Music Teacher Reacts: TIM HENSON - Playing God (Playthrough) 

Fun fact: him putting his pick down at the end of the video is actually a subtle nod to all of the guitarists watching this doing the same thing and giving up guitar entirely.

His articulation and tone control is nothing less than absolutely immaculate. What a player, and what a composer, too. Bravo.

I can’t tell you how many times I’ve watched Tim play this, but it boggles my mind that he doesn’t even break a sweat or show anything that says this is difficult as heck.

you're not allowed to be this pretty and this good at guitar at the same time.

There's also a drum playthrough of "Playing God" on the official Polyphia channel if you're into that sort of thing.

I feel like Tim is a true modern day musical prodigy

Several of his composition videos he speaks about how his whole goal is to utilize the full 5 octave range for each chord progression across all their songs

As a guitar player of over 30 years, I have never seen anything like this, he could be the next if not THE GOAT...

i didn't know he was able to play both guitar parts, i thought each guitarist worked on his own and added his unique twist. they are just that good

No no no! Tim putting his pick down at the end of the video is actually a subtle nod to all of the guitarists watching this doing the same thing and giving up guitar entirely....AND going back to playing the violin that he gave up because it was too "NERDY" and instrument. What makes his playing unique and ridiculously good is he still has the chops from playing violin...the vibrato along the frets of the neck. The hybrid piking is akin to having a bow with several reaches. I LOVE LOVE LOVE his drummer picking up on the jazzy flamenco percussion. I used to play violin, mandolin and guitar while flamenco-tap-stomping and this drummer REALLY knows how to groove really smoothly and then stomp like a real flamenco stylist. VERY nice. He's an extremely mature player for someone his age, classical training at its best AND he PLAYS AND PLAYS AND PLAYS, you can tell he loves the instrument!

i can't recommend the band "chon" enough if you're interested in hearing more jazzy/rocky/virtuoso/instrumental work featuring unique voicings & hybrid picking. those guys & polyphia are massive role models for me as a guitarist

The part from 8:03 is even more insane, since he's not only using normal hybrid picking but mixing fingerpicking with sweep picking as well. All the while switching between muted and open sounds, crazy stuff indeed!

Wow! A guitar teacher who will say positive things about Tim! That alone is worth a sub! Most reactions to Polyphia will say anything other than praising just how good he is! 👍🏻

It's crazy, he's doing so many things so quickly all at the same time that some of his motions across the fretboard look smooth, free and flowing while others look rigid, but are also so fast they look robotic. Very cool.

honestly, even without all the fancy stuff, this would still be a banger. It just has great chord progressions and melodies. When you have that underlying your amazing technical skills, you are unstoppable. Honestly, I think they've reached a new plateau. Going back and listening to G.O.A.T after hearing Playing God, they have absolutely levelled up.

it's wild because playing this shit is one thing, coming up with it is what really blows my mind

I feel that there is a mix of classical, flamenco, Bossa Nova and shredding guitar techniques melded together. As if DNA from Paco de Lucia, Anna Vidovic, Steve Vai, Toquinho de Morais and Eddie Van Halen was all mixed into a test tube child.

Damn he’s so precise that his arms and hands look like stop motion animation.

It was an absolute pleasure seeing Polyphia live - so very lucky to see them in such a small venue, too. Not to mention, the sheer articulation of notes through every instrument was simply a masterclass on all levels.

What i love about the way Tim plays his guitar is that its so rythmic, it almost guides the drums to follow him, and not the other way arround

Tim is impossible to listen to without rewinds. I feels ya. Great video btw man - I love that you're, for the most part, letting the music play through and not pausing every 10 seconds. When you do pause, it's at the right, important moments. Just wanted to give you some solid feedback. FYI, as a seasoned guitar player, I love seeing videos like this to be able to see him fully playing, like you mentioned. Absolutely incredible that he can play music like this with his eyes closed, relaxed, like nothing. He's nutty. Thanks again! Cheers!

That pedal tone bit is so pretty. That's part of what I love about them is that it isn't just virtuosity; it's a brilliant song as well. That's a pretty rare combination.

What I find the most interesting about this is there is no vibrato in the entire song. Not even on held notes. He kinda plays like a keyboardist in that way, which is interesting because there's vibrato on their heavier stuff all over. Also the ease at which he plays this is midblowing. I wonder how many takes it took. I'm hoping at least 5 to make us mortals feel a tiny bit better!

I haven't heard someone sing rhythms in years Definitely a music teacher 😂 Subbed

The way they compose music is insane. Everyone in that band is low-key a musical genius, with a crazy level of talent and work put in. Wild

You become that amazing of a guitar player when you practice 12 hours a day as he did and probably still does. He is a legend

Amazing breakdown. 👏👏🏻👏🏼👏🏽👏🏾👏🏿

Scottie's playthrough has an absolutely amazing run of natural harmonics near the beginning, every member is worth a watch!

