DianeB

Nice. He pays homage without impersonation. I'm with Lionel: "Just do it some more." 👍

Nice! Thanks, Neil. I liked his line about Steinbeck and Michener! 📚

@Twalumba, welcome to our guitar family! You will find others here at every level of skill and experience. We share a love of guitar music and an abiding respect for Steve, who is both unfailingly encouraging and forthright about what we need to do. As you start out, you might be interested in a reading list and some resources for study that I compiled. Ask questions, no matter how basic they might seem. Seek out others: a nearby college or nonprofit may operate a community music school where you can find a good instructor. There is just no substitute for having a pair of trained eyes and ears on you as you learn. There may be a Meetup guitar group near you where you can play with others. Enjoy!

It’s almost time! For the benefit of our first timers, I’m updating some posts I made last year about this time. • At Trevecca: Enter at the main entrance on 333 Murfreesboro Pike and continue on the driveway past the roundabout to the rear of campus. Signs will direct you. The music building will be on the left with ample parking in the rear. Use the rear entrance at the far left. If you prefer, you can enter from the back of the campus. In every room, we’ll be surrounded by rows of chairs. An acoustic is probably more versatile for the workshops and jams. If you want to play your electric in the student showcase, there will be cables, amps, microphones, and a professional audio system. The main room will be locked and secure when we’re not there, so you can leave your gear. Make sure your guitar cases are well labeled; there will be a hundred black cases lying around -- in a black room. Other than the obvious (picks, tuner) I recommend bringing: a couple of pencils and a small notebook, business cards, a folding guitar stand, and cash for lunch, Greg’s setups, and other incidentals. I also bring a pad of sticky notes, my chord block stamper, my foot rest and a compact seat cushion. I think you can leave your music stand at home; Trevecca has some. Steve will have his store set up; he stocks a dandy collapsible music stand. If you have a specific set of strings you want Greg to use in restringing, bring them with you, otherwise he will use D'Addarios. Go to the 2019 Guitar Gathering Facebook page and register. Steve will approve you. Trevecca has a very nice food service with coffee shops and a dining hall only a short walk from the music building. So lunch is easy ($5.30, all you can eat), but bring cash in case they have issues with their card reader again. Steve will soon e-mail registrants with a survey asking: Do you want to reserve a setup with Greg Voros? Can you help with logistics (ride sharing, for example)? Do you want to play in the student showcase? • Around Nashville: There are many delightful music-related and historical sights in the Nashville area. A good place to start your planning is the official visitor’s web site, visitmusiccity.com. If you’re a fan of country music, then visits to the Ryman Auditorium and the Country Music Hall of Fame are in order. I recommend allowing some time to escape the city and enjoy the Tennessee countryside; it is beautiful. Weather permitting, of course: it can be hot and humid in June, and summer thunderstorms are fairly common. After the Saturday morning session, Steve and Greg will probably start packing up their gear as we say our goodbyes and everyone goes their way. Saturday night presents a good opportunity to enjoy the show at the Grand Ole Opry. Austin Jenckes is the headliner that night; you can expect a variety of singers and musicians in the show.

@Rambler, Johnny’s appearance on June 13 with his band will be a performance, not a lesson. This event is part of the Guitar Gathering conference. Seating is very limited. It is possible that a few tickets will be made available for non-conference attendees, but that depends on the number of registrants and other constraints. Steve will advise later.

@cdevaux, I used to wonder abut the relation of the chord to the melody as well. The “House” exercise is designed for practicing the right hand pattern with the chords, as accompaniment. The melody line is to be played or sung separately. As Doug says, there comes a time for extracting a melody line from the pitches within a chord, known as chord melody (a little more on the same).

@Mustafa, may I add my welcome to the Guitar Gathering family! My friend Neil has offered wise advice. Yes, you are in a challenging situation at the moment, and my heart goes out to you. Life can pull us in different directions at once. You wrote: “Now I can not even pick the guitar and I feel it is a waste of time, I feel that instead of spending hours practicing I should do something useful to other people. I am out of motivation and sometimes I feel that it is immoral to waste time practicing guitar for hours.” Congratulations, you have the courage to admit what many of us, myself included — even accomplished musicians! — have felt at times. It’s what you wrote at the beginning that matters: “I love guitar so much and I used to practice many hours a day.” Now, let’s get rid of that useless “used to” and we have: “I love guitar so much.” Here’s where I concede my space to author Richard Pressman (The War of Art). I've never seen it expressed any better: “Creative work is not a selfish act or a bid for attention on the part of the actor. It’s a gift to the world and every being in it. Don’t cheat us of your contribution. Give us what you’ve got.”

