Scott Paul Johnson posts
Posts: 662
Files: 1735
OFFICE HOURS 68 | Friday, Jan 21 4:00PM EST
New here? Wondering where to start? Click here for my Patreon start page, or here for my recommended lesson plan.Hi Everyone,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: Esca...
Community Challenge 29 | Write something in harmonic minor
New here? Wondering where to start? Click here for my Patreon start page, or here for my recommended lesson plan.Hi Everyone,Welcome, especially to new folks who joined over the holiday season!My schedule got a little wonky while I was in the Seattle area for the holidays so I might have missed posting a Community Chal...
Practice Thoughts | 10: When to Start Performing
Where to Start• Lesson Archive• Recommended Lesson Plan • Book a Private LessonHi Everyone,Here is some food for thought about how/when to start performing. There is a delicate balance to find for yourself between practicing enough to feel confident on stage AND waiting for the right moment/people/location to get...
New CAGED Soloing 03 | C Shape | I - IV Progression
Where to Start• Lesson Archive• Recommended Lesson Plan • Book a Private LessonHi Everyone,In this lesson, we'll see how a I IV relationship looks when using a C shape as your I chord. This updated CAGED Soloing series is spending a lot of time on just one shape, showing the relationships between two chords a...
Posting late this week!
Hi Everyone,I've had an absolute whirlwind of the past couple of days. I spent the past four days with my friend and bandmate, Ben, coming up with AND filming all the footage for a music video we're likely going to release sometime this year. It's midnight, we're exhausted. I've got to get up early ...
Community Challenge 28 | Write something in the Key of D Major
New here? Wondering where to start? Click here for my Patreon start page, or here for my recommended lesson plan.Hi Everyone,The weekly community challenge is a writing exercise to help my Patrons put their knowledge to use and practice being creative. It's a weekly reminder that being creative takes practice AND i...
New CAGED Soloing 02 | C Shape | I - iii Progression
Where to Start• Lesson Archive• Recommended Lesson Plan • Book a Private LessonHi everyone,In this second episode, we're tackling a I iii progression using the C shape as our I chord. That means we can also use the C shape pentatonic scale as our basic scaffolding for that area of the neck. As a reminder, in ...
Practice Thoughts | 09: The MANY Different Kinds of Musicians
Where to Start• Lesson Archive• Recommended Lesson Plan • Book a Private LessonHi Everyone,In this Practice Thought, I'm talking about different kinds of musicians. Why? To be encouraging! Let me explain:Many of us have grown up with very high (and very specific) standards for what it means to be a musician. ...
Community Challenge 27 | Write something simple
New here? Wondering where to start? Click here for my Patreon start page, or here for my recommended lesson plan.Hi Everyone,Each week I've been asking my Patrons to write some music! In my opinion, writing music is the key to loving and learning music your whole life. Of course it's valuable to learn songs, pr...
NEW CAGED Soloing 01 | C Shape | I - ii Progression
Where to Start• Lesson Archive• Recommended Lesson Plan • Book a Private LessonHi Everyone,This is the first episode of a more holistic reboot of my previous CAGED System Series. I think the previous series was a great start (and still useful to watch if you want reinforcement for this lesson), but this one shoul...
Office Hours 68 | Time TBA
New here? Wondering where to start? Click here for my Patreon start page, or here for my recommended lesson plan.Hey Everyone,My apologies for not posting a Q&A this week. I've been in a recording studio with my band from 10am to 10pm every day since Monday this week and it's been AMAZING! We've written a l...
Community Challenge 26 | Write anything!
New here? Wondering where to start? Click here for my Patreon start page, or here for my recommended lesson plan.Hi Everyone,This week I've been in the studio with my band! We've already worked on four new songs and I'm very excited. So excited, in fact, that I forgot to post this week's community chall...
Music Theory Monday 31 | Maj9, 9, m9 vs add9
Where to Start• Lesson Archive• Recommended Lesson Plan • Book a Private LessonHi Everyone,This Music Theory Monday is all about comparing maj9, minor 9, dom9 vs add9 chords. I think you'll enjoy this lesson. This one might seem overwhelming, but the naming conventions really give you a nice way to think abou...
Community Challenge 25 | Write a melody over one chord
New here? Wondering where to start? Click here for my Patreon start page, or here for my recommended lesson plan.Hi Everyone,The assignment this week is a little more specific: write a melody over one chord!I was inspired by the Community Song Analysis Challenge Rock Steady, because the verse is mainly a one-chord vamp...
Practice Thoughts | 08: Imposter Syndrome vs Dunning Kruger
Where to Start• Lesson Archive• Recommended Lesson Plan • Book a Private LessonHi Everyone,Welcome to another practice thought! My goal with this one (as with all my Practice Thoughts) is to try to be as encouraging as possible. Also, there are always people who will say things like "just practice more" i...
