Office Hours Q&A 132 | Thu, Oct 5, 10am Pacific
Added 2023-10-02 16:00:03 +0000 UTCNew 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 for this Office Hours
Warren had questions about participating in Community Challenges and general song analysis
Mason has warbling strings on an acoustic guitar - whats going on?
Richard asked about the benefits of drop D tuning
Mark asked if Music Theory Monday should be prioritized or CAGED Basics?
Brian was looking for ways to increase dexterity with open chords - trouble reaching certain strings
Brian also asked about an ideal first electric guitar
Here's how it works: bring your questions to the Office Hours community forum thread, or save them for the live chat.* Questions can be about anything you want - guitar technique, music theory, gear, songwriting - your choice! Also, feel free to link a video of you playing if you have a technique question!
I'll do my best to answer your questions and give examples of how you develop skills related to your question.
Keep in mind, you can always watch later if you can't make it live! Check back a few hours after the stream for a numbered list of each question and a timestamped link to each answer.
*Please note: you may need a youtube/gmail account to ask questions in the live stream, but you can watch without one.
Check out the Lesson Archive for more Office Hours Live Streams
Other helpful links: • Scott's Recommended Lesson Plan • Searchable Lesson Archive • How to Join the Community Forum • Scott's Jam Tracks • SPJ Live YouTube Channel • Scott's Main YouTube Channel
Comments
Hey Scott, I was hoping you could give a quick explanation of the benefits of drop D tuning please. Drop D gives me a nice deep root note to accompany the D chords that is otherwise not available. But I am struggling with how else I can use it. Some chords become impossible or difficult to finger; barre chords especially seem to no longer be playable as I am losing the root note on the bottom string that gives it so much tone. It seems to me that it is a lot more restrictive than standard tuning. So, why do so many guitarists use drop D? Does it make other chords/styles of playing easier that I am yet to discover? Probably won't catch you live, but thank you for your help as always!
Richard Stapleton
2023-10-03 12:04:03 +0000 UTCHi Scott, first, thanks so much for what you’re doing here! I’ve learned so much more than I even knew I set out to… My question: I’m on an acoustic. Tuned. Occasionally I hear my notes warbling. More noticeable in a smaller room, but also in other spaces. Is this an effect of the room acoustics? Or an indication to change strings? It’s been about 9 months, but I only play maybe 30 minutes a day on average. Thanks! -Mason.
Mason
2023-10-02 19:55:41 +0000 UTCHey Scott, I won't be able to make the live Q&A but I have a couple of questions that are hopefully in the spirit of the Q&A. I'm just starting out learning guitar, I know my basic open chords and some 3-note per string scales. I'd like to get into song writing but I struggle with changing between chords so it's hard to get any kind of flow going. I was wondering if you had any advice on that as I work up to taking on some of the Community Challenges. The other question was do you have a process of how you would go about analyzing/breaking down songs. I'm also interested in writing some post-rock style music (in addition to more vocal focused music) and I was wondering how you would go about breaking down something like the intro song to this video https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pmnyX4Vwh74 and how to try and write something in a similar vein. Specifically do you have any advice on layering/writing complementary guitar parts. Thanks for all the awesome lessons, and looking forward to watching the Q&A later.
Warren
2023-10-02 17:05:10 +0000 UTC
