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Great to see everyone in Nashville so far! This morning is going to be a blast with Christie Lenee! Can’t wait! By the way, I got a blue lanyard but it’s my first Gathering so feel free to haze me ?

Well if it makes you feel better, I’m not yet 40 and this stuff is still very hard for me! It’s just hard period, for anyone. It takes a lot of time and determination. Those qualities can be found in anyone of any age so I believe anyone can become a good player as long as they have those two things... and it sounds like you do!

Using a metronome would be great practice, but the jam along tracks (as well as any other backing tracks you can find online) would be a great way to simulate things. When you’re among friends, everyone wants you to succeed. Keep it simple and I bet you’ll be fine. It’s better to underplay than overplay ?

I received it by email from Steve. I'll message you with a link in case you didn't get it!

Yeah, what I take away from that is that a musical instrument seems to be exempt from the normal size restrictions for carry-on items. But they still have to fit in the overhead, and there is no guarantee that by the time you board there will be space in the overhead. In that sense they should be treated like any other piece of carry-on luggage... but it might come down to the whims of whomever is working that day as well. Kind of risky. It seems like paying for priority boarding would be a good idea if you were going to try this!

'Nuff said ?

I used to love practicing in the morning too, I need to get back in that habit! Great way to start the day.

If you could offer the Guitar Gathering family one practice tip, which one would you offer? What tip has helped you the most to advance your playing? What do you wish someone would have told you when you're just starting out? I'll go first. For me, the ultimate practice tip was that if I can't play something, go slower and slower until you can play it perfectly. Don't be afraid of going turtle slow for a while. Then repeat and repeat, gradually increasing tempo with every few successes. It's so hard to play slowly sometimes! It can really help and save a lot of frustration. That was the best tip I received early on: Speed is a by-product of accuracy. So what one tip would you give the newbies of the world?

There’s a Department of Transportation website on flying with your guitar too ? https://www.transportation.gov/airconsumer/air-travel-musical-instruments

Here’s an article I came across tonight about air travel and guitars - https://www.premierguitar.com/articles/27161-a-plane-shame-traveling-on-airlines-with-guitars

When I lived in Florida, the humidipaks would last a long time and did just fine, but here in the upper midwest, they dried out too fast to be useful. I need to use two of the refillable humidifiers in the cases to keep the humidity around 40%. This year I bought a couple of Dampits and added those to the case too, and that keeps them happy around 50%. It's amazing how fast things dry out here. Part of the issue is probably that I live in a loft downtown which is in a converted building that has all the drafts and radiator heat that come along with those old buildings and their "character" ? It makes for a low humidity recipe, but I've been through several winters here now without any damage to any of my acoustics using the oasis humidifiers and the dampits. Hope that continues!

Yeah, here in Minnesota in the dead of winter it can be just as dry - the humidity can be lower here in the dead of winter than it is in a desert. I find the Oasis and Dampit humidifiers to work the best for me. I have to monitor them every day or every other day and refill them with distilled water, but they do the job even in pretty harsh conditions.

That is another good question I suppose. I don't use guitar stands, I like them safe in the case However, should I bring a music stand? Will there be enough for everyone? I can bring my own if not.

That was a great lesson, Steve! Thanks to you and Adam for putting it on!

Hi Dale, I asked that question in another thread, and most people responded that either one will be fine, but acoustic seemed to be the preference of those responding to my question. I'll probably bring my acoustic but I'm still kind of on the fence. In a way I want to bring my electric because I spend a lot more time playing electric, but the idea of going acoustic for a week of intensive study seems natural too... stripping things down to just the mental side of things. Who knows, for me it'll be a game time decision which one I bring but I think either will work just fine.

Thanks Diane! I'm expecting I will want to practice in the evening, so I'll probably take it back to my room with me each night. Good to hear the details on the locked room and all though. Thank you!!

For those who have been to a Gathering before, did you find that it was easier to bring your git around in a hard case or a gig bag? I'm not sure if there are places to lock everything up during the day or if space is at a premium and the hardshell case would not be optimal or... whatever. Any suggestions?

I have heard many great things about the Katana series. I would check one out for a practice amp, but I absolutely love my Yamaha THR10. My favorite practice amp I've ever owned, it sounds pretty nice for its size but with headphones on it really sounds great. (I usually practice at night with headphones on so it's a perfect fit.) Very light and portable, battery powered if you want, runs on AC if you don't. Check the Yamaha THR's out.

Yeah, it's hard to avoid all that string rattling at first. Eventually you develop the muscle memory to where your hand can find a barre chord shape without you even looking, and when you have that, you can move your hand from barre chord to barre chord without needing to keep your fingers attached to the strings. Then the economy of movement thing comes in, you can do the chord change by lifting your fingers just barely off the strings as you move your hand to the next position, so there's no noise, but also to minimize movement. I hate this answer to questions, but it just takes a lot of practice Then again, even on some famous recordings you can hear a lot of string noise. Some people think it sounds cool or just don't care!

I once bought an empty tele body and neck and built it up. Other than some pickups and cheap parts from allparts, it only involved basic soldering which is about the limit of my mechanical ability It didn't sound bad at all. A tele (or an esquire!) might be a good place to start - super simple. You won't save any money over buying something new though. At least I didn't. But I was paying for the fun.

Me too! I'm not a good fingerstyle player, but I can't imagine anything that sounds more fun than a retreat like this.

Steve mentioned on the Live Lesson that the registration site for this is now up

In my opinion the best place for an instrument is in the case, with in-case humidification devices, in a room with regulated humidity. I don't keep them on stands or hangers, it's just additional risk for no reason when I have a perfectly good case ? It's probably way more important with acoustics, but I humidify my electrics too.

Finally - and this was something I LOVED and wished I had for guitar - I had another resource (for bass guitar) that had a feature I really, really liked. It was like a L&MG course in most ways. In the book after each lesson there were several songs that used what you'd learned. You had a chart for those songs in the book, and then on the DVD there was a full band playing each of those songs, once with the bass, and once without. So I could pick up my bass in the living room, put the band up on the screen, and play along with them. First with the bass player, so I could follow his interpretation of things, and then without him, like I was the bass player. This could have some really cool applications for guitar I think. It could teach us to stay in time with the other instruments, to watch the others for cues, just... a realistic situation that let me simulate being in a band. Maybe sometimes you're the lead player, sometimes you're playing rhythmn. It was quite fun! I would totally be in for something like "Band packs" where you got 2 or 3 songs to learn that included video to play along with like what I described. I felt like a real bass player when I was using them

Hi Steve! I know you'll get all kinds of answers because everyone's objectives are different. I came up with some ideas for future resources, blog posts, etc. I LOVE the learning material that you do. I would also like to see your experience in some application type of resources. Just some brainstorming: -How should I play when I'm playing with others vs alone, when I can do whatever I want? -How do you vary your playing when you're with specific other instruments? Piano, bass, drums, other guitars, vocalists, etc. -What about gigs? Where do I find them and how do I prepare for them? -How can I be someone that other people want to play with? -What are good places for an advancing player to start when looking for live opportunities? -How do you know when you're advanced enough for a certain playing situation? -What do you consider an intermediate player and what would be an advanced player? -How do you sculpt your live tone, versus what sounds good in the practice room? -What's the life of a musician really like?