Steve Krenz

Tuesday May 1st, 2018 Topic: Ask Your Guitar Questions PLUS John Mayer's New PRS! 7pm Central Time US You can watch the lesson HERE. Don't let anything stop your learning. What has you stumped? Ask your questions in the thread below and I'll answer as many as I can tonight. PLUS Desi Serna (Guitar Theory for Dummies) will be stopping by to show us John Mayer's new PRS Silver Sky guitar - the guitar that broke the internet! Lots of Music, laughs, giveaways and more! Watch on our Guitar Gathering YouTube Channel HERE - Steve

Gotto, I'm not sure what bar you're talking about but In a couple of bars there is a Bm7 followed by an E/G#. This is just an E chord with a different bass note. Whatever note is under the slash indicates the bass note. In this case they wanted the third of the E chord, which would be a G#, as the bass note. Giving different chord tones as the bass notes gives a chord a different flavor in their sound. Maybe we can talk more about this in the next live lesson. Learn all you can! - Steve

Nice! - Steve

Hey all, I thought you might be interested in this. I play all kinds of things during the course of a week or month. This week, I'm playing a small book signing with multi Grammy nominated singer, Michele Pillar. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Michele_Pillar (Fun Fact: She was previously married to Larry Carlton.) A mutual friend gave her my number a couple of weeks ago and she needed a guitar player for just a vocal/guitar couple of songs during this book signing event coming up on Thursday. She sent me audio versions of the two songs we would be doing and I needed to write out the charts for them. Here are the two songs... And here are the charts I wrote out tonight. See if you can follow along! We've got a rehearsal tomorrow then the book signing on Thursday. I'll let you know how it goes. - Steve

Hey gang, I've come across this handy little guitar tool from our friends at Music Nomad. It tightens all of those little hex nuts on your output jacks, volume pots, even effects pedals. It saves me from having to use some clunky socket from my tools for the car - while panicking about whether one false move is going to scratch the finish of my guitar. THE 8 IN 1 ULTIMATE GUITAR TOOL Here are some of the things it adjusts.... It's a handy little tool to have in your bag of cables or in your guitar case. I showed it to Greg Voros from Gruhn's and he was impressed with the functionality and quality. If you're interested, you can check it out HERE - Steve

If you have any questions for Howard on Jazz Guitar, 7 string guitar or anything else, please let me know. - Steve

Tuesday April 10th, 2018 Topic: Jazz Guitar Mastery with Howard Alden! 7pm Central Time US You can watch the lesson HERE. Tremendously excited to announce the great New York Jazz guitarist, Howard Alden will be joining us for this live lesson! Howard is one of the best jazz guitarists on the scene today. One of DownBeat Magazine's "Top 75 Guitarists", Howard is one of the most respected jazz guitarists in the world. Here are a few clips... Great Music, laughs, giveaways and more! Watch on our Guitar Gathering YouTube Channel HERE - Steve

I think we will try to do the show again on next Tuesday. It just cut out too much. - Steve

Hey gang, So sorry about tonight. Don't know what the technical problems were. We'll run it down and have it worked out for next week. We might even do the same show because there were some great things I wanted to cover. Maybe I'll even get a chance to write out my examples. I sincerely apologize. It could be our end, the storms Nashville is currently having or a host of other things. Thanks for your patience. - Steve

Welcome Dale! - Steve

Tuesday April 3rd, 2018 Topic: Solutions for Boring Chords 7pm Central Time US You can watch the lesson HERE. Tired of playing the same old way? Bored with your own playing? Let's learn some quick, simple ways to take basic chords and turn them into something memorable. There's more to do than just strum along with a chord progression. With a little help you can learn to create guitar parts that shine! There will be music, laughs, giveaways and more. I look forward to seeing you there! Watch on our Guitar Gathering YouTube Channel HERE - Steve

Very excited to officially announce that the amazing Joe Robinson will be joining us for Guitar Gathering 2018!!! - Steve

What an amazing album. How many guitarists were birthed because of that album and listening to that song - a whole generation I suspect. Where are the guitar songs or artists now that captivate a whole generation like that? But I digress... Peter works a lot in Nashville and with our good friend Gordon Kennedy. It would be an honor to meet him someday. - Steve

SP, It doesn't sound like this might be the best fir for what you are describing. We developed the Song Hits course to give those going through the Learn & Master course extra tunes to work on while they are acquiring the skills. They come with Jam Tracks and weren't really designed to be a book of solo guitar songs. What styles are you interested in? - Steve

Very cool. I've never been to the factory. But I look forward to going someday soon! - Steve

Great post. Thanks for sharing. Yes, there are many ways to play a G - each with different advantages that work better in this or that musical scenario. You can live a long and happy musical life and never play a G as 3-2-4. It's a huge stretch to have your 3rd finger on the 6th string and the 4th finger on the 1st string. If you have smaller hands, then it is quite natural to bend the 3rd finger so much that it touches the 5th string and mutes it. But, never let that, or any other musical limitation, stop your progress. Just go around it. Find other ways to play it and other ways to play cool things around it. Some players can use the thumb over the top of the neck and are able to do really cool things with it. I could never do that. But I don't dwell on that and have learned a ton of barre chords to do everything that I want to do. Don't overly worry about this small issue. Just keep moving - and learning - and playing. Figure out a way to play the G chord that works for you and never look back. - Steve

Tuesday March 20th, 2018 Topic: Martin Guitars with Greg Voros & Jay Myer 7pm Central Time US You can watch the lesson HERE. Martin Guitars - one of the true legacy builders. Starting in 1833, they have been the standard for acoustic guitars for decades. Greg Voros, head of the legendary repair department at Gruhn Guitars in Nashville, and Martin Guitar Nashville rep, Jay Myers will stop by to discuss Martin, their guitars, and upcoming plans. There will be music, laughs, giveaways and more. I look forward to seeing you there! Watch on our Guitar Gathering YouTube Channel HERE - Steve

Getting a jump on things. The official dates for the 2019 Fall Fingerstyle Retreat are... 2019 Fall Fingerstyle Guitar Retreat Thursday October 31st - Sunday Nov 3rd, 2019 See you there! - Steve

Yes, these are the official dates. 2018 Fall Fingerstyle Guitar Retreat Tuesday October 30- Friday November 2nd, 2018 (The peak of Fall colors in the Nashville area.) I'll get the registration page up soon. We have room for 20 people. See you there! - Steve

Bluz, great advice! - Steve

Greg, You might try something just one exit up at I-65 and Old Hickory Blvd. There are a lot of restaurants in that area. There is a Holiday in Express, Hampton Inn, Four Points by Sheraton and others. - Steve