Scott Paul Johnson posts
Posts: 662
Files: 1735
Office Hours Q&A 216 | Fingerpicking and Song Dynamics, CAGED vs Box numbers, speaker cables
Ask me anything! Music, guitar, gearNew here? Wondering where to start? Click herefor my Patreon start page, or herefor my recommended lesson plan.Hi Everyone,You missed this one, buy you can always catch the next one - every Thursday at 10AM.Here are the questions for this week:Question one: Ray asked about having mul...
Community Challenge 110 | Write something with a key change
Where to Start• Lesson Archive• Recommended Lesson Plan • Book a Private LessonHi Everyone,This Community Challenge is inspired by yesterday's Ear Training and Song Analysis: write something with a key change.I go through a variety of ways to approach changing keys in a song and give examples, but I could say...
Ear Training & Song Analysis | "A Night to Remember" by Shalamar
Where to Start• Lesson Archive• Recommended Lesson Plan • Book a Private LessonHi Everyone,This series is about going in blind on a song I've never heard and working through the steps to figure out the key, the chord progression, and sometimes the melody and other parts. My goal is to help you see how music t...
Office Hours Q&A 215 | How long to practice, learning triads, memorizing fingerboard, and drum beat tutorial
New here? Wondering where to start? Click herefor my Patreon start page, or herefor my recommended lesson plan.Hi Everyone,You missed this one, but you can always catch the next one every Thursday at 10AM Pacific Time.The questions this week were:Question 1: Ray asked how long we should practice every dayQuestion 2: Ra...
Community Challenge 109 | Write something sad
Where to Start• Lesson Archive• Recommended Lesson Plan • Book a Private LessonHi Everyone,This week, the Community Challenge is "Write something sad"What is a Community Challenge?It's a weekly reminder that music is meant to be created, played, explored, and tinkered with. Learning music isn't ju...
Practice Thought | Limitations are a good thing!
Where to Start• Lesson Archive• Recommended Lesson Plan • Book a Private LessonHi Everyone,Today we're talking about limitations. A lot of people start learning guitar and assume they have to learn a long list of techniques and concepts in order to be prepared for any musical situation. They imagine that if t...
Office Hours Q&A 214 | Silent Acoustic Guitar?
New here? Wondering where to start? Click herefor my Patreon start page, or herefor my recommended lesson plan.Hi Everyone,You missed this one! Catch the next one every Thursday at 10AM Pacific TimeThere was only one question this week and it was about silent guitar practice and wether that means electric guitar only.H...
Community Challenge 108 | Write something using I vi IV V
Hi Everyone,Surprise! This one is related to yesterdays Cool Chord Progressions lesson: Write something using a I vi IV V progression.What is a community challenge? It's a weekly reminder that regular writing sessions are one of the best ways to really get to know how music theory works and how it connects to the g...
Cool Chord Progression | I - vi - IV - V
Where to Start• Lesson Archive• Recommended Lesson Plan • Book a Private LessonHi Everyone,In this lesson, we're diving into the classic I vi IV V chord progression and talking a little about the progression that often gets lumped in with it: I vi ii V.This is a great progression to get really familiar with s...
Office Hours Q&A 213 | Getting your tone into your recording, taking care of strings, creative inspiration
New here? Wondering where to start? Click herefor my Patreon start page, or herefor my recommended lesson plan.Hi Everyone,You missed this one! Catch the next one every Thursday at 10AM Pacific TimeQuestion 1: Lauren was wondering how to get the tone of their guitar into their recording software.Question 2: Matthew ask...
Community Challenge 107 | Impeccable Timing
Where to Start• Lesson Archive• Recommended Lesson Plan • Book a Private LessonHi Everyone,Your goal for this Community Challenge is to write something with impeccable timing.What does impeccable mean?Merriam-Webster says it means "free from fault or blame"dictionary.cambridge.org says it means "perfe...
How learning bass helped my guitar skills (pt1?)
Where to Start• Lesson Archive• Recommended Lesson Plan • Book a Private LessonHi Everyone,Bass players tend to think much more specifically about timing than guitar players. You might think bass players are just guitar players with fewer strings and fewer notes to worry about, but playing bass requires a complet...
Office Hours Q&A 212 | Buzzing guitar, effects pedals, kick drum pedal
New here? Wondering where to start? Click herefor my Patreon start page, or herefor my recommended lesson plan.Hi Everyone,You missed this one, but you can always catch the next one every Thursday at 10AM Pacific Time.Here are the timestamps for this one:Question 1: Tasha was trying to figure out a buzzing guitar situa...
Community Challenge 106 | Write a Bass/Rhythm Combo
Where to Start• Lesson Archive• Recommended Lesson Plan • Book a Private LessonHi Everyone,Each week I post a community challenge and if you've been around for a while, you might have noticed I'm trying to match them to the Monday lesson.This challenge - "write a bass/rhythm combo" - is inspired b...
Ear Training & Song Analysis | Elliott Smith - Between the Bars
Where to Start• Lesson Archive• Recommended Lesson PlanHi Everyone,In this Ear Training & Song Analysis, I'm diving into Elliott Smith's "Between the Bars."This is becoming a regular series, and my goal with it is to show the process of figuring out a song by ear using a combination of ear training ...
