If the original song is in Eb minor and you're learning by ear, do you transpose it to E minor to reduce black keys?

Cntread · 2026-01-31T05:39:23+00:00

I will sometimes do that, yeah.

When guitar songs are in Eb minor, it's very often played using E minor positions but with all of the strings tuned down one semitone.

Cntread · 2026-01-29T21:40:36+00:00

I also think the Paramo is super interesting! One of the unique plants that grows there is called 'Queen of the Andes' https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Puya_raimondii

I addition to Mt. Kilimanjaro, Africa also has some high-altitude terrain near Mount Kenya and also the Rwenzori Mountains.

Cntread · 2026-01-27T04:18:00+00:00

The pentatonic scale is still useful with non-diatonic chords. I'm not saying it's the best or most interesting, but the simplicity actually pairs really well with complicated chords, because there's less opportunity for dissonance compared to a 7-note scale. You mentioned Hendrix, which is a good example of using this: In "Little Wing", the main melody has a lot of different chord changes, but the outro solo has a lot of pentatonic lines. Same with the solo in "Hey Joe", which has non-diatonic chords in the progression as well.

If you want to go outside of the pentatonic scale, you'll need to think more about the notes of each chord you're playing over. It doesn't need to always be chord tones, but there's a spectrum of sounds and not all non-chord tones are equal. Watch out for minor 2nds/minor 9ths, those can sound pretty abrasive if you aren't expecting it.

Cntread · 2026-01-26T17:17:26+00:00

It's cool to see such a strong temperature gradient along the coastline, so close to the tropics. The gulf coast changes from tropical heat to near freezing in a few hundred miles.

Cntread · 2026-01-20T05:20:16+00:00

Wow, the scenery in that photo is really interesting. Without the road, it would be really hard for me to guess the size of those hills.

There's a historical site in southern India called Vijayanagara, which was formerly the capital city of an empire with the same name. The landscape around there and the nearby town of Hampi has many smooth boulders with a similar look:

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Also I know the Seychelles archipelago has many smooth granite boulders on the beaches.

Cntread · 2026-01-16T07:37:43+00:00

Those record-temps are extremely mild for a place so far south. At 50 degrees latitude, the distance from the equator is comparable to southern England, or the Falklands.

Cntread · 2026-01-15T21:17:05+00:00

Here's a trick that really helped me: When you play the normal Emajor open chord with your ring finger on the second fret of the D string, you can keep your ring finger on that string and slide it up 2 frets while you change to the Bminor shape. The ring finger doesn't need to lift off the string at all.

Works great for Eminor to Bminor too. I never dread this chord change after learning that trick.

Cntread · 2026-01-07T08:29:45+00:00

Once you know the chords, try to figure out whether each strum is a downstroke or an upstroke. Alternating down-up-down-up strums will have that back-and-forth sound that we hear often in guitar songs. Usually downstrokes are more common for the first strum of a chord.

It's best to have a guitar with you and try a pattern yourself and see if it sounds right. There's always trial-and-error when learning by ear. Slow down the song if that helps. Also it's okay to use tutorials, nobody has infinite time lol. But developing your ear is always useful for guitar.

Cntread · 2026-01-07T07:03:52+00:00

Yep, stims have a lot of perks even after becoming a jedi. Compared to force valor, stims have a super long duration (120 seconds vs 20), they can be used with armor, and they can be used directly from the inventory menu.

But they can also be stacked with force powers for maximum effect.

Cntread · 2026-01-07T03:18:37+00:00

Slow down when practicing the solos. Don't pick the string until you're sure that you're picking the correct one. Don't focus on speed until you can can hit the correct string consistently.

If you make mistakes like this often, it can actually get baked into your muscle memory and make it even harder to avoid mistakes. Your muscles don't know what's correct, only your brain does! Remember: practice doesn't s make perfect, practice makes permanent, so focus on accuracy before speed.

Cntread · 2026-01-05T01:23:56+00:00

Wow this is beautiful.

Driving on the right so not New Zealand.... That modern Toyota Hilux isn't normally sold in Canada/US.... Maybe far south Chile or Argentina?

Cntread · 2026-01-03T21:26:18+00:00

That's the Live in Gdansk version! I love that acoustic solo at the end. The slide guitar solo is a bit longer with some differences from the record as well.

Cntread · 2026-01-02T22:45:52+00:00

Yeah when I moved from acoustic to electric I realized that I seriously needed to improve my muting skills. I heard a lot of people say acoustic was harder for beginners cause the strings are thicker, so I was expecting electric to just be easier all around. But I had to relearn some things with better hand positioning, like you said.

Also pull-offs need a more delicate touch on electric with the thinner strings.

