Can I learn Playing God on violin in only 30 minutes? [Polyphia 🎸]

[@RayChenViolinist]

Want to level up your music skills for free? Come practice and see how others do it on Tonic: tonicmusic.app/join-in 🎵(Sheet music also in description)

[@Scotch._.stickers]

Plzzz pin me ❤

[@sparklingmagnolia]

I think very few of us are even worthy to look at the sheet music😂😂 Amazing job!!🎻

[@DanielPMBA]

Is there any app that's good for violin lessons, where I can learn techniques? There's a ton on guitars or piano but nothing for violin.

[@hipsterorc]

RAY CHEN!!!! LISTEN TO DANCE OF ETERNITY BY DREAM THEATRE AND SHOW US YOUR REACTION TO IT. TRY PLAYING IT AS WELL. IT HAS 108 TIME SIGNATURE CHANGES!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[@hipsterorc]

108 TIME SIGNATURE CHANGES.

[@maybit9091]

Fun thing about Tim Henson, who is the masochist who wrote this piece to perform live, is that before he started learning guitar, he was a classically trained violinist

[@marmei]

why does that not surprise me

[@vulpix8998]

KNEW IT! They actually did a metal bach concerto back in the day.

[@takentactus8779]

Yep his mother was a violinist and he took lessons for violin when he was younger

[@gringochucha]

I just checked and it's pretty crazy that Tim doesn't have a Wikipedia page. He's possibly the most influential electric guitarist around right now.

[@redhawkneofeatherman261]

That makes a lot of sense

[@Beep-yw1he]

Some fun facts: - Ray has been playing the violin for 30 years (over 40,000 hrs) - He has won 2 world-famous violin competitions - He is literally considered one of the best violinists in the world today - The violin he's using is named "Dolphin", made by Antonio Stradivari in the 1700s and it's worth over $15M

[@kates2588]

Щ

[@junlee1268]

sheesh, imagine accidentally dropping his violin

[@joeyever1511]

and he didn't learn it in half an hour, but the video is cut together, and he may have practiced it for a week!

[@suzannepoon7706]

Side note. The violin in this video is not the Strad. He uses his other violin here. All his on stage performaces are with the Strad.

[@Beep-yw1he]

@@joeyever1511 - any proof to back up your allegations? 🤔

[@IsabellaEgawa]

I’m honored to be featured!! Loved ur interpretation of playing god LOL

[@11kwright]

Ah, so that was you when he said “I also found a violin version of it”? Great stuff.😊❤

[@joyceyang6976]

Awesome!! 👍😄

[@Brago.Oficial]

He's literally one of the best violinists of all time... What do you mean 😂😂😂 impossible not to like

[@blakesimmons5130]

​@@Brago.Oficialthat's a silly thing to say. Paganini is one of the best violinists ever born and I don't like his style at all. There's this thing called *preference*

[@shirleys4124]

You’re so talented!

[@mjtsirhc]

I love how Ray doesn't just aim to get the right notes, but also goes into the nuances like the slides and phrasing.

[@ornleifs]

Loved the look on his face when he realised that this wasn't just some ordinary rock piece.

[@whatevergoesforme5129]

Is this piece considered rock? Doesn't sound like one, though.

[@ornleifs]

@@whatevergoesforme5129 - Well Polyphia is a Rock band but this piece is more of a Fusion of Rock and Spanish Guitar Music with some Electronic Music thrown in the mix. The rock element is clearer when you listen to the original where the Drums and Bass guitar give it a more Rock feel.

[@whatevergoesforme5129]

@@ornleifs I see. It sounds like Spanish Guitar Music indeed to me because of the classical guitar mode.

[@ohheylads]

​@@whatevergoesforme5129describing polyphia as instrumentals math rock sounds like a good enough description

[@scipug3048]

@@whatevergoesforme5129 math rock / prog rock. they used to be more prog metal. id actually still consider them prog metal at some points. (not that prog metal is all like this). prog is just "progressing a genre" so a lot of other prog rock and prog metal bands will sound completelly different to this. its a nice genre tho imo. oh and pretty much most prog rock or prog metal is hard to play. still, playing god is one of the harder ones from the "prog repertoire" id say.

