August 2021 Newsletter: FREE Lesson on the Mixolydian Mode, Blog Links & More!
This is the last mode of the Major Scale that we'll cover but not the last lesson in this series. There's a lot more stuff coming!
The Mixolydian Mode is obtained by flatting the 7th degree of the Major Scale. It works over a Major chord or any kind of Dominant; C7, C9, C13 etc.
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Problems With Video Links
It came to my attention (thanks, Doug!) that links in the Concepts for Basic Improvising PDF were not working. Turns out many of the links in the PDFs and on the Free Lessons page of the website were not working.
There are 3 settings a video can have on YouTube; Public, Unlisted and Private. Most of my teaching videos are set to, Unlisted. What that means is they don't show up on the channel and they don't show up in searches; the only way anyone can access them is if they have the link. The links are provided in the PDF downloads and/or the video links on the Free Lessons page on the website. Comprende? It's about MasterGuitarSchool.com, not YouTube!
Videos set to, Private cannot be viewed without a password, even if you have the link.
So without going into the details, YouTube decided that, due to security concerns (which I won't go into), all Unlisted videos that were uploaded before January 1, 2017 were automatically switched from Unlisted to Private.
So I had to go through over 600 videos across 2 different channels and manually switch the ones YouTube had changed back to Unlisted.
Thank you, YouTube.
To be fair, YouTube sent me a notification that this was going to happen and gave me the option to opt-out of the change. I did opt out. However, that notification was for only one of the channels I have. I never got a notification and opt-out option for the other channel, which contains hundreds of older teaching videos. All the problems involved that channel.
Man, the crap I have to go through just to do what I want to do, which is to play the guitar every day and make a living doing it! Sheesh!
Anyway, as far as I know, all the links are working. If any of you find a link that I missed, PLEASE PLEASE let me know!
Blogs Published Since Last Newsletter
(Blogs are accessible to all; site membership not required.)
No new blogs have been published due to my being down with Covid for the month of June (see last newsletter).
I have been working on a new 4-blog series called, Blues Plus as well as more Jam Tales, and in the meantime have been republishing older blogs from the series, What’s Wrong With My Hand? Those are being posted on Master Guitar School’s Facebook page. Here are the ones re-published since the last Newsletter:
What's Wrong With My Hand? Random Pinky. This is the 2nd vlog in a series on common technique issues. This one has to do with controlling the movement of every finger of the fretting hand, all the time, so that your fingers are never more than a fraction of an inch from the strings. Less movement = speed, accuracy and stamina.
What's Wrong With My Hand? Listin' to Port! This one addresses the tendency of the fretting hand to drift towards the headstock, thus fingering the backside of the fret which raises the likelihood of muted notes &/or fret-buzz.
What's Wrong With My Hand? Angular Dysfunction. This one addresses the tendency of the fretting hand knuckles to be held at an angle relative to the fretboard rather than parallel to it. When this angular dysfunction is in play the pinky, which is the shortest finger, has to reach the farthest - that's backwards.
What’s Wrong With My Hand? Knock-Kneed Knuckles. Fretting hand knuckles should be bow-legged, not knock-kneed.
What's Wrong With My Hand? Vise Grip. This post will be about a technique issue that I see in almost everyone I teach. Namely, over-squeezing with the fretting hand.
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Jay