Haley Powers 10/16/19 Haley Powers 10/16/19

How to Practice Guitar Without a Guitar

I have been counting down the days these past few months and TOMORROW I am finally leaving for my Europe vacay! In this post, I wanted to talk about what I’ll be doing on vacation to refresh my guitar inspiration and not lose all my practice progress I’ve made these past months. I will not be able to bring a guitar with me, so all these tips are for the traveler who can’t bring their instrument with them!

I wish I could bring my mini Orangewood Oliver with me!

I have been counting down the days these past few months and TOMORROW I am finally leaving for my Europe vacay (Ireland and Spain!) for me and my husband’s 5th anniversary (which what- I can’t believe it’s been 5 years)! We don’t have too many plans and I’m mostly planning on eating and drinking my way through both countries!

With that being said, these past few months I have been really trying to up my practice game (especially relating to theory and finger accuracy) and the idea of missing 16 days of practice is a little bit scary. And I know I’m not the only one — with the holidays coming up, I’m sure a lot of you are going to be spending some time away too! Even though I’ve thought about taking a travel guitar along and practicing every day, in reality it’s difficult because it’s pretty hard to tell the people you are traveling with you can’t come sit on a balcony and drink sangria (this is what I imagine my life will be like next week lol) because you have to practice the modes and do finger exercises. I am also packing the tiniest carry-on so I don’t have room for a travel guitar anyway.

Watch my video on how to not lose your guitar skills while on vacation here!

As I researched around the internet, I found some good ideas for coming back to your guitar feeling inspired and full of creativity! I obviously wanted to share with you what I will be doing, and would love to know what you normally do to not lose your guitar skills when you are on vacation!

1) Go see live music as much as possible

I haven’t traveled to Europe very much, but I did go to Ireland in high school — I know for a fact the live music scene in Ireland is amazing! Almost everywhere you go, there is bound to be local music somewhere, and absorbing new sounds, instruments, and different vibes of musicians in other places is SO refreshing! Whenever I travel, I love seeing the way other people do things and go about music, and it fills me with so much inspiration when I come back home!

2) Read or watch a musician bio

I have been wanting to see Bohemian Rhapsody and the Ken Burns Country Music documentary, so maybe this trip will be the time. It’s really fun to use time on trips to get a bit of the background of a genre or band/musician you are interested in. Sometimes with documentaries, I won’t as often choose then in the times that I would normally decide to watch movies, so using the plane/ train time for something like this seems perfect. I also will bring my in-ears so I have some fancy noise-canceling headphones!

3) Go to a cool music store

I love vintage music stores and it’s especially cool to see the variety of instruments in music stores in other countries. This can also be fun to just noodle around and add a tiny bit to your practicing. The only downside is if you find something amazing, you might not be able to bring it back with you!

4) Keep up your hand strength (more important for beginners!)

I remember being a beginner and my hands instantly getting weak if I didn’t practice for even just a week! There are a lot of random little gadgets out there to help with this, but an easy one is just getting a tennis ball or something around that size and practice squishing It a few times a day!

A nice thing about doing music is having in-ears for the plane! I got these bbs on Amazon and they are actually awesome (5 drivers!)!

5) Download my practice guide and make your practice plan!

I made this practice guide for you so that you can get inspiration and ideas for your practicing! You can download it for free right here and go through it if you have a little extra time on the plane. I tried to make It fun so hopefully it’s an enjoyable read for ya!

These are the main ideas I will try to be sticking with! There are more things you can do (like study the theory you have been struggling with on the plane, watching Youtube video lessons if you have good wi-fi, and just watching videos/ performances of guitarists you love)! I think the biggest thing I’m looking for on my vacation is coming back refreshed and inspired, being truly in the moment and enjoying every second, and trying to learn new things! And remember, you are way more than just your skills or playing and have such a huge purpose in life, so really take the time to be thankful for your life and enjoy getting to travel!