Scott Paul Johnson posts
Posts: 662
Files: 1735
I co-wrote something cool with a friend!
New here? Wondering where to start? Click here for my Patreon start page, or here for my recommended lesson plan.Hi Everyone,I don't usually make posts like this but I figured some of you might appreciate knowing what I've been up to outside of teaching.Aside from writing with my band Hot Bodies in Motion, I...
Band Thoughts 02 | Playing with Others
New here? Wondering where to start? Click here for my Patreon start page, or here for my recommended lesson plan.Hi Everyone,Before we talk about where to find people to play with, we have to talk about HOW to actually play with others. This video starts by examining the dynamic between two people using the "Leader...
OFFICE HOURS 125 | favorite guitars, loop pedals, recording vocals, ukuleles
New here? Wondering where to start? Click here for my Patreon start page, or here for my recommended lesson plan.Hi Everyone,Here were the questions this week:Question 1: Ray was wondering what my favorite guitars are, if there are low budget versions, and what other gadgets were useful.Question 2: Jonatan had question...
OFFICE HOURS 124 | What to do now that you've recorded songs!
New here? Wondering where to start? Click here for my Patreon start page, or here for my recommended lesson plan.Hi Everyone,The questions for this week:Tasha had questions about Mastering, releasing music, marketing, etc - what to do once you HAVE the recordings.Archer had questions about microphones and how to proper...
Melody Making 03 | 3 Rules for Chords
Where to Start• Lesson Archive• Recommended Lesson Plan • Book a Private LessonHi Everyone,In this lesson, we're tackling my three rules for melody making over chords:1. Always start a phrase on a chord2. If moving in skips, only skip from a chord tone to another chord tone.3. If moving in steps, continue mov...
Band Thoughts 01 | Starting a Band/Band Models
New here? Wondering where to start? Click here for my Patreon start page, or here for my recommended lesson plan.Hi Everyone,I'm doing the editing myself for a few months here while I have Luke (my amazing video editor) work on YouTube videos a little more. I decided to have a little fun and lean into it - I hope y...
OFFICE HOURS 123 | Polyrhythms, 12 strings, open mics, downward slides, pain while playing
New here? Wondering where to start? Click here for my Patreon start page, or here for my recommended lesson plan.Hi Everyone,The questions this week were:Ray asked about polyrhythms, vertical vs horizontal scales, and 12 string guitars.Wayne followed up about an open mic that went really well AND asked about downward s...
Welcome, New Patrons!
If you’re new here, tell us a little about yourself: What brought you here? Where are you in your guitar journey, and what do you hope to accomplish while you’re here?If you’re a seasoned Patron, please give our new members a warm welcome! Reply to new Patrons below if you share the same goals, or can relate to t...
*Live NOW* OFFICE HOURS 122 | Friday, June 2nd, 3:45PM Pacific Time
I'm live! Feeling much better! Come hang out!New here? Wondering where to start? Click here for my Patreon start page, or here for my recommended lesson plan.Hi Everyone,Join me Thursday, June 1st at 10AM Pacific Time for the weekly live Q&A.If the above link isn’t working for you, here is a link to watch directl...
Melody Making 02 | Basic Phrases
Where to Start• Lesson Archive• Recommended Lesson Plan • Book a Private LessonHi Everyone,Now that you've been listening more closely to phrases, it's time to practice writing your own! This lesson talks about skips, steps, and repeats and gives you a nice starting point for writing your own phrases. Che...
OFFICE HOURS 121 | Small hand help, tracking progress, open mics, what to play when people ask
New here? Wondering where to start? Click here for my Patreon start page, or here for my recommended lesson plan.Hi Everyone,You missed this one, but you can always ask a question on the Office Hours community forum thread.Here are the timestamps:Question 1 - Jesse asked for some tips for small handed folksQuestion 2 -...
Melody Making 01 | Overview
Where to Start• Lesson Archive• Recommended Lesson Plan • Book a Private LessonHi Everyone,Welcome to Melody Making! In my opinion, this is one of the most overlooked, under-explained aspects of music education. Melody making involves all the most important ethereal stuff in music: repetition, arrangement, holist...
OFFICE HOURS 120 | Melody Writing, Ranting, How to Start Writing Music
New here? Wondering where to start? Click here for my Patreon start page, or here for my recommended lesson plan.Hi Everyone,You missed this one! Ask a question on the next Patreon Office Hours post or drop a question on the Office Hours community forum thread.I'll do my best to answer your questions in the next Of...
OFFICE HOURS 119 | More CAGED?, syncopation, bending noise, performing, vocal range
New here? Wondering where to start? Click here for my Patreon start page, or here for my recommended lesson plan.Hi Everyone,Ray had questions about 1. wether I'm doing another CAGED series 2. syncopation and 3. Jimi hendrix timing and 4. the best place to do double stopsWayne had a question about bending, specific...
