How do you play along to your favorite songs/records?

[aliendawg]

Do you just blast a record and turn your amp on? Do you play your guitar unplugged? Do you send it all to a headphone?

I'm having a hard time with my roomates when plugging my guitar and playing over my little JBL bluetooth speaker, and well... Sending it all to my computer so I can hear it on my headphones is just too much work.

What's your trick?

[Shadoweclipse13]

Depending on the song, or what I'm trying to do, I'll frequently play over backing tracks. They can be a lot of fun, especially if you have 2 amps (or 1 amp, 1 set of decent speakers). If you have a little mixing board, you could use an amp modeler or something of the like, and route your playing to one ear of your headphones, and the backing track to the other ear.

I always found that it was hard to balance volumes between your amp and a record playing. Being the perfectionist that I am, I always hated that if I made a mistake, it was harder to hear if the original guitar was still present. That's what lead me to find backing tracks.

[marqueemoon]

If I do this at all it's usually with no amp. I do most of my electric guitar playing unplugged really.

[panoramic]

it depends on where in the house this is happening

[Maggieo]

Pignose on desk, song on Youtube on my iMac.

[daemon]

Over the past year I've actually done covers for the first time (to play with a couple guys at some outdoor parties).
To practice, I use my Vox VX1, which is a great little, and inexpensive amp.


I just plug the guitar and my iPad in, use headphones and go to town. I also have one of those tablet holders that goes on a mic stand.

[dinosaurkale->]

usually finger tapping drums on the nearest object or air drums, which is fun during drum fills

[aliendawg]

I always found that it was hard to balance volumes between your amp and a record playing. Being the perfectionist that I am, I always hated that if I made a mistake, it was harder to hear if the original guitar was still present. That's what lead me to find backing tracks.

That's good advice! I'll try that for sure. I feel the same about not noticing my mistakes when playing along a mixed track, especially when I "nail" the tone

If I do this at all it's usually with no amp. I do most of my electric guitar playing unplugged really.

I'm trying to break this habit because I feel it makes my playing sloppy. When I play plugged in it's easier to notice any mistakes and I can also work on intensity I guess