nuke_diver
Riding Solo
Just got home from 4 days in Cambria CA at the Tommy Emmanuel Guitar Camp. In spite of my concerns that I was out of my league...which I was...I had a blast. Tommy, Pat Bergeson, Joe Robinson and Jim Nichols were all very gifted and very approachable and helpful.
After the first night (capped with an awesome concert by the 4 instructors) the first full day started a bit slow. The first 2 sessions were a lot of talking points and not much doing and I was a bit discouraged but the last session was better and the next 2 days were all a lot of hands on stuff. There were still a lot of questions asked about techniques for song writing soloing etc but once things got out of the pure talking points and more practical it also became a lot more fun.
The first 3 nights all had instructor concerts. I didn't know much about the other 3 guys but quickly respected them as top notch musicians. I particularly liked Joe Robinson's stuff. The last night was student/instructor concert and went on for quite some time but the quality was fantastic and I had a lot of fun just as a member of an appreciative audience. After the concerts nights were followed up with jam sessions and open mics with jam sessions going into the wee hours. I'm pretty beat right now but very glad I went even though I did not achieve some of my stated goals.
I learned mostly that I have a lot to learn if I want to get better at that kind of fingerstyle guitar and I've started today to try and work towards that goal. I need to refocus the way I practice things after getting advice from the camp so I will likely be playing electric as a diversion more than a main effort for a while as I try to get my fingerstyle chops up to speed and get more familiar with more jazzy chords.
And I'm strongly considering going to another one next year even though as of now that would be in New York so it's isn't a short drive away like this one was.
After the first night (capped with an awesome concert by the 4 instructors) the first full day started a bit slow. The first 2 sessions were a lot of talking points and not much doing and I was a bit discouraged but the last session was better and the next 2 days were all a lot of hands on stuff. There were still a lot of questions asked about techniques for song writing soloing etc but once things got out of the pure talking points and more practical it also became a lot more fun.
The first 3 nights all had instructor concerts. I didn't know much about the other 3 guys but quickly respected them as top notch musicians. I particularly liked Joe Robinson's stuff. The last night was student/instructor concert and went on for quite some time but the quality was fantastic and I had a lot of fun just as a member of an appreciative audience. After the concerts nights were followed up with jam sessions and open mics with jam sessions going into the wee hours. I'm pretty beat right now but very glad I went even though I did not achieve some of my stated goals.
I learned mostly that I have a lot to learn if I want to get better at that kind of fingerstyle guitar and I've started today to try and work towards that goal. I need to refocus the way I practice things after getting advice from the camp so I will likely be playing electric as a diversion more than a main effort for a while as I try to get my fingerstyle chops up to speed and get more familiar with more jazzy chords.
And I'm strongly considering going to another one next year even though as of now that would be in New York so it's isn't a short drive away like this one was.
It sucks being you! 
