{"id":148144,"date":"2025-07-06T06:00:00","date_gmt":"2025-07-06T13:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/acousticguitar.com\/?p=148144"},"modified":"2025-07-31T10:05:09","modified_gmt":"2025-07-31T17:05:09","slug":"contrast-comping-fretting-ear-training-and-neck-issues-teaching-artist-june-recap","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/acousticguitar.com\/contrast-comping-fretting-ear-training-and-neck-issues-teaching-artist-june-recap\/","title":{"rendered":"Contrast, Comping, Fretting, Ear Training, and Neck Issues | Teaching Artist June Recap"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

The five Acoustic Guitar Teaching Artists\u2014Isa Burke, Lisa Liu, Sean McGowan, Mamie Minch, and Thu Tran\u2014are creating lessons for guitarists just like you, with a new lesson every week. You can unlock access for just $5 a month.<\/a><\/strong> Here\u2019s a recap of all the lessons from June. And there is a lot more to look forward to: interactive hangouts, virtual open mics, and more acoustic guitar expertise!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Thu Tran | How I Play | Rhythmic Contrast<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Thu looks back at a principle from \u201980s and \u201990s pop music and applies it to the acoustic guitar. \u201cContrast can be really useful when you look at how to put a song together on the guitar,\u201d he says. \u201cI\u2019m going to show you two tricks you can use to enhance the contrast in your arrangements.\u201d Start by trying these techniques with Thu\u2019s simple four-chord progression (D\u2013Bm\u2013G\u2013A), then apply them to your own compositions or covers of classic tunes.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

WATCH NOW<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Lisa Liu | How I Play | Add Variety to Comping with Side-Stepping <\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

In this lesson, Lisa\u2019s approach to comping involves shifting chords a half step above or below their usual position to create tension and motion. By stepping outside the chord progression, she adds harmonic interest and surprise to her rhythm playing. Using a B-flat jazz-blues progression as her foundation, Lisa demonstrates how much expression and sophistication this simple idea can unlock.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

WATCH NOW<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Sean McGowan | How I Play | Add Texture and Color with Extended Fretting<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Sean demonstrates how to use a picking finger along with your fretting hand to play very low and very high notes at the same time\u2014unlocking colorful cluster chords in the process. \u201cWhen I was learning fingerstyle guitar, right-hand tapping was a very common technique,\u201d he says. \u201cAnd while I loved the way it opened up sonic possibilities, there was something about it that I found a little jarring at times.\u201d To avoid the abrupt, percussive sound of a tap, he uses his picking hand to both fret and pluck notes. After you\u2019ve explored the TAB for this lesson, try experimenting with extended fretting techniques of your own.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

WATCH NOW<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Mamie Minch | My Workbench | Diagnose Neck Issues<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Neck trouble is one of the most common\u2014and confusing\u2014guitar problems. In this video, filmed on location at Mamie\u2019s workbench at Brooklyn Lutherie, she walks through how to recognize and talk about issues that might be affecting your instrument. It\u2019s important to try to understand what\u2019s going on with your guitar, and if it\u2019s experiencing trouble, having the language to describe the problem can make all the difference in getting it back into shape. So keep that in mind as Mamie discusses a few typical neck issues\u2014and remember to pay attention to your instrument. It may be telling you something!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

WATCH NOW<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Isa Burke | How I Learn | Ear Training: Chords from a Melody <\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

What if you could figure out the chords to a song just by listening to the melody? Isa walks you through how to do exactly that, using the old tune \u201cNew Five Cents\u201d as an example. She begins by playing the melody, then explains how to pick up on the clues that lead you to the right chords. Understanding not only how each chord sounds but how it functions in context is key. Though this lesson focuses on traditional fiddle tunes, the approach applies to learning any song by ear.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

WATCH NOW<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Click here to see more AGTA lessons<\/a><\/strong>. Your $5\/month support unlocks access to the full archive of lessons, plus the Song of the Month<\/a><\/strong> (TAB and notation) and monthly live workshop<\/a><\/strong> archives, too.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The five Acoustic Guitar Teaching Artists are creating lessons for guitarists just like you, with a new lesson every week. Here’s a recap of all the TA activity from June.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":148151,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"advanced_seo_description":"The five Acoustic Guitar Teaching Artists are creating lessons for guitarists just like you, with a new lesson every week. Here's a recap of all the TA activity from June.","jetpack_seo_html_title":"","jetpack_seo_noindex":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[2],"tags":[],"ppma_author":[1542],"class_list":["post-148144","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-lessons"],"blocksy_meta":[],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/acousticguitar.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/07\/AGTA-JUNE.jpg?fit=900%2C506&ssl=1","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"authors":[{"term_id":1542,"user_id":2,"is_guest":0,"slug":"joeystringletter-com","display_name":"Joey Lusterman","avatar_url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/d62788a8fb3719a625c95a649fc05b0d673d8921c9f2491f0a36cc588ee3c452?s=96&d=mm&r=g","author_category":"","user_url":"","last_name":"Lusterman","first_name":"Joey","job_title":"","description":"Opinionated creative slash beginning guitarist. Joey has worked in every department at Acoustic Guitar<\/em> in the past 10+ years: front desk, ad sales, editorial, sound guy, camera man, booth babe, email coder, podcast editor, photographer, book designer\u2026"}],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/acousticguitar.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/148144","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/acousticguitar.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/acousticguitar.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/acousticguitar.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/acousticguitar.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=148144"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/acousticguitar.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/148144\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":148413,"href":"https:\/\/acousticguitar.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/148144\/revisions\/148413"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/acousticguitar.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/148151"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/acousticguitar.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=148144"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/acousticguitar.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=148144"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/acousticguitar.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=148144"},{"taxonomy":"author","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/acousticguitar.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/ppma_author?post=148144"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}