Uploaded May 2024 | Updated September 2026, 2 weeks ago
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My new book is now out! The Chord Progression Codex: tinyurl.com/yytbhyvh
Here's some common sense tips that I endorse that should help you along your path to becoming a competent and confident composer, songwriter, or producer. I don't do advice videos often but there's a lot of things I wanted to get across here that my average video doesn't have room for. Hopefully you find it helpful!
A special thank you to my lovely Patreon supporters. They are why this channel exists, still! Join them here if you like - we do live Q+As once a month and also the occasional special lesson or live composing stream.
patreon.com/signalsmusicstudio
Table of contents:
00:00 Intro
00: 37 Tip 1 - Practice Songwriting As A Skill (not a talent)
01:55 Tip 2 - Start Recording (If you haven't already!)
02:38 Tip 3- Don't Worry About Unfinished Tracks...
03:13 Tip 4 -... But Make Yourself Finish A Track!
04:05 Tip 5 - Deeply Analyze Your Favorite Music
05:03 Tip 6 - Criticize Your OWN Music
05:30 Tip 7 - Know Your Own Tastes
06:45 Tip 8 - Find Good, Trustworthy Feedback
07:25 Tip 9 - Ego and Songwriting
08:24 Tip 10 - Why You Should Learn Basic Theory
09:24 Tip 11 - Learn About Other Instruments
10:35 Tip 12 - Find Collaborators
11:25 Tip 13 - Embrace Technology
12:54 Tip 14 - Inspiration
13:38 Tip 15 - Write Music For Yourself
14:23 BONUS TIP!!!!
Like my shirt? Beardstank made it! Buy one from him here: https://shorturl.at/WEwYr
My theory and songwriting course: tinyurl.com/yv7uxjre
My new book is now out! The Chord Progression Codex: tinyurl.com/yytbhyvh
Here's some common sense tips that I endorse that should help you along your path to becoming a competent and confident composer, songwriter, or producer. I don't do advice videos often but there's a lot of things I wanted to get across here that my average video doesn't have room for. Hopefully you find it helpful!
A special thank you to my lovely Patreon supporters. They are why this channel exists, still! Join them here if you like - we do live Q+As once a month and also the occasional special lesson or live composing stream.
patreon.com/signalsmusicstudio
Table of contents:
00:00 Intro
00: 37 Tip 1 - Practice Songwriting As A Skill (not a talent)
01:55 Tip 2 - Start Recording (If you haven't already!)
02:38 Tip 3- Don't Worry About Unfinished Tracks...
03:13 Tip 4 -... But Make Yourself Finish A Track!
04:05 Tip 5 - Deeply Analyze Your Favorite Music
05:03 Tip 6 - Criticize Your OWN Music
05:30 Tip 7 - Know Your Own Tastes
06:45 Tip 8 - Find Good, Trustworthy Feedback
07:25 Tip 9 - Ego and Songwriting
08:24 Tip 10 - Why You Should Learn Basic Theory
09:24 Tip 11 - Learn About Other Instruments
10:35 Tip 12 - Find Collaborators
11:25 Tip 13 - Embrace Technology
12:54 Tip 14 - Inspiration
13:38 Tip 15 - Write Music For Yourself
14:23 BONUS TIP!!!!
![Riffing With Modes #1: Writing with Major/Ionian [Rock/Prog style]](https://i.ytimg.com/vi/gbNLhx2eCXs/mqdefault.jpg "Riffing With Modes #1: Writing with Major/Ionian [Rock/Prog style]
The Chord Progression Codex is NOW AVAILABLE! https://shorturl.at/bouLV
My pro theory + songwriting course: https://bit.ly/2J2Nctn
Enroll in my Rhythm Training Course at ANY price! https://bit.ly/3wDacU4
I posted a video on how I wrote the solo (at 16:52) with tabs at my Patreon: https://bit.ly/35Ll3x1
Riffing with Modes part 2- Dorian Dad Rock:https://youtu.be/_r6ftqp1bkA
This is the first of a seven part series on how to write riffs. Every guitarist should be able to make a decent riff, and throughout these videos, I’ll be demonstrating the strategies and techniques I use to writing music on the guitar.
