Live Stream, Q&A

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Bassline and Strumming

- I address Darko's question about playing basslines and strumming patterns simultaneously

- Recommended my bass guitar crash course on Patreon

- Highlighted the challenge of maintaining a drum beat while doing both

- Suggested starting with a bassline on the fourth beat and incorporating it at the end of a phrase

- Advised mastering the bassline first

Harmonics

- Emma asked about pinch and natural harmonics

- Demonstrated natural harmonics at the 12th fret and discussed their ease at 12th, 7th, and 5th frets

- Explained artificial harmonics using the 12th fret technique

- Mentioned Chad Atkins' fingerstyle technique and how distortion amplifies harmonics

Jazzy Rumba Backing Track

- Jeff inquired about a "Jazzy Rumba" style backing track

- Described the key features and demonstrated using a previous track

- Stressed recording drums first for rhythm consistency and demonstrated quantizing

- Emphasized the G chord with a root-fifth pattern for a Rumba feel

Rhythm and Singing

- Alj Son struggles with rhythm while singing and playing

- Suggested repetitive practice of the song's first part and breaking down difficult sections

Music Theory

- Pentatonic shapes are great for beginners and versatile

- Explained scales as music's foundation and the basics of triads

- CAGED shapes specific to guitar and suggested learning order

- Recommended octave shapes for memorizing the fingerboard

Applying CAGED System

- Rick struggles with moving the CAGED system to different keys

- Suggested mastering the key of G after C

- Recommended learning chord sets and focusing on keys that suit the lead singer's voice

Melody Making

- Yana seeks advice on melody making after finding a key and chords

- Advised watching my Melody Making series and Music Theory Monday series

G Pentatonic Scale

- Explained the G pentatonic scale using the CAGED system and demonstrated corresponding shapes on the fretboard

Bass Techniques and Vintage Guitar Insights

• Pete Dawkins' Bass Journey: Pete bought a bass to enhance his timing and is working on string muting with adjustments to his bass setup.

• Bass Muting Techniques: Muting bass strings using the left hand to press down on strings below the fretted note and the right hand for additional muting.

• Guitar Action and String Buzz: Low action can cause string buzz and rattle, particularly on acoustic guitars. High action is preferred by louder players to avoid fret buzz.

• Round Wound vs. Flat Wound Strings: Round wound strings produce a distinct sound, while flat wound strings are smoother and more muffled. The choice depends on the desired sound and genre.

• Playing in Alternate Tunings (Drop D): Drop D tuning shifts the fretboard up two frets, offering unique sonic possibilities and requiring adjustments in chord shapes and finger positions.

• Guitar String Gauges and Tone: I use various string gauges. Heavier gauges are forgiving but harder to play softly, while lighter gauges are easier to bend but need careful tuning.

• Gibson ES-125: A Vintage Guitar Gem: The Gibson ES-125, especially the 3/4 size model, is valued for its vintage appeal. The speaker highlights its rarity and affordability compared to current market prices.

• Vintage Guitar Prices and Preferences: Prices for vintage guitars like the ES-125 and ES-120 are high, though beat-up models might be more affordable. The speaker notes the significant cost of professional models like the ES-140.

• The Quest for a Five-String Bass: I'm looking for a five-string bass for lower-range basslines, preferring models like the Fender Squire or Rick and Baker.

  Duo Sonic Memories and Octave Pedals: I have memories of a Fender Duo Sonic with different pickguards and mention using an octave pedal to lower tones on a four-string bass.

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Office Hours Q&A

Gemma was looking for right hand control tips.

Ray wanted some guidance on how to utilize jam tracks.

Pete shared an interesting thought on imagining how guitar would sound if it were strung upside-down. 

Conor wanted to hear an honest take on how long it will take to truly express themself on the guitar. 

Office Hours Q&A

Craig was looking for tips on writing guitar parts to someone else's songs.

Bobby wanted some guidance on what to practice in order to progress as a guitar player.

Barry was curious about anticipating notes before playing them while soloing. 

Mark was curious to learn more about guitar harmonics.

Phil asked about my CAGED Soloing series and how it relates to the Circle of Fifths. 

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. 

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.

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. 

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. 

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 

Office Hours Q&A

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. 

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.

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  

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 

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

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 

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

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

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

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!

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?

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!

Office Hours, Q&A

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

Melody Writing, Ranting, How to Start Writing Music

This week was very interesting! I ranted a lot about a few thing I'm very passionate about. I hope it helps a few people.

Question 1 was from Wayne, who asked about Melody Writing which is great because I'm working on a course for that exact topic.

Question 2 from Richard REALLY got me going! He asked if it was important to know how to play all the major and minor scales without having to think about it. My answer was a big long "it depends" that hopefully resonates with everyone wondering what to do right now.

Question 3 from Daniel was an update about a gig last weekend and a question about how to start writing music. Step 1: accept that you're not starting by writing whole songs and 2: get involved with Community Challenges.

Question 4 antcav had a question about how to practice getting into 8th and 16th notes in solos. I mentioned a philosophical concept called "Logical Positivism" which I probably didn't describe accurately, but I think it worked in my analogy!

Question 5 Jeff asked if there is basic interval to maintain between the bass and guitar - a general range for each instrument in a tune

Question 6 I accidentally switched to iPad instead of computer screen while reading Phils question : Is it important to know every basic guitar shape in every position?

Question 7 b b asked my opinion on the best digital amps

Question 8 b b asked my preferred type of reverb - plate, room, hall, spring, other?

CAGED, Syncopation, Bending Noise, Performing, Vocal Range

Ray had questions about 1. wether I'm doing another CAGED series 2. syncopation and 3. Jimi hendrix timing and 4. the best place to do double stops

Wayne had a question about bending, specifically string noise when bending the high E string

Daniel asked for advise on performing this weekend

Mason had questions about using a capo to adjust the key of a song

Gary asked how to find our vocal range

Jeff asked how to harmonize a written melody

Playing With Other People, Writing Music to Lyrics, Sweep Picking, Playing Musically

Ray asked if it was important to play with other people and what to do if you can't find people to play with.

Jeff provided some lyrics and asked for tips on how to put music to lyrics

Ray says "please explain the mysteries of sweep picking"

Wayne asked about how to play more musically

Daniel was looking for tips on how to use the CAGED System to solo over the song "Dreams" by Fleetwood Mac

Luke asked about bluegrass flatpicking - what is it and how does it work?

Aaron asked what "playing in the pocket" means

Daniel asked if I could break down Valerie by Amy Winehouse for a solo as well.

Office Hours, Q&A

Question 1 from Tristan boils down to this idea of mixing major and minor scales in a blues situation - I gave a basic blues lesson and explained a range of scales you might find in a blues situation, including the magical mixing of major and minor scales.

Question 2 from Jeff was about exporting (called Bouncing) a track out of Logic Pro X

Question 3 - Keith was asking about fretting hand technique to avoid unwanted string noise up by the 15th fret.

Question 4 - Mason wanted to know how I developed my thumb independence to learn songs like Windy and Warm 

There were a few other nice questions at the end - Continue the conversation on the community forum.

MY BAND has been putting out new music, and we'll continue putting out more and more this year - check it out!

Office Hors, Q&A

I'll do my best to answer your questions and give examples of how you can practice developing skills related to your question.

Keep in mind, you can always watch later if you can't make it live! Check back a few hours after the stream for a numbered list of each question and a timestamped link to each answer.

Office Hours, Q&A

Office Hours, Q&A

Here are the timestamped questions:

Question 1: Ray had questions about big hands and how to hold the guitar to maximize dexterity

Question 2: Wayne and Harsh had questions about warming up - best practices and why.

Question 3: Harsh had a question about how to practice using the D shape chord - I gave some ideas using SPJ Jam Tracks 

Question 4: Tristan had some questions about movable pentatonic shapes

Question 5: Stevie was wondering about the difference between a melody and a riff. I muddied the waters more here, but it ultimately comes down to context.

Question 6: Vicenco had questions about keeping the pulse while strumming anything other than the classic patterns. I recommended my strumming course.

Question 7: Harsh had questions about how to identify the key of a song so you can play along and solo - check out my Ear Training series and my Live Song Analysis series.

Question 8: Mathias had questions about how to keep the rhythm and pulse while soloing

Question 9: Omar was curious about how my camera guitar works - I can't say yet!

ASK ME ANYTHING! I'VE NEVER MET A QUESTION I DIDN'T LIKE!

How To Hold The Guitar, Alternate Tunings, Penta vs Full Scale, Ear Training

This was a great stream! Here are the timestamped questions:

Question 1: Ray had questions about which leg to hold the guitar and how to approach using a strap

Question 2: Tristan was wondering about alternate tunings

Question 3: Kenneth had some questions about pentatonic vs full scale

Question 4: Jeffrey was curious about the screws on the bridge of a guitar - what are they for?

Question 5: Matt had a question about learning songs by ear and how to figure out specific tricky parts.

Question 6: Tony wants to easily find every note on the fingerboard and asked if arpeggios are the right next step. We got INTO it

Question 7: Jeff had been working on bass and timing and asked if a metronome is the right place to do that. I recommended a different approach.

Question 8: Sam had a question about bending more cleanly

Alternate Tuning, How To Tell If You're Getting Better, Bad Habits

Here are the questions from this week, timestamped in order:

Question 1: Ray asked about how to get into alternate tunings and if they fit with the CAGED System

Question 2: Harsh asked how to tell if you're getting better. how to tell if you need outside help, and how to get back into it after a break.

Question 3: David showed a specific fingerpicking technique and asked if it was ok or bad. I voted "bad" and gave suggestions, including methods of muting.

Question 4: Jeffrey asked if bass and ukulele are similar to guitar. We went over similarities and differences.

Question 5: Vicenco has problems playing with a pick. I gave some tips for how to hold the thing, and some exercises to practice getting comfortable with the mechanics.

Question 6: Mateus talked about a new music nerd ability to listen to music with an ear for whats going on instead of just absorbing how it feels. We talked about ways to deliberately hang out in either camp.

Question 7: Jeff had a question about bass muting. I gave some tips

Writing While Fingerpicking

Here are the questions:

Question 1: Ahmed asked for helping figuring out how to write to fingerpicking.

Question 2: Ray asked about my iPad app - I used GoodNotes 

Question 3: Rich shared a cool chord progression and had some trouble figuring out what key it was in.

Question 4: Ray asked what the ideal practice session looks like

Question 5: Tristan asked how to spice up transitions between chords

Question 6: Jeff asked for tips on how to add bass practice into a routine

Question 7: Joe is struggling to aim well on Folsom Prison Blues strumming pattern

Question 8: Kenneth asked some specific questions around CAGED Basics - do you play other chords within the shape or switch pentatonic shapes?

Question 9: Graeme asked a similar question!

Question 10: Paul asked if I have lessons about arpeggios - Yes! CAGED Basics 

Question 11: James asked what software I use for recording - I use Logic Pro

The questions:

Harsh was wondering about these kinds of practice bands. Are they worth it? Useful? I gave some thoughts about these, but also about a general approach to practice that might answer these types of questions down the line.

Ray was hoping for a quick round up of guitar embellishments. This isn't the way I think about things, but I tried to give quite a few examples of the types of chord embellishments that translate to lead concepts using Music Theory Monday info.

Anthony was looking for some ways to practice timing. I gave a little talk about the sacred metronome. Happy Birthday to you and your daughter!

David asked me how I keep track of all the song ideas I've written. 