[@lordsiomai]

Dude is mad skilled. Considering he had to learn how to play an extremely complicated song in only half an hour *on a completely different instrument* . I really love how you played the 'flamenco' part.

[@yfllll]

I don’t know how much you know about Ray Chen but he’s won prestigious violin competitions and is a concert soloist. He’s also been loaned a Stradivarius (the dolphin). He’s playing on a 4 million euro instrument here

[@notepadpowersnail1860]

Also spent like half of his time quota on listening and editing the sheet music. It's pure enjoyment to watch him work.

[@jan_07]

What do you expect? All professional stringed instruments have perfect pitch and are well versed at transcribing the rhythm of the melodies they hear as well. This is not something special with them. I literally know small-time violin pros who do this as easily as him. Also, Tim’s melodies are easier to play on other instruments other than the guitar, especially the violin because violins are designed for speedy melodies and only deal with melodies. He didn’t have to deal the chords at all, so easy.

[@fiita6086]

Ray Chen's literally a world class violinist, ofc he'd be skilled, mad skilled

[@cedricl.marquard6273]

@@jan_07 I don't know about easy. And then there's also levels to "playing" stuff. Just like the "world's fastest violinist" (Ben Lee) was capable of "playing" plenty fast, but also sloppy. I doubt there are that many people who are on the level of Ray Chen simply based on statistics.

[@TheBlackWaltz]

What I love about most about Tim and the rest of Polyphia, is the fact that you show someone who doesn't know how to play an instrument, and they think it sounds good. You show someone who does know how to play, and they always have the same reaction as Ray did when he first heard the intro.

[@smaller_cathedrals]

I absolutely love how at first Tim is introduced as someone who plays "difficult music by non-classical music standards" before moving on to calling Tim "a Paganini". That's just fantastic!

[@MissPoplarLeaf]

The level of respect that Ray has for Tim's playing "Nobody told me he was a Paganini!", how flustered Ray seems (relatable!), and the amazing interpretation that he plays in the end, all make this video so much fun to watch! Not to mention that I was already a fan of Polyphia. Would love to see Ray's full cover of Playing God

[@darkdudironaji]

I Love how he said, " place pretty difficult music for non-classical music standards". Then once the song starts he's like. Oh no this guy's GOOD good.

[@alexaudiovisuals]

the crossover i didnt know i needed

[@santiagomartinez9051]

Since Polyphia reacted to "every instrument covers reaction", I was waiting for a pro violinist to play it, awesome

[@Leslie.N.]

Completely agree!!!

[@pihermoso11]

The real crossover would be Twoset reacting to this video and them trying to play Ray Chen's take on Playing God

[@mkleng]

@@pihermoso11what u talking about?! I’d rather watch Ling Ling do Polyphia in 13 mins.

[@matthewjoscott]

also the American accent to Australian accent crossover on the voiceover is fun too.

[@brratwolf167]

To have your music called "like a Paganini piece" by a classical violinist, must be one of the greatest compliments you can achieve

[@blinkx1070]

Funnily enough Tim grew up playing Violin originally and switched to guitar because he hated it. It would be fun to see Ray and Tim collab and give each other lessons!

[@Mallchad]

Ironically he hated it because his teacher was abusive but loved music. I think it's a PTSD thing.. he refuses to even touch a violin. the composition definitely stayed with him though

[@andinuruljihad2912]

of course he did. he has an asian mom.

[@gavinbunnell2477]

he learned at like 10 bro, “classically trained” is a stretch

[@paracetamolgirl7820]

@@gavinbunnell2477 "Classically trained" just means formally taught using the standard repertoire. It doesn't necessarily have anything to do with age.

[@Lenny-sr7wb]

​@@gavinbunnell2477His mom made him play Violin at 3 years old

[@Raffi-v5o]

The fact it only took you 30mins to play that well is incredible. It's the first video of yours I've watched, but I can tell you have been playing violin for a LONG time. Unreal!

[@fluteteatime]

he is one of the world's best violinists at present...😊

[@lucienazario2786]

To me, Ray Chen is my one and only favorite violinist. He's God's gift to the music world.

