Write Something Difficult (For You)

You don't have to write something CRAZY difficult, just set out to write something that is hard for you to play. Watch the video for elaboration.

What is a Community Challenge? It's an invitation to all of my Patrons to create SOMETHING. When you're learning guitar, it's easy to lose track of what ALL your favorite musicians have in common. Creativity. It's easy to lose track of the fact that music isn't something to study, it's something to explore and experience.

The goal of a community challenge is for YOU to write in a fun, low pressure environment. No need to write a whole song, no need to write multiple parts. You start from your comfort zone and write from there. Wether thats a single-note melody, a chord progression or a whole multitrack song. You can record what you write with your cell phone, your ipad, or your home studio. Post what you write to the community forum.

The only rules are:

1. Write something new

2. Write something based on the prompt

These rules mean you're supposed to write something new, based on the writing prompt, rather than posting something you've previously written that might fit the prompt.

These challenges come out every other Thursday. This gives you about two weeks to write something for each prompt, but I recommend spending no more than an hour or two on each challenge.

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Write Something with a Big Transition

Here are a couple ways to approach this challenge: 

1. You could think of it as a position transition. For example, this could be a jump from the 3rd fret to the 12th fret in either your melody or chord progression. For example, if you're playing a D Shape D Chord down in open position, you could write a progression where you zoom that shape up to frets 7&8 for that G chord. To be more general, write something that takes you up and down the fingerboard.

2. If you like writing lyrics, write about a big transition in your life.

3. If you want to be more etherial, think of the big transition as a transition from one section of a song to another section. Maybe the first section is playing low low bass notes, the chord progression is also using low voicings, and the melody is using lower notes. The second section could be an explosion into a higher register for each instrument, creating the effect of "woah that was a big transition from one section into the next."

Remember, keep it simple. Good music does not equal difficult music.

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Write Two Quick Things in Under an Hour

The idea behind this challenge is to help you see what you create when you don't have a lot of time to stop and think. What are your go-tos? What are your hangups while you're writing? What slows you down?

In the video I talk about this as your baseline. It doesn't mean this is how you always write, it's just supposed to be a snapshot of your strengths and weaknesses at the present moment. It's a good opportunity to think about the kinds of things you might like to practice and improve and adjust.

You could set a timer for 30 minutes two times, or just a 1 hour timer.

You don't have to write the way I did in the video, thats just my comfort zone. Your comfort zone should be your starting point - wether thats just guitar and voice, just guitar, or a full DAW experience.

Have fun, don't overthink it and post what you come up with to the community forum. As an added bonus, I would love if you could share what you learned through this process about your own writing.

Check out the Lesson Archive for more Community Challenges - you’re welcome to participate on any past Challenge at any time!

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Harmonic Minor II

Since I've switched to offering Community Challenges every other week, I decided it would be worth it to include a quick review or lesson about the topic. This way, you can get involved without digging through lessons.

I got a little fancier in this quick lesson since I got a few questions about harmonic minor in the previous challenge. If you have more questions about harmonic minor, or you feel that you need more clarification on these concepts, lets have a deep dive discussion about harmonic minor on the next Office Hours!

One thing I mentioned, but would have liked to emphasize a little better is this: the bizarre and awesome fully diminished chord that results from the sharp 7 can function like the V chord. Meaning you can use it in place of the V chord, or even do a fun transition like i - V7 - #vii° - i or i - #vii° - V7 - i

Have fun with these weird, cool concepts and post what you write on the Community Forum.

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Write A Chord Melody

A chord melody is honestly kind of a silly name for it, because all you're doing is playing a melody and chords simultaneously.

I give a few ideas in the video but the ideas break down like this:

You could either:
1. Write a simple melody, then find chords in the key to play over each note of the scale
2. Start as above, but add chords only to some of the notes of the melody
3. Write a melody to be played between chords

Keep it simple! The simpler your melody is, the more room you have to add chords!

You might need the note name scratch paper attached below and linked here.

Post your creations on the community forum!

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Write something in the Key of G Minor

This is a pretty straightforward challenge. All you have to do is write something using the chords and/or scale of G Minor.

The easiest way to participate might be to write a simple riff or melody using a G Minor scale or even a G minor pentatonic scale. With this method, you could make things a little fancier by using a melodic or harmonic minor scale. Dorian or Phrygian modal melodies would count as a “G Minor” melody as well. We don’t need to stay in natural minor for this exercise. Just explain what scale(s) you’re using when you post your creation.