Ray F asked about loop pedals and buying pedals in general. I forgot to mention you need a power supply too. If you need info about that, ask about it in the comments or community forum.

Mateus asked about mixing major and minor scales in a Major Key song. I talked about the blues IV chord trick.

Jeff graciously helped me figure out my face-to-face chat system (still needs some work) with a question about how to handle two bends in quick succession. Right hand muting? Left hand muting? How to handle that.

Jason asked what the Rubiks Cube series is about. I gave a taste

Continue the discussion on the community forum.

EQ, Slide Guitar, Moveable Shapes, Chet Atkins

The questions:

Mark R asked if I could walk through how to EQ a track

Ray had questions about slide guitar and the fitting context for 11th and 13th chords. Here is a slide guitar lesson I made last year 

Ethan asked about something related to notifications: Basically, I try to send an alert that the stream is starting roughly an hour beforehand, but you can also subscribe to my little Patreon YouTube channel and click the bell for notifications, I think - has anyone tried this and does it work?

Harsh had a question about what to practice on the days when it's a drag to pick up the guitar.

Roscopico had a question about movable shapes, relative keys, and dominant chord.

Andy had a question about Chet Atkins style barrel rolls and another question about thin vs thick picks.

Harsh had another question about whether I have more beginner tracks for technique and stuff. I don't. I'm trying to fill a specific niche here on my Patreon, but maybe someday I'll have a beginner track. I gave some beginner picking advise.

David asked how I switch cameras

Bill Withers, Practice Tracks, Creativity, String Gauge

Great stream, as usual. Lots of great questions. Here they are:

Sirot had some questions about the chord progression for Bill Withers' Just the Two of Us 

D B had a question about wether I had more practice jam tracks than just C Major and A Minor

Harsh was wondering about a good approach to the creative sections of MTFG and CAGED Basics

Mateus was having issues with a guitar after switching from 10 gauge to 12 gauge strings.

Graeme wanted my take on the issue of hanging guitars. I just realized that I've only ever used "String Swing" brand guitar hangers and I've never had an issue, but I remembered there are some cheaper brands of floor stand that have caused issues for other people's guitars.

Stevie wanted advice on 1) recording guitar amps and 2) setting up a pedal board in the ideal arrangement.

D B was lookingfor good sheet music resources online. I like https://imslp.org for the classics and google image searching "*name of jazz standard* Real book" and seeing if I can find something printable.

Ahmed was feeling overwhelmed by the idea of having to learn all new riffs for each mode.

Jeffery wanted to know if it's alright to practice with a mixer, or do you need to hear the room?

Ray had some questions about fingerstyle technique - pinky plant or not?

Graeme and Ray had questions about more fingerpicking lessons AND using a THUMB PICK. 

D B asked about private lessons - do I do them anymore? 

Chord Substitution, Stronger Melodies, Switching Chords

Here were the questions, linked to the appropriate timestamp:

Sirot was wondering about two things: chord substitution and secondary dominants.

Mark was looking for tips on how to pick up the rhythm of a song AND how to create stronger melodies.

Ray was looking for practice advise about switching chords, especially the tricky ones. Ray, you had another question I missed about how much you should be looking at the neck when you play guitar. My answer: A LOT. ENOUGH TO HAVE A CLEAR CLEAR MENTAL PICTURE OF WHAT YOUR HANDS ARE DOING! Then, you can practice gradually looking away as long as you know that your hands are doing what you want them to do.

Jeff wanted to know how I craft my guitar tones

Graeme liked my recommendation of listening to Leo Kottke and asked for more music to listen to.

BazLightyear wanted to know what to move on to the next lesson in MTFG

Alo asked for some basic daily exercises

Got followup questions? Want to have a related discussion? Come hang out on the community forum.

7th vs add9 Chords, CAGED Chords, Backing Tracks

Graeme had a question about 7th vs add9 chords

Tony had a question about playing full six-string CAGED Shapes

Jeff was wondering what kinds of things to focus on while playing with a backing track

Harsh asked if it is necessary to know exactly what notes you're playing all the time.

Motivation, Practice Technique

This one was very nice and very short! Here are the questions:

Ray was looking for some ways to stay motivated.

Stevie had a concern about regressing back to simpler technique

Harsh had a question about when to move on from the Intervals section of MTFG

12 Strings, Motivation, Right Hand Technique, Finding Your Path, Used Guitars

I was a little under-slept and over-caffeinated for this one but it went pretty well and I was very excited to show off a new feature: I was finally able to offer an easy way to have Patrons ask questions via video live on stream! I'll do more of that in the future. I was only testing this feature for this stream. Thanks Jeff and Tyler for helping me out!

Question 1 was from Thijs looking for 12 string guitar tips

Question 2 - Brian was looking for tips on how to stay motivated while learning music theory.

Question 3 from Jeffery was about right hand relaxation while strumming (and fingerpicking, but I focused on the strumming part)

Question 4 - Jason was wondering how to find the clear path forward after the initial music theory lessons. My advise is always this: Make the most specific goals for yourself - what do you like? What excites you? What challenges sound fun and which ones make you want to quit guitar? Move toward the fun challenges and don't worry about the others. The more specific you get with goals, the easier it is to see the path forward.

Question 5 - Liam had questions about buying a new or used guitar. When to buy? What to buy? Red flags for used guitars? Liam was also looking for ergonomic tips when playing guitar standing up with a shoulder strap.

Question 6 - Joe had a question about looking at the neck while playing - are you supposed to practice without looking? Can you look? It is OK to look! It's also ok to memorize so you don't need the sheet music. It's also ok not to play it PERFECTLY before moving on.

Question 7 - Tyler (Surfdad83) was asking about the chord progression Fm Eb Bb - what key is it in? Is it modal? I concluded that it was in Dorian Mode, but if it was part of a bigger section, it might not be.

Question 8 - Kevin was wondering about the tonality of the song Killing an Arab by the Cure. Wow! There is a LOT going on here. We dove into it and considered some big music composition implications.

From there, I invited my Patrons to help me test out an easy video chat system that requires no downloading an app, no creating a login or password, easy peasy. You just type your name and join. I'm very excited.

Feel free to continue the discussion on the community forum or in the comments below.

Motivation, Playing Over Chords, Remembering Ideas, Strings

These were the questions:

Question 1: Jeffery was wondering how to practice when you lose motivation - I also recommend checking out Practice Thoughts 

Question 2: Richard had questions about soloing over specific chord progressions. I strongly recommend MTM lessons 17 18 19 for melody making and CAGED Soloing for applying that information specifically to the CAGED system.

Question 3: Jeffery was wondering how I write my ideas down when I don't have access to my recording equipment

Question 4: David was asking if there is an app for quickly tabbing ideas

Question 5: BB was asking about ear training advise. I recommend spotify roulette plus my course on Ear Training.

Got more questions? Come hang out on the community forum.

Percussive Guitar, Switching Guitars Mid-Show, Chord Identification, Tuning with Harmonics

Great questions this week. 

Question 1: Ray wanted my opinion of percussive guitar playing.

Question 2: Mateus was curious about how/why guitar players switch guitars in a show.

Question 3: Graeme wanted help identifying a specific chord.

Question 4: There are a variety of questions from chat at this point ranging from how to tune using harmonics, where my music will release, how to write a lot of ideas, and how to release music.

If you'd like to continue the conversation, do so in the comments or on the community forum.

Final Stream Before Seattle Studio!

This was my final stream in Southern California before moving back up to the Seattle area.

Question 1: Ray asked about the fundamentals of muting - see also Question 11 below

Question 2: Jeff was wondering about positions in the CAGED System. I cleared up some confusion about terms.

Question 3: Wayne wanted to work through the CAGED system in a particular way. I like it, BUT had a few key things to keep in mind.

Question 4: Ray was curious about how the 3NPS (3 notes per string) method compares to CAGED

Question 5: Mark was feeling a bit overwhelmed by the sheer number of things to keep track of. I gave some advise on how to simplify and divide up practice time.

Question 6: Holly was wondering where to sell gear

Question 7: Tamara had questions about developing a personal style.

Question 8: Patrick was considering buying a loop pedal. I talked about workflow.

Question 9: Dede was wondering how capacitors affect your tone. I don't know!

Question 10: Stevie was asking wether to get into GarageBand or go straight to Logic Pro

Question 11: Patrick had a more specific question about muting that I didn't address in Question 1

Question 12: cblulu asked about making practice more fun and musical

Question 13: Patrick asked if it's best to buy the nicest or cheapest equipment AND asked if gear depreciates like computers do - NO. Also, check out JHS channel - always good advise

Question 14: David asked for advise transitioning from D to D7

Follow up on the community forum if you have more to say.

Silly Hat, Modes and I IV V, Mixer, Major Blues with Minor Penta

This week started with my ridiculous radish hat and a little talk about what kind of videos are coming out soon.

Question 1: Frank had some questions about Mixolydian mode and Dom7 chords

Question 2: Halo Hat was wondering about my mixer (Tascam Model 12)

Question 3: Nis-Momme also had a question about Dom7 chords, but this question was more about the blues.

Question 4: Halo Hat asked: do I see the fingerboard horizontal or veritcal?

Question 5: Halo Hat had a question about inversions

Logic Pro X, MIDI Controllers, Chord Tones

Question 1: Stevie was wondering if and when to upgrade from GarageBand to Logic Pro. My computer was ridiculous and messed up my audio for a minute or two, but I got it fixed by this point.

Question 2: Julian was wondering which MIDI controller keyboard to buy of the two I own: The Korg MicroKey 25 or the Akai LPK 25 - I weight the pros and cons. Also, it looks like there is an Akai LPK 25 MkII that looks really nice.

Question 3: Ray had a great question about chord tones and voice leading. I mentioned MTM 17 18 19 for melody making and CAGED Soloing.

Question 4: StratMan WannaBe was worried about learning to fast on paper without applying to the fingerboard. I went in depth on how to practice by setting goals and how to practice by focusing on one thing and letting other things fall apart.

Question 5: Dan was wondering where to start on the fingerboard when starting a solo

Question 6: Ahmed was wondering about the cons of playing with low action

Question 7: Kevin was curious about truss rod adjustment. I explain with the ipad

An intonation question was related, so I went into a bit of explanation about how intonation works.

I did challenge people (as per Stratman's question) to share their goals as specifically as possible on the community forum.

I also invited Tim to share how the jam session went!

Analysis, Bach, Logic Pro, Ear Training, Nerves, Gear

Question 1: Ahmed asked for an analysis of my melody in my latest Community Challenge

Question 2: Jeff was working on a cool piece by Bach and had questions about practice

Question 3: Tasha wants a comprehensive course on Logic Pro X.

Question 4: Ray wanted some tips on how to learn a song by ear - we took Ledbetter by Pearl Jam and spent a few minutes with it.

Question 5: Tim is meeting with a friend to record and jam - maybe write music together and maybe work on one of Tim's song. Tim is a bit nervous and wants tips on a) how to prepare/what to expect and b) how to deal with nerves.

Question 6: Halo Hat was looking for good drum software - I recommended something like Native Instruments Drums but I'm sure there are other good ones on the market. Halo Hat was also wondering how I like my M1 Ultra

Question 7: Kevin was looking for speakers for an FX unit. As a community, we discussed the pros and cons of switching to an audio interface, using an amp as a speaker, using a studio monitor as a speaker, or other options!

Got follow up questions? Want to rehash a topic? Come hang out on the community forum.