As someone who doesn’t know how to play guitar but enjoys the skill it takes, this was a great breakdown. Thank you

Wow I really loved the way you educate me on this! You made laugh so hard when you said “I wished I saw him have a struggle it would made you feel better about yourself “ wow man made my day. I just saw this video of playing god for the first time yesterday been hooked since. Didn’t realize hybrid picking was the name of that picking, I copied tosin abasi when I saw him doing it been hybrid picking since that time

Great video! I see why you're a music teacher. This is a great video for beginners to break down a song like this that might just seem like "shredding" or "flexing" when all Tim is shredding or flexing in this video is his understanding of the instrument and music as a whole. He's not just playing fast and clean, he's playing fast, clean, and brilliantly composing.

Hey bro I like where you’re going with these reactions. You clearly have a higher understanding of guitar and appreciation of these guys. I agree with emphasis on hybrid picking as IMO picking is heavily underutilized nowadays, with many going without a pick in situations where hybrid picking would be much better. I also agree Tim’s voicings are adding alot. A couple of things I would add is to distinguish between Tim’s and Scott’s parts. I believe the music video shows which parts are actually whose and you can see their styles transmit. Scott is a fantastic and seamless soloist, while Tim has a great ear for melody as well as a super solid funk/trap breakdown ability. Speaking of which is like to see your take on the last movement which is there open string breakdown which is a technique I’m not really familiar with so would love to learn more about it, Manuel Gardner Fernandez does a ton of that technique as well. Also the chord in the bridge is a jazz chord in a boss’s nova style that echoes that paco sound you alluded to in the first video. One more thing, polyphia is a Dallas based band! It wouldn’t surprise me if Tim lives in cali now but I think Dallas area is where they are from and I hear a lot of that Dallas energy in their music. Polyphia concerts are also amazing and dirt cheap, they just started a new tour.. highly recommend!

Normally I watch reaction videos just to see people having their minds blown by music from a completely different genre or culture or generation from them, but the way you and drumrolltony explain the technical aspects that you appreciate in the music you react to makes it that much better.

It's just SO different and nothing like I've ever heard. I'm obsessed and blown away by this.

04:30 - i didn't have a term for this until now, i've always loved playing with scaleable chord progressions, and when i found polyphia recently i was like, yup, if my guitar wasn't collecting dust, this is the direction i would have gone in, the tools he uses when and why, is what makes him, a master

It's incredible how gifted this guy is. I can watch him play over and over and never get tired. Truly impressive.

I was lucky to bump into this band yesterday and Tim and his band mates are taking modern music in a new direction. Long over due and I for one. Loving it.

Gz on 400k views :3 amazing vid!

I dunno, this is my first time seeing your channel but you seem like a good dude and genuine so subbed.. Tim's perfection in playing doesn't make me want to quit playing it inspires me to play much better . Tim scotty and their drummer ( who's name escapes me ) their drummer is one of the best drummers I've ever heard/ seen. Top 10 for sure and yet still so young, they will go so far, and I'll be there to bevinspired every time .

i love this breakdown cause since i discovered polyphia i knew they were crazy talented but you put it into words very well with the knowledge of all the really technical stuff tim pulls off its cool to learn what some of that is like when you speak about the chord voicing its nice to hear things broken down from someone who really knows their stuff awesome video

@5:02 Yes, it does! Thank you! I've loved Tim's work since seeing him about 8 years ago. My favorite guitarist, with Jon Butler & Jack White, since SRV, E VH, Jimi!

Love it. Every reaction video I’ve seen to this guy… “whoa I just want to rewind that…that run…” 😂🤘👍

I subbed. Thanks for the explanation on everything you saw.

I think prince would have definitely been impressed by Tim's talent and surgical skill. R.I.P one of the greats. Love seeking new greats show casing their ability. Great work good video.

Tim and all the members are from Dallas Texas, but Tim moved to California during the pandemic. But they are originally a Dallas based band. Even the drummer who is the second drummer in the band I think is from Dallas as well.

Incredible technique. Sounds so good.

thx for the content!

Tim is the future of guitar. 🔥

He's incredible. I just came across Polyphia recently.

First time viewing your content - love your energy and your take on this! New subscriber here - thanks for taking the time to create content. Cheers!

3:08 that breath... :) priceless #amazing

i love that guitar. The vines running up the neck are sick.

the technical prowess and delivery is phenomenal.

great video! I love your personality. earned a sub

Ah, I missed it!!!! watching it now!

That acoustic recording is what got me into Tim and Polyphia. SICK!

finally.. a good review.. doesn't pause the video for minutes at a time... short pauses and explains the important.. thank you!

Dude, I have been playing guitar for 6 years and consider myself to be a pretty good guitarist. I have been struggling through learning this song for the past week, and I only have the first part down AT 0.7 SPEED. He is a rediculously talented guitarist blending classical and almost jazz aspects. I love it.

From what I heard he played violin since he's 3 yo. But what I wanted to know if Tim was / is classically trained especially classical guitar, because I saw he employed a lot of classical guitar technique (or at least inspired by classical technique) such as thumb+3-fingers picking (hybrid picking here), alternate chord voicing, the way his left thumb rarely went up from behind the neck, the way he used harmonics and muting the strings, etc.

His left hand looks like stop motion, I see his head moving normally, but its his hands, they both actually look like they have been edited, he is an incredible guitarist for sure.

