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Hi Everyone,

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.

Post your followup questions or follow up progress on the community forum.


Check out the Lesson Archive for more Office Hours live streams

Files

Live Stream | 43: OFFICE HOURS | Friday June 25, NOON EST

Comments

Honkinen

This might be something for the Live Q&A, I most likely cant be there in live, cause of time difference, but heres the question: I work at a job that gives me fair amount of down time, and I usually spend it by trying to better myself in anything that I happen to be interested at the moment. In short, I like to be productive. So what would be good practices regarding music and especially guitar playing? Before I joined here I mostly just tried to learn scales, notes on a fretboard etc. Maybe a new song. But what would you recommend Scott? I have like 2 hours downtime every day at work, help me out here :slight_smile: Maybe go trough your lessons once just to soak it in before I get to home and can grab a guitar? Maybe draw CAGED shapes with notes on paper? Edit. Fyi Im a father of 3 small boys, so Im obsessed with my free time to practice different things. :slight_smile:

Bill MacDonald

Hi Scott! This might be a really loaded question, and I don't want to hijack the Q & A, or it may be a really short answer: practice, practice, practice! My question has to do with timing vocals with riffs on off beats. I am working on bringing a song to our band and I want to sing it as well. It's a little-known KISS song called Love Her All I Can. I am having difficulty singing the Love Her All I Can part of the chorus over the main riff. If you check out this guy's cover he absolutely nails it: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uOKlKhDdrd0&lc=Ugz9TokNmjfFo4Plehl4AaABAg.9OcBidnsX6D9OwL-QQy0QL The chorus comes at 33 seconds in. My question doesn't have to be about this song specifically but generally speaking when met with the challenge of timing vocals over an offbeat rhythm. Do you have any practice strategies for something like this? Thanks!

Dennis Frazier

Hey Scott! Regarding string bending. Is it proper theory (or practice) to bend into a note rather than fretting the actual note? For example, I've been working on blending the major and minor pentatonic let's say in A. I have been playing around with fretting the A note on the 10 fret and then instead of going to the C or C# I fret the B and quickly bend to the C or C# depending on whether I'm trying to stay minor or major. Am I walking down a dead end street practicing like this? Should I just stick to fretting the actual notes? Thank you

Tasha McManus

My biggest issue these days is how to not tweak my L wrist, especially while trying to mute the lower strings. I use my thumb a lot to mute, but I’m trying to get better at using my right hand. I do a lot of fingerpicking, so it’s difficult. I know you suggested that I make a video of my issue, but I haven’t gotten that far yet. Any advice? I almost certainly can’t make the livestream. Thx!

Tasha McManus

I have temporarily taken up wearing a wrist brace. I also can’t quite get the guitar into the position I feel like I need, with a pretty steep angle on the neck. I have a foot rest and also one of those lumps you can put on your leg. They help, but they don’t get me all the way there. The electric is too heavy for me to play standing, plus I often play bass drum and tambourine with my feet, so I need to be seated.

Rene Lorelai Goodale

Twinkle Reharmonization Exercise, 2 YouTube cideo submissions, first in key of A with a hint of Fake Plastic Trees by Radiohead. Second is in key of C with a twist at the end. Chord progressions revealed on pull down menu. https://youtu.be/QIyryMo7SrU, https://youtu.be/Nkz_oWkUj9c