My Backstory, Reading Music, & More

Question 1: Ray wanted to know a little about my backstory

Question 2: Ray also wanted to know if you're playing in the key of A, can you play also in the key of the IV and V chord, which would be the Key of D and the key of E. The answer is basically no, but kind of, but because of the hierarchy of important considerations when soloing.

Question 3: Richard wanted to know how guitarists tune so quickly on stage. I mentioned this cool PolyTune pedal

Question 4: Noah asked if I recommend any good books for theory and playing. I don't usually think about books, but I learned how to read music from this Mel Bay book and I would recommend it to anyone learning to read music.

Question 5: Josh was wondering if it's ok to use Dsus4 shape instead of a D shape. I referred specifically to the D CHORD in this explanation, but it applies anywhere you're talking about the D shape as well. I would not recommend it, but art is art.

Question 6: David was wondering how long to spend on the first MTFG lesson - I'd say move on once you get it mostly playable. No need to do full speed. But even more importantly, check out Practice Thoughts on The Jump, Scott's Practice Method, and Doing vs Thinking.

Question 7: Julian wanted a bit of advise on creating interesting drum tracks. I forgot to answer your bass line question! Check out my bass line lesson here and see if you can use an octave effect on your guitar or buy an octave down pedal for your guitar to write basslines.

Soloing Over Chords & Finding Notes

This weeks questions were:

Question 1: Prahanien was wondering about soloing over the specific chords in a chord progression. I went into some detail, but mainly focused on concepts laid out in CAGED Soloing.

Question 2: Ahmed was wondering how to find the same note somewhere else on the fingerboard. I went into a few ideas and recommended checking out Unison Note Finder.

Question 3: William was also trying to get a feel for CAGED soloing. Not only do I recommend the same series from question 1 above, but I think it's important to really understand how melodies work, as in MTM 17 18 19. It's also important to switch between very deliberate careful soloing and just exploring without thinking too hard.

Question 4: Mateus was wondering if there is some kind of sheet to say every chord you can play as an alternative, like in a I vi ii V progression. I gave a really fun shortcut, but I'm planning on doing a slightly more formal version for MTM soon.

Song Structure & Soling Over Minor Keys

Question 1: Hal was curious about my Fender Musicmaster - why do I like it?

Question 2: Mark-R was wondering about song structure, specifically how to write a second part once you have a good first part. While each song is different and requires a different approach, I think my "descriptive" method is a nice tool.

Question 3: Jonathan was curious about how to solo over minor keys. I couldn't quite understand the specifics of the question, but I think CAGED Soloing and MTM 17, 18, and 19 will help you understand melodies,

Question 4: Fred asked what kind of progress to expect as an older learner, practicing every day. Always set goals.

Question 5: ConvexFX wanted to know how I learned guitar? Who were my idols? Did I start with CAGED?

Question 6: Mathias Horn had questions about thumb placement - Where is it supposed to be when you're playing?

Question 7: Tropf was wondering if I play in a band (I do, called Hot Bodies in Motion) and why I don't post more on YouTube!

Question 8: Ahmed was looking for tips on recording voice and guitar simultaneously.

Question 9: Kaj just finished MTFG Minor Scales and was trying to make sense of my CAGED labels for each scale. I gave some explanation, but CAGED Basics I and IIwill start making more sense.

Making Beats & Learning The Fingerboard

Question 1: Sean was curious about building out a song with drums and bassline. I gave a thought about the distinct difference between playing live with a band vs making a beat in recording software. I suggested GarageBand basics for more details on making beats, and my Bass Crash Course for learning to write basslines.

Question 2: Brett was wondering if we're limited to only 7 notes when playing a solo. It took a sec for my software to boot, so I started Guitar Camera stuff around here. Brett also wanted to know the best method for learning the fingerboard. But I forgot to answer that question! Fortunately someone else asked the same question later. Scroll down to question 2! I recommend learning Octave Shapes. Unison Shapes is a pretty cool lesson too.

Question 3: Josh was wondering if I could explain the e minor pentatonic scale used in blues music. I gave a brief idea, but I dig in a little deeper in MTM 12 and MTM 13. If those are a little heavy, start MTM from the beginning. If that's too heavy, start with Music Theory Monday.

Question 4: Hal was wondering if I plan to make any technique videos again like Playing Mechanics. I suppose I could! Is anyone else interested?

Question 5: Graeme, who made this AMAZING ONLINE SCRATCH PAPER for everyone to use, was wondering about dom7 chords. Specifically, does the VII7 in a minor key resolve to III? We get philosophical because yes, but no, but kinda.

Question 6: Dr. Algenpfleger wanted to know the best way to learn the fingerboard. This is where I answer the other question I forgot from Brett in question 2. Definitely check out Octave Shapes.

Question 7: Mark-R wanted to know how much time to spend on each lesson. Generally, spend enough to understand and play around with the concept, but not enough to master. Context in a series is more important than complete mastery of each lesson before moving on.

Question 8: Roscopico was curious about the ideal approach for those with arthritis or other arm and hand issues. My suggestion is not as much physical, but emotional - ALWAYS warm up with the same thing so you have the opportunity to learn how your hand feels and reacts differently day to day.

Question 9: MJ was wondering my go-to ways to make a simple chord progression more interesting. Adding 6ths/7ths/9ths as you see fit can do a LONG way along with playing different voicings. I get into it.

Question 10: Daniel asks how to get out of the repetitiveness of playing open chords and pentatonic scales. I recommended CAGED Basics.

Have follow up questions? Bring the discussion to the community forum.

REMEMBER, THERE ARE NO DUMB QUESTIONS! EVER!

Pentatonic & Moving Though Scales

Question 1: Ray struggles with making chords and scales musical and wants help. Also, whats the deal with Hendrix's double stops and stuff.

Question 2: Josh wanted to know who made the pentatonic scale the norm for solos ion modern music. I don't know! Here is a fun article to read.

Question 3: J.T. had questions about moving through a scale vs jumping, which I talk about in detail on my Melody Making Lessons in Music Theory Monday and after that, CAGED soloing lessons.

Question 4: Dede wants me to make a video kind of like my Rubik's Cube system but for sus2 and add9 chords.

Question 5: Dorothy was wondering why I teach the pentatonic scale as a sort of extended triad with extra notes.

Question 6: Rick had a question about closed position vs 3 note per string

Come further the discussion on any one of these questions below or on the community forum.

Phrasing and Low Tunings

Here are the questions for this stream:

Question 1: Mr K was wondering how to set up a guitar for drop C tuning with heavier strings.

Question 2: Adam wanted a better sense of what the word "resolve" means in music.

Question 3: Ahmed had a question about phrasing

Question 4: Ahmed was ALSO wondering if you have to THINK about the name of each note you're playing. No, but I go into more detail!

Question 5: Graham asked if watching and learning famous solos and phrases is a good way to learn good phrasing. Yes, BUT

Question 6: Mojo Jeff asked if I have plans to teach any funk guitar rhythm. I already have to some degree in my Strumming Patterns series on 16th note patterns.

Question 7: Zoe had a question about thirds - I went into a pretty fun example of how thirds can be so fun! I played along to this jam track from my SPJ Jam trackschannel.

Office Hours, Q&A

Please remember: THERE ARE NO DUMB QUESTIONS WHATSOEVER! I believe that every question has wonderful secrets to reveal about the world. This is a place to ask even the simplest of questions.

These were the questions for this week:

Question 1: Stevie was wondering where to start with Melody Writing. I gave examples of my guidelines from Music Theory Monday lessons 17, 18, and 19 and talked about how the theory is one thing, but how to do it on guitar is another thing, which is why my CAGED Soloing Series is really about making melodies on the guitar.

Question 2: Max was wondering if there were any free sites that map out modes, scales, etc. My answer is to use this awesome interactive scratch paper that a Patron named Graeme coded: The interactive note name scratch paper. This combined with learning music theory around here will go a LONG way.

Question 3: Magela asked how to keep modes in mind while writing melodies, as a follow up to question 1.

Question 4: Ahmed was wondering if I intend to do more videos on melodies and riffing. I recommended the above melody lessons again. What would you like, Patrons? What interests you? More melody lessons?

Question 5: Magela was wondering if I know anything about the "drop 2" system. I don't, but I guess I'll have to look into it now!

Question 6: Jason wanted some tips on staying motivated. I had a LOT of ideas!

Question 7: Graeme was curious about the tonal differences between tonewoods, specifically rosewood vs maple fingerboard. I forgot to mention that while the sound difference might be subtle, I MUCH prefer the rosewood fingerboard for ease of maintenance. Maple has to be refinished after a refret, but rosewood and ebony just need some lemon oil.

Question 8: Georgiy has been playing for a while and trying to figure out how to bridge the gap between theory and application. I recommended participation in the weekly community challenges and some structured ways to go about writing. The things I recommended should lead toward being able to solo, jam, write, etc.

I started talking about Get Lucky and general right hand strumming techniques.

Office Hours, Q&A

Question 1 from Mateus was about bending up to a note, then doing vibrato while staying bent, though it took me a minute to fully understand the question, I gave some good general pinky tips on the way there.

Question 2 from Ethan was pretty straightforward: "Are there more CAGED Basics II lessons coming?" And the answer is yes. Very soon.

Question 3 from Monster Zit was about how much time to spend on lessons: commit everything perfectly to memory or get the concept?

Question 4 from Ronnie was about the CAGED system. I launched into a mini lesson about one of my favorite CAGED concepts laid out in CAGED Soloing and the improved NEW CAGED Soloing, found here.

Question 5 was from Brock, who wanted some tips on how to get cleaner sounding notes from the guitar.

I explained a fun little mode exercise that I like

Office Hours, Q&A

Question 1: Leo was looking for methods to find the key of a melody.

Question 2: Conor wanted to know when to move on to the next lesson AND what, in my opinion, are the fundamentals of music and also the fundamentals of guitar.

Question 3: Sean was looking for tips to keep ideas organized.

Question 4: Will was working on figuring out chords in a key in the CAGED System and basically stumbled upon some stuff that I'm laying out in my New CAGED Soloing series.

Question 5: Tasha was looking for tricks to feel inspired to write music.

Question 6: Gregg was looking to expand soloing range - I strongly recommend CAGED Basics I and II

Office Hours, Q&A

Here are the timestamped questions from this week:

First off, some stuff fell on me, so that was fun.

The first question, was from Leo, who asked about singing and playing, but more specifically about "playing through a mistake." We got into a good discussion about it!

The second question, from Graeme, was asking why we play guitar in the left-right orientation that we currently do, as opposed to playing "left handed." I do not know, but I made a guess.

The third question was from acrvr who was essentially asking about how the guitar seems to be laid out in a "V of V of V of V of V...." kind of format.

The fourth question was from Tim, who asked wether it's best to lean into or try to avoid writing from a comfort zone where you tend to keep writing similar things.

The fifth question from David, was about how a capo affects things on the fingerboard.

MJ asked the sixth question: "what makes a voice suitable for singing?"

That was it! If you have more follow up questions or relevant info related to any of these questions, feel free to get involved on the community forum.

Office Hours, Q&A

Here were the questions for this week - please excuse the occasional mic malfunctions - I'm working on fixing that!

Question 1: Andy was wondering which CAGED Shapes are best for 7th and 9th chords. I talked about it a bit, and recommended both my Interactive Scratch Paper and my Rubiks Cubelessons to get comfortable with each CAGED Shapes' 7th chord possibilities.

Question 2: Wasn't really a question, but Mark wanted to show off a guitar project with jumbo frets! Looks great! You can see the post here, too.

