in his solo and then dance the next 3 beats for laughs

Every Guitarplayer should take these tips by heart, instead of only buying new equipment. But, when you are once in your practise routine, then you will find out, whitch gear will help you and what might become useful. Shure, watch the famous players, but also to other expirienced musicians. If you want to get better, you should put more effort in developing your ears and skills, instead of searching for the right tabs for a specific peace. Again, another helpful video, thank you!

You're so awesome! And have a wonderful sense of humor. Love your videos.... so very helpful.

Great tips! Thanks for sharing. There's also a free app for slowing down any song on your iOS device called Tempo Slow. Simple to use and helps tremendously with learning solos, etc.

Great work; great channel.

A couple of these suggestions nailed me to the wall. They were the exact things I need to to work on to keep moving forward. Totally unrelated, my wife and I watched your Mrs. Wampler interview together the other day. She reminded me that this is Wampler suggest jewelry for those wives who have to put up with a Mr. Wampler. My obvious response was to go out and buy a Wampler Belle ecause it sounded so pretty and feminine. I am sure that there is a jewelry purchase in my future not withstanding.

Goats are great!We have them in Colorado too!Another great video as always!

All solid, useful points Brian! The 200+ thumbs down must be because they don't like goats? Who doesn't like goats...WTH?

Mr. Wampler, nice advice! I just wanna thank you for your creation, WAMPLER PINNACLE DELUXE! just got it! already love it! fantastic, fantastic pedal! the Plexi sound I´ve been looking for! THANKS SIR!

8:30 Les Paul and Mary Ford was doing that 70 years ago. Take my word for it.

Great channel..ty

Sitting is jazz. Standing is GOATs.

On the topic of practicing without headphones: if you can't use a cranked up amp, go micro. The Boss Katana Mini, Blackstar Fly 3, and Orange Micro Dark Terror with a 1×12 cab have amazing tones for their size. All at a nondisruptive volume range.

Solid advice. I would add, that as far as practice tools go. Riffstation is miles above any other app out there that I've tried. I can slow down, loop just a few bars that are giving me trouble, emphasize and isolate the guitar or bass, or remove it once I'm ready to take off the training wheels. Very easy to use, so you don't waste time tinkering and more time playing....it even takes flac audio files and you can export your "processed" track without guitar for example for later use. It's not perfect by any means but it works on most material; sometimes its a little tricky to remove the bass line without interfering with the bass drum kick depending on how it's mixed.

I know it is late, but take a break and listen to players. The other tip is record yourself and listen back to it, notice what you should have done or where another place it could have went, pick up the guitar and make it happen and record that too.

Best start to a guitar vid ever..

"You can slow that down without changing the tempo" du du .. duuuuu :) Nice channel. Thanks

July 11th is my birthday, I have discovered you from Josh at JHS. I like your playing and you are good at what you do

Very nice breakdown. I concur and practice everything you covered. Especially the learning other instruments part. Ya got that Tele sounding good too BTW.

Great advice! I've discovered some of your points myself over the years; and using dissonance and over the edge ideas really throw normal, 'proper' musical elements into an interesting relief within a piece. Cheers

VIBRATO: place it at the end of a note or phrase. Vary the speed of your vibrato: use a faster vibrato for higher notes and slower vibrato for lower notes. These are the classical techniques taught in symphony and chior and if done well create beauty. Listen to great singers and how they use vibrato. Practice, practice, practice then practice some more.

ALways so helpful

As for tips to improve tone, cant believe no one mentioned playing with your fingers. Lose the pick as fast as possible. 2) do not buy cheap guitars. buying cheap guitars will only get you so far. Expensive guitars can improve your sound immensely. The day I bought a Parker fly mojo changed my world forever. 3) don’t think about scales, don’t even think about where you are going next in a solo. Just go somewhere without thinking and work with the location you have. Nothing wrong with being out of the box, hitting a bad note. It all helps you sound different than a 1000 other ‘by the book’ guitar players. 4) Don’t overplay. Purposely hold a note for 5 seconds. Then don’t play anything for another 4 seconds. Let non guitar playing people understand you and keep up.