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Hi Everyone,

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. 

I promised Doreen I would link my Youtube CAGED video and attach the PDF packet below

I think I promised to link something else but I forgot to write it down so... if that was you let me know! 

post your follow ups, concerns, elation etc, on the community forum

Check out the Lesson Archive for more Live Stream lessons

Files

Live Stream | 34: OFFICE HOURS | April 15, 2:00PM EST

Comments

Dennis Frazier

Hi Scott, its Dennis. I'm going to do my best to turn out for your stream, but work may get in the way... Here is my question, and I will try to AS brief as possible.

Dennis Frazier

Sorry, pushed the wrong button.

Dennis Frazier

Haha, again, ENTER doesn't give you a new line, it just posts, Forgive me. My question is: I was playing around with my guitar and found a fun 5 note phrase. It was 5 7 on the B and 5 7 on the e. with a slide on the e. to 9. I have been noodling that, adding double stops and just exploring... I feel lilke I am in Bm, as the 5 7 on the B and e. would be the "A" shaped pentatonic. Is that correct? That is what I am struggling with the most. When I find a few notes just from noodling, I like the way it sounds but then get confused on what key I am in. Thank you.

Rod Freer

Hi Scott, what is the best way to learn to fingerpick the melody and chords to a song,

DesertIslands

Hi Scott! First-time caller (and new patron) here. I love your teaching style and am excited to join this community. I have been following your discussion in recent weeks about alternate tunings, and I have a gear question: Is there a particular electronic tuner that you might recommend for alternate tunings? Recently, I have been enjoying exploring tunings such as DGDGBD (open G) and DADGAD (Celtic tuning), and I would love to find a tuner that allowed me to easily switch between these from song to song (especially since I am still developing my ability to tune by ear, and am far from a natural at this). Theoretically, I know that any guitar tuner should be able to work for alternate tunings, as long as I know to which note I'd like to tune each string. But in practice, I have found that tuners "expecting" standard tuning don't work well for alternate tunings, since they get stuck on reading as flat for any given string compared to standard tuning, without readily "listening" for alternate notes (if this makes sense!).

sparkler bomb

Hello, thanks for having this forum. Rainy in Brooklyn, too. Question - and I hope this isn't sacrilege as I'm just now learning music theory, but I'm looking for a good scales book, not a how to method per say kind of thing, but something to use as a reference. Thanks again.

Scott Paul Johnson

Oh! I missed your question - sorry about that. I'd honestly start with my Music Theory for Guitar series because, well. Having a book shows you what they are and where they are, but learning how they work and how to make them yourself really starts getting things to click.

Scott Paul Johnson

I answered very briefly here because I was live at the time, but hopefully you can find a chromatic tuner or try out a strobe tuner with programmable presets to lead you to the right notes.

Bryan Leed

why did you move to Detroit?

Lennart Kick

Hey Scott, thank you for that Live! :) I would really like to see an own video/series on Pentatonic Shapes, meaning which chord shape leads to which pentatonic shape, so I know where to go in a solo when I am in one specific chord shape. That would be awesome as there is no designated video series to that. Regards from Germany!

Scott Paul Johnson

Hi there! Check out my “CAGED Soloing” series - start with the I-ii progression. These lessons help you understand how to do exactly that

DesertIslands

Thanks, Scott! This was really helpful! On your advice, I ended up buying the clip-on version of your Peterson tuner pedal (called the “StroboClip HD” -- https://www.petersontuners.com/products/stroboclipHD/). I've only played with it for a day so far, but it’s exactly what I was looking for. Alternate tuning is a cinch in the default chromatic mode (as long as you know which notes you're aiming for), and it does indeed come with a USB interface that allows you to add "sweetened," "guided," and custom tuning presets which make the process even easier. For anyone else who might be interested, while researching tuners I also came across this extremely informative video produced by the YouTube channel That Pedal Show: https://youtu.be/OuMlFt8QdcM. Cheers!