Question 3: Trevor was hoping to troubleshoot some pedal noise problems. I gave a few tips, but if anyone has tips for Trevor, let him know in the comments or community forum! Also, please report back if you've made some progress, Trevor!

Question 4: Riccardo was curious if I prefer oldschool pedals and amp or newschool amp and pedal modeling box (like a Helix) directly into a monitor or something similar.

Question 5: Mathias wanted to know what to practice for only ten minutes a day. I launched into my soapbox routine about how you HAVE to be specific about your goals, or what to practice won't make any sense. And a lot more helpful advise.

From there we kind of had a discussion about practice in general. It was great, despite the occasional mic malfunctions. I'll get that fixed for the next stream.

If you have follow up questions, or for this stream in particular, if you, Trevor, find the noise issues in your pedal board, please let us know in the community forum.

Office hours, Q&A

Question 1: Mateus was curious about how to make an improvised melody sound like the chords are changing when there is no backing track.

Question 2: Mr K wanted to know if I have any advanced guitar setup tips. I launched into a little lesson about what your truss rod does and got into a few other little things.

Question 3: Kyle wanted to know if the classic blues riff we're all familiar with has a name. I don't know, but I went into a detailed lesson about Maj6 chords and how they relate to bass lines, rhythm guitar, and ultimately back to this riff.

If you have any follow up questions or want to continue the discussion, come hang out on the community forum.

Office Hours, Q&A

Another great stream with great questions, here they are, linked to the specific spot in the stream where they are addressed:

Question 1 was from Greylight, who wanted some ideas for how to stay focused on the current lesson rather than bouncing around. Or, to put it another way, how do you know when you knowthe material?

Question 2 was from Mr K, who was wondering what steps might be involved in setting up a guitar to be tuned a whole step higher! We discussed a few of the risks as well as comparing and contrasting what situations you'd simply just capo on the 2nd fret vs actually tuning your guitar higher. I also mentioned "Mitchell's Abrasive Cord."

Question 3 from Other Person was about how to practice as a beginner/someone coming back after 20+ years. As always, I ask Other Person for some more specific goals before I map out a little practice diagram (attached below)

Question 4: was curious about buying Kontakt software - it's great software, but make sure you can't get that stuff from Logic Pro X.

Question 5 as some point D Walker was curious about the software people use to remove different instruments from a track. I don't know! Does anyone know? Feel free to comment about it or send a link in the community forum.

Question 6: MJ was hoping for chat's recommendations on Tele's or Jaguar's in the Squier realm. Do you have a recommendation?

Question 7: Juan FM was wondering if there is always some sort of frustration or if the beginning phases of guitar are just inherently frustrating? When will there be more lightbulb moments?

Do you have follow up questions? Want to continue one of the topics mentioned here? Come hang out on the community forum.

Office Hours, Q&A

This was my first stream from my new studio in Orange County, CA and it was a good one!

The first question was from Martin, who wanted some advise about how to prepare for a jam session with another guitars, a pianist, and a drummer and bass player.

The second question was from Graeme, who was wondering how to branch out with practice time while working on CAGED Soloing.

The third question was a combination of Sean and Tim's questions about how to differentiate a verse, chorus, and bridge. It got a bit etherial, but it made me think we should spend some time digging in on these concepts.

The fourth question from Ethan, who was wondering about sliding in and out of chord tones along the fretboard using the G or D strings.

The fifth question was from Mark, who first had a comment about a cool interval exercise to help remember intervals and note names up the fingerboard. Mark's question was about writing a melody to lyrics. So gave an example by writing a melody to his lyrics and showing my thought process.

I introduce everyone to Betty

The sixth question was from Martin again, wondering HOW to go about practicing the skill of figuring out the key of a song - Austin had a similar question.

The seventh question was from Lyn who wanted to know how to figure out the chords in the key of B flat. I gave a little example, but my Music Theory Monday series is all about that kind of stuff.

If you want to ask follow up questions or continue a discussion about any of these topics, come hang out on the community forum.

Office Hours, Q&A

Office Hours, Q&A

If the above link isn’t working for you, here is a link to watch directly on YouTube: https://youtu.be/r7xRZTNwpx4

Here's how it works: bring your questions to the comments below, the community forum, or save them for the live chat.* Questions can be about anything you want - guitar technique, music theory, gear, songwriting - your choice! Also, feel free to link a video of you playing if you have a technique question!

I'll do my best to answer your questions and give examples of how you can practice developing skills related to your question.

Keep in mind, you can always watch later if you can't make it live! Check back a few hours after the stream for a numbered list of each question and a timestamped link to each answer.

*Please note: you may need a youtube/gmail account to ask questions in the live stream, but you can watch without one.

Office Hours, Q&A

This was a great stream!

Here is the interactive Note Name Scratch Paper that Graeme put together:

Note Name Scratch Paper

As for the questions this week, here is a timestamped list:

Question 1: Kachap was wondering how to decipher slash chords. I got into it!

Question 2: Cata was wondering if it's better spread out and learn all the CAGED Shapes simultaneously or focus in on one shape system at a time.

I demo Graeme's Interactive Note Name Scratch Paper here, but I used a color that didn't translate well into my livestream. You'll have to try it out yourself right here.

Question 3: Tasha was curious what key this progression is in: Dm C A7

Question 4: Stevie was wondering how to organize practice time. I launched into preacher mode.

Question 5: Mark wanted a nice warm up routine on top of practicing major scales

Office Hours, Q&A

Here are the timestamped question from this week:

Question 1: Mark was curious about my take on the variety of fretwire available for refretting guitars (or fretting brand new ones).
Question 2: Mateus was curious about this situation: If you're soloing over triads and you play the 7th or 9th of that chord, are you altering the chord? Yes!
Question 3: Brett was wondering how to decide where to play a chord voicing or where to play a pentatonic scale on the fingerboard? Why bother with all the different places to play chords and scales if it's all kind of the same notes?
Question 4: Jerry was wondering about how to make up your own fingerpicking patters after watching my Fingerpicking Technique video. I gave a few pointers and recommended using some Eighth-note scratch paper, which I attached below.
Question 5: Stevie was wondering what key this set of chords belongs to: Fmaj7, C, G, Am, and Em. I discuss a few quick ways to figure out what key a set of chords comes from.
Question 6: Sean wanted some tips for how to hold and aim the pick a little better.
Question 7: Ian was having difficulting accessing the community forum. I suggested he delete his discourse account (NOT the patreon account) and try again, being sure to follow the rules laid out on my "Where to Start" page.
Question 8: Mark needed some help playing along with a metronome.

Office Hours, Q&A

Question 1: Rohan was wondering what software to use to edit my PDFs. If you're looking to fill in answers and stuff on an iPad, I use GoodNotes. If you're looking to create your own PDFs the way I do, I use Adobe Illustrator. If you're looking for a free software that does similar stuff (though MORE similar to Adobe Photoshop) I've used GIMP in the past. If you're looking to just fill out the PDFs on your computer, I'm not sure what software I'd recommend, to be honest. Other folks recommended forScore and LibreOffice.
Question 2: Mr K was having issues accessing the chat, so I walked through a few ways to access it.
From there, this stream focused on mostly chat questions, and I did an example of the 3/4 and 6/8 beats for the community challenge that week.

Office Hours, Q&A

This was a great stream! Here are the questions:

Rust and Stevie's Question was about songwriting - Specifically, what are some ways to get two sections to go together?

Graylight had a question about how to add something like delay to a track, but only in a certain section. This is called "automation" and I show how to use it in Logic Pro.

Mateus had a question about wether he should stick with our quick fix for his nut or if he should take his guitar in for a new nut.

Andrew was curious about when it's ok to move on from the Major Scales lesson in Music Theory for Guitar. The answer is: basically, when you're comfortable at a medium speed and/or you get the concept. It's always ok to skip ahead.

Office Hours, Q&A

Office Hours, Q&A

Office Hours, Q&A

Office Hours, Q&A

Office Hours, Q&A

This was a great Q&A!

Question 1 was from Mateus regarding soloing. Why do all these jam tracks start with the I chord? And in what key is the chord progression A Major to F Major?

Question 2: Escanor was curious about why chord charts don't include the low E string when showing an A Minor chord.

Question 3: Tasha was curious about guitar pedal essentials. What are the basic pedals to start with?

Question 4: Sev was curious about the advantages or disadvantages of learning guitar and bass simultaneously.

Question 5: Lounge Actor was curious about general guidelines for creating a chorus in a completely different key! I talk a little about ways to tinker with this concept, borrowing a little from classical and romantic. I wrote a little tune and played around with jumping into different keys. If you write something with a key change in it like this, post it in the community forum thread for this post!

Question 6: Rene, a new guitarist, was wondering when it will really feel like you're playing guitar. And some other good questions.

Question 7: Riccardo was curious about the shapes for soloing in harmonic minor using the CAGED system.

Question 8: Russ was curious about half diminished (aka m7b5) chords. Do they just take time or is there something to them?

Question 9: Rene wanted to know if it was too much to learn piano and guitar simultaneously.

Question 10: Gary asked if there are major and minor CAGED shapes. Yes, but the approach can be weird. I explain a little bit. Actually a lot.

Question 11: Sev was curious about my band, Hot Bodies in Motion. We're working on new music, coming out sometime this year!

Question 12: Sidinei was wondering - specifically - how many times through must we practice the exercises before we move on. In other words, when is the right time to move on? When we get the exercise perfectly? When we get it good "enough?" When?

Question 13: Are there any classes about reharmonization? Yes. Music Theory Monday has these lessons: MTM 24 | Reharmonization Basics, 25 | Reharmonization with 7th Chords, and Music Theory Monday 26 | More Reharmonization

Thanks for hanging out and I hope you can catch the next one! If you have any followup questions, come hang out on the community forum.

Office Hours, Q&A

Question 1: Dennis had a few questions about volume and tone and amplifiers. I really got into it.

Question 2: Ben had some questions about creating strumming patterns. I recommend my Strumming Patterns Series.

Question 3: Tasha had a few questions regarding a mix of dry and wet signal in Logic Pro as well as some questions about guitar noise.

Question 4: Andy was wondering if there was a correct way to move through the CAGED System shapes.

Question 5: Vlad was curious about why the 1st interval exercise includes all the intervals in an octave and the 2nd exercise only includes 3rds and 6ths.

Question 6: Trevor had a question about making chord progressions!

Question 7: Greylight had some questions about teaching method and how to move toward teaching creativity.

Question 8: Ed was curious about some kind of left hand speedy practice.

Question 9: Velo Moose was wondering why live bands are so dang loud. I don't know! But I wear earplugs when I go to a show, usually.

Office Hours, Q&A

Question 1: Dennis had a question about combining sus chords and 7th chords.

Question 2: Sean was curious about 440Hz - I deep dived (dove?) into the idea with EQ software

Question 3: Davin was feeling unclear on mastering, compression, and limiters. There is a LOT to it so I tried to first provide some context, then explain what mastering is. Then I talked about compressors a little more specifically.

Question 4: Robert was wondering if I had some scratch paper for intervals and scale degrees - i recommended making one! I've attached some scratch paper.

Question 5: Phil had a question about amp settings - since I don't have a lesson about that stuff yet, I did a quick tutorial about it.

Office Hours, Q&A

Leo wanted to followup about his question last week.

Question 1: Martin got a loop pedal, and wanted some tips

Question 2: Mateus had questions about my recent Ear Training lesson, specifically about whole steps and wether or not they sound "bad" in a chord.

