DianeB

@Apostata Hi, there, and welcome to the forum. Dominant seventh, ninth (as in G9), eleventh, and thirteenth chords all contain a flat 7th. Such chords are assumed to be dominant unless otherwise expressed (Fm9, Gbmaj11, Adim7, Bbaug7, etc.): G7 = 1-3-5-b7 = G-B-D-F G9 = 1-3-5-b7-9 = G-B-D-F-A Learning to spell chords is a valuable skill. I created a chord construction worksheet, located here, that might help you. I consulted a professional music teacher to make sure I had it right. I hope it's useful to you.

Very well played! 👏

There’s less than two weeks to go before our annual crazyfit, so I will pass along some past advice for the benefit of the first timers. If that’s you, I also recommend reading the threads from 2022 and prior years. The Conference: 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: pencils and a small notepad, business cards, a , and cash for lunch, Greg Voros' setups, and other incidentals. I also pack sticky notes, staff paper (theory geek), my chord block stamper, foot rest and a small seat cushion. Trevecca has music stands. If you have a specific kind of strings you want Greg to use, bring them with you, otherwise he will use D'Addarios and you might not have a choice of gauge. Steve will have items from his GG store on display for sale. I've attached the 2023 preliminary schedule below. Trevecca: At this writing, Steve reports Trevecca will not have food service on campus. If so, Steve will allow a 90 minute lunch break. Last year many of us just made the short walk to the Subway at the entrance to Trevecca. There will be on-campus housing this year. The conference is held in the Jackson music building at the back of the campus. It has ample, secure visitor parking. Get your bearings with the campus virtual tour. A few scenes of the Jackson building are near the end of the video. Housing: Trevecca is providing on campus dormitory housing at $65 per person per night; make your reservation . Steve has secured a conference rate of $119/night at the Holiday Inn Express Brentwood about 15 minutes away. This expires May 30. Express-style breakfast is included. Use the conference code of GGC when you book online, or call the hotel directly at 615-309-8860 and ask for Erin Helms. I recommend making reservations now, because we are entering peak tavel season and hotel occupancy will be high. There are several other hotel options nearby. Be aware that Nashville can be hot and humid in mid-June, and the Jackson building can be quite cool. In Town: No Summer NAMM again this year. Steve will devote Saturday morning to the Student Showcase and a workshop. That afternoon there will be a songwriters’ show at 3rd and Lindsley. Tickets are also available for Saturday night at the Grand Ole Opry, which will likely reach full capacity. The Nashville City Winery is another popular venue. Here's the Nashville Visitor's Guide. Steve will soon e-mail registrants with a survey asking: Do you want to reserve a setup with Greg? Can you help with logistics (ride sharing, for example)? Do you want to perform in the student showcase? He will also post a GG 2023 Facebook Group for registrants. So, this is what I have as of May 30, and things can change. Updates will follow as needed. GG2023 Updated Schedule.pdf

@ussdfiant Greg, was it this one, with Pete Huttlinger?

I am heartbroken to report the death yesterday of Gregg Cobler (forum: cntryblues), my dear friend and longtime member of Steve’s guitar family. It was sudden and unexpected, and the cause appears to be heart failure. His wife Diane found him unresponsive in the morning at their home in Arkansas. He did not get to see his beloved Chiefs win the Super Bowl. We had texted just the day before, enjoying some good natured mutual razzing about his Chiefs and my Eagles. All seemed well. Gregg's past year had been difficult. He received a pacemaker last summer, and had an ominous sarcoma removed from his leg in the fall. He had just completed several weeks of post op physical therapy and was recovering well. He was looking forward to returning soon to an archery tournament in Lancaster, Pennsylvania, near me. We met at my first Gathering in 2015, where there were only about 15 of us. On the final night, he invited me to join him for dinner, and we closed down the Brentwood LongHorn. That’s a story for another time. He and Diane visited in January of 2020 for the archery tournament. I watched him compete; they got the fifty-cent tour. It was a perfect weekend. I shall miss my friend. Services will be held in Topeka, Kansas. May the circle be unbroken, by and by. Edit: Gregg's obituary.

@NinaJean Thank you for bringing some life to the fingerstyle thread! Steve created the original L&M guitar course recognizing that fingerstyle, blues, and jazz were subjects in their own right. Giving them their due was beyond the scope of an introductory course. A few years later, by student request, he produced his fingerstyle and blues courses as supplements for these specialties. They were designed to avoid unnecessary duplication. So the original L&M course — at least up to those respective sessions — is effectively a prerequisite. The spotlight courses assume, for example, that the student has some familiarity with barre chords. I would not recommend them to a novice. You mentioned that you have had several teachers. Were any of them trained in classical guitar, or the style you want to learn? If so, I think they could have escorted you through the first sessions of the L&M course, focusing on those skills, and in the necessary sequence, that would meet your needs and goals. A good teacher will observe and listen to you, and direct your study so that you can teach yourself. At least, that's my experience. As I started session 10, my tutor examined the L&M materials, saw what I could and couldn't do, and we went from there. Yes, you certainly can work on the fingerstyle course and L&M course concurrently. But if you still struggle with "finding and maintaining direction," that's a signal that a true music instructor would benefit you. Please stay in touch. We have many knowledgeable and supportive folks here who will wish you success.

Watch Live Lessons on the Guitar Gathering YouTube Channel HERE. 7:00 pm Central Time US 2023 LIVE LESSON DATES JANUARY 3rd – Fast, Clean Chord Changes 10th – Beautiful Chords Through Open Stings 24th – Guitar Soloing Hacks: Outlining the Chord Tones 31st – Tenths: from Bach to the Beatles to Bieber FEBRUARY 21st – Next Level Chord Secrets 28th – 5 Easy Blues Riffs MARCH 21st - Which Pick Should I Pick? 28th - Pentatonic Scales APRIL 11th - Pentatonic Scales Workout 25th - Live from Gruhn Guitars: the Belmont Guitar Ensemble MAY 4th (Thursday) - Gareth Pearson 9th - Pentatonic Scales for Blues 16th - Pentatonic Scales for Blues Workout 30th - Stumped in Your Guitar Learning? Q & A JUNE 15th - Will McFarlane (Thursday, live from Gruhn Guitars) 27th - Blues Licks: Easy to Pro AUGUST 1st - Blues Licks: Easy to Pro, Part 2 15th - Creating a Solo Guitar Arrangement 22nd - Guitar Success Q & A 28th - Brazilian Guitar with Paulo Oliveira and Joao Cassias SEPTEMBER 12 - Open Chord Voicings 26 - Bart Walker OCTOBER 3 - Open Chord Voicings, Part 2 24 - Overlapping Sounds NOVEMBER 7 - The Circle of Fifths 28 - Minor Scales, Keys, Progressions, and Soloing DECEMBER 12 - Song Lesson: "God Rest Ye Merry Gentlemen" 19 - Song Lesson: "Silent Night" Future dates and topics to be announced.

@Nancy Lawing It includes playing time, but I figure the jams and handful of performances total less than 300 hours. It includes time studying theory (820 hours). And it's worth noting that several authors have pointed out that Anders Ericsson's 10,000 hours of deliberate practice to mastery (popularized in Malcolm Gladwell's Outliers) is something of a red herring; it's an average. I don't see anything magical about the figure, and some of my practice is not so deliberate. I haven't had a teacher over my shoulder for three years, now. As Ericsson stresses, that counts. What's magical is having some way of keeping yourself accountable.