OFFICE HOURS 67 | Wednesday, Dec 8, 11AM Eastern Time
New here? Wondering where to start? Click here for my Patreon start page, or here for my recommended lesson plan.Hi Everyone,This was a great Q&A! Here are the questions, timestamped:Question 1: Dennis had a few questions about volume and tone and amplifiers. I really got into it.Question 2: Ben had some questions abou...
Community Song Analysis 03 | Bad Moon Rising
Hi Everyone,Here is another song analysis challenge! Bad Moon Rising by Creedence Clearwater RevivalThe song itself is pretty straightforward! If you're just starting to get into ear training, this might be a fun one to try out. If you're a beginner and you feel like you don't know where to start on somethi...
Community Challenge 24 | Write a riff
New here? Wondering where to start? Click here for my Patreon start page, or here for my recommended lesson plan.Hi Everyone,Every week I issue a creative challenge to my Patrons. I do this for a few reasons. First and foremost, I do this as a reminder that learning music theory without using it to create music it like...
OFFICE HOURS 66 | Wednesday, Dec 1, Noon Eastern Time
New here? Wondering where to start? Click here for my Patreon start page, or here for my recommended lesson plan.Hi Everyone,Here are the questions from this week. Each question has a timestamped link.Question 1: Dennis had a question about combining sus chords and 7th chords.Question 2: Sean was curious about 440Hz - ...
Music Theory Monday 30 | Sus chords vs add9 and add11 chords
Where to Start• Lesson Archive• Recommended Lesson Plan • Book a Private LessonHi Everyone,This lesson is about comparing sus2 and sus4 to add9 and add11 chords. The next lesson will really solidify which add9 and add11 chords fit in a key. I was going to attach a chart, but we'll work through it in the next ...
OFFICE HOURS 65 | Saturday, Nov 27, 4:00PM EDT
New here? Wondering where to start? Click here for my Patreon start page, or here for my recommended lesson plan.Hi Everyone,Here are the timestamps questions for this week (just click the highlighted text next to the question)Leo wanted to followup about his question last week.Question 1: Martin got a loop pedal, and ...
Community Challenge 23 | Write something sparse
New here? Wondering where to start? Click here for my Patreon start page, or here for my recommended lesson plan.Hi Everyone,Every week I assign my Patrons a little writing challenge. There are two reasons I do this:1. People (and teachers!) often forget that the best way to get music theory concepts stuck in your head...
Ear Training 02 | Pitch Matching on the Low E String
New here? Wondering where to start? Click here for my Patreon start page, or here for my recommended lesson plan.Hi Everyone,In this lesson, I'm building on the concepts from the previous lesson, showing how to build a little map of dissonant and nice notes to find the note you're looking for. It might seem ted...
Community Song Analysis 02 | Rock Steady
New here? Wondering where to start? Click here for my Patreon start page, or here for my recommended lesson plan.Hi Everyone!The previous community song analysis went really well! I don't even need to do an analysis myself because people in the community really broke down the chord progression and melody nicely in ...
OFFICE HOURS 64 | Saturday, Nov 20, 4:00PM EDT
New here? Wondering where to start? Click hereHi Everyone,This was a great stream, as expected with such awesome people in this community.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...
Community Challenge 22 | Write something in the key of Eb Major
New here? Wondering where to start? Click hereHi Everyone,Each week I ask my patrons to participate in a Community Challenge. This is a writing exercise designed to get you into the habit of using what you've learned here to be creative.This week, the challenge is: Write something in the key of Eb MajorYou can writ...
Music Theory Monday 29 | Sus Chords II | How they fit in a Key
Where to Start• Lesson Archive• Recommended Lesson Plan • Book a Private LessonHi Everyone,In this lesson, I discuss one of the weird quirks of sus chords and also how they fit in a key. I mentioned in this video that I'd be happy to do a quick livestream about how it sounds to jam out a rhythm part using sus...
Community Song Analysis 01 | Hey Jude
New here? Wondering where to start? Click hereAlso, if you're new here, you may need to study Music Theory for Guitar and Music Theory Monday a bit before you're able to participate in these community song analysis challenges.Hi Everyone,Welcome to the first Community Song Analysis!This week, we're taking a...
Community Challenge 21 | Write something joyful
New here? Wondering where to start? Click hereHi Everyone,Every week I've been posting a Community Challenge. This is an opportunity for my Patrons to explore creating music. Sometimes it's about applying some specific music theory concept. Sometimes it's about a specific technique. Sometimes it's an ex...
OFFICE HOURS 63 | Saturday, Nov 13, 4:00PM EDT
Going live in just under an hour here and there is currently only ONE question waiting for me in the community forum. Drop your questions now for the live Q&A or hop on in an hour and ask your questions in the chat!..Here is a hard link to the Q&A: https://youtu.be/wTjq_OJ-vGMNew here? Wondering where to start? Click h...
