Scott Paul Johnson

Community Challenge 79 | Write Something with Hammer-ons

Added 2025-01-21 18:00:05 +0000 UTC

Where to Start • Lesson Archive • Recommended Lesson Plan

Hi Everyone,
This weeks Community Challenge is “Write Something with Hammer-ons”

What is a Community Challenge? Essentially, it’s a playground - a place for you to practice making music with low stakes and specific prompts. Yes, it IS open ended, but there is always a specific goal to accomplish. Everyone has a different amount of time, skill, education, but for these challenges none of that matters.

The goal is for you to do your best to accomplish the goal of the challenge, then upload an audio file of your creation to the Community Forum.

I can’t stress this enough: the goal is not to create a masterpiece. The goal is not to pour out your heart and be vulnerable. Just. Write. SOMEthing. It could be 5 seconds long. It could be one minute. It could have multiple parts with layers of guitar, bass, drums and synth. It could be a voice memo or quick video.

WHY?

If you’re here to learn how music theory maps onto the fingerboard and HOW TO ACTUALLY USE IT, these kinds of writing exercises are absolutely crucial to your education. Imagine learning Spanish but never speaking your own thoughts, or learning to paint but exclusively paint-by-number. Exercises like this get you to “off the rails” and into territory where you actually put music theory to use.

If this idea feels overwhelming to you, check out Music Theory for Guitar and Music Theory for Guitar II. That should get you going in the right direction. And of course, PLEASE, if you have any questions, don’t hesitate to ask.

Post your creations HERE, on the Community Forum thread for this challenge.

Participate in previous Community Challenges, too!