Michael Ploucha Lesson Page
Song List
Embryonic Journey
Sultans Of Swing
Ten Years Gone
Over The Hills and Far Away
Jumping Jack Flash
Little Martha
You Really Got Me
All Day and All of the Night
Walk This Way
Dear Prudence
You Got The Love
Maxwell's Silver Hammer
Take It Easy
Take Me Home Country Roads
The Boxer
Wild World
5-28-26 Lesson Notes
1. Rhythm - Take the rhythms your working on into your daily life outside of practice. For this week primarily think about the rhythm from the Kinks song, but do this with any and all the rhythms you are learning. Tap it out on the counter, tap your feet to it when you're sitting at the DMV, tap it out on the steering wheel when you drive, find sentences that fit the rhythm and say them repeatedly. Sounds a little wacky, but it will much more quickly get you to internalize rhythms and improve your internal time clock.
2. You Really Got Me - Tracks are below at 4 different speeds, and tuned to be in tune with standard tuning. The original recording is a full quarter step sharp so I dropped. It will sound a lot better playing along with it using this version.
3. Song List - Below are some charts for the songs I sent to you. These are great ones to practice strumming with, so pick one or a couple and start playing with the chord patterns. I added these to the song list above, and we can just keep adding more songs as we go.
5-21-26 Lesson Notes
1. Metronome Ideas - I wrote this in last weeks lesson notes but want to reiterate here. If you start working with the metronome on beats 1 & 3 instead of all 4 beats you will be able to more quickly develop your internal rhythm and improve your time. Also try beats 2 & 4, though this is a little more challenging.
2. Scratching Exercises - Using the 16 practice rhythms sheet, try and start your practice time with some rhythms while muting the strings. This is a good way to warm up your rhythm and will help you focus on rhythm throughout the practice time. I'm not sure if you see it, but I can tell that your rhythm has already made great improvement since we started working together, so I hope that you feel encouraged by that to keep working on it.
3. Note Location - I'm glad we took the time to go through this yesterday, because I was very impressed that you've made it as far as you have. Keep up with what you've been doing, just try and make the one adjustment we talked about so that you are playing it in time. As a reminder I demonstrated how I do the exercise playing each note as a quarter note except the last string, which I hold for the remainder of the measure. That would make each time through the 6 strings (up or down) 8 beats, or two full measures.
4. Pentatonics & Bending Exercise - The new pentatonic sheet is attached below. It shows all 5 positions for major and minor. You may notice that the only difference between the major and minor diagrams is the interval names. The shapes are all the same, just which note is your tonal center, or home note changes. Try shape 2 like we talked about, just running it without worrying about rhythm at first, to get the finger pattern down. When that feels comfortable then try applying some of the rhythms we've done to it. Also try the single string pentatonic shapes, major and minor. This is just to help you learn the relationships between the notes of the scale better.
5. You Really Got Me - I thought I'd try something a little different for this song, so I made a short video demonstrating how to play it. Since the riff is repetitive and the same throughout (just shifting to different positions) it's a good one to try and learn mostly by ear and by watching. Video is below, and I want to see how it goes having you learn this one without sheet music. One thing that's a little annoying about this recording is that it is out of tune from standard tuning. This is common with old recordings and I'm not exactly sure why, whether it's from the tape or if they were just tuned a little sharp when they recorded it. But try and learn the part from this video, and we'll spend some time on this song next week.
5/7/26 Lesson
1. Rhythm Suggestions - Two suggestions for improving rhythm 1) practice the rhythms that you use for scales and anything else with your left hand muting the strings. Play the rhythms this way to better feel them internally without having to worry about what your left hand is doing. 2) Play with the metronome beat "frequency". Try practicing with the metronome on ONLY beats 1 & 3 sometimes, as this will force you to keep the time in between and improve your internal sense of rhythm. It's totally ok to set the metronome to the faster subdivisions as well, but try both ways. Changing it up will make you more adaptable and improve your internal rhythm.
2. 16 Practice Rhythms - I added the rhythm sheet below titled "16 Practice Rhythms". Try the scratching exercise mentioned above with some of these rhythms. Remember always to keep your right hand moving down and up with the beats like a pendulum, so you aren't pausing on either side.