[@besura_tambura]

try roman kim

[@felipechrysostomo760]

Hilary Hahn, Augustin Hadelich, Itzhak Perlman, Gil Shaham, James Ehnes, so many others...

[@jparuo]

chloe chua

[@justsomeguy6060]

Same, sure there's others but Ray Chen really knows how to express himself really well. And that vibrato man jeez ❤️

[@kpsig]

Great he is, homework you must do and look further.

[@anitashyni]

Beautifully made…loved this version…it’s flowing and flowing…❤

[@dominictalbot3720]

you know he has mad respect the second he calls it a piece

[@strings1984]

30 minutes isn't enough that boy practices guitar 40 hours a day. I am glad you found him, it's one of my favorite songs and I play the violin too so it was neat to see you interpret it.

[@blakesimmons5130]

The best part is that if you were to do a song with Polyphia, you wouldn't have to dumb down your own playing like you would in a pop song. These guys are all virtuosos in their own right and adding you to the mix would be a chef's kiss atop an already stacked mountaintop. Can't wait 😂

[@darkcircle899]

It's very cool to see a mainstream band making music that is genuinely musically interesting. All of the guys in Polyphia are pushing the limits of what is possible on their instruments.

[@andreasthiemke9520]

Ray in Polyphia 2024???

[@blakesimmons5130]

@@andreasthiemke9520 If we're lucky haha

[@DjentlemanKiwi]

If we get both Ray Chen and Yoasobi on Polyphia's next album, I am going to celebrate by streaking in central park.

[@robr9170]

Holy crap would love a collaboration

[@Никита-й7р6п]

На скрипке звучит даже красивее, чем на гитаре при том, что это кавер, а первое услышанное обычно воспринимается как лучшее. Хочу полную версию!

[@thesanbro9164]

Tim Henson used to play classical violin but switched to guitar. He's said in interviews his music is inspired by violin concertos partly.

[@deerfoxraven2965]

I love how people here listen to classical music and math rock. Most non-musicians are surprised to hear that I love both genre

[@lukebenfer100]

this is the best unofficial collaboration of all time!!!

[@lukebenfer100]

now all we need is a two set polyphia collab

[@lex8799]

I love this version. The phrasing is absolutely gorgeous. It is, in my personal preference, the best Playing God version on the internet, because of the impeccable phrasing.

[@ogsus5773]

i hate it when i see these sort of covers on youtube... that also change the piece to 50% simpler. seeing you trying to get all of these really small details right, that's more than musicianship. that's dedication and commitment. respect.

[@sondernfy]

Statistically not everyone is Ray Chen, so it's definitely understandable that other people's interpretations are noticeably simpler. I do agree that Ray adding all the small details that everyone seems to miss makes for a really really nice cover :D

[@Dark_Souls_3]

It took polyphia years to develop this song

[@huitrecouture]

I hate people like you throwing the word hate around against musicians who DARE do a cover of a song. Are you out of your damn MIND?

[@ssatjapot]

This cements the fact that Ray Chen is a rock star. That was insane. Love the interpretation. So beautiful.

[@grantswallow1256]

So, fun thing with this as a violinist and guitarist: it’s way easier on guitar, and not just because of the extra strings. The harmonics are much more lenient on guitar, and most all of the chromatic bits are much easier since chromatics are easier to learn overall on guitar (the frets are in half step intervals, so it’s generally much more intuitive when learning on guitar imo than on violin). I genuinely don’t know how you actually played this as well as you did in the time you did because the piece is so weird but you absolutely crushed it

[@AizenNourishesMe]

It's still really hard tho

[@noahyes]

pro violinist and guitarist here as well. in addition to the things you mentioned, guitar frets mean you dont need to worry about pitch, which is huge. plus tone production/right hand technique on the guitar is much, much easier than bowing technique. many violinists take 10 years just to learn to play a decent detaché or spicatto. violin is simply a much more difficult instrument. id argue its the most technically difficult instrument there is, especially considering how crazy hard the repertoire can get. paganini is just the beginning of the advanced repertoire. the really hard stuff is ernst, schoenberg, ysaye, bartok, etc.