If you want to get a little more involved, you could write a chord progression with a melody over the top. In this case, you’d want to make sure you’re targeting chord tones with your melodies, especially if you’re mixing natural minor and harmonic or melodic minor, because some of the chords in melodic minor will clash with some of the scale notes in natural minor.

While I’d STRONGLY recommend figuring out the G Minor scale and chords using WHWWHWW, and reviewing Music Theory Monday if you don’t know how to do that, I’ll break everything down below:

G Minor Scale:

G - w - A - h - Bb - w - C - w - D - h - Eb - w - F - w - G

G Minor chords (natural minor):

i = G-Bb-D = G minor

ii° = A-C-Eb = A diminished

III = Bb-D-F = Bb Major

iv = C-Eb-G = C minor

v = D-F-A = D minor

VI = Eb-G-Bb = Eb Major

VII = F-A-C = F Major

If you want to explore harmonic minor, think about how you have the option of sharping the 7th note of the scale (F to F#) and think about playing that sharp note while playing a D Major chord instead of D minor. There is more to it, but that’s the essence of harmonic minor.

If you want to explore melodic minor, think about using F# and E natural, which would be a sharp 6th and 7th note, and the chords that go with those notes would be C Major chord for E natural and D Major for F#. Keep in mind, “E Natural” means “E NOT-flat.” In the key of G minor, E is flat to fit WHWWHWW, so when you talk about wanting to sharp an Eb, you say “E Natural.” Think of it as “E that is typically flat in this situation, but not right now.”

Post your creations on the community forum.

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Write Something With An Odd Number Of Measures

This is going to be fun. I had a writing session recently where I realized that I not only enjoy writing in even measures, but that I get thrown off by odd measures and have to REALLY concentrate playing along with a progression that is 3, 5 or 7 measures long.

As a review, a measure is just a count of 4 (like 1 2 3 4) or a count of 3 (1 2 3) if you’re in 3/4 time signature. A measure and a bar are the same thing. In other words a "four bar progression" is a "progression consisting of four counts of four, as in 1234 1234 1234 1234."

Read more on the Patreon post…

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Write Something “House” Inspired

Your goal is to write something vaguely inspired by "house music." What is house music? The wikipedia article says its "a music genre characterized by a repetitive four-on-the-floor beat and a typical tempo of 120 beats per minute. It was created by DJs and music producers from Chicago's underground club culturein the late 1970s, as DJs began altering disco songs to give them a more mechanical beat."

Part of what inspired me for this challenge is the thought of having students try to write a riff or chord progression to a constant foot stomp to simulate that four on the floor beat, which is a fancy way to say the kick drum just hits 1 2 3 4 1 2 3 4 over and over.

So thats the simplest cell-phone recording version of this challenge: try writing a riff or chord progression to your own foot tapping 1 2 3 4 1 2 3 4.

If you want to get fancier with it, you could use recording software. Make a beat that starts with that constant kick on 1 2 3 4, then build snare on 2 and 4 and get fancier from there.

Post your creations to the Community Forum! Have fun! Don't aim to write a masterpiece! Just aim for fun.

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Write Something Using Dorian Mode

There are a few ways to build a mode: starting from scratch with whole steps and half steps, adapting a familiar scale, or using the "which note of a major scale is it based on" method.

I'll quickly run through all three methods.

Dorian mode, in whole steps and half steps, is WHWWWHW

With scale-degree numbers, it looks like this:

1-w-2-h-3-w-4-w-5-w-6-h-7-w-8

Using "A" as the 1st note, we get a scale like this:

A-w-B-h-C-w-D-w-E-w-F#-h-G-w-A

Using "E" as the 1st note, we get a scale like this:

E-w-F#-h-G-w-A-w-B-w-C#-h-D-w-E

If we start with the second method - adapting a familiar scale - a Dorian scale is simply a natural minor scale with a sharp sixth note.

For example:

A Minor Scale: A B C D E F G A
A Dorian Scale: A B C D E F# G A

C Minor Scale: C D Eb F G Ab Bb C
C Dorian Scale: C D Eb F G A Bb C

D Minor Scale: D E F G A Bb C D
D Dorian Scale: D E F G A B C D

The "which note of the scale" method gets confusing for a lot of people, but it's also the method that makes it easiest to figure out which chord goes with each note of the scale.

Dorian mode is like creating a new scale based on the SECOND note of a major scale. The way you can think about it is like this:

"If I want X note to be the start of my Dorian scale, I can to go BACK a whole step from X and build a major scale and keep X as my root note."