3. Bending Exercises - I added the same exercises but in the key of E to the bending exercise worksheet. Hopefully that position makes it a little easier to grab those bends. Updated worksheet is below. Try also doing an exercises where you are working that double stop bend at different parts of the neck to build your strength and finger independence.
4. Embryonic Journey - Below is a recording of the first 8 bars slowed to 70% and looped. I also adjusted the tuning on the recording cause original is a little sharp so this matched better when I played along with it. Hopefully this can help you loop the first bit of it and get it feeling comfortable. Let me know if you want/need it at any slower or faster tempos.
4/30/26 Lesson
1. Practice Routine - The sheet below is something we will keep updating from time to time. Hopefully this can help keep everything we've been working on in mind. I don't have it on this sheet, but feel free to start working the first two measures of Embryonic Journey.
2. Cycling Full Practice Sheets - Just to reiterate what we talked about.. An important next step in your development of rhythmic skills is to practice the exercises from each worksheet like it is a complete piece of music. What I mean by that is don't pause to reorient yourself after you finish one. Move on to the next one seamlessly without missing any beats. That way you'll keep improving your rhythmic skills and will not get into the habit of adding pauses, which can cause some problems down the road.
3. Play The Rests - When doing any rhythmic pattern, really try and "play the rests". This means to approach the rests like you approach the notes, giving them their proper duration, but of silence instead of sound. The rests always frame the notes you play and make them more effective, so getting used to this builds really good habits that will help with making your playing sound cleaner and more precise.
4. Arpeggio Exercise - The new arpeggio exercise is below. Take some time and focus first on the first 4 measures, but once you get the hang of it go ahead and work the whole thing. As always, we'll use this as a starting point to build on so we'll develop this type of exercise to include minor chords and other progressions like we've done with the chord exercises.
4/23/26 Lesson
1. One important thing we talked about this week was internalizing rhythms by tapping them out or playing them without worrying about what notes you are playing. Muting the strings and playing the rhythm on the muted strings is another good way to do it. The idea is to really start to feel the different rhythms so that you no longer need to think about how they sound. You can do this with the rhythms from the two practice rhythms worksheets, but also any other rhythm we've worked on.
2. Below is a new worksheet, which is a series of fingerpicking patterns for you to work on. Start at the beginning and work on #1 til you feel pretty comfortable with the alternating of the the thumb from the 6th to the 4th string. The 2nd and 3rd rhythms are a little more complex, and are the types of patterns that you could apply to many different songs. The 4th rhythm is straight out of "Embryonic Journey" so that is what this series is working up towards. Don't try and do all of them right away, we'll want to slowly work through them and spend enough time to get comfortable with each pattern. As always, pay special attention to rhythm and timing as you practice.
3. Song List - I put the song list you sent me at the top of the page so we can have it in an easy place to reference. If you have any other songs you want to add just send them to me and I'll keep it up to date.
4/16/26 Lesson
1. Bending - I added to the bending sheet with two more exercises. They will probably be a little challenging as there are spots where you have to hold a bend while playing another string. But these are some of the really fun tricks I was showing you during the lesson.
2. Scale Rhythms - The second handout is a new scale rhythm. You’ll notice on this one it’s not just the rhythms, I show on the tabs how to apply it to the pentatonic scale. You can apply the rhythms to the major scale as well. The rhythms just have another 8th rest in them from what we worked on before, so start by trying to tap out the rhythm or play it on one string (like we talked about) and that will help you get the feel of it before trying it on the scale.
3. Oh Darlin - On “Oh Darlin” try and keep the second strum in each measure very short and percussive by letting your fingers up right after you strum. That will create the “chop” sound that we talked about. You can even play with how hard you actually push the strings for that one because you might be surprised how lightly you can touch the strings and still get a sound out of it. That is a feel that develops over time and through experimentation. The important thing is to try and keep that second strum of each measure very short and percussive.
4. Embryonic Journey - We should take a few minutes next lesson to talk about fingerpicking patterns. I’ll be listening and playing through "Embryonic Journey" this week and will try and have an exercise based on that for you next week. I think what we’ll want to do for that song is to start working out the fingerpicking patterns first, and then take it one little piece of the song at a time. We’ll also look at some other songs while we do that because that one is going to be a much bigger task than “Oh Darlin” or some of these other ones you sent.