[@unwaveringdiscipline5489]

​@@noahyes honestly, looking from outside, as a guitarist, I always thought the lack of frets was just the designer of the instrument being mean. My condolences 😂 Jokes aside it might be the hardest instrument, but it's one of the prettiest sounding ones, too

[@Dubsteppah]

You're inspiring my wife to pick up her fiddle again, thank you. I've been showing her your vids, I can see the spark in her eyes, the love of music is strong.

[@carlottaolivieri7468]

Ray's face at the beginning was priceless! 😂 You did an amazing job!!! ❤ Now we need a collab with Tim! 😉

[@tobiashansson909]

And a bass lite by dave504

[@antareepdinda6500]

Tim played violin🎻 in his childhood before picked guitar🎸 as a teen because he felt it cooler.

[@Jzaday]

Those 2 together would be amazing!

[@alexanderh1721]

for only 30 minutes to study it, that was incredible 😮

[@sirderpy2352]

As a pianist I don't understand anything about violin but this is still extremely impressive and sounds unreal

[@d3d3d3vulpus9]

Two ways to think about practice. Practice doesn't make perfect. Perfect practice makes perfect. And don't practice till you get it right. Practice till you can't get it wrong.

[@nywf1824]

To be fair in 30 minutes you actually learned playing god, vlogged and explained to viewers your thought process all at the same time. Bravo! How many people can really do that?

[@tibtub3411]

Him

[@crowing3886]

Most advanced or immediate players because the song isn't that hard.

[@phantasmal914]

@@crowing3886bro this is crazy hard to play on guitar.

[@crowing3886]

@@phantasmal914 hardest part is playing the harmonics. If you've played any math rock you'd know this is mot very "hard" just a lot of different techniques used in a heavy staccato. You'll find hundreds of covers on numerous instruments. Now take their guess solo by Jason Richardson. The band themselves can't play his solos an you'll find very few cover attempts.

[@person7587]

Concert Violinists ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

[@sheilapics]

I loved how the flamenco part sounded on the violin! this is an amazing execution! I think you made this song sound even more lovely!

[@SwayamKrishnaartsandcrafts]

as a Polyphia and Ray Chen fan this is the best thing i could i have seen. please collab with polyphia sometime in future to get a mix of metal and classical music it will be like a dream come true.

[@kayhsu1572]

@polyphia yes please collab haha

[@TheOneCleanHippy]

Considering how natural it feels as if it is a classical concierto is really a testament to Tim Henson's songwriting ability.

[@jedigamer9768]

The playing was so beautiful !

[@Holasoyfelipesochao]

it took me 3 months to learn the entire song at normal speed... and 1 year 3 months to master the intro. truly a hard piece but i love it

[@venus.masquerade]

the tone/way you play it is super reminiscent of the original piece i find it super hard to really genuinely get the right feeling on a different instrument, especially when the music isnt entirely compatible from instrument to instrument so this was super impressive wowowow incredible job

[@friendlyassassinGJJ]

I like how he says "that's about as good as i could get it in that time" as he absolutely SMASHED that in 30 minutes!! Great work! Incredibly inspiring!

[@barkbark4944]

That is a really amazing interpretation of "Playing God!" I love the techniques used to imitate the ghost notes of the guitar. Now how you managed to play the harmonics midlines is beyond my comprehension, and I guess that's why you're such a skilled violinist.

[@Dupingmaster]

Man, I wish we can have someone of Ray's caliber do a full violin cover, it sounds so good.

[@BlackKoshka23]

"How hard could it be?" famous last words. Tim had classical music training (as a violinist, if I remember correctly) when he was a child, and I think when he switched to guitar, some things remained in the way he composes.

[@austinmigchelbrink4938]

Gave me shivers. Send this to Tim, Polyphia NEEDS this sampled on their next record.

[@apoorv_sharan]

this song feels like its made for the violin alone.

[@meyeame8956]

I feel like watching Tim play this on guitar at half speed is more impressive than full speed since you can see the insane fretting hand go to work accurately. Anyways.... nice work!

[@mathewwade4619]

It's randomly awesome surprises like this that make me stop and feel so lucky to live in this time.