Each video will focus on a different mode of major, but will not always be totally limited to that key. In the case of this video, we perform a relative modulation by resolving to the vi chord for long enough to make it feel like our new tonal center. In future videos, we’ll build on the skills we learned before and explore new possibilities.
To fully understand this video you’ll want to know the following topics-
Major Scale + Chords: https://youtu.be/M8eItITv8QA
Seventh Chords: https://youtu.be/3JizNRwHYNY
Suspended Chords Pt 1: https://youtu.be/qu49nYaBfdM
This video is brought to you by an incredible subsection of the human race known as MY PATREON SUBSCRIBERS. I owe them my thanks for their support, and so do you if you learned something from this video! You can join them here:
www.patreon.com/signalsmusicstudio
Special thanks to the following members:
Adam Granger
Billyshes
Bradley Bower
Brandon Combs
BuzzWasHere
Christopher Swanson
CrippleMonkey
Daniel Danciu
Darrin Goren
Don Dachenhausen III
Don Watters
Erik Lange
Joe Buote
John Arnold
jon reddish
Kip Ingram
Linas Orentas
Lord of the Chords Live on Indiegogo Now!
Marc Bulandr
Marek Pawlowski
Markos Zouganelis
Martin
Morgan M.
Nick White
Patrick Ryan
Philip Sharp
Table of Contents:
00:00 Intro
01:33 Riffing in Major Basics
02:12 Constructing a Major Riff
04:15 Expanding your Major Riff
06:51 Spicing Up the Rhythm
09:35 Next Steps
10:20 Repackaging your Major Riff
11:06 Adding a B Section
14:36 Happy Rhythmic Accidents
16:25 Finished Product!
17:23 Closing Notes")
![DORIAN SCALE - The 2nd mode of Major [MUSIC THEORY]](https://i.ytimg.com/vi/hyZPcYf1Pe4/mqdefault.jpg "DORIAN SCALE - The 2nd mode of Major [MUSIC THEORY]
The Chord Progression Codex is NOW AVAILABLE! https://shorturl.at/bouLV
My pro theory + songwriting course https://bit.ly/2J2Nctn
Enroll in my Rhythm Training Course at ANY price! https://bit.ly/3wDacU4
You can support these lessons at my Patreon: https://bit.ly/2zFwzOO
This info is all found on my Ultimate Modal Poster: https://teespring.com/signals-ultimate-modal-poster
Pre-requisite videos:
Scale degrees(https://bit.ly/2wVLiBA) and Major (https://bit.ly/2MVmKmd)
The jam track I use in this video can be found here https://youtu.be/JFte7QHCC18 - It is available free to all of my Patreon subscribers.
A special thank you to Linas Orentas and Marek Pawlowski for their generous support!
The dorian mode is the 2nd mode of major, and for a long time I didnt really understand how to use dorian or what it was for. In this video, I want to teach you the basics behind how its built, how it relates to major and minor, and also how to build its chords. From there we will take a look at some examples of the i-IV change and how different artists use it, as well as general musings on dorian as it relates to the guitar.
https://www.twitter.com/signals_music
https://www.facebook.com/signalsmusicstudio
https://www.signalsmusicstudio.com
Free online guitar lessons for beginners, intermediate, and advanced players. Located in Crystal Lake, Jake Lizzio provides free jam tracks and video lessons for guitar players, as well as music theory videos and other music education content.