Early arrivals bulletin #2: the bill for Tuesday evening June 11 at 3rd and Lindsley is "The Piano Men: the Music of Elton John and Billy Joel,” featuring Nashville-based pianists Micah Snow (Charles Esten, Maggie Rose) and Chris Smallwood (RAIN, Alton Brown) and four accompanists. Doors open at 6:00, show 7:30. General admission tickets only, $10.00, seating is first come first served. Once Steve sets up the gathering Facebook page, we can see who wants to go and order our tickets in blocks, which speeds up entry.

I'm with Dave: pick up right where you left off, and give your fingertips a couple of weeks to toughen up. Aim to put in a few minutes every day. Welcome back!

I'm so sorry to hear that, Opie. We will miss you. That's your picture of me over there on the side. I'll keep my fingers crossed that all turns out well for you.

Karl, that is one gorgeous piece of craftsmanship. Congratulations, we have a new luthier in the house. 👍

@ChrisJ032 Yes, Chris, it's in 3/4, so we might better say: T-1-2-3-2-1 (p-i-m-a-m-i).

Hi, @Stefan , way to go! Session 7 is a big step. The answer to your question really depends on where you want to go on guitar. But I would advise: yes, unequivocally, learn all 12 scales. The flats, sharps, and key signatures. Give it a couple of minutes every day until, as Steve says, you can say them as fast as you can write them, even as you start on Session 8. The payoffs are big. Knowing the scales will demystify intervals and prepare you for spelling any chord in the book. And when you practice all those scales, as in Steve's major scales workout, the fretboard begins to open up. You start seeing notes instead of dots. Go for it.

Rrrrr-i-i-i-i-pppp! I peeled the label off my plastic box of lead sheets that read “Band”. Seven months and no word from our leader. Time to admit it: I wasn’t in a band anymore. After four years of almost weekly practices and rehearsals, and five gigs, my neighborhood band had dispersed. Our neighborhood social committee decided that although they enjoyed the band, the music was distracting from — to put it bluntly — the gossiping. Four of the guys returned to their continuing education rock group, of which I was not a member. Sigh. It was good while it lasted. Rrrrr-i-i-i-i-pppp! Off came the label from the box that read “Jam”. After six years and sixty meetings with my local acoustic jam, I decided, it too had run its course. The group leader had been exhibiting some troubling signs the past couple of years. Lately he could not, or would not, play in time. He just wasn’t fully present. He complained about a person who never brought music to share, and instead played to show off — no one could play along. But when this guy showed up, the leader said nothing. A few weeks ago I sat silently twirling my pick between my fingers as this diva performed his Elvis set for me and a first timer yet again, and I heard myself thinking, “That’s enough.” One box remained, labeled “Lessons”. That would stay. I twisted up the other labels and tossed them in the trash. I expected a wave of letdown. And I felt something, all right — but it was energy — a fresh resolve. I felt good. I surveyed my practice room: the guitars, the books, the music, the framed photos. So familiar, so friendly, and still so right. Now what? “Good for you, kid,” they answered. “You’ve learned how to let go. Now you’re the captain of your own ship. So go back to work, and keep your eyes and ears open. The universe isn’t finished with you yet.” The first sign appeared at the bowling alley. As always, I started the night at the grill for my iced tea and cookies. I handed the cashier my money. This time she gave me a conspiratorial smile and shook her head. “Keep it,” she said, “you’re good.” Really? I asked. She waved me off. The next signal arrived in the mailbox. The National Archives had located my late father’s record of service in the Civilian Conservation Corps. It identified his camp, a detail no one in the family could recall. From that, I discovered that a book had been written about his camp. I ordered a copy. In the center spread was a group photo of his company, May, 1934, just before his discharge. My finger ran across the faces. And there, a month shy of his 21st birthday, in a surplus army uniform shirt and tie — is it? It must be. I sprang to the living room for the picture of him and mom in 1938, just after they were married, to compare. Yes, that’s my dad. No one in the family knew this picture existed. Soon after that, an e-mail from Neil: Would I consider serving as a moderator for the discussion board? Days later, I attended a concert by fingerstyle virtuoso Shaun Hopper. The usher led me to a center seat in the second row. I introduced myself to the couple next to me. Shaun and his sax player Chris took off. It was bliss. A few times I led the small, reticent audience into applause for a solo, or to coax them into clapping along to Stevie Wonder’s “Superstition”. They’re knocking themselves out up there for you, girl, I thought. Let them know you’re pulling for them. As intermission ended, the husband sitting next to me returned from the lobby and handed me a copy of Shaun’s CD. “Would you like this? For a donation, they gave me two.” “Seriously? It’s still on my Amazon Wish List,” I said, incredulous. “Thank you.” After the show, Shaun autographed it. “Thanks for coming back to Wilmington, Shaun,” I said as I shook his hand. “Say, do you know Christie Lenée?” “Sure do,” he said, smiling, “and what a great singer!” I walked out to my car in the cool spring night and started home down the long avenue that is Wilmington’s King Street. All the lights were green.

