Scott Paul Johnson
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Office Hours Q&A 210 | Thursday, July 17th, 10AM Pacific Time
🕑 Added 2025-07-16 13:00:11 +0000 UTCWhere to Start • Lesson Archive • Recommended Lesson Plan • Book a Private Lesson
Hi Everyone,
You missed this one, but you can always catch the next one, every Thursday at 10AM Pacific Time
Question 1: Fintan had a comment about how focusing on chord tones made solos feel robotic, but focusing on feel and intuition made it easier to find those chord tones anyway. I talked about the idea of bouncing between intuitive practice and mindful, thoughtful "study" practice.
Question 2: Wessel wanted me to work through the homework section of Music Theory for Guitar II, Lesson 2, to make sure they were understanding it correctly. I spent some time going through it, with some explanation.
Question 3: Lauren had a question about time signatures other than 4/4 and 3/4
Question 4: chenqiuhao3 had some questions about developing your ear to be able to hear something and instantly be able to play it. I went through a method of how to get started down that path, and talked about what to expect when it comes to soloing. Are you supposed to hear stuff in your head before you play it?
Here's how it works: bring your questions to the comments below, 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 • Scott's Main YouTube Channel
Comments
Wessel Bruintjes
Thank you, Scott, I appreciate it. And yes it makes sense. Have a nice weekend everyone
Lauren Wise
The blues lesson got me thinking about counting out time and why it is so important, not just for pacing, but also when it feels right for chord changes or other shifts. I struggle, though, with figuring out time signatures in anything but 4/4 and 3/4. I'm not sure what the difference between 2/4, 4/4, and 8/4 is. Can we talk about that? How does syncopation (sp?) work...why does Reggae sound different to rock because of where the beat emphasis is in the time. Don't need to tackle all that...just curious about...time.