Office Hours Q&A 211 | Sweep picking? How long will it take to feel "good"
New here? Wondering where to start? Click herefor my Patreon start page, or herefor my recommended lesson plan.Hi Everyone,You missed this one, but you can catch Office Hours every Thursday at 10AM Pacific.Question 1: Matthew was wondering about sweep pickingQuestion 2: Erin was wondering when it will feel effortless t...
Community Challenge 105 | Write something EASY
Where to Start• Lesson Archive• Recommended Lesson PlanHi Everyone,The goal of this challenge is to find your comfort zone and write something from there. Keep it simple. Have fun. Focus on LETTING it be easy - if you try something that ends up being difficult, dumb it down for yourself. See what happens. Technique...
Practice Thought | Learn what easy feels like
Where to Start• Lesson Archive• Recommended Lesson PlanHi Everyone,I gave this one two different titles because I couldn't decide which question would be more interesting for you:These are important and weird questions:"How should it feel to perform?""What does it feel like for something to be easy ...
I'm going live on my main youtube channel right now!
Hi Everyone - I'm doing a little live lesson on my main youtube channel. A Music Theory Crash Course. Come hang out in the chat, say hi, ask questions, let people know you like it here. Or if you can't make it right now, feel free to drop a like or a comment if you feel like it.Alright! I need to start this str...
Office Hours Q&A 210 | Thursday, July 17th, 10AM Pacific Time
Where to Start• Lesson Archive• Recommended Lesson Plan • Book a Private LessonHi Everyone,You missed this one, but you can always catch the next one, every Thursday at 10AM Pacific TimeQuestion 1: Fintan had a comment about how focusing on chord tones made solos feel robotic, but focusing on feel and intuition m...
Community Challenge 104 | Based on the 12 Bar Blues
Where to Start• Lesson Archive• Recommended Lesson Plan • Book a Private LessonHi Everyone,This community challenge is "write something based on the 12 bar blues"You don't have to write a 12 bar blues. You can if you want, or you can take an element of the blues and write from there. In this challenge...
Cool Chord Progressions | Major 12 Bar Blues
Where to Start• Lesson Archive• Recommended Lesson Plan • Book a Private LessonHi Everyone,This lesson is covering some cool concepts around the 12 bar blues:• The weirdness of soloing in a blues "key" and ways to navigate it• How the blues turnaround works and how to make your own• How the form gen...
Office Hours Q&A 209 | Chord switching technique, songs that move into different keys
Where to Start• Lesson Archive• Recommended Lesson Plan • Book a Private LessonHi Everyone,You missed this one, but you can always catch the next one - usually on Thursdays at 10AM Pacific Time. If you have a question, drop it below, or ask on the Community Forum Office Hours thread.Here are the timestamps for th...
Community Challenge 103 | Start with a Melody
Where to Start• Lesson Archive• Recommended Lesson Plan • Book a Private LessonHi Everyone,This one might really be a challenge, but I want you to try it!As you get comfortable writing music, you start to notice that some approaches work better for you than others. Some people like to write lyrics before they eve...
Sick Day! Office Hours cancelled
Where to Start• Lesson Archive• Recommended Lesson Plan • Book a Private LessonHi Everyone,I am in bed, feeling like garbage. I'm sure I'll be ok in a few days - there is something going around right now.Usually I do a live Q&A on Thursdays. Since I'm cancelling this one, ask me any questions you have...
Community Challenge 102 | Work on a previous challenge pt2
Where to Start• Lesson Archive• Recommended Lesson Plan • Book a Private LessonHey Everyone,Now that we're into the 100s with Community Challenges, I'm going to do more "work on a previous thing" type challenges. Learning how to morph and edit and improve an idea is important. Giving yourself time...
Private Lessons | Why bother?
Where to Start• Lesson Archive• Recommended Lesson Plan • Book a Private LessonHi Everyone,Today I'm talking about why private lessons are useful, and letting you know that I offer private lessons, too.If you're interested in taking lessons with me, check out this BOOKING LINK that i'll be adding to e...
Office Hours Q&A 208 | Thursday, June 26th, 10AM Pacific Time
Where to Start• Lesson Archive• Recommended Lesson Plan • Book a Private LessonHi Everyone,There are the questions for this week, timestamped:Question 1: Graeme heard that I don't know what key I'm in sometimes! Is this true? Is it ok?Question 2: Bill asked about "lead-ins" and how to craft ways t...
Community Challenge 101 | C Major (new Patrons welcome!)
Where to Start• Lesson Archive• Recommended Lesson Plan • Book a Private LessonHi Everyone,For Community Challenge 101, I thought I'd hit the refresh button and welcome new patrons.Have you joined recently? Have you been a member for a while, but ignoring the weekly Community Challenge? Are you feeling intimi...
Intro to Reading Music
Where to Start• Lesson Archive• Recommended Lesson Plan • Book a Private LessonHi Everyone,This is a casual walk-through of a handful of pages of Mel Bay's Modern Guitar Method Grade 1. It's the book that taught me how to read music. It's also the book I started with when I first learned guitar back i...
