Office Hours Q&A

Craig was looking for bluegrass picking tips and fun ways to practice and memorize major triad shapes. 

Dan asked is G/B and C/B are in the key of G Major. 

Frank asked about determining a song's key by ear. 

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Office Hours Q&A

Here are this week's questions:

Mark was having problems with maintaining tuning between multitrack recorded guitar. 

Craig was looking for some picking and finger exercises to help build up dexterity and speed. 

Frank needed guidance on getting started with loop pedals. 

Barry asked for a brief overview of walking bass lines.

Frank asked about powering pedals on pedal boards and staying on rhythm while looping.

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Office Hours Q&A

Ray was looking for guidance on using his thumb for bar chords with small hands.

Ray asked what I find to be the most challenging aspect of playing guitar.

Ray also wanted tips on breaking out of the 'pentatonic box' 

U2Boy wanted to know how to best utilize my online school to learn more about embellishing chords and soloing. 

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Office Hours Q&A

Jeff asked if I've had a chance to play with thew new features in the latest Logic Pro update.

Holly was looking for tips on buying/selling used gear. 

Mark brought up an interesting insight into how we perceive our own voice when listening back. 

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Office Hours Q&A

Weezley asked asked how to avoid sproingly brassy sounds while picking

Ronnie asked how a mode can be a major key 

Rich asked if triad voicings always need to have a root note 

Jeff had a question about what notes to play when doing double stops 

Brian was having issues getting fingers to the right place on a C chord 

Boro asked if its a good idea to memorize riffs when learning to solo 

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Office Hours Q&A

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Office Hours Q&A

Here are this week's questions:

Ray was looking for clarification on the circle of fifths.

Mark had a couple of questions about chord shapes after completing my Rubik's cube Series. 

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Office Hours Q&A

This week's questions:

Tasha had a question about Patreon interface changes. 

Mark asked for help getting out of a songwriting rut.

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Office Hours Q&A:

Warren had questions about participating in Community Challenges and general song analysis

Mason has warbling strings on an acoustic guitar - whats going on?  

Richard asked about the benefits of drop D tuning 

Mark asked if Music Theory Monday should be prioritized or CAGED Basics? 

Brian was looking for ways to increase dexterity with open chords - trouble reaching certain strings

Brian also asked about an ideal first electric guitar  

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Office Hours Q&A:

Ray asked for thoughts or tips on flamenco guitar 

Graeme asked how chords outside the key affect the melody 

Sym asked about how to get around practice anxiety 

Tasha had questions about how busses work in Logic Pro X and general DAWs 

Boro asked if a small MIDI keyboard is a good tool for a guitar player using a DAW - YES 

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Office Hours, Q&A

The questions this week:

Daniel C asked for an overview of picks - thickness comparison, technique, etc

Ray asked if there is any cross over between guitar and piano

Richard had questions about this weird progression: E major D major C major

Ray asked if I ever plan to meet up with my Patrons and what is my favorite chord progression

Ray also asked if it's important to learn to read music

Daniel T asked for help building the diatonic chords in the key of C# Minor, and asked about the 7th chords

Julian asked about a practice routine AND asked me about my Fender Musicmaster, which I forgot to respond to!

John asked about planting with your picking hand

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Office Hours, Q&A

Ray asked if I was familiar with Chicken Pickin, and what to practice to get good at this style

Ray F asked about the advantages of knowing every note on the guitar AND asked about muting, specifically in a noisy electric guitar scenario

Ray asked "when is it ok to play out of key" and "do you ever get stage fright" and "how to build up speed

Julian asked "How do you get into a creative flowstate?" 

Ray OS asked "do you come from a musical family?" 

Ray also asked for other book recommendations 

Craig asked how to progress with Triads 

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Office Hours, Q&A

Here are the questions for this week:

Ray F asked a few questions about keys: mainly, how many keys actually are there?

Doh-Ray-Me asked what defines an intermediate and advanced guitar player - AND asked about clarification on what makes a minor chord.

Sarah May just completed my Music Theory for Guitar course and was wondering where to focus next.

Daniel asked some questions related to jamming - how to quickly figure out where to put your hand when someone tells you the key - and some related questions

Jeff had some questions about mixing - I spent a huge chunk of time on compression

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Relative Major and Minor, CAGED Diminished Chords, Tricky Chord Progressions

You missed this one! Catch the next one. Here were the questions:

Question 1: John had a question about relative major and minor.

Question 2: Alice had a series of questions about how CAGED fits with diminished and augmented chords, dorian mode, double sharps, and a few other things.

Question 3: Graeme had a fun puzzle about wether a chord progression was in B Dorian or E Mixolydian

Question 4: Holly was basically wondering about how to write melodies on guitar. My Melody Making course is about the theory behind melodies, and my CAGED Soloing series is more about applying melody concepts to the fingerboard.

Question 5: Adam had a few questions and I did a little brief lesson on modes

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James Taylor, Diminished Chords, 7 String, Singing

Hi Everyone,

The question this time:

Mason had a question about James Taylor talking about "being in A position or D position" with a capo

Ray had a question about diminished chords, and another question about fingerpicking patterns.

Markus asked if I was going to teach some 7 string lessons. I'm not.

Jeff asked for some general singing tips, but I initially mistook the question to be specifically about solfege 

Catch the next one on Thursday at 10AM

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Favorite Guitars, Loop Pedals, Recording Vocals, Ukuleles

Here were the questions this week:

Question 1: Ray was wondering what my favorite guitars are, if there are low budget versions, and what other gadgets were useful.

Question 2: Jonatan had questions about loop pedals - how to start layering and adding bass lines and melodies.

Question 3: Jeff was wondering how to set up to record vocals and how to practice singing, though I forgot the second part of your question, Jeff! Sorry about that.

Question 4: Tobias had questions about ukuleles - strings, models, tuning, chords, etc.

Catch the next one to ask your own questions!

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What To Do Now That You've Recorded Songs!

The questions for this week:

Tasha had questions about Mastering, releasing music, marketing, etc - what to do once you HAVE the recordings.

Archer had questions about microphones and how to properly record a band rehearsal with one or two mics.

Ray asked about songs with only one chord, vamping, and block chords

Andy was wondering why I always specify "half diminished" instead of "diminished triad"

David asked what is the best way to get better and how many hours should I practice?

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Polyrhythms, 12 Strings, Open Mics, Downward Slides, Pain While Playing

Ray asked about polyrhythms, vertical vs horizontal scales, and 12 string guitars.

Wayne followed up about an open mic that went really well AND asked about downward sliding vs upward sliding.

Mateus was experiencing some pain while playing guitar.

STI asked about relative minors - not fully understanding.

Jeff has chord changes and lyrics and was wondering how to get a complete song from here.

You missed this one! Look out for the next one!

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Office Hours, Q&A

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Small Hand Help, Tracking Progress, Open Mics, What To Play When People Ask

Question 1 - Jesse asked for some tips for small handed folks

Question 2 - Wayne asked two questions: How to track progress and how to start playing with other people. I'm starting a little series about playing with other people

Question 3 - Ray asked how not to panic and draw a blank when someone asks you to play something!

Question 4 - Jeffrey asked how to properly copyright a song

Question 5 - Mark asked how to visualize triads on the fingerboard

Question 6 - Jeff asked for tips on mixing vocals in a DAW

Question 7 - we just kind of hung out for a while and I asked for feedback on Patreon layout and stuff

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