Miles McDonald (@milesmcd1) 's Twitter Profile
Miles McDonald

@milesmcd1

Guitarist 🎸and VFX creator 📸
Providing tips on improvisation, technique, and visual workflows.

ID: 478067351

linkhttp://youtube.com/milesm calendar_today29-01-2012 21:35:21

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Here's a perfect example during the pre chorus of Don't Look Back in Anger. The song is in the key of C with Am relative. To walk us back chromatically to Am we can play G major, followed by E major (our dominant to Am) with a G# in the bass. Then land on Am to get this nice

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I've noticed some shredders will anchor their palm to the bottom of the guitar neck for added stability and control while others let their hand float freely. I'm taking the next few weeks to try the anchoring approach to see if I can improve my technique.

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Bad habits in guitar technique don't usually reveal themselves until you're under tension. That's when you notice bad picking and flying fingers. Get out the metronome and fix those mistakes at slower tempos then bring it back to full speed again.

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I'll usually make a bar of 5/4 in an arrangement if I want the final note or chord to ring out just a little bit longer for dramatic effect. It's especially noticeable at slower tempos naturally.

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Songwriting is a skill that takes practice. Just like improvisation, technique, and theory knowledge have their own separate practice routines.

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A great exercise to help visualize chord progressions fast is to keep your hand in one position on the guitar neck, say aloud the intervals of whichever key you choose, and try to play the corresponding triads. For example, if you choose C major keep your hand around 5th fret

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I had new smoke detectors installed in my apartment after the old ones broke. The new ones are triggered by my fog machine that I use as a hazer to make my light beams visible for music videos. I'll be looking for a new location to record, but here are some of my favorite shots.

I had new smoke detectors installed in my apartment after the old ones broke. The new ones are triggered by my fog machine that I use as a hazer to make my light beams visible for music videos.

I'll be looking for a new location to record, but here are some of my favorite shots.
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I respect the hell out of singers at the opera. They are performaing at an absurdly high level of athleticism and artistry. The breath control, range, acting while singing, and stamina required to pull off a leading role is next level. It's peak human vocal and physical

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When I'm playing a chord progression in a random position on the guitar neck, I'm dialed into where the root interval of that chord is. Then I can surround that note with the 5th and the major or minor 3rd to complete the triad. It takes practice but once you work your way

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Recording some ads for Melodic Mind Map. A quote by Alex Hormozi: "Whichever likenesses you choose to use, if it’s not you, the business becomes less dependent on you and therefore more sellable. You also may just be an ugly son of a gun. Plus, pretty people convert better

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‘Billie Jean’ feels both funky and mysterious right? A lot of funk grooves rely on 2 modes: Dorian (a happy minor) and Mixolydian (a sad major). In ‘Billie Jean’ the song is in F# Dorian. The secret ingredient is in the G# minor chord (or the ii chord). In a standard minor key,

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Build a repertoire of 4 to 5 songs from popular artists. You don’t need to memorize every tiny detail or nuance of a song, but mainly focus on understanding the core harmonic structure, which is the chord progression and the key intervals that make the song work. For example, I

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When I watch this all I’m thinking about is the amount of deliberate practice time he put in to get this technical. This isn't your average 2-3 hours that a lot of professionals put in daily. This is literally eat, sleep, and practice. An obsession and living proof of what

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You can hear in the garage demo that James is alternate picking the intro. It's a much smoother sound that doesn't have the attack and aggression that downpicking has, which is what made it to the album.

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It takes about 15 minutes a day for 6 to 8 weeks to memorize all the note locations on the fretboard. Once you have it down, you have it forever because it never changes.

It takes about 15 minutes a day for 6 to 8 weeks to memorize all the note locations on the fretboard. Once you have it down, you have it forever because it never changes.