Early arrivals take note: Tuesday evening, June 11 at the Station Inn, 7:00 pm: Doyle & Debbie; 9:30 pm: The Wheelhouse Rousers. The calendar for 3rd and Lindsley is filling up, but nothing as of today for June 11. I could go for another round of Mandy Barnett. ❤️ She'll be back May 25.

Eric (@Sonicfreq), the normal hours at Gruhn's are Monday through Saturday 10:00 am - 6:00 pm. If we assume that Steve follows the same timetable as last year, your best window is probably Tuesday afternoon June 11. There will be an early registration Tuesday at Trevecca from about 3:00 - 4:30, but that's optional. Nothing will be scheduled for the group as a whole on Tuesday evening. Typically after early registration we carpool to dinner and hit Third and Lindsley or the Station Inn if there's a good show. Then it will likely be nonstop until 4:30 Friday afternoon. We will probably wrap up around noon on Saturday, which might give you another window for Gruhn's, depending on when you have to get to the airport. There is also a remote chance that Steve might conduct a live lesson that week from Gruhn's, but I consider that unlikely because (1) now the number of attendees exceeds the capacity of the store and (2) it's not on the live lesson schedule. In mid May we can expect Steve's e-mail with the final schedule of events, an invitation to play in the student showcase, and sign up for guitar setups with Greg Voros. Our posts from last year's gathering are here, which should give you an idea of what to expect. PS / Oops, sorry, I linked to the fingerstyle retreat; the gathering posts are here.

A reminder: the early registration discount ends April 14. Here are the workshop presenters Steve has lined up so far: Guitar Care and Maintenance: Greg Voros Songwriting: Kim McLean Jazz Guitar: Mel Deal Blues Guitar: Mike Pachelli Fingerstyle Guitar: Collin Hill Improvisation: Dino Pastin

Let’s hear from those who have volunteered their guitar skills in some form of service: teaching children, seniors, or vets, entertaining the infirm, elderly, or incarcerated, in worship, charity work, or the like. Don’t be modest; inspire us with your stories. How did you get started? What did you learn?

@William Nelson Hi, William, you’re in for a great time, whatever your background in music theory. Last year there were two workshops on theory. The basic one, led by Paulette Krenz, assumed no prior knowledge. Steve led the advanced one, which assumed some knowledge of notation, chord construction, and progressions. Each was about an hour for two successive days. These ran concurrently with two other workshops on other topics, such as songwriting or a blues jam. They all seemed well received, so I would expect Steve to plan something similar this time. We only have time to dip our toes in the water for any subject. The instructors and artists are all aware that the attendees span a wide range of knowledge and skill.

Beautifully played, Mike: steady, textured, nuanced, and a sweet landing. Amen.

Well done, Cliff! 👍 I took about 7 months on session 4. Give my regards to Pat; I wish I could be there. 🤦‍♀️

You're welcome! Remember, you can always write to: Mr. C. Santana, c/o Creative Artists Agen -- oh, never mind. 🤣

@matonanjin Ron, there's a fully tabbed chart at Ultimate Guitar, but it's a "Pro" version that presumably requires a subscription for all the bells and whistles. There is a free trial offer. I've never tried the Pro version; so far the free versions have been fine for my needs.

@Curtis, I think an acoustic is probably a better choice for the workshops and lessons. In the main room, there may be as many as 80 guitars going off at once during workshops, and you will need to carry your guitar around to the smaller classrooms. The main room has amps and a full PA system for those who want to play their electric in the student showcase. No need to bring a music stand, Trevecca has them, but Steve does carry a dandy collapsible stand in his store. One accessory I recommend is a collapsible guitar stand like the Cooperstand. A year or two ago in a live lesson Steve discussed his experiences flying with his guitar. I wish I could recall the exact lesson; maybe someone else can. I do remember two points he made: leave your really good guitars at home, and get a tough hard case. Here are some other thoughts on the subject. And here's my post from last year for first timers.