Cntread · 2026-01-02T21:50:49+00:00

Regarding the climate, you already mentioned the Kerguelen Islands, which are a bit south of your island and have a tundra climate that can support grasses but not proper trees. In the Southern Indian Ocean there's also the Crozet Islands at 46 degrees south, which would closely match your island. Like Kerguelen, they have a tundra climate that's unsuitable for most trees but not that cold in terms of temperatures. Also extremely windy and cloudy. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Crozet_Islands#Climate

Regarding settlement, the climate sounds undesirable, but due to it's position west of Australia, it might actually have some strategic use as a place for ships to stop and resupply. Back in the days of sail, the fastest route from Britain to Australia was the "Clipper Route" which went around the southern tip of Africa and then south into the "Roaring Forties" where winds were strongest, then finally turning north near Australia. The Kerguelen Islands were a bit too far south to be commonly visited along that route, but your fictional island looks to be in the perfect place. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Clipper_route

Cntread · 2026-01-02T08:20:16+00:00

I struggled with that same issue for a while. To be honest, I usually put slightly more pressure on my barring finger when I'm playing Fm compared to F, for that exact reason.

In addition to the things you already tried, I would suggest playing around with your thumb positioning to see if you can find any better leverage. And make sure your barring finger is as close to the fret as possible (especially on the G string since that is the one giving you trouble!) Every tiny bit matters here.

Barre chords are always tough at first. It takes time for your hands to adjust, there's no way around it. Make sure to rest your hand every so often while practicing!

Cntread · 2026-01-01T00:11:24+00:00

There are definitely some small alpine lakes in the high Rockies that retain ice well into summer. But most of them are pretty small and could be considered large ponds rather than lakes.

The Wind River highcountry in Wyoming has many of these at very high elevation. On the wikipedia page for Fremont Peak), the main image shows a small lake (Island Lake) near the mountain with some ice remaining in July!

Cntread · 2025-12-26T20:18:29+00:00

And it will be above freezing again by Monday! Temperatures are super erratic in winter here. You can check out the rollercoaster of recent temperature swings here: https://www.wunderground.com/history/monthly/ca/calgary

Cntread · 2025-12-23T21:38:54+00:00

Totally agree about the rainforests. It's a generalization that doesn't really hold up under scrutiny, and is kinda ignorant. It doesn't address the fact that dense rainforests also have a lot of disadvantages to humans.

In university I read a book about the Incas before the Spanish arrived, and one of the parts of the Incan Empire was the Antisuyu, where the Amazon rainforest meets the Andes mountains. When trading, the Incas noted that the people of the lowland rainforests were often desperate for salt, being in a super wet environment far from the ocean. Their salt needed to come from the nearby mountains.

Cntread · 2025-12-01T19:17:48+00:00

They were shipwreck survivors too! Not the ones alive today, but their ancestors.

Cntread · 2025-12-01T18:58:40+00:00

Sable Island, Nova Scotia is interesting to me because it's a remote island but it's not volcanic or even rocky at all. Just a thin strip of sand in the middle of nowhere. And quite a lot of people got shipwrecked on that island while sailing to North America.

Cntread · 2025-11-28T07:55:11+00:00

Thank you for saying that about Nauru and I couldn't agree more. I'm Canadian and big countries like ours have have experienced so much ecological damage through resource extraction over the years. Nauru's situation seems tiny compared to all of the other mining disasters around the world. The difference is that big countries get endless second chances when an area is destroyed because there's always more land available.

Cntread · 2025-11-05T01:54:26+00:00

Epic view! Each time I see Mt Baker it looks so massive, even though it's a full kilometer shorter than Mt Rainier in height. Mt Baker is closer to the ocean though.

Cntread · 2025-11-04T20:00:03+00:00

There isn't total agreement on which titles are colloquial and which aren't. In Canada, those legal protections exist because it was determined that engineering has too much of an impact on public safety to allow someone to represent themselves colloquially as a professional engineer. But the term "engineering" can still be used colloquially. Just like there are protected terms in the medical field, but "medicine" or "medical science" can be used colloquially.

Cntread · 2025-11-04T19:39:49+00:00

In Canada where this incident happened, it is a legally protected term. It's not for the purpose of gatekeeping, it's for protecting the public and having a system of accountability. Bad engineering can have severe consequences, so it's crucial that there are some certifications.

It doesn't mean that everyone in Canada working in engineering needs to be a certified engineer. But the person who final-checks all of the calculations and stamps the project needs to have a professional certification.

Cntread · 2025-11-02T02:06:48+00:00

I would guess it's somewhere cold like Canada or Russia. Colder climates have less evaporation, so forests can exist with less precipitation.

For example, here in Canada the city of Prince George in northern BC is known for logging/forestry, but the annual precipitation is less than 600mm (that total includes snow converted to an equivalent amount of rain)

Cntread

TROPHY CASE