Not live! | 10: But still homework (Patreon)

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Hi Everyone,

On Monday I started driving across the U.S. with my girlfriend, Taylor, and her dog, Ernie, who you may have seen in the background of a few videos. We left Seattle on Monday morning and are currently in the middle of Minnesota, hoping to camp in the Upper Peninsula of Michigan tonight.

Somehow I thought I would figure out a way to at least get a video to you for the Wednesday Livestream, the but cell service is so limited out here that I haven’t been able to upload a video. So today instead of a video, here is a text post.

Please note: I have more videos filmed and you’ll still be seeing regular lessons on my Patreon, I just can’t do a livestream today.

This month, the livestream lessons were all focused on melody making and - WOW - all your submissions have been fantastic. It’s been so fun to listen to all your melodies starting with melodic fragments, moving all the way up to complex sets of ABAC/ABAD systems using roots, thirds, fifths, and 7s.

This week I thought it would be fun to set you loose on homework that builds on top of everything we’ve worked on this month. Instead of writing a melody over a I - IV chord progression in C Major, why not try a new chord progression and/or a new key?

Keep it simple and don’t bite off more than you can chew right now! Stick with a two chord progression or add another chord to the progression you’ve been working on already. Come up with a full ABACABAD melody or just practice coming up with melody fragments over a new two chord progression. Picking something you can do a handful of times this week might be more beneficial than picking one big project that takes all week. But if that sounds too fun to resist, try that too!

For those of you who enjoyed writing to a jam track, here is a whole playlist of my two chord jam tracks in a variety of keys.

This week is all about writing melodies over new chord progressions and finding a way to do it that is just a little outside your comfort zone - not completely outside it. Essentially, you could go back to any previous livestream lesson this month and try the homework, but with a new chord progression.

Try to follow the melody-making “rules” laid out in the first August livestream but remember your melodies can break those rules if it sounds good to do so.

Post your melodies - however complex, simple, or experimental they may be - on the community forum post for this week.

As always, thanks so much for being here. Have fun practicing.

Also, I know the livestream video quality has sometimes been very good and sometimes very bad. This is very frustrating and I’m actively pursuing a few options to ensure that future streams are crystal clear and high quality. Last week was especially bad and I’m sorry about that. I really appreciate that you’re here and I want it to be worth your while.

Check out the Lesson Archive for more Soloing lessons.