[@NathanaelPittman]

As a guitarist who has picked up a violin a few times in my life I will say that the violin is more difficult to play than guitar just from a technical standpoint. On violin, the strings are closer together, the scale length is shorter so the notes are closer together, and there are no frets which provide “bookends” on where you’ll find the note you want. Then move to the right hand and you have this long, frail stick between you and the strings, which you have to purposefully flail like a wizard ninja to create the desired tones. And you only have 4 strings which would require more linear movement in certain cases to hit all the same notes being played on a guitar. Anyway, I’m beyond impressed. I love Playing God but haven’t even attempted to start learning it. Very well done!

[@madelinezhang9693]

Best crossover ever. Ray Chen (fave violinist) x Playing God-Polyphia (fave guitar song). Ray absolutely killed it in under 30 minutes of learning!

[@abhisheklama1393]

The fact that there are people as talented as you in this world really amazes me ☺️☺️

[@joshuafadipe]

Tim Henson played the violin as a kid which makes this video 10x better

[@xtop23]

Junior violinists….take notes….look how relaxed his bow hand is. Nice work Ray. I really enjoyed your version. You didn’t simplify so much that it ruined the original pieces impact. You maintained the intricacies. Brilliant.

[@viciousdaihwa]

Amazing. We don’t deserve this. Fascinating to watch the process of a world class musician dissect and synthesize the work of another but very different world class artist. Again, amazing.

[@pedrosoares2253]

When you go half speed so you can learn all those notes/harmonics better and immediately regret it 'cause now you can hear even more details 😅 ☠️ I really enjoyed your rendition and had fun with your reactions to how complex and intricate this piece really is, especially those 8:07 arpeggios with that soft landing to release the tension... Uff, got me with goosebumps 👌

[@AmJustMaiko]

you just summoned the entire guitar community

[@soclose2her]

I really enjoyed this!! You’re incredible for doing this and to me you really captured the feeling of it, which I think is where others have fallen short

[@AeroSW]

Probably the best violin variation of "Playing God'. Keep up the awesome work.

[@bdbeats7209]

You did amazing! I've been a huge fan of Tim Henson and Polyphia for years, and being a musician myself, I definitely admire your tenacity and ability to translate this piece to violen. You killed it!

[@nayelammouche45]

As a Ray Chen fan and a Polyphia fan I absolutely love this crossover! I'm going to see polyphia in a few days! I won't forget to practice my violin too

[@VagabondTexan]

I come to this 6 months late, but here's my verdict. Mad respect. Yeah, considering your talent, that may seem shallow. By many measures, I am a master in my field, but I am in awe of being able to pick up and learn the way you did. Awesome.

[@cobrasys]

I'd love to see a full violin rendition of Playing God (without any time constraints to transcribe, adapt and learn)!

[@christopherberry8519]

For 30 minutes... I can forgive the variance in timing at the beginning... Awesome!

[@olvesolvoll8300]

You should do this piece as a surprise at one of your concerts if you can!

[@machinetribe4925]

Tim is a genius and you are a madman for trying, but big ups and your skills are also amazing!

[@dmwalker24]

I've seen quite a few of these, 'learn Playing God in x minutes', and this is far and away the best. For 30 minutes, this is nothing but a W. Tim does have a pretty extensive classical background, so it kind of makes sense that the stuff he writes is a bit beyond typical contemporary music.

[@Aaron-xq6hv]

Yea, I have no idea who he is, but it definitely sounded like a strong classical guitar influence in there.

[@riteasrain]

I remember when I found this song, my head exploded. Simply glorious 😍❤

[@ludwo3989]

You should definitely do more polyphia stuff! This is so good

[@ActualVillainsBand]

I’ve watched this video multiple times and it’s still impressive every time. Bravo.

[@captainkeller2792]

Wtf, understanding the piece in half an hour is already an impressive task.

[@andiallenbach8679]

You re such a fun person to watch. Thanks for your work on this planet. You really make a difference

[@edh3268]

Absolutely amazing job! Blown away at how well you did that, and 30 min at that!!! Wow

[@honordevs]

That was incredible! My favorite rendition so far. I wish you covered the arpeggiated part in the 2nd half of the song. Tim has mentioned that it's the most difficult part.

