practicing whilst abroad/holiday with no guitar

finest1

hello all

i hope you are all well
i'm going away in a few days. unfortunately my travel guitar will not fit in any of the luggage's.  i wanted to know how you or any tips, on how to practice whilst abroad with no guitar. i will be travelling through Vietnam so one of my ideas, if possible, was to get a stringed instrument where i can keep for the duration of the trip. i will be on a cruise, so the time is there, but no equipment.

thanks

BillDL

I believe it may have been @Tannin who visited the Far East and bought a guitar for the duration of his stay.  If so, perhaps he may have some suggestions.

Roland

In the past I travelled quite a bit. I had three approaches: take a guitar with me, buy one there, or do without. I’m an advocate of doing without. Your playing isn’t really going to suffer from a two or three week layoff. You are paying for a holiday experience, so why use your time doing something which you do at home. After a break I always find that my playing is different, maybe because my brain is refreshed, I know that I think differently about music when there’s not a guitar to hand, even down to working our fingering patterns. So - do without.

Whistler

Depending on where you are in your guitar journey:
 - Take some music paper and/or a handheld recorder (or an app) and write and/or record some songs.
 - Take a notepad and a pencil and writing out chord diagrams that are not your everyday chords.
 - Buy a 6-string ukulele (eg. like this) if that would be small enough for your case or buy one in Vietnam.
 - Put an app like Tenuto on your mobile to have some fun and games with music theory.
 - Load your mobile with music to listen to and enjoy the trip as time out. Take some ear buds.
 - Pack a pair of drumsticks and practice playing in time with a metronome. Use a folded towel as a drum.
 - Take some sheet music, blank music paper and a pencil. Try transposing the music to (an)other key(s).
 - Buy one or more guitar or music magazines and have a relaxing, lazy read.
 - Take a music theory or guitar tuition book plus a notebook and pen to study something.
 - Take nothing, do nothing, have a holiday!

maharg101

Make a playlist of stuff you've never listened to before and soak up some different vibes. Visualise how you might play those tracks whilst you listen to them. Have a great trip !

blobb

Yeah, take a break from playing and spend some time listening.

Tannin

Hi @finest1 Yes, as @BillDL ; says, I bought a guitar while on a trip, though to Sri Lanka, not the Far East. I found a decent, perfectly playable guitar  (as written up in this thread - https://www.thefretboard.co.uk/discussion/235586/cheap-fingerstyle-guitar-yes-really/p1 ) without any difficulty. It cost  about £100 (way cheaper than paying freight for one you own already if you are going by air) and at the end of the trip I gave it to my friend's sister's boy, who had just started learning.

I enjoyed playing it but found less time for that than I had expected and on balance, next time I'll just take three or four weeks off and catch up on my playing when IU get home. 

finest1

Dear all, thanks for the replies. totally understand what you are saying. i'll be on a cruise stopping off at different places. so there will be plenty of time on the cruise to lounge etc which is why i was saying its perfect to just zone out somewhere for an hour and do some technique drills, right and left hand stuff. i was thinking of a ukulele, but it would just about fit in my suitcase, so my idea is to find a cheap one out there and leave it behind, or donate to someone out there. failing that, not much i can do 

kelpbeds

Get a cheap Strat, take the neck off, whack it in your hold luggage. Simple solution. 

finest1

kelpbeds said:

Get a cheap Strat, take the neck off, whack it in your hold luggage. Simple solution. 

yeah buts theres no strings

matt_sefton

finest1 said:

kelpbeds said:

Get a cheap Strat, take the neck off, whack it in your hold luggage. Simple solution. 

yeah buts theres no strings

You rebuild it when you get to your destination 

Barney

I used a old guitar neck for the works van with strings on ....although it didn't make any sounds I practiced my scales and muscle memory...I think it helped because I had to visually see what I was doing rather than listen

Jez6345789

If it’s a couple of week don’t bother as said if you want to have something musical todo the song write with an app on the phone or just give yourself a break you won’t lose a lot. Or as said buy a cheap guitar when you arrive and give it away at the end there are plenty of cheap guitars these days in most countries. Again if you must bring one with you as said cheap strat and just unbolt the neck throw in case. I was going a 6 week trip a couple of years ago bought one of those cheap black star travel things could never get it to stay in tune and should have bothered to set it up before I went but it arrived the day before because of out of stocks so just threw it in the case that was a mistake so now live without or pick up a cheap one lo ally if it’s a long trip

Yorkie

I often have to leave for a few days on research trips and stuff like that. Normally I can't take a guitar with me, so I have a few backing tracks of stuff I'm working on on my iphone's garageband and try to work out what to do, then write it down or play it on the built-in keyboard. Before I was able to afford an iphone, I used VLC with mp3 files. 

Gassage

• Take a bolt on neck guitar.
• Unscrew and dis-assemble
• Put in luggage. With a screwdriver.
• Play.

roberty

Gassage said:

• Take a bolt on neck guitar.
• Unscrew and dis-assemble
• Put in luggage. With a screwdriver.
• Play.

Any guitar's a travel guitar if you're brave enough. I took my partscaster to NZ like this, the roasted maple neck needed no adjustment at the other end

Something like this is ideal imo https://www.thefretboard.co.uk/discussion/277137/harley-benton-st-modern-plus-mn-hss-shell-pink-200

matt_sefton

Gassage said:

• Take a bolt on neck guitar.
• Unscrew and dis-assemble
• Put in luggage. With a screwdriver.
• Play.

An old friend of mine John Gallagher from the band Raven has toured worldwide for years taking his red explorer bass apart every flight and putting it in his suitcase. It’s still going strong after 40+ years.

BillDL

You say you're going on a cruise when you get there?

Personally I would take a lightweight Fender bass copy and remove the neck for the flight there. The longer neck, larger body, and ergonomic headstock handle will make a much more efficient paddle for the lifeboat or inflatable survival raft 

kelpbeds

finest1 said:

kelpbeds said:

Get a cheap Strat, take the neck off, whack it in your hold luggage. Simple solution. 

yeah buts theres no strings

I loosen the string and put two capos on the neck to hold them in place. 2 mins to do, 2 mins to reassemble. Couldn't be simpler.

Kilgore

Air guitars.

They don't take up any space so I take a couple of electrics and an acoustic.

roberty

Kilgore said:

Air guitars.

They don't take up any space so I take a couple of electrics and an acoustic.

You laugh but practicing by visualising in your head is totally valid

I was taught this by a music teacher at a very young age and it is effective especially as reinforcement 

May not be visual for everyone (eg me) but the same applies however your brain is configured