Question 3: Russ was wondering why people always say "learn your major scales and you'll understand everything" - I went on a little rant about how this stuff applies to music.

Question 4: Dennis was curious about how minor chords apply to the CAGED system

Question 5: Oliver first asked how to apply the info from the previous question, then asked a few questions related to how to practice soloing so you don't sound rigid and stiff. The attached Eighth note paper is for a specific rhythm practice I designed for Oliver at about the one hour mark.

Office Hours, Q&A

Question 1: Leo was curious about how to minimize or get rid of feedback situations involving acoustic guitar and a bass player on stage.

Question 2: Tasha was curious about a) how to come up with new exciting fingerpicking patterns and b) wether I'm going to do some kind of in-person workshop at some point.

Question 3: Holly had a question about triad practice, specifically any tricks to think about when it comes to using them with a band or just ways to approach practice.

Question 4: Ken was wondering about my classical guitar experience and also submitted a lovely classical piece.

Question 5: Kevin broke yet another string! We did some speculating about whats going on while the guitar is in the shop.

Question 6: Mateus was curious about why there is a green screen behind me, so I showed a little video I made of Ernie.

After that, there were some fun questions from chat!

Office Hours, Q&A

Office Hours, Q&A

Question 1: Dennis had a question that was basically about the difference between relative pitch and perfect pitch related to my latest ear training lesson.

Question 2: Jason was looking for bar chord technique help.

Question 3: Mathias was curious about 1) some examples of spooky music and B) how to use something like intervals while soloing - fragments of chords and whatnot

Questoin 4: Kevin has been breaking a LOT of strings and is trying to figure out why. We went into detective mode.

Question 5: Bert was wondering how often to change strings.

Office Hours, Q&A

Question 1: Sep made a comment about playing guitar for you instead of trying to live up to some impossible standard.

Question 2: Daniel was curious about some specific soloing techniques around soloing over chord changes.

Question 3: Davin was curious about artificial harmonics, mainly techniques

Question 4: Austin had a question about where to start when relearning guitar

Question 5: Leo had a question about song analysis and how to figure out what key a chord progression is

Office Hours, Q&A

This was a great stream as usual.

Question 1: Sep was curious about numbering the notes in a scale, then applying those numbers to a melody.

Question 2: Jason was curious about how to navigate the more open-ended lessons in Music Theory Mondayafter finishing the more homework-oriented Music Theory for Guitar.

Question 3: Erin was curious about how I came up with my teaching method

Question 4: Mateus had some questions about how to come up with original music and how to deal with the fact that we sometimes accidentally copy the music we listen to

Question 5: Davin was curious about buying studio monitors or sticking with headphones?

Question 6: Mathias was curious about imposter syndrome (feeling like a fraud) and how to deal with those feelings as an artist and musician.

Question 7: Jason was curious about my "Sparrow Meat Market" shirt

Question 8: Kevin was wondering at what point to say "I play guitar?"

Question 9: Thea wanted to know which pedal to buy first!

Question 10: Jason asked about a good amp that plays nice with pedals.

Office Hours, Q&A

These were the questions this week:

Q1: Kayne was curious about how pentatonic shapes move together.

Q2: Martin was curious about wether or not it's necessary to learn how to read music

Q3: Dennis had a question about writing music starting with lyrics instead of music

Q4: Mateus was wondering if big bands listen to their own music - we got into some philosophy around songwriting

Q5: Mateus was also curious about how to write chord progressions using NOT the I chord first

Q6: Tony had some questions about pentatonic scales. I mentioned watching CAGED Soloing.

Q7: Graylight was curious about how two guitars sounds so good together on songs from The Milk Carton Kids like "Michigan." I also recommended some recording equipment.

Q8: Kevin had a question about what part of my hand hits the strings when I do a kind of slap strum.

Q9: Tony had some clarifying questions about what order to watch things in. I mentioned following the Recommended Lesson Plan.

Q10: Jason was curious who did my website. Luke Dumke is THE man around here. He edits my videos, he redesigned my website, he built the lesson archive, he also films amazing music videos, he's a recording engineer, and he's just a really cool and really nice guy.

Office Hours, Q&A

This week there were some great questions.

Question 1: Todd was curious about downloading lessons from my Patreon

Question 2: Dennis was curious about roman numerals and capo's. Specifically, what happens to chords when you move them up or down?

Question 3: Davin was curious about best practices for recording acoustic guitar with a dynamic mic. I also got into a little bit of EQ and compression for acoustic guitar.

Question 4: Gabriel also had a question about capos - I recommend checking out Dennis's question above, but also, once you're done with Music Theory for Guitar, the CAGED System Basics series will really help drive these concepts home.

Question 5: Mateus had a question about how to set the intonation on your guitar. I should have specified that I was referring specifically to electric guitar. Acoustic guitars generally require the saddle to be carved to achieve what can be done with a few turns of a screwdriver on an electric guitar.

Question 6: Kylir was curious about how to find arpeggios and use them in soloing. Among other things, I recommended CAGED System Basics and CAGED Soloing, to help find chord tones.

Question 7: Kylir was wondering what lessons I'm putting out next

Question 8: Davin had a question about how to teach guitar to kids

Question 9: Mateus was wondering how to finish a song

Question 10: Nathan was wondering if I have any series on learning specific genres.

Question 11: Kylir was wondering how/when to get started on community challenges

Question 12: Tim was curious about how to avoid back pain when practicing guitar

Office Hours, Q&A

This was a great stream. Great questions all around

Intro and welcome

Question 1: Jack wanted some ideas for strengthening a sense of rhythm. I gave some practice ideas and some mindset ideas

Question 2: Dede/Mateus was curious about how to notate specific information onto roman numbers. We got into when and why you should/could/shouldn't do it.

Question 3: Tony had some questions about tuners and setting intonation - we dove deep into some of the complications around the guitar. Also, I mentioned the Buzz Feiten system for those who want their intonation to be that much better

Question 4: Mr K was wondering if there was a quick way to find the 7th of a particular chord. I talked about this quick trick: find a root and the note directly behind it is the maj7 - a whole step behind the root is the flat 7th for dom7, m7, and half dim. One more half step from there is the double flat 7th for fully dim chords. BUT also, check out the Rubik's Cube lessons to help solidify these concepts.

Question 5: Grow it all had a question about wether you can mix secondary dominants with modes

Question 6: Nathan was curious about how to add some triads or harmonies to solos inside of pentatonic scale

Question 7: Davin was curious about switching modes mid song in your guitar solo without changing keys. Whats going on here? Partly, it's a different way to think about modes that is often more common in jazz. I get into it. ALSO, I called a G Major chord a D Major chord for some reason. Ooops

Question 8: Mr K was curious about wether you must use the root note to slide from one shape to the next. No! You don't, but I went into more detail about it. Also, I talk about ways to practice that in my How to Solo Using the CAGED System video on YouTube.

Office Hours, Q&A

Question 1: Jeff was curious about mixing major and minor scales when soloing. I talked a bit about how the blues approach and made a little jam track. I've attached a five minute version of the A A D E jam track I used. Just remember the A Minor pentatonic goes over the IV chord - the D Major chord.

Question 2: Mathais was curious about Ear Training. I'm working on a series, but in the meantime check out this thread, about Rapid Fire key guessing. Use the songs people have already figured out to see if it sounds right to you, then try your own songs. This post also has some links to ear training practice and songs. This is another interesting thread about ear training.

Question 3: Dennis had some questions about playing guitar with a strap, standing up. I had quite a few thoughts about it.

Question 4: Andy had some technique questions regarding pinky use. I also gave some general practice pointers to help with speed and comfort.

Question 5: Tim had a question about when and how to use sus and add chords. I spent some time on it but in the process I realized I would have to do a longer set of lessons about the subject. So Tim, look out for some detailed lessons about the subject.

Question 6: Davin had questions about the song "About a Girl" by Nirvana. Why do the chords work the way they do? I didn't give solid answers, but I did give some context and history and discussed a few ways to think about this song!

Question 7: MJ was curious about how singing and playing guitar works. I gave some specifics and some ways to start practicing using your voice with your guitar. We also touched on some common misconceptions about perfect pitch.

Question 8: Wayne was curious about loop pedals. I compare software vs loop pedal pros and cons, etc.

Office Hours, Q&A

Very few questions this week! But good ones.

Question 1: Dennis was wondering about how different kinds of scales (like blues scales or #6 scales) affect a blues solo. I talked a bit about how the chords inform which notes to play a little more than what scale to play! I've attached the worksheet I wrote for this section.

Question 2: Kevin T was curious about how to improvise riffs in a chord progression. I gave a few ways to start practicing toward that goal.

Office Hours, Q&A

Question 1: Mathias had some questions about how to mute strings when you're playing in the middle of the fingerboard.

Question 2: Hieu was curious about a few things - how to make solos feel less robotic, what are some good jazz, blues, and R&B guitarists, and how to navigate chord voicings in different parts of the neck. I recommend CAGED Basics for that last one.

Question 3: Taco asked if I have other videos like the "Phrases" video on my YouTube channel. Overall, there were a LOT of questions related to soloing this week that I think will be mega helpful if you watch: CAGED Soloing I - ii, I - iii and I - IV, MTM 17, 18, 19.

Question 4: Dennis was curious about why we don't just switch scales for soloing over chords. I went DEEP into it because this is, in my head, a crucial concept to understand when moving through the music world.

Question 5: Russ was curious about the word "diatonic"

Question 6: Chat question about the best way to learn a song

Office Hours, Q&A

This was a great set of questions!

Question 1: Rohan had a set of questions regarding guitar technique and practice method when it comes to playing scales and other exercises.

Question 2: Hiep was curious about how to get the hang of knowing where other intervals are without counting up.

I went on a rant about how much I love Mel Bay's Modern Guitar Method Grade 1. Also, fun bonus, Chet Atkins and Tommy Emmanuel also learned from that book and wrote a silly song about it.

Question 3: Page was curious about an everyday finger exercise, so I gave one!

Question 4: Kylir had a question about notes with or without sharps or flats.

Question 5: Emil had some questions about how to make drum tracks that feel human and how to figure out a way to make them interesting.

Question 6: Matt was wondering when to move to the next Music Theory for Guitar.

Office Hours, Q&A

This was a vacation stream with a simplified setup. Hope you enjoy.

Question 1: Rohan was curious about a practice method for learning intervals

Question 2: Page Lin was curious about Hertz numbers. Turns out it IS cycles per second, which I was hazy about. But. yeah, we got into how people think they have some healing powers - I'm not convinced.

Question 3: "Skinny Bones Jones" are curious about why even bother learning Music Theory - what is it good for?

Question 4: Kevin was curious about how scales, chords, riffs, all interact. I talked about heirarchy.

Question 5: Holly was wondering how to play with people without being in person

Question 6: "John Scott Paulson" was wondering what I would have done differently if I could go back and redo things and if I've got any new lessons coming out that I'd be willing to share.

Question 7: Jun Sen asked what I think of two different fingerstyle artists. I wasn't able to look them up until after the stream while writing this, but here they are:

Sungha Jung and Kent Nishimura

They are both excellent players! And yeah, I'd practice getting to know your theory so you can pull apart the elements of a song down to their essence. We'll have to dig in more! It would certainly be a lot of work to play like them, but not impossible by any means.

Office Hours, Q&A

Here are the questions for this week. Click the link for the timestamped answers.

Question 1: Dennis had some questions around how to think about relative major and minor and I discussed this idea of the heirachy of tonality between chords and scales.

