Guitar Hacks To Instantly Sound Better 

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Dude, the "try pretending to be someone else" is bulletproof; I started doing that a few years ago and it REALLY helped me diversify my approach to serving a song with more 'appropriate' styles of solo.

This guy is the most helpful obscure guitar tip guy. His lessons must be amazing!

A guitar player in Nashville showed me the dotted eighth trick back about 1972. It’s still cool today. Singing along with you’re playing aka “scat singing” or “scatting” makes people think you really know what you’re doing. George Benson used it well in “On Broadway”. The db meter trick is a new one on me. Great idea.

About the singing along ( 8:47 ) hack, what really changed my mindset when I changed from "singing what I'm playing" to "playing what I'm singing", we are much more musical when our technical instrument barriers aren't there, soo when your shapes and scales aren't muscle memory, you'll see that this change will make the solos much more interesting and musical.

As in intermediate player of 20 years I cannot tell you how USEFUL and awesome these pieces of advice are brother! You rock! The mantra is something I`ve been doing for a few months now and idk how, but that stuff works at a very subconscious level psychologically. The story visualization is also another which has changed the game for me. Keep up the awesome content fellow rockstar! Much love from Bangladesh

The green top on that LP is gorgeous

I'm all about the leaving more space thing! Fun exercise, record or loop yourself soloing but intentionally leave space, maybe even a little more than you're comfortable with. Listen back and note how short the space really was to how long it felt leaving it while playing. Edit: Ha! typed the comment before the rest of the segment--nailed it.

I like referring to Troy Grady as the "master of impactful subtleties". He made a huge survey a few years ago about how players hold their picks. I keep referring to it to this day because his analysis is superb. It's the best source of knowledge on this subject.

I think playing with confidence and conviction is one of the best tips. I was just thinking about that yesterday. There is an audible difference between confident playing and uncertain, timid playing.

The dotted eight note delay trick... aka the Edge from U2's most famous signature sound

In regards to Balancing Pedal Levels: I set my amp up right on the edge of overdrive, so it can't really get louder, just fuzzier. This negates this issue of volume changes while also turning all your volume knobs into gain knobs. Useful! The downside is you have to turn up the amp up pretty loud, which isn't always an option, but you can balance this by putting any pedal with a volume knob in the effects loop and turning it back down. I use a GE-7 and call it my "attenuator."

Love the idea of musical storytelling. I remember once being advised to learn a simple poem (or piece of Shakespeare) and go through this in your head with each syllable as a note from your solo, pausing your playing as the poem pauses…if that makes sense.

These are some great tips, will definitely implement the space and sing-along solos. Thanks for the video!

I like the way you describe the delay pedal notes with your hand. That was actually pretty helpful showing the notes as your fingers for visual learners

I’ve been doing that pick slanting thing since I was about 18! I’m still slow af though… I don’t know who you were going for, but your fingerstyle is like slide without the shrill highs. Pretty wild. Gonna try the record two solos thing as soon as this video is done... OMG! Breathing! Back in college I took History of Jazz and it was taught by John Earl, the jazz drummer John Earl. He said to play like your instrument is your voice, breathe with your playing, like a Trumpet or Sax. It humanizes it. Great ep, Sammy!

Thanks! Always enjoy these tips videos 😊

So many great tips, thank you!!

Amazing video!!!!!! This was extremely helpful. I am a gigging musician for the last 15 years but I would rate my guitar skill as intermediate. This did in fact help me sound better immediately

I think the first guitar player you were attempting to replicate was Duane Allman or Derek Trucks, second one was SRV, third one I am not sure. Says so much about musicians whose style is so unique that even someone else attempting to sound like them is still so recognizable as them.

Something that I found to very helpful was practicing in dark. Go through the warm-up routine then turn the lights off. That never seems to come up in these conversations, but, it will make a world of difference in fairly short order. Not having to hunt for stuff with your eyes will make you much more aware of what's going on around you.

the impressions: 1.) john mayer 2.) SRV 3.) bb king or clapton

Does this work with a jellifish pick?

