Johnny A, Andy McKee, 16 things and more

Welcome back to another awesome issue of Six String Sunday. I’ve got some awesome new posts to share with you from Chasing Sound, a new service I’m providing (for free), and lots of other great guitar things from around the internet.

Let’s get into it!

16 things and staying humble — This week started off strong on the site. I had a long flight from the US to Canada, so I broke out my iPad and I wrote 16 ways to get better on guitar right now. From practicing a new technique every day, not practicing bad habits, buying new pedals and more, there’s sure to be a technique you can try in there.

Later in the week I put up a story of when I got to meet the legendary Les Paul, and the lesson that he taught me, just weeks before he would pass away. In the current day and age of guitarists “competing” online, sometimes it takes someone from the old school to put what we’re doing back into perspective.

​Ask me anything — I teased this last week on Six String Sunday, but this week Ask Me Anything is live. If you didn’t catch it last week, every Thursday I’m answering questions about guitar or music.

All you have to do is email Brian@ChasingSound.com and I’ll try and get you a good answer by the weekend. Send me your guitar, music, recording, practice and other questions! I’ve already had some good questions come through, and if I see something being asked enough, I’ll turn it into a post for the site.

​Deliberate practice — I was recently reading this post from James Clear, and I had to share it with Chasing Sound readers. James talks about deliberate practice, and this is something I harp on all the time.

Rather than sitting down and noodling aimlessly, you should have a practice schedule set up in advance. Here’s my favorite quote from the article: “If you practice with your fingers, no amount is enough. If you practice with your head, two hours is plenty.” How beautiful is that?

​Set a date and stick to it — I was reading another post from author Jeff Goins, and he was talking about writing fast, and often. This way you get a lot of writing done, which makes you better in the long run. One of the other things he talked about was setting a date, and sticking to it.

I remember having to write solos for 2 songs the night before heading into the studio, due to a really last minute recording session. I stayed up all night with the rhythm tracks, and worked my butt off to create 2 of my favorite solos I’ve ever written.

If you want to get better at a technique, or learning a piece of music, set a cutoff date for when you want to learn it. This way, you’ll feel more urgency trying to accomplish that goal in your set time. Try this out, and let me know if it works for you.

​Andy McKee on String Theory — String Theory is a great series from Ernie Ball, that’s already had a lot of great guests on. In their latest episode, they have on amazing acoustic player Andy McKee. If you haven’t heard McKee’s music yet, go remedy that right now.

In his String Theory episode, Andy talks about his influences, what made him fall in love with the guitar, how he enjoys writing in alternate turnings, and lots more.

I’ve been an Ernie Ball user for as long as I can remember. I’m looking to do a review of their Paradigm strings at the beginning of July. Stay tuned!

​Guitar Album of the Week — I remember when Steve Vai started his Favored Nations record label in the 90’s. I started scooping up every artist’s record that he signed. Everyone from Greg Koch to Eric Johnson, and more.

One of the earlier records that came out was called Sometime Tuesday Morning by Johnny A. Johnny’s been out since the 70s and had played in bands until going solo around 2000. Gibson came out with a beautiful Johnny A. signature model that sounds incredible on all of his albums. Equipped with a Bigsby trem system, Johnny’s lines are jazzy, bluesy, and soulful.

Go check out Sometime Tuesday morning, and see how lush his playing sounds. This is an album you can put on for your friends who “don’t get” how an album can just be all guitar without a vocalist. Johnny’s guitar lines are so vocal, they’re super memorable. Check out the album, and let me know what you think.

That’s about it for now. Thanks for reading, and have a great week!

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If you have any questions or comments, you can reply to this post, let me know on Twitter, or by posting in our Facebook group. I also have a fun Instagram channel where I post fun guitar pictures throughout the week.

Brian Sutich is a guitar player, audio engineer, podcaster, teacher, and hockey fan! He loves learning, helping people, and drinking way too much coffee.