Question 2: Rohan had some technique questions which, to me, boiled down to some practice concepts. I'm working on a "Practice Thoughts" video about this practice method, so look out for it soon. Also, check out my other "practice thoughts."

Question 3: Oliver was wondering when to move on from the first Music Theory for Guitar lesson. My answer is nuanced

Question 4: Andreu asked a fun question: why isn't guitar tuned to all 4ths? I tried it out. There are fun things and weird things about it

Question 5: Mr Krinkle asked if I could touch on some slide guitar in G or in E. I wasn't prepared for this one and I couldn't find my slide! But I talked briefly about open G tuning. I've also got this lesson about open D tuning, I have a lesson coming soon about slide guitar techniques, AND, Mr. Krinkle, if you're having a hard time accessing the community forum, I suggest checking out this video, which can be found at the bottom of the "where to start" page.

Question 6: Jeremy was curious about how to arrange your own version of a cover song. I got into some meta territory, but I hope this thought combined with all the info available on my patreon will help you start thinking about breaking things down in the ways I've mentioned in this lesson.

Question 7: "Scott John Paulson" wants to know when I'm going to do an ear training series. What I didn't mention in my answer is that I'm planning out a series!

Question 8: Andreu was curious about where I learned guitar and music theory.

Question 9: Rohan was wondering if it was OK to move on from the intervals lesson based on my assessment of his earlier video.

Question 10: Davin was curious about buying a Shure SM58 or an SM57. In the end, I think they are so similar, you can't make a wrong choice. But if you get the SM57, consider getting a pop filter, and if you want to boost the signal, you could consider getting a cloud lifter, or just get a more sensitive condesner mic, like an AT202 if you want a different, more sensitive mic for acoustic instruments. There is so much to consider with microphones though and the SM58 or SM57 might be very comfortable

Question 11: Marcus was curious about where to post lesson recommendations, so I dug up this old post that I'd love for people to add to. I've been doing this Patreon for about a year and a half now and I still have plenty of ideas for more useful content, but I'm always interested in hearing ideas!

Office Hours, Q&A

Ok, on to the questions:
Question 1: DeDé said I should write some music if no one asks any questions. People asked a lot of questions though!
Question 2: Page Lin was curious about how to pick picks
Question 3: Page also wondered about the 5 way switch and three knobs on a Fender Stratocaster
Question 4: Davin had questions about how to set your amp levels when playing live. I talked about three situations and how to deal with them
Question 5: Rohan had questions about wether or not to practice descending intervals
Question 6: Carlos had a question about how to organize two hours of practice time every day
Question 7: vlb asked about a song that is in the key of C and contains chords outside the key. VLB - would you mind posting a link to the song in the community forum so we can look a little closer?
Question 8: Matt has some questions about modes and how they related to the major scale
Question 9: Frederic had some questions about how to get starting writing music! My advise is basically to lower lower lower your expectations and write a LOT. Eventually you'll have a lot of fun. Possibly immediately.
Question 10: James had some questions about guitar FX software and Audio Interfaces, and DAWs
Question 11: Jeff was curious about loop pedals. This RC-20 is the one that I grew up with that solves your problem.
Question 12: Lorelai had a question about Hemiolas and how they relate to a strumming issue. My suggestion without hearing the exact issue is to practice to a drum beat!
Question 13: Lorelai had a further question about pick technique and how your wrist interacts with strumming technique.

Office Hours, Q&A

Great questions this week!

Question 1: Rohan had a followup about right hand technique as well as a few questions about memorizing note names and intervals.

Question 2: Leo needed some clarification about how movable the caged really system is

Question 3: Russ was wondering about this tricky chuck berry riff - I'm hoping I got the riff right but I gave a few examples of how to build up the foundational skills around the riff.

Question 4: Mateus had a question about what key this Pearl Jam song is in. I forgot to listen to it beforehand (I'm not a perfect person) but I speculated and gave some suggestions.

Question 5: Frederic was wondering when the final video in my CAGED Basics Series was coming out! Soon! Also, Frederic reminded me to update the Recommended Lesson Plan

Question 6: Zapprio asked about how to practice fingering exercises without lifting your fingers off the fingerboard.

Question 7: Rohan was wondering whether it's worth it to practice specific ear training exercises. It always is.

Question 8: Mr K wanted some help differentiating between bass and guitar technique. I gave some tips, but also recommended watching my Bass Crash Course. If people need more bass help, let me know and I'll make more bass videos. Also, use my SPJ Jam Tracks for Bass practice.

Question 9: Andy asked if I sometimes jam with my girlfriend.

Office Hours, Q&A

Question 1: Rohan had questions about technique for Major Scale practice and I talked a bit about left and right hand placement.

Question 2: Taco was curious about the Roman Numeral System. Essentially, my Music Theory Mondaycourse is ALL about that.

Question 3: Wong Rowena was wondering about transposition by labeling notes in a scale 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 - I talk about how useful this is as well as how it related to the Roman Numeral system.

Question 4: Rohan had some further questions about playing scales - I introduced some practice ideas for stretching and training fingers.

Question 5: Wong had another question about wether to focus on scales or chord tones while soloing.

Question 6: Debrath was wondering if someone could sing something in the key of C while playing guitar chords in the key of G. Basically no, but a nuanced no.

Question 7: ChampC had some songwriting questions like - how to I make a verse to fit a chorus idea. I gave a few strategies!

Chat questions

Question 8: Steve (CR-NAT-N) was curious about quickly transposing things down a whole step. I gave a few suggestions. Including The Moveable Chords in a Key Finder lesson

Question 9: James is working on the CAGED Soloing I -ii series and wondering if I could solo over the I-ii jam track to help get some ideas for new phrases. I also recommended MTM lessons 17, 18 and 19. From there things kind of went off the rails (in a fun way) as I brought my bin of pedals out to explore some tones and goof around.

Office Hours, Q&A

This was a great stream! Here are the questions

Question 1: Mateus was curious about pick harmonics

Question 2: Dennis wanted to know about blues turnarounds. Here is a jam track and here is another

Question 3: Dennis also had a question about the chord progression Emajor G major Amajor.

Question 4: Rohan was wondering wether or not to learn note names on the guitar while learning the scales. My answer is complicated!

Question 5: Mr K was curious about converting Twinkle Twinkle to Lydian. Among other things, I recommended checking out MTM Reharmonization lessons

Question 6: Rohan had a question about how to practice scales and I dove deep on practice methods

Question 7: C.H. Barron had a question about wether the root notes in the CAGED system stay put or move around. I used the camera guitar to explain a few things.

Question 8: Rohan was wondering when to move on from MTFG 01, AND where to watch this stream later. It will always be available after the stream AND you can check out previous streams in the Lesson Archive.

Question 9: James was wondering about the usefulness of the circle of fifths. I talked about it a bit and also pointed James toward my Music Theory for Guitar (MTFG) series.

Office Hours, Q&A

Question 1: Jeff had some questions about hybrid picking related to my CAGED Basics Series so I did some close up detailed stuff related to holding a pick, which fingers to use, ideal hand position, etc.

Question 2: Mr K had a question about how to memorize the circle of fifths in minor keys

Question 3: Frederic's question was similar to Mr K's. He wanted to know if there was a quick way to memorize the circle of fifths without having to write everything down.

Question 4: Emil was wondering about how to take a song idea and turn it into a full fledged song! I gave a few considerations AND recommended Ten Turds I & II and Songwriting process dump.

Question 5: Mateus had questions about mixing - specifically about what to use on the master bus. I talked a bit about how it works in the industry and why it will take a LOT of practice to get the hang of mixing

Question 6: Colin had a question in the chat about Dorian mode and how to tell if something is "in Dorian"

Office Hours, Q&A

Question 1 Mr K wanted some ideas to help a friend stick with her guitar practice goals

Question 2 Leo from Florida was curious about a practice routine centered around a goal of playing with others in any key

Question 3 Jacko1014 wants to be able to play any chord. I recommend my Rubik's Cube series, but also Music Theory Mondayseries to help put that information in the right context

Question 4 Justplayandhavefun had some questions about Logic Pro and how to comp takes on guitar parts so they don't sound obvious

Question 5 Mateus had questions about string noise while recording. I offer some solutions

Question 6 Kylir was wondering how to play chords up the neck. I recommend Rubik's Cube AND CAGED Basics Series.

Question 7 Jeff had a question about why I labelled scales with CAGED shapes in my Music Theory for Guitar series. I gave some brief answers, but I'm going to have to go deeper as my CAGED videos get deeper and deeper.

Question 8 Frederic asked about MTFG 04 | Circle of Fifths, questions 3 and 4. I could work on the wording a little to be more clear, but we talk about it a bit.

Question 9 Aku wanted some specific ideas for how to make melodies over a specific chord progression and I gave a lot of suggestion for how to break down things.

Question 10 Mr K wanted a recommendation on practicing modes and I gave a fun exercise

Question 11 Frederic has some questions about how to write basic songs. I recommend MTM so you can get into writing chord progressions and writing melodies

Questions 12 Mateus had questions about some cool guitar pedals in the background

Office Hours, Q&A

This was a chill stream with some funky mishaps. Mainly, Ernie (our dog) is terrified of the very occasional fireworks so I had to take care of her a bit. Also, I took the sound absorption down in my room so it sounds echoey in here. Also, I just realized I spelled absorption as "absorbtion" during the stream. Whatever! Sometimes you have days like that.

Anyways, question 1 was from Mateus, who was wondering about some modal chord progression stuff. Apparently I already answered his question in Progressions that feel in Key

Question 2 was from Honiken. He wanted to have a better sense of how soloing over chords actually works. I recommended watching MTM 17, 18, and 19 about melody making, as well as my CAGED Soloing Series (I - ii, I - iii, I - VI) I also talked about the hierarchy of things to consider when soloing: chord tones, pentatonic, major/minor, chromatic. Check out the attached PDF of my notes for a little reference.

Honkinen also asked about wether or not you HAVE to learn other people's songs. No, you don't. But it's a nuanced "no."

Then I launched into a little discussion about the difference between sound proofing, sound absorption, and sound diffusion. This might be useful for those of you trying to get into recording or even just trying to make your cell phone voice memos sound a little better.

After that, Leo had a question about practice routine and we had some technical difficulties with chat (so sorry Leo!) but we got through it!

Office Hours, Q&A

This was a great Q&A Session. Here is what happened:

Question 1: Honkinen was wondering how to get the most out of a 2 hour break every day ay work. We talked about how to set goals and how to practice around them.

Question 2: Bill wanted to know how to practice singing and playing difficult parts simultaneously. I recommended a few things and gave a practice exercise that uses the "Eighth Note Strum Scratch Paper" - just ignore the instructions on the paper (or make your own scratch paper.)

Question 3: Dennis had some great questions about bending.

Question 4: Tasha had concerns about left hand discomfort and also muting with left hand during fingerpicking. Tasha, please post a video to the community forum when you can.

Question 5: Rene Lorelai posted some lovely reharmonization homework from MTM | 24 - Sounded lovely! Also, do you prefer to be called Rene or Lolelai or Rene Lorelai?

Question 6: Tyler had some questions about ear training! He uses this online quiz for solfege scale degrees and this one for intervals. I also touched on this website if you want songs to think of when trying to remember intervals.

Question 7: Justplayandhavefun was curious about the importance of learning to read sheet music. I went into the situations where you're likely to need to read music and where you're not. I recommend Mel Bay Modern Guitar Method Grade 1 for those who are interested in learning to read music.

