Going without my guitars for 2 months :(

[msula]

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.

[Kevin Taylor]

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.

[Incidents Happen]

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.

[PonyOne]

get some sort of grip exerciser and use it a whole ton while on the trip.

[educatedfilm]

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...

[msula]

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.

[Incidents Happen]

anytime, anytime

[PonyOne]

I used to be pretty fat... I'm 6'0/6'1 depending on the time of day, and weighed just shy of 300lbs. I started doing everything in my power to alleviate it, and in the past 5 months or so I've gone down to 225 and have put on loads of muscle.

I started lifting an 8-pound weight 100 times per arm per night, and then gettnig on my back and feaux-benching it 100 as well, then liftig in from my side up over my head with my arms stationary, and then started using the grip thing. All it really takes it 10 minutes before you go to bed each night, and you'll notice the difference in how you look and feel and also how you play guitar.

My speed has increased tenfold, and I can maintain it all night long (sounds a little like something else, eh? well that was never a problem w/me heheheh). I also hit the wrong string and wrong fret less, because I have much better control over what I'm doing.

Now I'm doing 200 a night w/a 25 pound weight, benching 150 times, doing at least a hundred wrist curls w/the 8 pound weight, and about 500 or so with the grip thing over the course of the day. Weights tend to cost a buck a pound, and the grip strengtheners are something near 5 for 2 (i gave the other to my bassist). It works wonders. Aslo, when you get your body to a point where it's healthy and starting to get to where you'd like it to be appearance/endurance wise, the positive psychological sideeffects can help a lot of stuff across all segments of your life.

You'll also get shoved around less and girls will notice you more.

[Incidents Happen]

cool


im 14-

5 foot 8
150 pounds

no muscle-man by any means, but eh

[educatedfilm]

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..

[Raskolnikov]

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

[educatedfilm]

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

[Raskolnikov]

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

[Incidents Happen]

do those grips really work?

[Lordathestrings]

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.

[Incidents Happen]

thanks man im gonna buy one!!!

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

[PonyOne]

And make sure you get one that's easy enough for you to use, but enough that you still have to exert some effort (they come in different tensions).

Getting the toughest ones may be ballsy and all but it can mess you up bigtime. You wanna make sure you can squeeze all the way, becuase with any muscle, if you work it out only halfway, you can only use your strength halfway.

Also, look at your arms the next time you play and see all the muscles you use. Bicep, triep and wrist strength are all vital to using the fretboard to its full potential. The control I have over my arms lets me move from the third fret to the 15th and back almost as quickly as i can go 3-5-3-5-3-5-3-5 for five minutes straight before I feel phased. The better stength and dexterity in the wrist you use on your picking hand, the faster you can play and the more apt you are to hit the right string at the same time you tear up the fretboard. I've got the means, now I just need more method...

So my suggestion on stuff to get:
-Grip Thing (what the hell do you call those anyway? go to http://www.nautilusfitnessproducts.com/access.asp?searchid=gb , I use the " PADDED GRIP BUILDER, HEAVY RESISTANCE" ones)
-a weight between 5 and 10 pounds for arms and wrists
-practice punching things (people may not be a wise idea, but that's why God gave us cattle, right?)

NEXT THING YOU KNOW YOU WILL BE JIMMY PAGE folks, you'll also be Batman

[Incidents Happen]

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


right?

[PonyOne]

Actually, you just have one, and use it on each hand...

[Raskolnikov]

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.

[Incidents Happen]

holey **** thats alot

[Raskolnikov]

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.

[Incidents Happen]

on every string?

[Raskolnikov]

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