4/9/26 Lesson
1. Below are some new pdf sheets. The rhythm exercise sheet got a little weird since I've been adding to it as we go, so the new one below has as page 3 the new exercises we talked about yesterday. I'll add to it without adjusting what we've already done in the future, but the sheet below is the full handout with the new page as page 3. On page 3 you'll notice a different strumming pattern. We can go over this next week, but it's a little simpler than the previous pattern so I think it should make sense.
2. One thing we talked about is to try to shift to the new chord position as you do the muting. This is how I get my hand in position for the next chord and can get there quickly.
3. Let's get a song list going for songs you'd enjoy playing. I've got a little list started, but if you have any ideas try to write them down and we can make a playlist that we'll be able to draw from as time goes on.
4. I made a lead sheet for "Oh Darlin". It's attached below. You'll see that it's using chords that we've covered in our rhythm exercises. We aren't going to learn the exact guitar part of the song, but rather use this as a way to improve with these chord shapes and learn about how to follow a lead sheet. There are some notes about the form and strumming on page 2 that may be helpful as you look at this. We'll take a look at it together next week.
4/3/26 Lesson
1. Practice Time Division - Here’s a basic breakdown of how much practice time you should be spending on each area. We haven’t touched on arpeggios yet, but we’ll get there. This is a basic possible breakdown, feel free to keep it flexible and to adjust the times if you have less/more time to practice. This assumes a 60 minute practice session. If you have 30 minutes to practice just try and keep the ratios somewhere close to this as that will keep you progressing in each of these areas.
1) Warm up - 3-5 minutes
2) Scales w/ rhythms - 10-15 minutes (new bending exercise can go here)
3) Chord exercises - 10-15 minutes
4) Songs (just Hide Away for now) - 20-25 minutes
2. Bending Practice - The new bending exercise sheet is below. Try and focus on the first one for this week, but jump to the second one if you want to. Take a look at the notes first and then the rhythm and try to play it in a loop with your metronome, repeating as many times as you want.
3. Chord Rhythm Practice - I’ve added to the chord rhythm sheet and posted the new pages below. These are essentially the second and third page of the previous worksheet.
1) Exercises 3 & 4 incorporate the minor shape we talked about in two different ways.
2) Exercise 5 is specifically for the hammer on pattern we’ve been working on. It moves it into different areas to help you get the hammer on pattern down while doing it on different chords and areas of the neck. If you have any confusion with this just focus on the first part of it and we’ll go over it next week.
3/26/26 Lesson
1. Recording Yourself - Like we spoke about, a good habit to build is making regular recordings of your different practice exercises. It doesn't need to be on a daily basis, but a weekly basis is a great way to track your progress. It can be just a short recording of you running through what you are working on. This gives you the ability to hear what you sound like, and to come back to older recordings to hear how much you've improved over time. It can also help you to critique yourself and notice areas where you'd like to improve. However, don't be too critical. I've allowed myself to be discouraged before and that isn't helpful. The goal is to be objective and to track progress.
2. Rhythm Guitar Exercise - The new worksheet that we went over shows the next steps in our progression from learning the key triad shapes to applying them in a context that is much closer to how you'd use them in a song. I've attached that worksheet below. Just like you did in the lesson when we first looked at it, try applying the same idea to the other shapes, moving from the 4 to the 5 by sliding the shape up a whole step and then settle into the new position on the 1 chord. We're building up the connections between areas and you picked up on this right away which is fantastic.
3. Strumming Chords - The issue you brought up with chord strumming is a great place for you to use a recording to get a real sense of what it sounds like when you strum in different ways. Try to strum quickly to get all the notes to sound out together, but try to do it at a moderate volume with your pick angled away from the strings. This will allow you to strum with the speed required to get the notes to sound out strongly together but without it being overly loud or aggressive sounding.
4. Hide Away - You mentioned you were moving forward with the next section of the song, so let's circle back to that next week and take a look at how it's going. Keep coming back to that difficult section at the end of the first 12 bars a little each time you practice. It will keep getting more comfortable if you keep with it.
5. As for the rest of your practice routine, I can tell that it's working well and you are making progress and getting more comfortable. Keep up with the note location and scales as we've been doing, and we'll build on this more in the coming weeks. Keep up the great work!
3/19/26 Lesson
1. Note Location - Keep up with this to open your practice time. 2 keys (G & D) for now.
2. Scales - Keep working on those rhythms with the G major scale shapes. If you feel like it's too much to try all 4 of the different positions while trying to keep track of the rhythms, try focusing on that one shape to memorize the different rhythms and then it will be easier to apply them to the different shapes.
