The first degree of a scale is often referred to as the tonic, and the second

degree, one note higher in the scale, is called the super tonic. The easiest way

to turn a tonic into a super tonic is to expose it to gamma radiation, toxic

waste, or super-sulter serum.

Welcome to Strong Songs, a podcast about music. I'm your host Kirk Hamilton, and I'm so

glad that you've joined me to talk about bad music theory puns, super bad music

theory puns, and sometimes music theory puns that are just kind of sub-medience.

This is an entirely listener-supported show, and support means more than just

becoming a patron or sending a donation, though of course there are links for

that in the show, and it's if you'd like to do it.

Listener support also just means being a part of the show's community, sending

in questions, recommending the show to your friends, and really just listening.

So thanks for listening. On this episode, you've got questions and I've got

answers. I'm opening up the bottomless Strong Songs Mailbag to talk about

whatever you ask me about. This time we've got cinematic flute solos, how to find a

music teacher, and plenty of tricky rhythms to unpack, so let's tune up our

instruments, spread out our sheet music, and get into it.

Tony writes, I've had this thought for some time, and I thought I'd run it past you.

How hard is it for singing drummers to sing and drum at the same time? If I hear

a song with a good beat, I'm always tapping along and trying to sing at the same

time, but quite often I lose the beat as I try to keep up with the lyrics. So is

it actually hard for professional drummer-slashed vocalists like Phil Collins,

...