Originally Posted by: ChristopherSchlegelPlaying with musicians more skilled or advanced than you is great because you can count on them playing solidly, giving you pointers. Often with amateurs it's hard to know if or why something is not working. Or there are people with attitudes trying to posture instead of work together.
Lots of great advice here and particularly from Chris. This little paragraph gets right to the essence of the whole deal. If you're humble enough to be a learner (sounds like you are) and the dudes who invited you know your level, it's a win.
Being able to sit in with some good, skilled players is invaluable. Even if you don't play everything or don't know a song but start seeing what they're playing and maybe jump in for a few chords, it builds you.
About 5 minutes from my house, there's a little bluegrass venue (Everetts Barn) with live bluegrass (for a donation of your chosing. Great family place. Anyway, in addition to the actual show in the barn (it's more like a large wood shed with church pews), in what used to be the Everett family house, people show up with instruments to just jam.
I'd bring my guitar and have been playing for decades but lord almighty, those people juset showing up to jam are amazing. If your really want to challenge yourself with guitar, learn some hot bluegrass.
Even me as someone who did the shred thing and was in a couple of 80's era shredder contests, I get a little initmidated by people with so much skill. Some day I will show up with my acoustic.
The point here is that there were guys who you could see haven't played guitar for a terribly long time sitting in and getting only support. Cool people are cool people.
Go, enjoy and have fun.