Great tips, thank you.

Very helpful, and very useful. Thanks!

Great video as always Sammy G!

These are magic! Part 2 Please!

The delay pedal trick is the best! "Echo Song" by Paul Gilbert is one I suggest everyone try. There's videos by him where he breaks it down and once you get the time right and play it, it's one those OMG moments. It made me feel like I knew something lol.

I find that singing along with my playing helps me get better at being able to play what I hear. But to really stop “playing by finger”, I like to record some scratch solos only singing. Then go back to the guitar and incorporate some of those ideas.

Thank you sensei ❤ Truly the best advice I've heard on YT and I have listened to a lot of guitar teachers. Keep up the good work dude

Thanks, I needed this. The decibel app tip with pedals is actually pure gold

You do these videos like no one else on here - great content!

Only found you channel last week and I really like it.

Watch Hendrix, he sings along to his solos all the time; I always thought this was why his solos sound like the guitar itself is singing; the fusion between his singing of, and playing, his solos is why his solos speak to us, because they are as expressive as the human voice.

The singing while soloing actually did wonders for me within like the first few minutes of trying it

Great tips!

Nice, I think this is my favorite vid from you so far😊

You won another subcriber. I love how knowledgeable you are. Pretty sweet stuff.

my guitar hack/pro tip is: put your amp to ear level so you hear the real sound coming out of the amp when adjusting your tone, or just sit on the floor so the speaker is pointing to your ears. high frequency waves are very directional so all that harmonic richness gets lost if it doesnt reach your ears. you dont hear with your ankles, do you?

7:40 ish... thats why ACDCs solo in "little lover" is just unique... an uncomdortably long break followed by such an amyzing solo...

I follow the J. Mascis approach for the volume levels. You find out which tone you want the loudest, and everything else gets turned down or equal to that. Never should you find a pedal that goes over your killer loud tones.

Sammy!!!!! Love the channel!!! 🤘🎸🤘

Great tips Sammy G. Maybe some more detail on some of these?..

Fantastic video

Some great ideas.

every one of these is gold.

Sammy my man, did you get a new Les Paul? Never seen you play this one before. I love that color man!

I'm so waiting for a Christmas bundle of all 5 courses 🤞, hope my saturnalia miracle come true 🌲

9:49 whenever I play the “Money” solo it always stands out to me how clearly separated the beginning middle and end sections are

The breathing is everything.

Very cool chanel. Subscribed from Canada 🇨🇦

4:15 - Angling your wrist so the motion of the stroke… 😂

Mr. Samurai, thank you so much.

My Guesses: 1) Derek trucks 2) SRV 3) ??

Hey! I'd love to see you talking about the circle of fifths and chord progressions! I feel I would finally understand it! 😂

The getting up and moving thing works. Freaking weird. Works on puzzles too.

I sometimes duel myself. I'll play something on the bridge pickup, and then pretend I'm another guitarist trying to replicate what I just heard, using the neck pickup. Also, switching guitars helps when you're stuck in a rut playing the same things over and over. If I'm playing my Ibanez Jem Jr., I'm always doing something heavy. If I switch to a Les Paul, I end up playing more melodic rhythm stuff.

Love your videos dude. A question though: are there any decent apps for guitar on windows or android (other than guitar tuna)?

Decibel reader… brilliant!!

Dont know if its a “hack”…but I see a LOT of beginners just hovering their hand like 5 inches from the bridge. Palm muting is a MUST right off the bat, otherwise you have no control. That green LP is fucking goooorgeous

You are a clever and smart dude.

0:20 This is something that I know to be true for art, when you think the piece looks crap, walk away from it, come back with fresh eyes.

The 20+ pedal pedalboard is making me ridiculously happy, and it doesn't even matter what they are. Go big.

