Learning a New Song

How do you go about learning a new song? There are different approaches, and it's important to remember that what works for one person may or may not work for the other.

Phrase by Phrase:
One way to learn is to take a small piece of the music and practice it over and over until you can play it flawlessly. This is a good way to learn if you can stand to make what seems like little progress. The key elements would be a metronome, a program to slow songs down, and lots of patience. I use and recommend Riff Master Pro (affiliate link) to set up a loop that plays the phrase over and over. Choose a speed that's slow enough that you don't practice mistakes, and speed up a very small amount once you can play at the previous speed without any errors. A few measures at a time is best, no longer than one line.

The Whole Song:
I learn a new song by playing through the whole thing to see what I'm up against, and I'll do it a few times. Every song will have phrases that are fairly easy to play, some that are a little harder and some that will require the phrase by phrase, or even note by note technique to get them smooth and up to speed. Once I've played the song I have a better idea of what's going to need work.

One Page at a Time:
A long song or one that has different parts to it or maybe more than one solo is another challenge. I'll treat it like each solo is a separate song and work from there. Again, I'll play it all the way through before I break it down into smaller pieces.

Listen to the Song.......Often!
One of the common beginner mistakes is to think they know the song well enough that they don't need to listen to it. You may believe you're playing it right only to find out later that you've practiced a mistake over and over. When I took music theory our professor told us that you need to hear a song at least 10 times before you start to know and understand it. Note the key words start to know and understand it. Many times I'll have a student march into the room and proudly proclaim that he or she has memorized the week's assignment only to play it wrong. Trust me, play along with the recording and just as important, listen to the song when you're not practicing.


 

Avoiding Information Overload

Are you suffering from TMI? (Too Much Information)

There are literally thousands of resources for learning to play guitar. Beginning guitar players are being bombarded with information, opinions, learning methods, DVDs, you name it. There's really way too much to choose from, so your progress stops because you don't know who to listen to.


What should you learn first?

Some guitar teachers advise you to learn notes, some think it's chords, other think it's songs, and still others think it's technique. Here's how I approach teaching a beginning guitar student. Keep in mind that I don't engage in "cookie cutter" lessons where I teach the same way whether you're 8 years old or pushing 80.


There are things you should think about.

Even though you're just starting out, you should give some thought to what you're trying to do. For example, if you goal is to play and sing, you should probably start out by practicing chords. As soon as my students can play 4 or 5 chords I get them working on a song. It's a lot more fun to practice chords when they end up sounding like something. Don't buy a chord book with the intention of just memorizing all the chords. Unless you have a use for a give chord you're not likely to remember it.

Note reading, tabs, and chord charts.

While it's easy to find tablature, or tabs, for songs, it's still a good idea to learn at least a little about standard notation. Reading music is not as difficult as most people think it is, and there are lots of times when it's more useful. Tabs are not standardized, so most of them don't indicate rhythm. To use a guitar tab you'll need to have a recording of the song and preferably a way to slow it down. The program we use to slow songs down is: RiffMaster Pro. (Affiliate link.) The advantage to tab is that it's a number system so it's easier to read sometimes. Most songbooks come with the chords listed at the top of the 1st page and placed over the correct words.

Find yourself a teacher, at least in the beginning.

A professional, experienced teacher can help you sort through the choices available as well as answer questions. One of the problems with teaching yourself to play guitar is that it can take a long time to learn what a teacher could show you in a few minutes.

The main thing is to get started doing something!

After reading this post, I'm hoping you're ready to get started. Another negative from too much information is not knowing where to start, and putting off learning the guitar completely. Once you're on your way to playing you can make educated decisions about what to learn and in what order.

Any questions or comments? Post them below this article and I'll be happy to reply to them.

How to Practice More Efficiently

Do you have trouble learning a complete piece of music?

When learning a new song do you always start at the beginning? If you make a mistake do you go back to the beginning? You may be spinning your wheels! Once you've got a good start at playing a song, the next step is to isolate trouble spots. It seems like every song has one. Playing the whole song over and over will make that spot better, the problem is it will never catch up to the rest of the song. Practicing the passage that gives you trouble in a methodical way is how to overcome the problem. Go slow, watch your fingering, and practice with a metronome or a program to slow the piece down if you're working with a recording. In my studio I use RiffMaster Pro  (affiliate link) to work with my students. With that program or a metronome, the idea is to go very slowly at first. Beginning guitar students tend to play too fast and if they have a trouble spot, tend to ignore it. When learning guitar you want to remember if you can't play it slow, you can't play it fast.  Slowing down is the way to go because you don't want to practice mistakes. Whether you're playing the correct notes or the wrong ones, your fingers will remember and go there again.

Listen to yourself play.

I know it sounds funny, but beginning guitar students sometimes get so caught up in their playing that they actually don't hear their playing. The mind wanders, they get distracted, and so they think they're practicing efficiently but they really aren't.

Set goals and make note of your progress.

When practicing, don't just go through the motions. Know what you're trying to accomplish and write down what you've achieved when you get there. Have a difficult passage you've now mastered? Write it down. That pesky C chord finally sounds good? Write it down. You get the idea. Instead of just going through every song you know without thinking about it, zero in on what still needs work and then make a conscious effort to improve it. You and your guitar teacher will both be much happier come lesson time.