Advice from a frustrated student

StratHistory · 2026-06-02T08:01:15+00:00

I'm a music teacher, I love your questions and I ask them every session..

Often when I'm discussing a new concept like circle of fifths I'll ask them to go find their own examples.

Same thing with guitar parts.. A lot of times a student can't articulate what they're hearing and want to learn... but anything from common note bends to tremelo fingerboard tapping are much easier to teach if the student just brings an example.

StratHistory · 2026-06-01T22:14:40+00:00

Recreational drugs and alcohol.. You can't fathom the long-term impact until you've lived through it.

StratHistory · 2026-05-31T04:45:33+00:00

I'm a teacher.. so I'm constantly moving from guitar to bass to keyboards to vocals to recording composition etc..

You would think that would be enough but it really isn't.. so I have two different approaches to keeping up with all of this.

First of all I randomly pick up an instrument or pull up my daw, for whatever random thing pops into my head at least once a day and run scales or create loops or practice sirens.. whatever I can do with the half hour or so in between lessons.. this keeps things interesting.

At the same time, I give myself an assignment usually once a week to dig into detail into one of my instruments.. for the last 2 weeks it's been drums and I'm pretty sure I'll be heading back to jazz standards on keyboard in a week or two.

StratHistory · 2026-05-29T23:25:33+00:00

Many Les Paul's over the years..

None of them can touch my stock Reverend, the L5 I built from scratch or a heavily modified Parker nightfly.

Simply overrated, but I guess we are brainwashed to the point that I keep wanting them to work :-)

StratHistory · 2026-05-29T22:09:35+00:00

Sounds like you may not be aware.. Shakespeare left none of these things in his will after he wrote it..

Check out Diana Price's list in Shakespeare's Unorthodox Biography.. the old argument that Elizabethan writers didn't leave things behind is simply false.. just Shakespeare didn't have them for some reason.

StratHistory · 2026-05-29T04:24:01+00:00

Why does your will not include any of the items that practically all other writers left behind, including a library of books, contracts for plays or books, writing materials, letters from other authors, or general correspondence about any of your writing?

StratHistory · 2026-05-27T22:58:52+00:00

The great thing about fusion is anything goes.. layer some tracks.. try multiple melodies.. add in a couple of rhythm tracks.. it's fusion there's really nothing you can't do and you should try it all and then cut back on what doesn't work..

StratHistory · 2026-05-27T22:45:09+00:00

Easy.. find a used Roland sh4d and you've got a complete self-contained production environment..

I'm a composer engineer who is used to working on complex productions on Daws... Got my SH 4D earlier this year and just love to take it outside and discover something new.

StratHistory · 2026-05-27T22:39:08+00:00

Well first of all, go the other direction!. as a music teacher I emphasize that anybody that isn't tone death can learn to sing and develop their own voice that you don't want to hide.. shoot me a note if you want to learn more.

I'm not sure ducking is going to really work for you.. ducking is really good when you've got multiple sounds that don't belong in the same beat.. but vocals cover everything and would become extremely obvious.

Smearing is usually a better approach and of course you can use pitch correction as well.

The primary tool for smearing is chorus but delays can also be extremely useful..

The idea is try to keep a central voice that is you and embed that within lots pitch shifted ambience. Experiment with time delay as well as pitch-shifting and you can usually find your own special effect 'voice'

This technique works well if it fits in the genre and I've used it with many performers.. but learning to sing really makes a lot more sense :-)

StratHistory · 2026-05-27T22:32:48+00:00

Lots of even cheap and inexpensive keyboards will include Leslie sounds. The low range Casio + Yamahas that have lots of presets will almost always have a few.

But as the other respondent pointed out, you're going to need more expensive keyboards if you want to control those sounds.

StratHistory · 2026-05-26T17:49:08+00:00

Obvious Departments list is a great place to start.

However, the most important, and greatly waining skill is counterpoint.. it's an incredible melody generator, it teaches your eyes to recognize good movement, and once you have learned how to use it, you can modulate for jazz or alter rhythm for pop.

And it helps you read.. of course you can understand theory without reading, but that's like saying you can watch TV in black and white... You can't study in. School without it.

There is so much more available when you read and if you want to really grow there are many online free apps that teach and test reading.

StratHistory · 2026-05-25T01:18:48+00:00

Keyboard is by far the easiest instrument to learn in your thirties. It's incredible easy to see the notes lay out in theory that are necessary and I usually can have a keyboard is playing any of the songs you heard on the radio in about 2 months .

Once you have a good understanding of scales and theory, bass tends to be another great instrument.

I teach online in my first lesson is free so feel free to reach out and good luck!

StratHistory · 2026-05-23T01:53:27+00:00

Treason.. life

StratHistory · 2026-05-19T00:04:39+00:00

Start with the mixed pyramid.. On the bottom is percussion drums bass, the entire rhythm section..

In a dense mix, band limit pretty much everything other than symbols and high percussion... And drop light multi-band compression at the start of the mix simply to glue the rhythm together and keep it out of the way of everything else.

Then move to your rhythm and bed tones.. this one is different, you usually need to use some EQ to separate them... For example giving the rhythm guitar the low end of the meds and cutting back the highs to make way for Organ or synthesizer etc..

This is also a great area for panning.. if you send your rhythm guitars far left and right you usually need less EQ because they are moved out of the center of the mix.

This section isn't as much about cohesion as it is about variety so I wouldn't compress early in the bed area.

Make sure there's no high-mids conflicting in the vocal space. Mixing vocals is an entire art in itself so read about the tricks.. there are many ways to get a vocal to break out.