I think Justin Sandercoe also tries to explain pick slanting, but your explanation seemed better. I got the idea straight away.

Mike Einziger of Incubus uses that delay trick a lot

My positive mantra, when I often feel anxious about walking into a venue to play a show: "What would Omar (Rodriguez Lopez) do?"

The motion of your stroke is very important........when it comes to pick slanting that is

Band members not listening to each other was one of my absolute biggest pet peeves when recording bands. I recorded a band live off the floor and each guitar player was just doing their own thing and didn't seem to be remotely aware or considerate of what the other was doing. What a fucking nightmare.

Ok, like directly on no.1. Soooo true..

The 3 note to a string is solved my following to the next string with a down, so dud on the 4th to dud on the 3rd. This is instead of dud/udu. Much more efficient, and speed players have done it for decades.

I placed a decibel meter on my pedal board a few years ago, it really helps.

The pickslant thing think is called economy picking, it’s definitely useful and should be learned by everyone, it’s the big brother to alternate picking

Gotta ask, love the green les paul where can you get a green gold top?

Singing while playing solo is a great way to improve improvising and just know the notes you feel to play. Must have hack

Beautiful Les Paul 🤩

#1 Derek Trucks #2 Stevie Ray Vaughan #3 BB King? Thanks for the tips! Pick Slanting! YES!!

I always tilt my amp 45 degrees, the sound is directed towards my face and ears, not my legs, so I can hear what I'm playing and the sound is much better

0:55 Thats gotta be the most beautifull les paul I've ever seen. I want it. Please tell me this is a model you can still buy somewhere. I need to know what this model is called!

6:32 ooooh, go for it go for it

You wouldn't believe how many times my cousin and I fought over the volume level of our amps. I can't believe I never looked for a DB meter on the freaking appstore. He kept on turning his amp's volume up every 2 songs (sometimes in the middle of a song) so I had to mess with my settings every 2 songs too because now my distortion pedal was too low, my cleans were nowhere to be heard, and by the time I was done with my settings I was being buried by his amp's loudness again. He kept me overplaying, strumming harder and harder in order to hear myself a little in the mix. Now that he's given up on the band I could not believe how easy is for me to be relaxed while playing when I'm not fighting against someone else's volume.

1:08 ahh the good ol Edge hack

that green paul got me feelin things

0:33 tip 2 adds an instant *Edge* to anyone's guitar playing yes even U2

I could drop my guitar on my foot and instantly sound better than when I try to play the bloomin’ thing!

Listen to the solo in George Benson's "Give Me The Night" for an excellent example of singing along with your solo.

The intro was, exactly, down to the wording what i thought when i saw the video

Can you make a video, a short even, going over your affirmation “conviction is worth more than the occasional mistake”? I’d love to hear why that is yours and what it means to you

The singing thing is actually very logical as this is the speach part that is used to improvise music.

Can you do more bass videos

5:09 ahh, Sammy Ray Vaughan !

For 1) I thought of Allman because of the slide moves you were emulating. Agree with the others on SRV for 2). 3) don’t know.

I always played with pick slanting because when I began learning guitar I was big into thrash and speed metal like slayer and what not.

I have a pedal called the weapon! My buddy gave it to me! And basically transformed me over night!

Truth.

Your first impression was Derek Trucks, and the second was Steve Ray Vaughn

The first "someone else" was DEFINITELY Chris Buck. It has to be him. Love him too

Thanks for reminding me of "Cracking the code", it's still one of the best things on RU-vid.

could you make another guitar colletion video?

Man I wish I had internet access at home as a kid. It took me years to figure out the pick slant trick

I think all guitar players hold their breath at some point. I haven't met a guitarist who hasn't. I catch myself doing it from time to time. It's kinda funny because I'm completely unaware that I'm doing it until, out of nowhere, I take a HUGE DEEP breath.