Improv over a 1-4-2-5 in A. This feels representative of where I’m at right now. The past few months have been super busy with university, but I’ve been trying to carve out 15 mins a day to at least maintain my knowledge of the fretboard. Never have I been more comfortable with knowing where to find my notes, chords, scales, arpeggios and being able to lead with my ear while playing. I think what I’m mostly lacking now is a deep vocabulary to pull from while playing. This was a HUGE unit and I can’t wait for level 4. See you around! (Oh, and we’re standing in this one. Gotta work on getting stage ready!)

This is an Eric Johnson cover. First heard this song years ago and thought how cool it would be to play it one day. Eric throws in some sneaky touch harmonics and it was great practice learning to play them in time without muffling the string. Still mess up my fair share of them, but overall had a great time learning this one!

So here's the thing, If i wanted I could spend the rest of my life on just level 3 of the GG curriculum. Michael has really handed us the keys to the kingdom with the full scales seeing as most of the music we hear is built off of them. I know I'm just scratching the surface and I will keep working on these. Having said that, I haven't found the transition to using them to be too drastic since I already viewed the neck through the lens of pentatonics with arpeggios draped over top, which forms the full scales they're derived from. Progression is a minor 1 4 5 in Bb.

Painfully imperfect, but I felt I had to get this one up. This is a medicinal post for me and it marks a return to the past excitement I used to feel by making progress on the instrument. The music as mentioned is a 1-6-4-5 in Bb and I'm using my arpeggio shapes to try and pick out close moves and chord tones within the major scale. Feel free to ignore the life size Taylor Swift cut out in the back corner of the room.

It's been far too long. This one was inspired by two Johns, Mayer and Scofield, who collaborated on a cover of "I don't need no doctor". Scofield has such a sharp squirly sound on the recording, contrasted by Mayer's smooth bluesy lines. I'm using the bridge pickup to accentuate some of the sharper stabs and the neck for the smoother bendy sections.

Nothing fancy, straight A major scale over A major (Sorry for the obnoxiously loud metronome)

Caught Michael's livestream on youtube the other day and took his advice on making a backing track by laying down some sustained chords and throwing a bass line over top. Felt great to play over, so much space! Playing over a VI-II-I-V in E, once again using arpeggios to view my chord tones. And one more thing, I limited myself to 3 takes. I sometimes feel my improv can turn into more of a scripted solo if I keep trying for that perfect take. So you get what you get, mistakes and all!

I'm the first to admit I can be a little spurty when it comes to practicing. 3 hours a day for a week, then nothing for a month. I'm tired of having to rebuild whenever I step back to the instrument. So this year, I'm taking Michael's motto to heart. Playing a little bit every day, and working on something MEANINGFUL. Already feeling so much more fulfilled. Here's to a year of learning!

Improvising over a I-IV-V-IV in G. Mostly sticking to my major pentatonic and arpeggios over this track, but I had to throw in a little minor pentatonic as well. As my arpeggios are becoming less foreign to me, I'm learning to love them! They serve as the scaffolding I use to navigate the neck and pick out chord tones.

I-IV-V in Eb following my closest moves. I can't count how many times I got lost while practicing this! So I went back to basics and simply played the root from each chord in all 5 position. Made life MUCH easier when coming back to arpeggios, as I knew my starting points for each position.

I-IV-III-V in C, using position 2 and 4 major and minor arpeggio shapes. I found myself getting lost if I didn't start each arpeggio on its lowest root, so I added a second variation in which I start from the top of each shape and work my way down. Really helped me visualize my shapes on the neck!

I've always felt Angus had one of the meanest vibratos out there. So I figured this would be a perfect solo to practice with. What I found most difficult was using vibrato at the top of a bend, without having the string slide out from under my finger, so that got a little extra attention. I tried my best to mute the strings I wasn't playing to reduce string noise (something that's been bugging me with my playing for a while). All in all, lots of fun.

Oh man did this ever feel good! Yes it's just a I-IV-V in A, and no it's not a perfect take. But for someone who has been stuck in mindless pentatonic boxes for the past few years, to be able to hear myself somewhat outlining the chords with basic arpeggios and chord tones is a game changer!

Well, it’s been a few long months since I last posted, but with school out for Christmas I decided it was time to step out of my comfort zone once again. I’m playing over an “Empty Promises” style backing track in Bm. Happy holidays!