Going without my guitars for 2 months :(

Unfortunately, this is the truth. The guitar has been a part of my life for at least 6 years, I can't even remember a day w/o playing it... but now...

I'm leaving for Europe for 2 months, and no guitars are going with me. I will be doing extensive traveling, and won't have room to take it. So, just curious, what will happen when I get back in 2 months? WIll I completely suck again? Will my calouses have gone away? :(

Its going to be horrible, I mean, I sit here and at least everyday I manage to play for at least a half hour or an hour, now, NOTHING, for 2 months :(

Not looking forward to that.

I wouldn't worry about it. You might even find you've improved when you get back. If you've been playing steadily for a long time, you might even have gotten into a rut without knowing it. (happens to me all the time, so I often don't touch the guitar for weeks at a time)
Instead, use your time to listen to some other artists and come up with stuff in your head. Read up on other aspects of audio like recording techniques, studios etc.. expand your knowledge. When you get back, you'll have a totally fresh perspective on things.

weeks without guitar? thats crazy! when i hit a rut, this is what i do (i have been playing for 10 months, but have hit several ruts, between chords, scales, playing scales well, songs, etc) i will take a break for like an hour, listen to music the whole time (good ole' grateful dead does the trick) then i pick up the guitar, with good spirits and ready to move my ass into gear.

you'll probably be thankful for this break... You'll be crap when you first pick up a guitar a gain, but you'll get better quickly, and will probably improve over all... As some one said, take this as a chance to extend your knowledge of music/ recording etc... and maybe even read up on the odd musicain's auto/biography...
I'm gonna have to try that grip thing... cos, as fast as i can go, i cant maintain my speed... :(, it's no good when your speeding a long and your arms feel like falling off (oh yeah, anyone got an exercise to help out trem picking... I can go pretty fast, but it feels like my shoulder will fall off after about 10 seconds:(.. serious suggestions though..)

take care...

Wow, the sound of improving is appealing :D I was in a good rut about 6 months ago, it was a bad one, but it was weird, one day I magically came out of it and my playing expanded to a whole new level. Maybe that will happen when I'm gone, hopefully. I think the thing I'm lacking most is theory, I should pick up a music theory book and read it on the trains and planes and stuff.. good idea guys, thanks.

anytime, anytime

cool


im 14-

5 foot 8
150 pounds

no muscle-man by any means, but eh

I'm 5' 7, and still manage to lift two poeple (Dean who's 13 stone, which about 87kg, and rick who's 14 and bit but we'll say 14, which is about 93kg... which totals 180kg, a little over 360lb).. i mean my whole family are big strong gits... it's just i'm the only one under 6 foot, and by a good bit... I never work out though... i mean i play football (or soccer, as it's called across the pond).. but now i've put loads of wieght on, and I look like a "turkish wieghtlifter" (dont women say the sweetest things)..
I get on fine with poeple, simply because I make people smile, and i look and act like a little kid... I haven't been in a fight for ages... but poeple are shocked when i do... heheh, I can certainly throw a punch.. why am i telling you this? ...
yeah, my fretting hand gets tired very quickly... I cant play fast for the duration of a whole song yet... I mean my speed is ok, but endurance is low... So i will get me some grip doohikies..

You can try doing pushups on your finger tips. Hey, it's cheaper.

heheh... yeah, but the amount i weigh now I would never play gutiar again...

Then use your knees as the fulcrum rather than your toes. You gotta work up to that.

do those grips really work?

Yes, they work. The key is to hold it up near your shoulder, with your elbow bent, so you engage the same muscle groups that you use when you're playing.

thanks man im gonna buy one!!!

my dex isnt that bad, but hey, anything helps right.

so i suppose bass players have to have 2 of them, if they pick with their fingers too


right?

I've never used them actually.

But I do know that Bill "The Buddha of Bass" D ickens puts a one inch rope between his strings and fretboard (around the 2nd octave or so) so he can make both his hands work harder.

holey **** thats alot

Yeah, but it's payed off -

The man can scale from the top note to the bottom and back again on a seven string Conklin bass in steady 64th notes.

on every string?

More like highest note to low B then back to the highest note.