I had another one of those “light bulb” theory moments while working on one of my original songs. I realized the melody starts on the 3rd of the home chord, not the root. When the chord changes, the melody often lands on the 3rd of the new chord too. Once I noticed that, it suddenly made sense why a bass line centered around the roots sounds so solid: it isn’t copying the melody; it’s giving it a harmonic foundation! The bigger realization for me was about songwriting. I’ve always tended to hear melodies first, then tried to figure out what chords belonged underneath them. I think I’d been unconsciously assuming the melody note was the root of the chord—and sometimes getting frustrated because the harmony didn’t sound right. Now, instead of asking, “What chord has this melody note as the root?” I’ll be asking, “Could this note be the root, the 3rd, or the 5th of the chord I’m hearing?” Brian Kelly of Zombie Guitar added another useful insight when I shared this: a melody can move between chord tones with very little movement, sometimes staying on the same note or moving just a half step as the chord changes. It doesn’t have to follow roots from chord to chord, or even thirds from chord to chord. That added another piece for me: the melody note’s role can change even when the note itself doesn’t. I know there are other possibilities beyond roots, thirds, and fifths, and more than one harmony can fit a melody. But this gives me a much better starting point for finding the sound I’m hearing instead of forcing the wrong chord underneath it. Anyone else have a theory realization that suddenly explained something you’d already been doing by ear?

If this isn't allowed please remove it and notify me thank you! I just wanted to introduce myself! I'm 42 located in Central Kentucky. I've been a musician since age nine. Married and have 4 boys, 2 biological 2 bonus. I play bass, drums, and mainly guitar! Even try to sing a little... I've performed semi-professionally and even with my local church. I'm currently in school working toward my degree in Music Production through the LA Film School graduating in December! Proud to be here and have a lot more content planned to come out in the near future! I hope to gain some experience here and make friends and even review some awesome products honestly! Hopefully This grasps the who I am and I can make some peers here! Hope everyone is blessed! THANK YOU~

I finally got the chance to share my vintage guitars. The acoustic has severe fret wear so it’s difficult to play (plus I’m terrible with acoustic guitar😅) and I’m not much of a bassist, but I tried.

when i first discovered the voicings that were available in DADGAD when approaching my fingerings from over the top. this was the 3rd song that i wrote.. and little half bends on the "B" string are also very easy from this hand position. also using a 4 string capo ( i had to cut it off LOL) SO WHO ARE YOU NOW???

Video claims only Ernie Ball, Elixir, and D'Addario have their own wire mills and make their own strings, everyone else is buying from them and rebrands. Note that I didn't verify the claims, just thought it was interesting. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lfKabPqEqqU