Lessons in looping

Who needs the band? Use a looper pedal and you BECOME the band!

Using a looper to layer guitar tracks can be a fantastic way of getting more out of your guitar playing. Use it as a learning tool and stack tracks with a harmonically ‘correct’ approach or free your ears from all constraints and just see what happens!

Here, we’ve written an acoustic guitar piece that’s almost like a mini-orchestra, but we’re really only scratching the surface of what’s possible and hopefully showing you how a looper can make a piece greater than the sum of some easy-to-play parts. It’ll also introduce you to the most important elements of looping, namely: perfecting your timing and using dynamics and space so your parts flow.

And the next step? Well, you’re limited only by your creativity! Try incorporating percussive strikes as a groove to jam over. Alternatively, place your looper after some effects in your signal chain to really broaden your options. Just remember the golden rule to give each part its space, with lows, mids and highs overlapping and intertwining.