JUNE Challenge Response

[John E]

I thought “what better place to find an interesting two chord progression than here at Active Melody”.
I found EP404 which used the repeating chords E Maj & F#m.
Being very limited on available time to give to this project I opted to cheating a bit.
I recorded the backing track on my Korg keyboard, and used Brian’s original lesson melody (which I loved) as a ‘template’ to solo my way.
If you think this is not acceptable for the challenge because I ‘copied’ an existing work that’s ok by me, I still had a lot of fun playing it!
I’ve had a look at other entries and enjoyed them a lot, so well done to all!

I notice a lot of members are using ‘split screen’ videos. I’d love to be able to that for my videos. Can anyone recommend a software for me to buy please?

regards
John
Youtube link at

[Dieter]

Wow, that`s so melodic and great sound.

Dieter

[Ruediger V]

John This sounds great 🎸🔥
Thank you for sharing it

[Michael Krailo]

Got the Dickey Betts thing going on. Great example how its done.

Go slow and practice correct technique, and your abilities will dramatically improve.

• This reply was modified 3 days, 6 hours ago by Michael Krailo.

[Mike W]

Great sound John – I don’t think it’s cheating. Your lead fitted the backing track perfectly, and sounded terrific. I’m starting to wonder if I misread the challenge – so far I’m the only one that hasn’t made a new backing track.

[JoeD1]

That was a perfect submission John. Well done.

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

[John H]

Well done John. Great choice of lesson to present and played wonderfully. Very smooth, soulful and tasty. Left me wanting a lot more!! Rock on my friend.

John

[Jonathan Amos]

A lovely pair of chords with some tasty electric guitar, just shows that’s all you need sometimes.

I use PowerDirector for my split screen videos. It has taken me many hours to work out how to use the program which means less time playing guitar but the end result is pleasing. Try it if you’re prepared to put in the time. You need a reasonably powerful computer otherwise it runs slowly and crashes.

Jonathan Amos, Matsuyama, Japan

[Martin W]

Nice take on the lesson , those two chords do sound nice together. and adding your own ideas is always a winner , not cheating at all .

Martin

[James B]

Sounds great, John. You played that really well. A lot of us use IMovie. It’s pretty basic but fairly easy to use and free with an iPhone.

James

[Alan L]

Really commanding playing. Great tone, love the groove! Nice work

[Michael L]

Really nice John! Great sound and nice playing. You played that melody with finesse and great feeling.

[Manfred M]

In my opinion, having fun while playing is the most important thing. The joy you have comes through completely in your playing, John. It was very enjoyable!

Take the chance to meet your AM friends on Zoom
The next Meetup will be on July 25, 2026

For more information click here

I look forward to meet you.
Manfred

[JoLa]

You played that wonderfully, John – and definitely not cheated. Getting inspired by any Active Melody lesson or playing it verbatim is always acceptable. There’s a challenge in any approach, so you’re 100% approved! 😉

I don’t think you need to buy any video editing software, there are plenty of free options available, especially if you’re on Apple devices. If you are, iMovie is free and capable of more than you’ll need.

🎸JoLa

[sunjamr]

Excellent solo played with an excellent backing track – who could ask for more?

As for the video software, it depends on whether you are into the Apple ecosystem or the MS/PC ecosystem. Like Jola said, iMovie is included with all Apple devices for free. If you are using a PC, I have used Adobe Premiere Elements, which is cheap and easy to use. Those are probably the two most popular video editing software packages out there. Youtube is full of tutorials explaining every aspect of how they work.

Sunjamr Steve

[AndréM]

EP404 is a great lesson.
Excellent playing.
Well done.

AndréM

AndréM

[Mark T]

Nothing wrong with that submission, John – in fact, I’d say you got everything absolutely right 👏. Really well played rendition of this popular lesson – what’s not to love? – Mark 👍🎶😎

[Bill]

Great sounding submission!

I use iMovie when I do split screen or Picture in Picture to show playing another part. There is more functionality (and more complication) on the MacBook version, but I’ve edited a lot on my phone or iPad.

[David H]

Not acceptable? Hardly, that was wonderful. I think I heard a little I shall be released.

[Author]

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