If you’re a guitar aficionado and you always want to be in good form when it comes to your guitar skills, you probably don’t want to take any breaks, not even when you’re on vacation. This can be tricky since your gear may take up a decent amount of space and it may be hard to practice without having other hotel guests complaining about the noise. If you want to keep practicing, you might need to plan your vacation carefully and make some compromises.
Here are some tips for practicing guitar when traveling:
- Pack only the essentials.
- Get a travel guitar.
- Get a mini amp.
- Play with headphones.
- Plug the guitar into your laptop.
- Get a multi-effects pedal.
- Get an acoustic guitar silencer.
- Get a feedback suppressor.
- Palm mute.
- Play without an amp.
- Focus on theory.
Keep reading to learn more about how you can keep practicing guitar even when on vacation. After going through the following sections, you’ll be equipped with all the knowledge you need to prevent your guitar playing skills from getting rusty while having a good time on vacation.
Related: guitar practice routine, how to play slide guitar on an acoustic guitar, and how to play a guitar without strumming. Our guide to learning guitar by yourself covers the basics in one place.
👇😀👇NOTE👇😀👇
If you want to find out what my recommended guitar gear is, then here is what I recommend on Amazon:
- Fender Cutaway Acoustic-Electric Guitar Bundle (MY FAVORITE GUITAR)
- Snark SN-8 Super Tight All Instrument Tuner (Easiest Tuner I’ve Used😏)
- 6 String Acoustic Guitar Capo (Best CAPO for quick changes)
- Dunlop Max Grip 1.0mm Nylon Picks (Thick Guitar Pick So You Don’t Lose Grip!)
- Universal Guitar Stand (Cheap & Minimalist Guitar Stand I Recommend)
- Levy’s 2″ Wide Quick Adjust Guitar Strap (Best Guitar Strap For Any Level)
1. Pack Only the Essentials
Before we even get to the details of practicing while traveling, we first have to go over some crucial packing tips. If you want to play guitar while traveling, especially if you’re going on vacation, you’ll just have to make peace with the fact that you can only bring the essentials with you.
While you might not be able to imagine practicing without 143 pedals and various other accessories, you’ll just have to make do without them. First, you won’t have enough space in your suitcases for all that, especially if you want to do anything else but practice on your holiday.
Secondly, you don’t want to take up all the space of your family’s luggage if you’re traveling by car, and you also don’t want to pay extra fees if you’re traveling by plane. Therefore, you’ll have to say goodbye to your favorite wah pedal for a couple of days and only focus on the essentials.
Ideally, you should only carry a few items with you, such as:
- Your guitar
- A tuner
- Headphones
- A mini amp (if needed)
- A guitar cable (if needed)
- A laptop
Things are even easier if you’re bringing your acoustic guitar. Pack the guitar, a tuner, and maybe a silencer, and you’re good to go. Remember that you’re going on a vacation to have fun and not to dazzle everyone with your guitar playing and the fabulous sound created by all the effect pedals you own.
Chances are, there will be no one to impress, and you might even annoy the people around you, so just pack the essentials and don’t complicate the matter any further.
With that out of the way, let’s dive into some other tips.
2. Get a Travel Guitar
Getting a travel guitar is a great option for someone who’s often on the road. It is an even better option if you have to travel light or travel with your entire family, so you have to leave some space in the trunk for them.
Travel guitars are very small and can easily fit into most suitcases. Despite that, it will allow you to experience all the versatility of a regular guitar, as they come in both acoustic and electric varieties. An electric travel guitar can be plugged into an amp just like a regular one, and it can also be used with pedals (if you really must have a pedal with you).
However, there are downsides to travel guitars. First of all, they will never sound as good as their regular counterparts. That’s okay, though; they were not meant to sound amazing. There has to be some trade-off, and if you’re going to make a guitar that’s small and easy to carry around, it’s very hard to make it sound like the real deal.
Travel guitars also tend to be quite expensive. They are usually in the $600 to $800 range, so they’re not the most affordable purchase. However, they might be a sound investment if you’re constantly on the road and want to keep your guitar skills sharp. If it’s going to sit on the guitar rack most of the year, it’s best not to buy one.
3. Get a Mini Amp
Mini amps are an amazing investment for anyone who has to practice in a crowded environment where they don’t want to disturb other people or where they simply don’t have enough space for a regular amp. Mini amps are quiet and you’ll likely be able to use one even when you’re not on holiday, so getting one is a good choice.
You’ll probably be able to squeeze your mini amp into your luggage without problems, and then you’ll be able to jam away without disturbing anyone.
A particularly good choice for those on a tight budget is the Vox Amplug 2. These amps can easily fit into your pocket and connect directly to your guitar, after which, you plug headphones into the amps and practice as if you were using a regular amp. Vox has since released the amPlug 3. See our current picks for the best headphone amps for silent guitar practice.
Note that mini amps will probably not sound as amazing as your regular amp, but then again, it’s important to stay consistent with your practice and keep your fingers moving, and these amps will do the job well. This doesn’t mean that you’ll sound terrible, though, as mini amps have become pretty good and come with the same basic controls as regular amps, so you’ll be able to adjust your tone according to your liking.