3. Rhythm Guitar - play with the idea we talked about regarding string muting. This is the main way that you can clean up the sound of your rhythm playing. Let your fingers gently touch the strings next to them to stop them from sounding out, and then you can use your thumb or an unused finger to hang over the 6th string. That way you can strum all 6 strings with a full strum and you'll only hear the notes you want to hear. It takes some time to get used to the feel of this, but once you get comfortable with it you won't have to worry about getting notes that you don't want sounding out. Stay loose in your strumming hand and angle the pick as you strum, gently rotating your wrist away from the direction you are strumming.
4. Chords - Stick with the chords we've been working on, those triad shapes are going to be very useful going forward. Set up a cycle where you can try strumming them in a repetitive pattern. That way you are setting yourself up to play them in a song situation. Work on the hammer on pattern that we talked about with the G chord with the barre hammering on to C. Move it around the neck if you want, this will give you the feel of it in different areas.
5. Hide Away - Set your metronome and try to loop the turnaround an a very slow speed. Try practicing it 10x in a row and then try playing the first full 12 bar pattern. If you do this once a day (or more if you want) you'll definitely see some progress in the next week.
3/12/26 Lesson
Here's an outline of what we talked over today:
1. Note Location: Add a 2nd key to the note location drill when you start your practice routine. D would be a good one to add.
2. Scales: Run your scale a few times first without worrying about rhythm. We want to build up the muscle memory and this will help you not to have to think so much about the fingering when you go to practice the rhythms. Keep working on the same rhythms, you already seem a little more comfortable and it will just get easier as you keep working on them.
3. Chords: Apply a strumming pattern to the chord shapes we have been working on. Keep it simple, but try and play a strumming pattern that you know on each of the chords before changing. Spend a little time working on that hammer on pattern we talked about. You'll need this for "Embryonic Journey" so getting comfortable with that now will speed up the process later.
4. Song: Hide Away is a great song to work on right now. Focus on the first 12 bar pattern, especially on the last two bars where it's a little trickier. Below I've got the song slowed down to many different tempos. Start at 50% until you feel really comfortable with the notes. Then you can try a little faster when you feel ready.
3/5/26 Lesson
Keep up the good work! Sounds like you've made some progress with the rhythms we worked on last week. Below is an updated assortment of visuals. Take a look at the rhythm sheet, I added a 2nd page where we have the rhythms including the eighth rests. Add these rhythms to your scale practice.
Key Points From Today's Lesson
- Accent the strong beats when you practice. This means picking a little harder on beats 1 & 3 as you practice any patterns. This helps orient your rhythm properly and will improve your internal rhythm.
- Practice the rhythms with the major scale like you've been doing, but also try them with the pentatonic scale (visual below)
- Start trying to create your own phrases for solos using a 4 part formula. This is great to spend a few minutes on after you've practiced your regular routine.
1) Play a very simple idea, for example a very simple rhythm on 2 notes.
2) Repeat the same rhythm on 2 different notes.
3) Repeat the same idea on 2 more notes but slightly change the rhythm.
4) Repeat the original rhythm idea on 2 more notes, landing on the root note of the scale.
This basic formula will get you starting to create complete ideas. Keep it really simple! We just want to start building this ability a little bit at a time.
2/26/26 Lesson
1. Note location drill: use the fretboard map below to find notes on all 6 strings. Practice however many you want to to begin your practice time, but 2-3 would be a good number to do each day. Cycle through different keys throughout the week.
2. Practice pentatonic shape 1 as we played in the lesson, applying each of the 4 rhythms to the scale fragment. Start first from the lowest note and play all rhythms from there, then start on the highest note and do the same thing in the reverse direction. Try and do each rhythm 4 times before moving to the next one. Work up to where you can move on to the next rhythm without stopping. As usual try and do it to a metronome, and also try it now and then throughout the week without a metronome.
3. Practice the 1 - 4 - 5 - 1 chord progression as shown on the sheet below, in the key of G. Try it with different strumming patterns, but always in time and creating a full cycle out of the chords. When you feel comfortable with the shapes, try it in different keys by moving to different parts of the neck. These are 3 really important shapes, so we just want to get you very familiar and comfortable with them and we'll build on this as time goes on.