Let's try is. If I want to build a Dorian scale based on "A" I can go back a whole step to G and build a major scale. Then use the second note "A" as the root note for Dorian.

G Major: G - w - A - w - B - h - C - w - D - w - E - w - F# - h - G
A Dorian: A - w - B - h - C - w - D - w - E - w - F# - h - G - A

The reason this method is SUPER useful is that it makes it a lot easier to figure which chords go with which notes of the scale:

Chords in the Key of G:

I = Gmaj
ii = Am
iii = Bm
IV = Cmaj
V = Dmaj
vi = Em
vii° = F#°

Chords in the Key of A Dorian:

i = Am
ii = Bm
III = Cmaj
IV = Dmaj
v = Em
vi° = F#°
VII = G
I have some lessons about this stuff in Music Theory Monday. A great starting point with Dorian chord progressions is to start with a simple i IV progression and slowly add other chords into the mix to see if "i" continues to feel like home.

Have a blast and remember, this is writing PRACTICE, so nothing needs to be perfect or even "good" for you to post it. It's all about experimenting and learning how YOU write to further your musical development.

Post what you come up with on the Community Forum.

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Write Something With A Fast Tempo!

As usual, there is no need to spend a ton of time on these projects. The idea is to think of the community challenge as your weekly sketchbook. If you're planning to write something that might take 5 to 10 hours, that likely means you'll NEVER participate. Think about writing a little something that takes you 5 to 10 minutes to come up with. It doesn't have to be a complete thought, it doesn't have to have a melody. It just has to be music.

The idea is to get into the habit of writing SOMETHING without putting too much pressure on yourself. Just try to have fun with it! When you've written something you like, you're welcome to record it as simply as possible - with a cell phone for example - or with recording software using drums, bass, guitar, etc. Whatever you have time for. If you feel that you never have time for the community challenges, you're putting too much pressure on yourself to be the most amazing musician.

When you've written something you like, feel free to post it on the community forum thread for this post!

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Write Something Lethargic

Often, the key to getting something to sound lethargic is to get your arms and fingers to mimic how it feelsto be lethargic. Lazily sliding from one note to the next, arriving to your notes late, playing behind the beat as if the drums have to pull you along - these are all ideas.

Explore, have fun, and try your hardest to write something with some lethargic elements to it. When you feel like you've got something - wether it's a VERY simple chord progression, a melody, or a full blown song, post it to the community forum.

Remember, not everything you write needs to be a complete song, not everything you write needs to be finished, and not everything you write needs to show people who you are. This is just practice. Have fun with it!

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Write Something With Guitar

I gave this one an EXTREMELY low bar because I want to invite new people to try participating in community challenges.

The only rules are:

1. Write something with one guitar - no DAW, no multi-layered recording - just use a single guitar without drums, bass, keys.
2. Record what you've written with your phone or recording software and upload it to the community forum.

You don't need to write a song, you don't need to write a rough draft of a song. It could be a little pentatonic riff that takes 5 seconds to play. It could be a set of chords you like together. It doesn't have to be amazing, it just has to be something you came up with.

IF YOU ARE A NEW PATRON and this is your first community challenge, feel free to say hello and introduce yourself in the comments below! Welcome!

Have fun, and if you've written something you like, you can share an mp3 OR a link to a video or mp3 on the community forum.

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Write Something With Improvisation.

We'll keep it loose for this challenge. You could START by improvising a melody or chord progression and then refining from there, or you could include a section to improvise. You could try a multitrack recording where you improvise each layer. It's all about exploring. Use improvisation at the beginning or at the end of your process. The only rules are:

1. You must write something AFTER reading this post - you can't post something you've already written.
2. You must give a brief explanation of how improvisation played a part in your composition.

To be clear, improvisation means you're making something up as you go. HOWEVER, you can pick a key (ie. the Key of D Major) and you can pick a specific scale (ie. D Major Scale or D Major Pentatonic Scale.) You could pick a set of chords (ie. D Em F#m G A Bm C#dim) and improvise a chord progression by playing random chords from the set. Or you could write a chord progression like "D Bm Em F#m" and try coming up with a melody on the fly. There are lots of options!

Have fun, and if you've written something you like, you can share an mp3 OR a link to a video or mp3 on the community forum.

