August 2026 Challenge Response – Michael L

[Michael L]

It took me weeks to figure out how to approach this challenge. I have plenty of weak points in my playing, but how to give it focus and relevance was lost to me. It occurred to me at some point that the D-shape of the CAGED system was a bit shadowy for me, so I went with that. I picked a track and started noodling around the D-shape. I also realized that I’ve been wanting to be more proficient with adding harmonization to my leads, so I added in some of that. Of course I’m always working on phrasing, too.

Here’s a largely improvised lead over the track from EP229. It’s a country waltz, in the key of C. Harmonically it’s pretty simple so hitting chord tones was not too tricky, and I became much more comfortable with this area of the fretboard in the process. It was fun to create some melodies and toss in some harmonization, and I kept it short this month.

[JoeD1]

Very nicely done Michael. I think you’ve got the D shape down pat!

Joe

The sight of a touch, or the scent of a sound,
Or the strength of an Oak with roots deep in the ground.
--Graeme Edge

[sciencefiction]

No difficulty detected here, Michael. This looked and sound great. Very nice improvisation, also. You work is always so very highly original. I kept looking for you using that elusive D chord shape coming into play, but just couldn’t see it. Maybe the double stop–Ha, what do I know?
Larry

[Don Patton jr]

Hi Michael,
Some great improv using caged D shapes ! Melody and harmony blended very well ..well done 👍🎶🙂

Don P

[Author]

Posts