Roger--From one folk picker to another, you speak the TRUTH! I had a wonderful music education throughout my chidhood and teen years; knew all about 6ths and 9ths and chord structures. Then I got my first guitar. All that great classical training went out the window when it came to guitar. Coming of age in the 60's, all I knew was that I wanted to sound like many folk types I'd just discovered and to sing songs that "hit home." 35 years later, for all I know, there might be not only be a Gm9, but also an H7 or a Jsusp4. There were quite a few above average players at Berea and I remember one guy who would be working out a tune and picking pattern and sometimes stop and stare at the neck of his box and say, "Well, it's on there somewhere." Struck me as the truth then and I still play that way today. It's a very personal instrument and part of the folk tradition is to embellish and change to fit your style. My wife's biggest obstacle in playing is to lose the structure she has in so many other aspects of her life. She asks,"How do you do that exactly?" and I can only say, "Well, you just sorta' er,uh ... well kinda'...uh,see,uh..." I think YOU know what I mean. See you later, CATSPAW49