It's nice seeing someone review beginners guitar music so nicely.

I just saw them live and they all play so smooth. I would kill to be at a practice where they just jam

Just amazing

Love the language and vocabulary you use!

New sub, thanks for the content. I found your video interesting informative and entertaining. I really like the modern finger picking and hybrid picking style guitar and enjoyed your reaction.

Always remember! Any guitarist can do this IF you start at slow BPM 😉 Never give up, stay inspired, shred for life!

This Ibanez nylon that he's playing isn't actually produced yet, his and Scott's are the only two that are actually out and about so far! The closest you can get to this style of guitar is the Godin Multiac nylon and its roughly $1.5k depending on the model. Not super unattainable for most people! I think I'm gonna wait for that Ibanez tho

great video man!

Just thought I'd share this: when you did the sound effect for the favorite kinds of runs around 3:20, the closed captioning for this video captured this as "Shocked a shotgun". I found this amusing.

Check out his home studio tour. He shows some of his setup with his guitar and computer and I believe he mentions a bit of how his guitar is hooked up. The guitar he’s using is one of his signature guitars, and I believe he said it had 22 frets! You made a great guess!

I just found this guy too. He's soooo gooooooood

It's a pleasure for me as a 29 year old adult to know that he is product of the core scene 😂❤

New to the channel. Super cool to see a dude that understands the complexity of this guy. I see comments all over social media of claiming this guy just makes noise amd playing fast isn't playing good. I used to play but lost touch with guitar between kids and stuff. Tim has made me wanna get back into it while simultaneously making me never wanna touch a guitar again haha.

wow so clean I I just wow !!!!!

After listening to all kinds of bands from various genres throughout the years with their own styles and sound, nothing or should I say no one makes me want to pickup and learn how to play more than Tim Henson. I remember just listening to one of my go to metalcore stations on pandora and randomly polyphia comes on (ego death) so wanting to see where it goes I listen and just get blown away. I'm one of those people who listen to everything and can find good music from metal to country and polyphia just slams different.

Remember guys polyphia sells their tabs on their website

I have an Ibanez acoustic with an active pickup, tone controls, and a 9 volt battery. fairly cheap and Ibanez necks are always perfect.

From what I've heard, the guitar here is a custom setup using piezo pickups with the nylon strings. Such a great tone.

Looks like self medicating.... Feeling what he is playing.... Enjoying the song... I love seeing this ability in truly talented musicians...

The craziest thing about this genius is how many tracks he can play that are equally impressive. You might see a RU-vid guitarist play one of his tracks but, he plays them all. And they’re all his. 🤩

Amazing

Tim and the rest of Polyphia are incredible! This is my favourite song of theirs 🔥🖤

They're from Plano, TX. Near Dallas.

Have you ever listened to Josh Martin of Little Tybee? He uses some very different techniques as well. It adds some great sound to their full band.

Man, that was fire... Just like all my guitars are right now

He is from Plano, TX, Just north of Dallas

Little things I noticed from watching the video a few times At first I thought he was only recording the DI signal but then you wouldn't get all the additional percussiveness from this style of playing without a mic (would also explain why we heard him place his guitar pick on the table at the end), and upon closer look I finally saw that Tim does have in-ears on! Wireless ones, so it's much harder to notice the first couple of times!

The whole band is top tier talent.

what you should really be reacting to is Sungha Jung playing this song after hearing it once on his live stream. The legend just figured it out on the fly. Absolute mad man.

okay.... first Tim is an absolute animal. Dude is definitely a modern day "Virtuoso" guitarist IMPO. Second you have a loooot of knowledge for recognizing a lot of what he is doing in real time. Third, im definitely following for ideas for myself, and always trying to learn. Ive been a bassist since 13 and im 28, and taught myself after learning wind instruments, Idolizing John Myung naturally lol.

Still probably the most well used harmonics since Jaco - portrait of Tracy. Tim is brilliant

The guitar he uses is his very own Ibanez TOD10N Tim Henson Signature just recently released this October. 22 Frets, a 46mm Saddle and a Fishman Sonicore Preamp System. Can’t wait to get my hands on it. Oh…here in Germany it‘ll retail at around 700 € (which is more or less the same in USD these days)

People preach practice, which is absolutely essential to mastering something, but this is so much more than just thousands and thousands of hours of practice. Tim Henson has a gift that very few have, and his practice brings it out.

some real get down and boogie music

easy way to pull this off audio wise is sound blaster k3+. it allows guitar inputs directly into a pc. he's definitely in a studio setting, with all those acoustic panels.

I certainly appreciate the "hybrid picking" explanation. I had been dumbfounded how he was making so many notes, as if there were more than one person playing (actually, I thought it was suspicious, ha!), now I finally see his three other fingers picking (and notice his left hand manipulating the strings on the fret that aren't being hit by his pick - no wonder!).

They’re from the Plano, TX area. Being from OKC myself, I’ve known these guys since before they got big. 😁

Sounded like an Anime riffs tear down to pieces and combined with different approach resulted to progression. Great evolution!

The "uhhhhhh" at 3:10 was such a felt expression haha

He's freaking awesome.