Scott Miller Guitar

12/19/2025

Throwback to an outdoor show a few years back. Two Marshalls behind me, the air moving, and tones for days. Nothing like it. 🔊🔥🎸

12/18/2025

🎸 Unlock the Guitar Fretboard with the CAGED System! 🎸

Ever wonder how some guitarists navigate the fretboard with ease, playing chords, scales, and arpeggios all over the neck? The secret is the CAGED system, which is a framework for visualizing the guitar fretboard in five basic chord shapes: C, A, G, E, and D.

Here’s the lowdown:

✨ What it is:
The CAGED system is a method which breaks the guitar neck into five interconnected chord shapes. Each shape can be moved up and down the neck to play the same chord in different positions, which opens up new possibilities for soloing and chord voicings.

✨ Why it’s useful:

Helps you find chords anywhere on the fretboard.

Makes soloing easier because you can connect scales to chord shapes.

Strengthens your understanding of intervals, arpeggios, and harmonization.

Reveals patterns which make improvisation feel natural and intuitive.

✨ How it works:
Each letter in “CAGED” represents a chord shape:

C shape: A major chord shape based on C major.

A shape: A major chord shape based on A major.

G shape: A major chord shape based on G major.

E shape: A major chord shape based on E major.

D shape: A major chord shape based on D major.

By learning these shapes and how they connect, you can visualize the entire fretboard as one big, connected map. For example, if you know a C major chord in the open position, you can move the C shape up 5 frets to play an F major chord, which is a technique which helps you play chords in multiple positions without memorizing every single fi*****ng.

✨ Pro Tip:
Combine the CAGED system with the major scale or modes to see which notes belong to which chords. This is especially powerful for improvisation, songwriting, and creating chord-melody arrangements.

Once you master the CAGED system, your playing will become more fluid, your improvisation more melodic, and your understanding of the guitar neck will deepen in ways which will last a lifetime.

🎵 Try it today:
Pick a key, like C major, and map out all five CAGED shapes along the neck. Play the major scale within each shape and notice how the shapes connect.

12/17/2025

As a teenager who grew up on Black Sabbath, Led Zeppelin, and classic Van Halen, my only dream was to play electric guitar. The idea of acoustic didn’t seem fun or cool at the time.

I started on a very average acoustic, which literally fell apart within a year. The next year I got a no-name electric—but at least it was electric. By year two, I finally had a real music-store guitar.

Fast-forward to now, and I own two Tom Anderson custom guitars, which I honestly think are the greatest in the world.

When I moved to Utah in ’95, electrics were covered—but I needed a solid acoustic for recording sessions, so I picked up a Taylor 612ce.

It surprises many people, but a lot of my students own far more guitars than I do. I just have two electrics and one acoustic.

Students who start on acoustic often ask me, “Do I need an electric?”

My answer is always the same: What is your goal?

Do you want to be an acoustic strummer or fingerstyle player? Or are you hearing blues, rock, or heavy metal in your head, which requires an electric to fully come to life?

So here’s my question for you 👇

Acoustic? Electric? Both?

Drop your thoughts in the comments! 🎸

12/16/2025

🎸 Gear Tip: Behringer CT100 Cable Tester 🎛️

The Behringer CT100 is a compact, battery-powered cable tester which lets you quickly check whether your audio and MIDI cables are wired correctly and actually working.

It tests XLR, ¼″ instrument and balanced cables, MIDI, RCA, and speaker cables, and shows continuity, shorts, reversed wiring, or missing connections using simple LED indicators.

In other words: before you blame your guitar, amp, pedals, or PA, test the cable. This little box saves time, frustration, and soundcheck headaches.

A must-have tool for studios, gigs, and recitals.

12/15/2025

Our five Saturday recitals on December 13 were an absolute smash hit! 🎸

Each recital is capped at just 12 performers per hour, so families aren’t stuck all day, and the tones were next level with Tom Anderson guitars, the Beat Buddy 2, Bose PA, Line 6 gear, and Elixir strings, which sounded incredible throughout the day.

Performers ranged from 8 years old to students in their 50s and 60s, playing everything from Christmas classics to John Mayer, SRV, blues, jazz, and even heavy metal, which made for an incredible mix.

Every student left with a performance medallion, free guitar picks, and raffle prizes, including Elixir strings, Shubb Capos, Ernie Ball straps, Snark headstock tuners, and Mogami Gold cables, which were hugely popular.

And this morning? We’re already planning the June recital, which is going to be another fantastic event 😄

Huge gratitude to our students, and to the parents and grandparents, which support makes days like this possible. Truly a wonderful day!

🎶

12/13/2025

12/13/2025

The big day is finally here!
Today marks our 40th recital in 20 years, and we’ll be holding five one-hour recitals. I’m so grateful for the students’ preparation and for the incredible support from parents, grandparents, and family members. I’m looking forward to a day filled with guitar-only performances—two guitars, one BeatBuddy drum machine, and lots of good times! 🎸🥁

12/11/2025

12/10/2025

What is the BeatBuddy drum machine?

The BeatBuddy is a drum machine in a guitar-pedal format made by Singular Sound. It lets musicians trigger realistic, studio-quality drum performances with their feet while they play. Instead of stiff, robotic MIDI loops, it uses recordings of real drummers, which makes the grooves feel natural and musical.

You can control song parts—verses, choruses, fills, transitions, and endings—simply by tapping the pedal. It includes a wide range of built-in genres, which cover rock, blues, jazz, funk, worship, country, metal, and more, and you can download additional drum packs.

It’s a favorite among guitarists for live performance, solo gigs, looping setups, and practice, because it keeps timing tight and makes playing more inspiring.

12/09/2025

In my teaching studio, I provide the amps, the cables, and the speaker cabinets for my students. In this picture, you will see four Line 6 Powercabs. What you cannot see is that, at my studio, both the student and I use HX Stomps, which creates a consistent, professional sound for every lesson.

Imagine this rig for a student: an HX Stomp, a Mogami Platinum cable, and two Line 6 Powercabs. I will often have students say,

“Wow! Whenever I’m here, I sound so much better than I do at home. How come?”

I tell them it is because of the Line 6 HX Stomp, the stereo cabinets, and the Mogami cable, which give them a level of clarity and depth they are not used to hearing. They are most likely playing through the best rig they have ever used.

I believe that, to play and sound great, you need great tones. Line 6 is a game-changer!