OFFICE HOURS 103 | 12 Strings, motivation, right hand technique, finding your path, used guitars

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Hi Everyone,

I was a little under-slept and over-caffeinated for this one but it went pretty well and I was very excited to show off a new feature: I was finally able to offer an easy way to have Patrons ask questions via video live on stream! I'll do more of that in the future. I was only testing this feature for this stream. Thanks Jeff and Tyler for helping me out!

Question 1 was from Thijs looking for 12 string guitar tips

Question 2 - Brian was looking for tips on how to stay motivated while learning music theory.

Question 3 from Jeffery was about right hand relaxation while strumming (and fingerpicking, but I focused on the strumming part)

Question 4 - Jason was wondering how to find the clear path forward after the initial music theory lessons. My advise is always this: Make the most specific goals for yourself - what do you like? What excites you? What challenges sound fun and which ones make you want to quit guitar? Move toward the fun challenges and don't worry about the others. The more specific you get with goals, the easier it is to see the path forward.

Question 5 - Liam had questions about buying a new or used guitar. When to buy? What to buy? Red flags for used guitars? Liam was also looking for ergonomic tips when playing guitar standing up with a shoulder strap.

Question 6 - Joe had a question about looking at the neck while playing - are you supposed to practice without looking? Can you look? It is OK to look! It's also ok to memorize so you don't need the sheet music. It's also ok not to play it PERFECTLY before moving on.

Question 7 - Tyler (Surfdad83) was asking about the chord progression Fm Eb Bb - what key is it in? Is it modal? I concluded that it was in Dorian Mode, but if it was part of a bigger section, it might not be.

Question 8 - Kevin was wondering about the tonality of the song Killing an Arab by the Cure. Wow! There is a LOT going on here. We dove into it and considered some big music composition implications.

From there, I invited my Patrons to help me test out an easy video chat system that requires no downloading an app, no creating a login or password, easy peasy. You just type your name and join. I'm very excited.

Feel free to continue the discussion on the community forum or in the comments below.

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