Question 8: Mateus had some melody making homework to share from MTM | 19

Question 9: Riccardo had a chat question about Logic Pro fade tool. I suggested using automation and I showed how to use it!

Question 10: Davin had a question about the III chord in harmonic minor - does it have to be augmented? Can it be augmented? What do you do with it?

From there the Q&A turned into a little more of a hangout (fun!) and there were a few questions in there.

Office Hours, Q&A

This was an interesting stream! I didn't get a lot of question this time, so I decided to write some music and that sparked some more discussion and questions.

Question 1: Leah Nicole asked about the difference between a Jazz Bass and a Precision Bass. This sparked some discussion of other related topics

Question 2: Mr K asked about Ear Training resources online and I somehow missed it! Sorry about that. I recommend checking out this website. https://www.musictheory.net/exercises There are others out there but this one looks good for:

a) listening to and identifying intervals (scroll down to "interval ear training")

b) listening to and identifying scales

c) listening to and identifying chords (they call a fully diminished chord a "diminished 7th")

d) other cool stuff! Explore and check it out - tell me what you think in the comments.

Question 3: Mr K asked in the chat about how tone woods affect guitar tone in both acoustic and electric guitars.

Thing: There were no more prepared questions so I started writing some music

Question 4: Brian had a question about GarageBand but I interpreted it as a question about the variety of inputs on an audio interface: hi-z guitar input, mic input, and line level inputs. Then I answered Brians actual question about GarageBand track types.

Question 5: I used the camera guitar to talk about the chords in my progression, which are Em and F. I figured out some interesting voicings of an Em7 and Fmaj7 to play on my track.

I record guitar harmonies. This track ended up being a fun adventure with guitar harmonies and there were a few questions about it, but I basically just went for it and wrote out some guitar choir. The first set of harmonies were a simple choir of notes that harmonize, then I tried to get fancy and harmonize the bass line which proved to be difficult but super fun.

I wrote out my harmonies on my notes AND attached the little jam below.

Office Hours, Q&A

Question 1. Mr K wanted to know if there is a way to figure out the key of a song using just the melody instead of using the chords. There totally is a way!

Questions 2 & 3 Ray and Andrew had some questions about playing with other people. I launch into some tips for band management, how to organize your group, how to prepare for playing with others, and a handful of other ideas.

Question 4. Dennis was wondering why it's easier to play strumming patterns to a metronome or foot tap than it is to play with a jam track. We get into it, but I recommend watching questions 2 & 3 first!

Question 5. Kevin Z was wondering about some of my daily warm ups.

Question 6. Brandon had some follow up questions about ear training and how to go about practicing and training your ear.

I also issued a challenge related to the 1st question. I want to see if you can figure out the key of songs using the WWHWWWH method and I'm devoting this community forum thread to it. Try it out! I'll attach some scratch paper.

Office Hours, Q&A

Question 1: Leah Nicole was wondering if there were anything to consider or watch out for when writing a melody over a walking bass line.

Question 2: Taco s wanted to know about jamming with someone and if there was a quick way to figure out the chords in a minor key, like A Minor. I gave a little demonstration of the concepts I laid out in Moveable Chords-in-a-key finder.

Question 3: Rene was wondering about the pros and cons of a particular fingerpicking technique AND about the minor iv chord that ends up in a major key like in Creep by Radiohead.

I paused to give a book recommendation. For those of you feeling timid, scared, or unworthy of being an "artist" or calling yourself a "musician," I highly recommend you check out this book, The Artists Way.

Question 4: Leo was wondering - can you just use ANY voicing you want anywhere on the neck for any song (essentially) - the answer is fun and complicated. Check out SPJ Rhythm Jam Tracks for practicing.

Question 5: Kevin wants to know when we can use 7th, 9th, 11th, and 13th chords - and we also end up talking about sus chords.

Question 6: Andy would like to know how to practice Rubik's Cube stuff. I also recommend SPJ Jam Tracks.

I start writing a little music. Just something simple to jam out on for a bit.

Office Hours, Q&A

Question 1: Pauly was wondering why scale patterns on guitar don't always start and end on root notes.

Question 2: Kevin is having difficulty with A Shaped bar chords, so I troubleshoot the various things that make the A shaped bar chord tricky

Question 3: Mateus "jokingly" asks how to build a guitar from sticks in the woods and I ended up just showing some pictures of guitars I've made.

Question 4: Barry wanted to know if I'll be doing more Rubik's Cube style lessons - I'm considering it (but Barry, if you want to tell me more specifically what you want out of those lessons, let me know)

Question 5: Kevin would like to solo and combine chords! I give some ideas for how to practice.

Question 6: Russ was wondering if there was a more visual or obvious way to navigate my content. I have the Lesson Archive but I'm considering another approach on my website.

Question 7: Riccardo wanted to know what kind of maintenance I do on my guitars - not much, but I did talk a bit about truss rod adjustment AND adjusting intonation

Question 8: Davin had some questions about DAWs and how to tell if you're singing in tune. I came up with some weird fun vocal exercises to get you more comfortable with controlling the pitch of your voice.

Question 9: Vinícius wanted to know if it was worth it to get a bass - my answer is pretty much always yes. Playing bass helps you understand guitar better. Playing guitar helps you understand bass better.

Office Hours, Q&A

Question 1: Dennis asked about some "diads" or two note chords, specifically about the blues in this case. We talked about how when you're in a band, you don't always need to play ever note in a chord because other folks in the band are likely doing it already. Also, we got specifically into this cool weird thing about the blues and how this weird diad/interval (in this case a tritone/flat fifth) scoots up or down half a step to change from the I chord to the IV chord and V chord.

Question 2: Andy was wondering about whammy bars or tremolo systems and how to start using them. I launched into my own complicated feelings about them and got specific about how to set up your strat to get the most out of your trem OR set it up to make sure it DOESN'T work so your guitar stays in tune better.

Question 3: Bob wanted to know some right hand patterns for arpeggios. I attached some Note Name Scratch Paper below for you, Bob, so you can figure out some of your own preferred arpeggios! There are so many options with the CAGED system. Also, check out my two-chord jam tracks for practicing arpeggios!

Question 4: Mateus liked my Chords in a Key Finder lesson and wanted to know if there was a system to quickly find the chords in a key on the higher strings. I walked through a couple fun ways to think about the chords in a key on the top three strings.

Question 5: Glen wanted to know if there were common movements through the CAGED shapes when soloing. I gave him a few ideas for some "standards" but also got into this concept of finding your own comfort zone and learning to branch out from there.

Question 6: Mike had questions about how the heck you figure out which fingers to use when sliding from one CAGED pentatonic shape to another. I gave him a few ways to think about it but also emphasized heavily that it would involve a lot of deliberate and mindful practice.

Question 7: Kevin wanted to know how to practice the solo from Hotel California and I gave him a few suggestions about how to practice any solo as well as some ideas for what lessons to help bolster some concepts related to that kind of stuff.

Office Hours, Q&A

I'm trying something new - each question is time-stamped for ease of use.

Question 1: Rod asks about V of V chords and if I'm going to do lessons on making chords to a melody instead of making a melody to chords!

Question 2: Quinn ask about proper left hand placement and pressure and I give some ideas on how to double check your technique so you don't hurt yourself in the long run.

Question 3: Davin asks about 6/4 chords leading to a discussion about the difference between slash chords and inversions.

Question 4: Greg asks what I use for making my PDFs (Adobe Illustrator) and writing on them on my iPad Pro (Goodnotes)

Question 5: Russ asks about how to practice switching between chords and rhythm in a blues context - I recommended a backing track like this one.

Question 6: John asks for a simple way to play an F# half diminished.

Office Hours, Q&A

In this stream we covered these topics:

• The difference between 3 notes per string and the CAGED system - drawing some key thoughts about how they interact.

• Strategies for how to make things more interesting when you're playing a "boring" guitar part for the full duration of a song - how to zoom in on practicing more specificity with rhythm and how to make things more interesting with different voicings and whatnot.

• How half diminished chords are typically used and what that sounds like - if you find other uses for a half diminished chord, feel free to share in the community forum!

• Resources for practicing rhythm guitar. I suggest my Rhythm guitar playlist combined with my Strumming Patterns series - that should get you some fun resources to practicing strumming patterns.

• Techniques for how to practice singing in tune better - ways to dig in on vocal control and thinking clearly about what note you're playing.

• Places to find people to play music with and what skills you'll need to play with other people. Basically, do a google search for open mics in your area (when the pandemic allows, obviously.)

• Wether you ought to know what notes you're playing at all times.

Office Hours. Q&A

What a stream! We laughed, we cried.... jk. We had some great questions AND a technical glitch toward the end, resulting in two separate streams.

We covered questions about where my Patreon is going in terms of content, direction, and what I'm hoping Patrons will get out of it. Then we talked about what to look for in a private guitar teacher and why you would want to have one! Then we dug into the idea of tuning your whole guitar down one half step and then somehow got into chromatic transposition.

Then we dug into a question about where to go when songwriting: how to get OUT of the key with your chord progression using similar chords AND how to just launch into a totally different key by just cramming in the V or IV of the key you're headed.

After that I launched into a (hopefully encouraging) rant about how while you're learning music theory, you HAVE to be ok with just writing music that you like without worrying about wether or not it's "music theory correct." Eventually you'll be able to analyze what you're working on for the purpose of making it sound deliberately the way you want it, but you don't HAVE to KNOW why things work to enjoy what you make.

Office Hours, Q&A

This stream had a lot of good questions. How to sit down and write music that fits your mood, how to figure out the key of a riff in your head or how to apply chords to a melody you've come up with. We also got into a bit about what MIDI is and if you need an audio interface with a DIN connector (you don't.)

Then we talked a bit about what kind of tuner to buy if you're experimenting with alternate tunings, how to start making chord and melody arrangements, and why it's so awkward an un-guitarly to play major scales.

We also talked about the meter of lyrics and how to identify the meter of your lyrics and use that in your own writing.

Office Hours, Q&A

This week we got into a lot of live chat questions. It was a fun one, and the camera guitar is back up and running so we'll get to use that from now on.

One thing I talked about at length was how to get into the initial phase of ear training - the idea of trying rapid fire to find the key in a bunch of songs on a spotify (or youtube) playlist. Don't listen to the whole song, just the first 30 to 60 seconds and see if you can figure out the key. If you get a list going and you want to ask the community about it, post that here. If you feel like you're getting a sense of things and want to take a stab at the chords, try here.

We talked about plenty of other things, including how to read (and prepare to read) lead sheets, how to play bass with a guitar player and also related - how to approach ranges when playing with another guitar player.

I also offered a fun challenge to come up with a bunch of voicings for rhythm guitar on JUST the D, G, and B strings on any of my jam tracks (because its fun) and I've attached some scratch paper to aid in that process. I'd LOVE to hear what you come up with because voicings on those strings are my favorite.

Also I told Christiane to watch Octave Shapes | Memorizing the Fingerboard, but if you haven't you should too.

Office Hours, Q&A

We had questions about posture, how to get into jazz and what jazz is (essentially), how to start jamming with friends and what it looks like to jam with friends vs with musicians you don't know, CAGED system soloing and modes, AND what kinds of effects pedals to start with.

Office Hours, Q&A

This was a fun one. We got deep into sus chords up front and how the IV chord in a major key is tricky with sus chords. We talked about a quick way to think about secondary dominants. We talked about what to think about when you're soloing, how to approach double stops, and a load of other things! Including how you can set out to write in a mode and just end up writing in a Major or Minor key AND how the opposite can happen too!