CAGED Basics II | 11 | Full Circle
Where to Start• Lesson Archive• Recommended Lesson Plan • Book a Private LessonHi Everyone,This is it! The final CAGED Basics II lesson!In this lesson, we start by sliding a pentatonic scale through multiple positions, talking a little about how useful this kind of thing can be for soloing. Then we move into the ...
Community Challenge 63 | Write a melody to a poem
New here? Visit my Where To Start page.Scroll down for more helpful links.Hi Everyone,It's here! The next bi-weekly Community Challenge!This challenge is: Write a melody to poetryThe video gives you plenty of ideas, but the general principals are:1. Find the meter of the poem - if it's a sonnet, it'll be 10...
OFFICE HOURS 118 | Playing with other people, writing music to lyrics, sweep picking, playing musically, etc
New here? Wondering where to start? Click here for my Patreon start page, or here for my recommended lesson plan.Hi Everyone,Ray asked if it was important to play with other people and what to do if you can't find people to play with.Jeff provided some lyrics and asked for tips on how to put music to lyricsRay says...
Home Recording Studio: Pros and Cons
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 tackling an important question: should you learn to record yourself? If so, how involved should you get? Should every musician have a home studio or should every musician g...
Welcome, New Patrons!
If you’re new here, tell us a little about yourself: What brought you here? Where are you in your guitar journey, and what do you hope to accomplish while you’re here?If you’re a seasoned Patron, please give our new members a warm welcome! Reply to new Patrons below if you share the same goals, or can relate to t...
OFFICE HOURS 117 | Mixing Major and Minor in Blues, Logic Exporting, Thumb Independence
I'm live right now! Bring your questions!New here? Visit my Where To Start page.Scroll down for more helpful links.Hi Everyone,Question 1 from Tristan boils down to this idea of mixing major and minor scales in a blues situation - I gave a basic blues lesson and explained a range of scales you might find in a blues...
CAGED Basics II | 10 | Pentatonic Pit Stop
Where to Start• Lesson Archive• Recommended Lesson Plan • Book a Private LessonHi Everyone,We're in the home stretch with this second-to-last installment of CAGED Basics II.In this lesson we're exploring the relationship between the D shape and E shape pentatonic scales with a Fix or Foreshadow exercise f...
LIVE NOW! OFFICE HOURS 116 | Thursday, April 20th, 10AM Pacific Time
I'm live now! Come hang out!New here? Wondering where to start? Click here for my Patreon start page, or here for my recommended lesson plan.Hi Everyone,Join me this Thursday at 10AM Pacific Time for the 116th weekly live Q&A.If the above link isn’t working for you, here is a link to watch directly on YouTube: ht...
Community Challenge 62 | Write something sad
New here? Wondering where to start? Click here for my Patreon start page, or here for my recommended lesson plan.Hi Everyone,Every couple weeks I offer a Community Challenge. The goal is to actually use the music theory and guitar theory you've been learning here to make some music!It's one thing to know how mu...
OFFICE HOURS 115 | Thursday, April 13th, 10AM Pacific Time
New here? Visit my Where To Start page.Scroll down to the bottom for more helpful links.Hi Everyone,Join me on Thursday the 13th at 10AM Pacific Time for the 115th weekly live Q&A.If the above link isn’t working for you, here is a link to watch directly on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1A78ClRpMi0Here'...
Practice Thoughts | Becoming A Musician
Where to Start• Lesson Archive• Recommended Lesson Plan • Book a Private LessonHi Everyone,Weird things start happening when you are in the process of becoming a musician. I talk about a few of them here.1. As Mateus has noticed, learning music theory and recording software forever changes the way you listen to m...
OFFICE HOURS 114 | Thursday, April 6, 10AM Pacific 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 timestamped questions:Question 1: Ray had questions about big hands and how to hold the guitar to maximize dexterityQuestion 2: Wayne and Harsh had questions about warming up - best ...
CAGED Basics II | 9 | D Shape
Where to Start• Lesson Archive• Recommended Lesson Plan • Book a Private LessonHi Everyone,We're getting close to the end of this series! Get comfortable with the D Shape pentatonic scale and accompanying major and relative minor chords. Watch the lesson, practice the shapes and scale, do the homework, and le...
OFFICE HOURS 113 | How to hold the guitar, alternate tunings, penta vs full scale, ear training
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 stream! Here are the timestamped questions:Question 1: Ray had questions about which leg to hold the guitar and how to approach using a strapQuestion 2: Tristan was wondering abo...
TODAY! Live Song Analysis 03 | Thursday March 30, 3:00PM
Feeling much better and ready to GO today!New here? Visit my Where To Start page.Scroll to the bottom for more helpful links.Hi Everyone,It's that time again! Time to bring me songs to analyze. I'll work through each song live - trying to figure out the key and the chord progression first, then moving on to mel...
Community Challenge 61 | Write something outside your comfort zone
New here? Visit my Where To Start page.Scroll down for more helpful links.Hi Everyone,If this is your first Community Challenge, here is the what, why, and how:WHAT IS A COMMUNITY CHALLENGE?A community challenge is the musical equivalent of a napkin sketch. The idea is to use the prompt (this week it's "write s...