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Write Something With Arpeggios

You don't have to write a whole song. You don't even have to write a whole section. A chord progression would be fine! Record it to your phone and upload it to the community forum! If you want to get a little fancier, you could use recording software to write a whole song with bass, drums, guitar, a vocal melody, lyrics, etc - if you WANT to do that, you absolutely can. But you don't have to.

The goal of the Community Challenge is to remind of the joy of MAKING music. Yes, learning songs is important. Yes, practicing technique is important. Yes, learning music theory is important. But to me, making music is the most fulfilling and satisfying musical action one can take.

In this case, just write a little something - even just a chord progression or a guitar melody - and make sure that you're using arpeggios somewhere in there.

An arpeggio is simply playing the notes of a chord, in order. It could be root, third, fifth or third, fifth, root or fifth, root, third. Or if you want to get fancy, you could include 7ths and 9ths or something.

If you need to brush up on (or learn) your roots, thirds, and fifths, I recommend checking out Music Theory for Guitar.

Post your creations to the community forum

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Make Your Own Limitations and Stick To Them

This challenge is a bit of a tightrope. The goal is to FIRST sit down and decide on some limitations for yourself. This could be something technique focused like:
• Only ever play two notes at a time
• Play as many open notes as possible at all times
• Only use bar chords
• Write a melody that emphasizes hammer-ons

Or you could go music-theory focused:
• Only use minor chords
• Only use major chords
• Write in a specific mode
• Implement fifths and major sixths into your melody

Or you could go emotion-based:
• Write something sad
• Write something happy, with a sad section
• Write something hopeful

The idea is that you come up with parameters/limitations for yourself FIRST, and THEN you start writing. Again, you don't have to write something difficult - it could be simply a chord progression or a single-note melody. But you must try as hard as you can to fulfill the limitations you've put on yourself.

Have fun! And remember, you're not setting out to create the masterpiece of your life, you're just practicing creating your own music.

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Write something with fingerpicking.

This is pretty straightforward - You could write a folky chord progression on acoustic guitar. You could write an electric guitar part using fingerpicking. You could play a melody without a pick. It could be something elaborate or something simple. A five second blip recorded to a cell phone or a full blown multitrack song recorded in your home studio. Whatever it is, here are the only rules:

1. You must write something new, something that didn't exist before you read this post.
2. You must use your fingers to perform at least the initial/main guitar part.

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Write Something “Sign Painter Style”

What the heck do I mean by "sign painter style?"

To be honest, I'm not sure yet. But I watched this video of a guy doing some brush lettering this week and I was feeling inspired.

Sometimes when you're writing music, it can be useful (and fun!) to draw inspiration from something or someone outside of music. In this case, we've got a guy showing how a steady hand and a lot of practice can result in some beautiful lettering. He's not doing anything very complex. He's not stopping to think. Not second guessing or analyzing his progress so far. There isn't room for that. He's just doing something he's done a million times.

For musicians, it's easy to write a little bit, and then stop to wonder if it could be different. I've also had this thought more than a few times: "If it's hard for me to play, it must be good music." This is not always the case. In fact, I try to ignore that reasoning because it usually leads me down the wrong path.

On the flip side, there are things most of us do that are not very difficult at all for us. Maybe it's a pentatonic scale. Maybe it's a few chords you're very comfortable with. Maybe there is a certain scale in a certain position that you always warm up with. Use these things as your starting point.

For this challenge, try writing something thats easy FOR YOU, being sure to emphasize the "FOR YOU" part.

Whatever comes naturally, whatever feels comfortable, whatever that stuff is that you usually noodle around with, try starting there.

You don't have to record in one take, but if you're doing take after take and still not getting it, that might mean you're not in your comfort zone!

Wether you write a whole song, a chord progression, multiple tracks, or a very simple single-guitar pentatonic noodle, start writing from a place where you're very comfortable. The results might feel simple, because they will be easy for YOU.

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Write something weird!

"Weird" is a completely subjective term. The idea here is to not take yourself too seriously - an important aspect of being a good musician! "Weird" here could mean a chord progression that doesn't quite make sense or has a wonky chord in there. It could mean a melody that meanders too much or jumps around a wide range. It could be a meter that switches from 3/4 to 4/4 or from 5/4 to 3/4. It could be a weird guitar tone that makes you laugh because it doesn't feel like a guitar. It could be a composition where you just leave too much space, then jam too much stuff into another area.

One of the advantages of exploring deliberately weird things, is that you quite often stumble upon things that end up being kind of cool! If you accidentally stumble upon something cool, you are absolutely welcome to share that too!

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