Office Hour, Q&A

This was a fun one. We talked a lot about Dom7 chords today. First, we talked about wether they HAVE to have the 7 to qualify as a dom7 chord, or can they just function that way. Then we talked about Augmented chords and how they function, and then how you can sneakily substitute a fully diminished chord for a V chord in harmonic minor. This A minor jam track was used at one point.

Then we got into some other good questions about a variety of things: How I got into music, general ideas around writing bridges and writing music in general and a bunch of other things!

I promised someone (Hugh, was that you?) that I would attach my CAGED Pdf from YouTube, but you can also find my notes from this lesson as well.

Office Hours

This was a fun stream - there were MANY questions about soloing over chord tones, so I want to set up a set of links here for resources:

MTM 16, 17, and 18 will help you understand how to make melodic phrases, which is foundational to making solos.

CAGED Soloing series helps you take these melody-making concepts and apply them to specific chord progressions in specific.

Why Pentatonic part 1 helps you understand that the pentatonic scales are dope BECAUSE they a) fit the guitar well and b) they allow for you to EASILY adapt to nearly any mode - this is to help solidify that the pentatonic scale is really just a scaffolding of the major and minor scale.

There were plenty of other great questions, too!

Office Hours

This was a fun one. We talked about left and right hand synchronization exercises and how to think about soloing over specific chord progressions. I used this E Major Jam Track

We also discussed how to move out of your comfort zone to learn new things. How much to take on at once and how to integrate new stuff into your comfort/thinking zone.

We talked a little about how to figure out strumming patterns and I recommended starting with my strumming series. That will be a great foundation for learning to hear progressions in the music you listen to.

We also talked a bit about how sus chords work and how to start figuring out what you're doing when you noodle around. We also went into drone notes a little bit.

We also talked more about dominant chords, and harmonic and melodic minor. I used this A Minor Jam Track to mess with wether to use a Mixolydian scale or just a modified A Minor Scale (aka, a harmonic minor scale.)

I also fielded some live questions from the chat and we discussed some nice ideas about gear, DAWs, audio interfaces, and a few other great questions. Also, Ernie the dog made an appearance.

OFFICE HOURS, Q&A SATURDAY

This was a fun one! We talked about Major and Minor keys and how chord progressions can be Natural, Harmonic, and Melodic minor and how that relates to the secondary dominants in the Major Key. The Pixies "Where is My Mind" came up as an example.

We also talked about jamming with friends, setting up a pedal board, and a few other things. It was a lot of fun! If you have follow-up questions or progress related to any of these concepts, post about it on the community forum.

OFFICE HOURS Q&A FRIDAY

This was a fun one! We discussed a wide range of things from alternate tunings to chord substitutions to recording software to general guitar concepts and CAGED thoughts. It was a lot of fun. At the end I decided to make up and record a little spontaneous jam just for fun with guitar, bass, and drums. This was a fun one.

OFFICE HOURS, Q&A SATURDAY

This was a fun one - we talked about a lot of things! Whole tone scales, CAGED system stuff, wether you should or shouldn't overlay pentatonic scales on top of each other, how to set up a practice routine, a few thoughts about playing bass guitar, and more!

OFFICE HOURS, Q&A FRIDAY

In this livestream I talked a bit about CAGED Soloing, how to solo over an atypical chord progression, and a bit about the difference between rhythm's like 6/8, 3/4 as well as funk and sing rhythm. There were a few other nice questions from Patrons. It was a fun time.

Office Hours, Q&A

This was a fun one! We dug into a few patron questions about intervals in solos, CAGED shapes in alternate tunings, and some big clarifications about how dominant = V chord. We also talked about song arrangement in songwriting and a few other things!

Then I went on a long (but helpful) rant about how the CAGED system IS all the possible triads on guitar. It was a lot of fun.

Office Hours: Q&A Hangout

In this stream we talked a bit about technique - fingerpicking, holding a pick and getting comfortable with single note picking - but we also tackled some questions about how to actually use half diminished and fully diminished chords which led to a fun Django Reinhardt riff.

We also talked about why scale circles have to go clockwise when making chords.

Post your questions, homework, etc on the community forum post.

Office Hours: Q&A Hangout

This was a fun stream! We talked about the order of chords in a key and how songs like Creep by Radiohead use chords outside the standard set that fits in the key. We then talk about the difference between Dom7 and Maj7 chords and how the chords in a key can all be converted to a set of 7 chords.

Then we went into how to make your solos sound more human by using dynamics, phrase length, and varying the beat you start your phrases.

After that we went into some exercises you can do to help build technique and speed.

Post your questions, homework, etc on the community forum post.

Office Hours: Q&A Hangout

This week's live stream will be on Thursday, November 12th at 7pm. I'm trying to accommodate more people and be open to more topics, so come prepared with questions! If you have questions now, feel free to post them below in the comments and I'll answer in the live stream.

If you can't watch live, you can always watch later. I hope to see some new faces.

Keep in mind you can hit the notification bell on the video right now to get an alert when the stream is starting.

Office Hours: Q&A Hangout

Hi Everyone,

I think I need to mix it up a little bit here. It's been really fun to have the livestream on a consistent day, but I want to be more inclusive and give folks a chance to catch a livestream who might not be available on Wednesday mornings.

On top of that, while the monthly topic is a fun concept, I like having the freedom to engage and explore the kinds of questions and curiosities people might bring to the livestream. From now on, I'm going to be a little looser about the topic and I'm going to try to randomize the date and time of the stream so more people get the opportunity to join.

More CAGED Camera Guitar

This month I surprised everyone with my new camera guitar and I've been talking about general CAGED concepts.

I've been working out a few more bugs with the camera guitar and I think I'll hopefully have a few cool and educational visuals prepared for you.

More CAGED | Major & Minor

Every Wednesday at 11am PST, I go live and talk about the topic of the month. This month I surprised everyone with my new Guitar Camera and I've been talking about CAGED concepts.

Join me while I discuss Major and Minor in the CAGED system. I'm talking chords and scales.

More CAGED Guitar Camera

In this livestream, I continue to investigate some different ways to think about the CAGED System using the new Guitar Cam.

Jam track I used: F Major I V progression

Here is the same track without the Rhythm Part: F Major Jam without Rhythm Part

NEW CAMERA GUITAR and CAGED Study

Surprise! If you've seen my youtube videos, you know that the camera guitar with fingerboard dots is kind of my thing. Well, in this live stream you get to see the first glimpse of the live camera guitar I've been working on for months. It's a lot like my Youtube lessons, except live.

I'm still working out the kinks and I'll be continuing to refine and hone my visuals to be as clear and helpful as possible so that this place can be a badass place for learning. I hope you're excited to learn. I certainly am. I want you to see the fingerboard the way I do and I think this guitar will help tremendously.

Rhythm Guitar Week Four

For the final week of Fun with Rhythm Guitar! we get into add11 chords and talk a bit about how weird they are to figure out on guitar, how certain voicings don't sounds very good, AND how when you find a nice voicing they can be quite beautiful.

Jam tracks used today

C Major I - vi jam track

B Minor i - VI jam track

Rhythm Guitar, Week Three

In this lesson, I talk about add9 chords and how they are similar to sus2 chords, but not identical. Then we tinker with how to use them in a rhythm guitar context. From there, we combine this add9 thing with concepts from previous weeks and create some tonally interesting rhythm guitar parts. The homework is to come up with your own ABAC pattern over this jam track:

A Major I - ii

Week Two of Fun with Rhythm Guitar

We're taking on another chord concept today: sus4 and sus2 chords!

C Major I - IV Progression: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bBNDndQDlAA

F Major I - V Progression: https://youtu.be/X_FKHdiNw2c

You can also download a few audio versions on the Week One post here.

I also mentioned the rubik's cube lessons which I think would be a fantastic set of lessons to review if you want to get more familiar with this material.

Fun With Rhythm Guitar

In this stream I'm talking about the theme for September: Fun with Rhythm Guitar!

We take a basic I - IV chord progression in C and use music theory to play with "chord phrases" using maj6 and maj7 chords.

This is the jam track I used: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bBNDndQDlAA

You can also download a few audio versions below! Normal, Slow, and Slower

Melody Making, Week 3

Last week was the second week of Melody Making lessons and WOW your submissions on the the SPJ Community have been awesome! Everyone (yes, everyone) should be proud of the melodies they are writing. This week we'll be diving a little deeper into melody making, so if you haven't watch the past two weeks of livestreams, I recommend that you catch up before watching this one.

Post your homework assignments here, on the patreon forum.

Melody Making Week 2

Last week was the first week of melody making lessons! We went over some simple melody making "rules" and this week we'll be building on those foundational skills. Watch last week's live stream here if you'd like to get caught up!

Post your homework assignments here, on the patreon forum.

Q&A/August Homework

I'll start the stream with exciting updates and talk a little bit about the homework from last month. Then I'll reveal the theme for this month, give a lesson on it, and pass out your homework assignment for the week! Next week we'll build on the skills you practice this week. After the lesson I'll be available for questions! First, questions about the homework, then whatever questions you have!

Final Week of Chord Progression Homework

I uploaded a new version of this lesson with a message at the end because we had a technical issue with the audio at about the 1hr mark! This was a fun livestream talking about using movable chord shapes (ala Rubik's Cube) with the 7 chord progressions we came up with this month! If you need to catch up, check out the previous weeks:

week one

week two

week three

Have fun watching this one and please submit homework and questions to the livestream discussion post.

Week 3 Chord Progression Homework

Thanks again for being here. I'm so so grateful for YOU. Yes you. I hope you're enjoying your time here and I hope you feel excited to pick up your guitar every day.

This "live!" is the third week of chord progression homework. If you've just joined, here are the links to the last two weeks of chord progression homework. We're gently building layers of complexity for each week of homework, so I'd recommend watching week one and week two!

Week one: https://www.patreon.com/posts/39112891

Week two: https://www.patreon.com/posts/tune-in-today-at-39334605

July Homework Updates

Hi Everyone!

It's Wednesday which now means its livestream homework assignment day! From now on, I'll have a homework assignment every Wednesday. If you can't catch it, I'll link it here within an hour or two afterward so you can watch it later!

I'll have updates about what lessons are coming up and I'll assign some new homework related to last weeks chord progression homework. Then it'll be a Q&A session with whoever is watching about whatever questions you might have.

I hope you can join! Catch up on last weeks homework assignment so you're ready for the next layer!

The First Weekly Homework Assignment

Hi Everyone!

This is big news. From now on I'm going to have a weekly livestream every Wednesday. I'll hand out some homework at the beginning of every month, and every week I'll check in on the progress, talk about more ways to explore the homework, and possibly feature a few choice examples of completed assignments.

I want to stress the importance of not just absorbing and watching these lessons, but really spending time getting to know things. The videos I've been making for this community are designed for you to really spend time practicing and understanding, so I thought a central weekly video to tie things together ought to be a fun and useful idea.

Check in each Wednesday this month for more different ways to make and manipulate chord progressions.

CAGED Soloing & Mindset

I talk about how the CAGED soloing concepts turn the penta shapes into other shapes and how to think about that, especially when soloing over progressions. I address a few Patron questions about the topic and a few about related topics.

The First Livestream!

I'm still feeling out the format but my rough plan was to answer YouTube chat questions and also sift through Patreon for questions I can tackle. I also think these could be nice weekly check-in's for things like video questions from patrons. There is so much potential its exciting, but this one.... I'm just going to feel it out and let it be organic. We'll learn how to do this together!