Why unplugged practice is a trap
An unplugged electric teaches your hands the notes and nothing else — no sustain, no dynamics, no muting discipline. You develop a touch that falls apart the moment a real amp is involved.
Through headphones with an amp sim you get the actual feedback loop: the bloom of a pushed clean tone, the way palm mutes choke a driven one. Quiet for the neighbors, loud for your playing.
The rig, part by part
Input — €10–80
Guitar-to-USB cable at the cheap end, small interface at the good end. One-time purchase either way.
The amp — €0 to start
SOWND in a browser tab is the amp: 11 tones free, headphones-out through whatever plays audio. Bedroom & Dream is the pack voiced exactly for this — glassy, reverbed, roomy.
Headphones — what you have
Any wired headphones. Studio headphones are nicer; earbuds are honest. Avoid Bluetooth for the latency (see the fix guide).
Recording — built in
The Record room doubles as practice journal: 60 seconds of what you worked on, kept per day, is the fastest progress tracker that exists.
A quiet-practice routine that works
Warm up on a clean tone
Clean exposes timing and finger noise that distortion hides. Ten minutes, metronome on.
Then the fun tone
Your dopamine slot — the driven sound that makes you want another hour. You earned it, use it.
End with one recording
Hit record, play the thing you practiced, keep whatever comes out. Tomorrow you'll hear what yesterday actually sounded like — that's the feedback loop teachers charge for.
Try it while you read
Open the free Bare Wire tone in another tab — follow the steps live.
Quick answers
Can I play electric guitar with just headphones?
Yes — through an amp sim. Plug into an interface or USB cable, run SOWND in the browser, wired headphones out. It sounds like a miked amp, silently.
Is a headphone amp worth it?
Pocket hardware like Vox amPlug works but is a one-sound device. A sim covers every tone and records too — better value for most players.