Table of Contents:
00:00 Intro
00:51 Building Dorian
03:30 Feeling Dorian
06:08 Song Examples
07:54 Dorian Vs. Minor
09:36 Wrapping Up")
![7 MODES - 7 MUSICIANS - 7 STYLES [DEMO + LESSON]](https://i.ytimg.com/vi/i7ByTjkRJFY/mqdefault.jpg "7 MODES - 7 MUSICIANS - 7 STYLES [DEMO + LESSON]
The Chord Progression Codex is NOW AVAILABLE! https://shorturl.at/bouLV
My pro theory + songwriting course https://bit.ly/2J2Nctn
Enroll in my Rhythm Training Course at ANY price! https://bit.ly/3wDacU4
All the charts in this video come from my ULTIMATE MODAL POSTER: https://bit.ly/2zhk9JV
If you want to support this channel on Patreon:https://bit.ly/2zFwzOO
This video is a lightning-fast tour through all 7 parallel modes of C Major. Your guides will 7 musicians, including:
Aimee Nolte- Jazz performer and teacher extraordinaire. Get her lessons and PDFs here https://aimeenolte.com/
Or watch her YouTube videos here: https://www.youtube.com/user/NolteFam
Mike Muggli- Music Teacher, Choir Director, Composer, Good Friend and Living Synthesizer. Hear his music here: https://soundcloud.com/moog-lee
and his YT here:https://bit.ly/2KQdDR6
Rob Napholz- Drummer, Bassist, Guitarist, Former student. Hear his projects at https://soundcloud.com/rabnopz and also https://www.facebook.com/willorlykband
Joe Mills- Guitarist, Entrepreneur, Automotive enthusiast. Like cars? Click here! https://www.youtube.com/user/PartsProCenters/videos
Roger Reupert- Can play anything that is brass. All around class act! http://www.rogerreupert.com/about/
BeardStank - The one and only Jeff Schwertfeger. Check out his tunes as MOIST CLOWN https://moistclown.bandcamp.com/releases
He also has the only good instagram account https://www.instagram.com/beard_stank/
If you like modes, and you like leads, you should enjoy this video. It teaches a bit on how to compose in each mode, and some advice on how to write leads in each of the parallel modes of major.
It took me a full month to pull this off. Im gonna do my best for the next few months to tone down the work load on these video and try to make some more lessons that dont take so much time.
Ive also posted lots of juicy extras for my Patreon subscribers to reward their infinite patience, including the full mp3 of the song, as well as a version with no leads so you can try it out for yourself. Also the tabs/pdf for the Major solo, and a pdf/music chart for the entire jams rhythm track.
For all you freaks out there, Im sorry the Locrian section is so short!
THANKS SO MUCH TO MY PATREON SUBSCRIBERS, including the following AMAZING folks:
Linas Orentas
Joe Buote
Nick White
Patrick Ryan
Christopher Swanson
John Arnold
Jon Reddish
Brandon Combs
Sebastian
Morgan M.
Lord of the Chords
Billyshes
Phillip Sharp
Don Watters
Bradley Bower
Marek Pawlowski
www.signalsmusicstudio.com
Table of Contents:
00:00 Intro
00:56 Major
01:43 Dorian
02:50 Phrygian
03:31 Lydian
04:09 Mixolydian
04:59 Minor/Aeolian
06:15 Locrian
06:47 Seven Modes, Seven Musicians
09:43 Wrapping Up")
![Lydian + 7/4 = Writing Dreamy Instrumental Prog Rock [RIFFING WITH MODES #4]](https://i.ytimg.com/vi/i7X4YAoHEow/mqdefault.jpg "Lydian + 7/4 = Writing Dreamy Instrumental Prog Rock [RIFFING WITH MODES #4]
The Chord Progression Codex is NOW AVAILABLE! https://shorturl.at/bouLV
My pro theory + songwriting course: https://bit.ly/2J2Nctn
Enroll in my Rhythm Training Course at ANY price! https://bit.ly/3wDacU4
Skip to 19:13 to hear the dreamy lydian grooves.
If you like Lydian you will LOVE my ultimate modal poster: https://bit.ly/2URf0Ex
Mp3 and Tabs at my Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/posts/34465055/
This is a demonstration and lesson on how to exploit the Lydian mode’s properties and features in order to create dreamy prog rock riffs and sections. We explore several ideas outside of Lydian, including writing in 7/4, polymeter, line clichés, and more.
To learn the basics of Lydian, check my lesson here: https://youtu.be/Ou_Z9ol8r0I
This is part four of a series. The other episodes are found here:
Ionian: https://youtu.be/gbNLhx2eCXs
Dorian: https://youtu.be/_r6ftqp1bkA
Phrygian: https://youtu.be/cSSAJ0goWiE
My patreon supporters make these videos possible. I post extra lessons for them there, as well as tabs and pdf’s for ALL members. Special thanks to the following:
Adam Granger
Billyshes
Bradley Bower
Brandon Combs
BuzzWasHere
Christopher Swanson
CrippleMonkey
Daniel Danciu
Darrin Goren
Don Dachenhausen III
Don Watters
Erik Lange
Joe Buote
John Arnold
jon reddish
Kip Ingram
Linas Orentas
Lord of the Chords Live on Indiegogo Now!