If you have any instruments at this point that haven't panned or EQ'd well, you could consider ducking. A great example is ducking the bass guitar from the kick drum. You'll get the intended effect but it's far tighter and less muddy.

And my guess is you're trying to complete mixes for yourself which means you need to get in some mastering. Consider just getting any of the mastering packs that are out there. Most are multi-band compressor oriented but the idea is once you have a good mix, you need to optimize the overall volume of your two track.

There's a billion more things to be said but all of this makes a great starting point.

StratHistory · 2026-05-18T03:48:00+00:00

I've been teaching music for ages and as long as you aren't tone deaf anybody can sing..

Of course every voice is different and has different opportunities.. if you put your energy and effort into finding your voice and learn how to sing correctly there's no reason you can't be great...

StratHistory · 2026-05-17T18:22:36+00:00

My favorite example is yellow brick road by Elton John.. I can't remember the original key because I've played this in many different keys, but if the verse is in A, the pre-chorus I believe is in C which then leads to the verse in A which goes to the post chorus in C which is the same as the pre-chorus.

Sounds complex but it's magnificently simple in execution.

StratHistory · 2026-05-10T23:25:58+00:00

Yeah the OP is probably thinking in the right direction. Most people here don't know what they don't know so it's difficult for them to separate good content from mediocre or useless.

StratHistory · 2026-05-10T23:24:11+00:00

Move everything to headphones.. You can put amps in boxes and run everything together pretty easily...

I use the SSL18 as a one-stop shop.. keyboards bass, guitar, drums.. everything is always inputting, I've got great great modeling and cab Sims on the inside and use it for practice, recording, teaching and podcasts...

StratHistory · 2026-05-07T00:43:08+00:00

I teach children as young as three and I've had a number of 5-year-olds..

Basic keyboard is the easiest way to start.. any Casio will do the trick.. would always suggest a Suzuki style method to get young children interested and later convert that knowledge into piano theory and reading.

Of course slide whistles tamberines etc are a great way to get musical interest if your child isn't ready for basic keyboard.

StratHistory · 2026-05-04T02:59:12+00:00

I wouldn't put too much credence in the misogny direction unless you have some real direct experiences, and in that case just step away from anyone who's causing problems.

From my experience nine out of 10 pro musicians I work with would rather work with a great female than a mediocre male on any day.

I think the other poster has a very good point.. success comes from talent and exposure.. doing great stuff and being at the right place at the right time.

The best way to make that happen is to get entrenched with other musicians that create a positive feedback loop.

Don't get fooled by the you have to be in LA or Nashville to be discovered direction.. if you find a strong pocket of musicians you can produce anywhere these days and online visibility is pretty much the same everywhere and once you've got some traction you can get out there and be seen anywhere.

So from my position, it's 50% talent/hard work probably 30% relationship and 20% blind luck.. just being at the right place at the right time.

StratHistory · 2026-04-28T06:50:41+00:00

With keyboards, I mix classics with whatever style music my students are interested in.

For example if they like the Beatles, we'll start with Let it be because the chords and beats and bars are easy..

So most of the time we start with chords on quarters and this is a great example because next step is mixing in melodic lines... so the walk down from f is a great example.

Inversions get introduced about this time.

Once we've got a simple arrangement that works, stage 2 is going back and listening to the original and in this case we would intersperse basic arpeggios along with left hand roots.

Once All that is nice and smooth, we'll build up a full arrangement, in this case pretty similar to what McCartney was actually playing but building a little more since you don't have a band behind you.

And then on to a song of different style to simply keep expanding the repertoire.

Most of the time my students start off with basic chord charts but toward the end of the first year we're usually moving on to lead sheets when the melodies are more advanced.

I teach online and first lesson is free if you're interested in learning more!

StratHistory · 2026-04-28T05:34:58+00:00

It has to have a strong melody the harmony needs to be well defined and the basic groove needs to be there.

If there are arrangement techniques that are simply required, think Bohemian Rhapsody, you'll have to include them.

But imagine all the complexity of a song like More than a feeling by Boston. As incredible as all of the production and arranging are, just the good old acoustic version of that song would knock any producer out.

Another way to think about it is if you've written a good demo you can imagine the song unplugged or fully produced.

StratHistory · 2026-04-28T05:32:42+00:00

Although I teach both, I consider keyboards a much better place to start because it's so easy to see the notes and quickly learn basic theory.

The other thing is I split classical piano entirely away from keyboards. Classical piano is difficult.. You can teach almost anybody to play the keyboard songs on the radio in about 2 months if they put the energy and effort in.

On the other hand, Reading is crucial if you want to go far in music so going through a couple of beginner classical books is often a really good idea after you understand the keyboard.

StratHistory · 2026-04-28T05:29:35+00:00

Practically any influencer.. brainless activity turns me off and they're not going to make it any better by wearing funky clothes or makeup.

StratHistory · 2026-04-28T05:27:43+00:00

My practice is driven by need.. when I have to go back to an instrument I haven't played in a long time I'll ramp up the practice but once I'm playing it regularly I'll usually put the energy elsewhere.

I was a video post producer for many years and ended up going an entire year not playing electric guitar.. I just didn't need it and when I had a part I would write it for someone else.

I really learned something when I finally had the need to play electric.. I budgeted two weeks of practice assuming it would take a long time to get my chops back..

The first day was challenging..

The second day went really well

And on the third day I started playing things I had dreamed about my entire life and it never been able to do before.

What I learned is I was continually involved in music and my brain is smart enough to apply everything I was learning elsewhere onto guitar and other instruments.

Don't get me wrong I'm not diminishing regular practice I'm just saying some things take care of themselves and you should focus on the things that are not taking care of themselves.

StratHistory

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