[@stevenramsthaler6890]

Strings are strings🙏. A brilliant piece on the guitar brilliantly interpreted for violin! A collaboration would no doubt be amazing🙏 Ray just got a new subscriber

[@kaymill5565]

Thank you for showing us this process, Ray. It is so much fun to see your mind at work. Your finished pieces look so effortless.

[@saulosamorim]

its nice how violinists catch the feeling moves so easily

[@agnesv1937]

You are amazing! You’re practically sight reading it and did a great job! That’s pure talent!

[@MiniTheEngi]

Love your work in Arcane Ray... Ended up here from polyphia videos too! Your reaction upon realizing the difficulty involved here was fantastic!

[@georgeaslanidis4789]

This is incredible! Sounds like it was meant to be written for the violin.

[@ankursardar4707]

This literally looks like the old classical music reincarnation. Soo much beautiful in violin.

[@kartikeyatripathi7002]

I love how expressive you are while playing, and I'm thoroughly impressed that you learnt it in 30 mins! Absolutely insane

[@theAIsearch]

Violin version? I didn't know what do you expect, but you CRUSHED it!

[@Isaactheviolinistandviolist]

Ray Chen i think you are a very amazing talented violinist 🎻🎻👍👍 you are one out of three of my favorite people that play the violin

[@Deathmetaldano]

As a violinist and a guitarist (currently learning this song on guitar) it’s nice to see the respect of what modern guitarists can do. 😁 hope Ray Chen and Polyphia collab. 🤘🔥

[@Reumaut13]

Tim needs to see this his reactions to covers are great and this is top tier❤

[@KTMusicPH]

i got goosebumps. you nailed it ! very nice!

[@carolinebryce7849]

Amazing, thank you for this crossover, this made me so happy 7:25 for whoever, like me, keeps coming back just to listen

[@JW42088]

Duddddddddeeeeeeee this is sicckkk man great job and the drop at the start leaves me speechless everytime. Gave me goosebumps. GREAT JOB!

[@isv1759]

I love how he actually practiced for like 10 min and played it so well 😭 bruh I can't event finish my scales in 10 min

[@joyceyang6976]

Lol 😅

[@shirleys4124]

I can totally relate to you 😅

[@Aliseelike]

I’m totally with u… scale is like 20-30 min for me sad

[@esfomeada_1015]

fr tho, these scales take me 40 min daily

[@shanejensen3497]

I would actually love watching you work through songs like this taking as much time as you need! It would be great to see more detail on how you adapt each part.

[@libertangowu-8117]

Both of you musicians are incredible❤

[@dilnasssssss]

This is so good, I feel like I need a full cover of it. Would be great to watch that But for now I am kinda obsessed with this one

[@drayghnunes]

damn bro, you totally nailed it! Hard piece, complex techniques and tricky tempo, you made sure to attain yourself to all of those components. Congratulations on your accomplishment, you really are an exceptional player!

[@kawaharaizumi731]

This is such a wild crossover, I'm a metalhead who's listened to a bit of Polyphia and seeing Ray covering this is crazy

[@moonbyul873]

I'm impressed if this is simply just a half hour of learning. I know classical musicians are a strange cut of cloth and go for perfection, but in my mind this IS perfection on a different instrument. The violin video used as reference is incredibly good to my ears, but this is even better. Shout out to Isabella Egawa, and her cover is still cream of the crop, but this final take is so obnoxiously clean I want to slap it.

[@kaovang7416]

That was one of the best cover of playing god. Great job

[@FatherofEunice]

That was seriously impressive how much of playing God Ray got in 30 minutes! I’d be curious how he does for some of the craziness of the last section of the song! There is some crazy arpeggio stuff even for guitar that would be incredibly difficult on violin.

[@Luxzinia]

In just 30 minutes, you managed to learn one of the most difficult songs that come out these days. Insane

[@gaspanda]

The track actually suits the violin - sounds really good on both instruments.

[@Raintini]

NO WAYYYY I JUST WANTED TO PLAY THIS ON VIOLIN AND YOU SUDDENLY UPLOAD THIS MASTERPIECE I LOVE IT