Thanksgiving Roundup: Melody Deep-Dives, Updated "Search" Page, & Vidami Discount

Nov 28, 2024

My friends! Here's a grab-bag update, showing off a handful of things I've been working on over the past couple weeks. If you're reading this on Thanksgiving – I hope you & yours have a great day!

Last week I finally completed a re-write of my Search page, which now includes course lessons in the results, along with my weekly lessons. This means your routine searches on my site are much more likely to include what you’re looking for! Here’s a tour showing it off:

Website Update: New Video Tour

One other improvement I made the past week was updating my video tour, showing folks around Song Notes Premium. Whether or not you’re currently a member, this video shows you around and lets you know what’s included with Premium membership.

My previous video tour was 2 years old and had a ton of things missing, given how much I’ve added in the past couple years. So – I wanted to make this updated version. Check it out below!

Vidami Holiday Sale - Save 20%!

My friends at Vidami have shared a 20% discount code for you fine folks in the Song Notes audience – which is SongNotes20. Apply that code if you’re buying a Vidami pedal before December 31, 2024 and you’ll save 20%!

If you missed my prior video showcasing the Vidami pedals, check it out below. Their pedals allow you to control YouTube hands-free… meaning you can pause, rewind, loop, and even slow down videos all without touching your mouse or keyboard.

Order your Vidami pedal here – and remember to use the coupon code SongNotes20 to save 20%

PDF Updates: Melody Deep-Dive Lessons

I recently did some PDF clean-up on a few of my lessons where I do melody deep-dives into popular songs. Specifically, I show the process of figuring out the exact notes being sung by the artist — and how we can write these up in tab form, along with the chords to the song.

Being able to play a song’s melody is helpful in many ways:

  • If you’re interested in singing, you can use these notes for reference — and adjust your vocal pitch accordingly.
  • If you’re interested in melodic improvising, it’s never a bad idea to start by learning a song’s melody note by note… and from there you can add melodic flourish as you see fit.
  • If you’re working on your scales, whether in open position or in any “box” shape up the neck, song melodies are a great way to put what you’re learning to the test! As practically every song’s melody is built with a single scale, matching whatever key the song is in (e.g. a song in the Key of G will have melody notes that come from the G major scale).

Here’s the lessons I’ve made that focus 100% on melody notes of very popular songs. These are especially helpful to learn because you’re most likely already familiar with the melody. The first two of these lessons have updated PDFs, with some additional annotation to explain things:

And there are plenty other lessons where I include this melody deep-dive as part of my main lesson:

Unlock My Secret Stash!

Gain instant access to my library of 245 print-friendly cheat sheets! Also includes my extended video lessons, jam tracks, courses, and more.

Join Song Notes Premium

Have questions? Watch video tour »

Browse Related Lessons

Click any tag below to view other lessons I've made in that category:

Enjoy My Lessons? Show Your Support!

Most of the lessons on my website are 100% free. If you have the means, please show your support with a tip jar contribution. I put many hours into every lesson — but it only takes you a minute to make a donation. You have my thanks!

Donate

Looking for More Song Lessons?

Featured Courses

Fun & Helpful Tools I've Made

Fret Monster

Interactive fretboard map! See the patterns behind every scale in any key.

View

Capo Captain

An easy way to calculate key & chord combinations, for any capo location!

View

Key Master

See and hear the notes, chords, scales used in each of the most common keys.

View

Blank Tabs

Free PDF templates to download, print, and write out your own guitar tabs!

View

Coming soon is Jambox – which shows all the video jam tracks I've made. It's note quite ready for the spotlight, but check it out if you like!


Subscribe to my YouTube channel

Be sure to never miss a lesson by subscribing on YouTube. I put out 2-3 new videos every week. These include full song lessons, as well as covers, practice tips, behind-the-scenes updates. Thanks!


Recent Lessons

  • December 6, 2024

    "Our House" by Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young

    Let's fingerpick this classic from CSNY! While it's originally a piano-driven song, I came up with a easy-going Key of C arrangement I think you'll enjoy.

  • November 28, 2024

    Thanksgiving Roundup: Improved Search, Vidami Coupon Code, and Melody Deep-Dives

    A collection of website & lesson updates from the past couple weeks, including a 20% discount code for Vidami pedals!

  • November 15, 2024

    "Scarlet Begonias" by Grateful Dead

    Let's dive into the 1974 classic from the Dead, with an acoustic-friendly arrangement using Key of G chords! I also show how you can include the catchy riffs wherever they occur, which is great way to channel the full spirit of this song.

  • November 12, 2024

    Does CAGED Help When Learning Songs?

    A quick audience Q&A video, where I talk about how CAGED helps (or does not help) when learning songs. Featuring the main riff from Scarlet Begonias by the Grateful Dead, which I'll be teaching soon!

  • November 8, 2024

    Rhythm Deep Dive: "Guitar Town" by Steve Earle

    Watch the process of me transcribing the rhtyhm of an incredibly tricky song! All shown in real time, in writing. Featuring "Guitar Town" by Steve Earle.

  • Nov 1, 2024

    Website Tour – November 2024

    A look at the state of the Song Notes website, as of November 2024. I've been working on more than just new lessons... check out the latest updates here!

  • Oct 24, 2024

    "Fast Car" - Strumming & Rhythm Guide!

    I've gotten a ton of emails asking how to strum Fast Car — here's a lesson showing 3 possible approaches! You can strum the whole song using what I teach, or combine this with the fingerstyle riff from lesson #494.

  • October 18, 2024

    CAGED - It's More Than Just Chords!

    Learn how each CAGED shape contains not only a chord, but also an arpeggio, pentatonic, and full diatonic scale! This is a must-know realization that'll level up any practice you do with these shapes.

Browse All Recent Lessons →

← back to homepage