Polyphia’s Tim Henson demonstrates jaw-dropping ‘God Hand’ 8-string slapping riff - and teaches you how to play it

Tim Henson has certainly been keeping his YouTube channel busy throughout quarantine, sharing new compositions, jams with Ichika Nito, and now a mind-blowing new ‘God Hand’ riff - and a lesson on how to play it.

In the video, Henson picks up what looks to be an 8-string guitar prototype of his Ibanez signature electric guitar to tear through some next-level fingerpicking, with rapid-fire hammer-ons, pull-offs and slides, heavy slapping, and some nifty harmonics thrown in. In short, a classic Polyphia riff.

Henson goes on to break down each section of the riff slowed down and in detail. As he points out, the thump technique is a trick he learned from fellow 21st-century guitar hero Tosin Abasi, and full tab and backing track are available from Henson's website, w6rst.com.

Of course, this isn’t the first time Henson has wowed us with extended-range instruments - he also used an eight-string to great effect along with Scott LePage on Polyphia’s colossal Look But Don’t Touch. You can watch their Guitar World playthrough of the single below.