Marc Bulandr
Marek Pawlowski
Markos Zouganelis
Martin
Morgan M.
Nick White
Patrick Ryan
Philip Sharp
Stephen Marz
You can join them here: www.patreon.com/signalsmusicstudio
Table of Contents:
00:00 Intro
01:05 Doing More With 7/4
02:01 Finding Your Rhythm, Scale Key and Shape Patterns
04:03 Tone and Timbre
04:42 Layering: Building the Lydian Cloud
07:06 Giant Power Chords
07:39 Finding a Motif
08:34 Introducing the Riff
09:05 Making a Riff From Our Motif
09:46 Using a Line Cliche
10:44 Supporting the Line Cliche
12:30 Bringing In a Lead
13:44 Key Modulation
15:47 Writing a Solo
16:53 Modulating Back To Your Original Key
17:53 Composing an Outro
19:13 Lotus Latus (Full Composition)
21:45 Wrap-Up")
![Classical Gas on a $60 Guitar in Audacity SOUNDS GOOD! [TABS / PRODUCTION / PERFORMANCE]](https://i.ytimg.com/vi/ixr9z0xNWpE/mqdefault.jpg "Classical Gas on a $60 Guitar in Audacity SOUNDS GOOD! [TABS / PRODUCTION / PERFORMANCE]
The Chord Progression Codex is NOW AVAILABLE! https://shorturl.at/bouLV
My pro theory + songwriting course https://bit.ly/2J2Nctn
Enroll in my Rhythm Training Course at ANY price! https://bit.ly/3wDacU4
Free Tab + Music (PDF): https://bit.ly/2MizhQ8
(ASCII / TXT): https://bit.ly/2MTM08d
Neelys Vid:https://youtu.be/tzJ_Irn0f9o
Classical Gas is one of my favorite songs, it was one of the earliest songs I fell in love with when I started playing fingerstyle. Ive seen many incorrect transcriptions so hopefully this tab makes things a bit more clear for anyone who wants to tackle this awesome Mason Williams track.
Thank you to Patreon supporter Linas Orentas for supporting these videos! https://bit.ly/2zFwzOO
https://www.twitter.com/signals_music
https://www.facebook.com/signalsmusicstudio
https://www.signalsmusicstudio.com
Free online guitar lessons for beginners, intermediate, and advanced players. Located in Crystal Lake, Jake Lizzio provides free jam tracks and video lessons for guitar players, as well as music theory videos and other music education content.
Table of Contents:
00:00 Classical Gas
02:19 Intro
02:45 The Gear Used
03:34 How I Used Audacity
06:49 Wrapping Up")
![How to write Chords and Songs in Minor [Songwriting Basics / Music Theory]](https://i.ytimg.com/vi/j-j4g0ktPGw/mqdefault.jpg "How to write Chords and Songs in Minor [Songwriting Basics / Music Theory]
The Chord Progression Codex is NOW AVAILABLE! https://shorturl.at/bouLV
My pro theory + songwriting course https://bit.ly/2J2Nctn
Enroll in my Rhythm Training Course at ANY price! https://bit.ly/3wDacU4
A crash course in writing with the Minor scale.
There is an error at 7:08 and 8:20. The # sign is missing from the F!
Like this video? Thank my Patreon subscribers for sponsoring these lessons! Theyre the reason you dont see ads or sponsorships in the middle of my videos. You can join them here:
www.patreon.com/signalsmusicstudio
https://www.twitter.com/signals_music
https://www.facebook.com/signalsmusicstudio
https://www.signalsmusicstudio.com
Free online guitar lessons for beginners, intermediate, and advanced players. Located in Crystal Lake, Jake Lizzio provides free jam tracks and video lessons for guitar players, as well as music theory videos and other music education content.
Table of Contents:
00:00 Intro
00:44 Building The Minor Scale
01:28 Building The Chords
02:26 Writing Chord Progressions
04:48 Minors Brighter Side
05:55 MAJOR WARNING
07:00 Dominant Seventh Chords
08:15 Writing With Dominant Chords
08:54 Andalusian Cadence
09:47 More Writing
11:31 The Diminished Chord
12:51 Wrapping Up")
