Learning at least one song a day.

[octatonic]

Decided I am doing far too 'music theory' related practice and not enough song learning.

I want to learn at least one song a day- nothing that difficult- mostly pop/rock stuff.
Started today with Aerosmith's 'Sweet Emotion'.
Cracking little tune- took me about 5 mins to learn the parts and then spent 30 mins or so playing it round and round.

Going to keep this thread updated with my daily progress.
If I don't update it regularly, at least once a day, 5 days a week then you have my permission to give me an ass whuppin'- or the virtual equivalent thereof.

Feel fee to join me, either learning the same songs or your own ones.

[SatelliteOrders]

I hope you sick to it. Bond what my band leader sends me, I don't pick up much these days. I read the Exorcist piano part of Tubular Bells last night and had it nearly to speed when I went to sleep. It is agood goal, especially if you start playing out on them.

[Big Burly]

Great thread idea!

There are some good 4-chord song books out there if you get stuck. They have the lyrics and chords. Of course there are great websites for tabs and chords too.

I've been learning blues stuff, and when I get bored, I'll toss in an easy song.

[greggorypeccary]

Originally Posted by Big Burly

I've been learning blues stuff, and when I get bored, I'll toss in an easy song.

Maybe it's me, but something seems funny about that statement...




...I mean no disrespect, probably misunderstanding what you're saying (given that most blues is three chords and some riffs, thus making them pretty easy songs to learn).

[octatonic]

Originally Posted by Big Burly

Great thread idea!

There are some good 4-chord song books out there if you get stuck. They have the lyrics and chords. Of course there are great websites for tabs and chords too.

I've been learning blues stuff, and when I get bored, I'll toss in an easy song.

Sorry, I should have been more clear about my intentions.

The point of doing this is to sharpen my ears & transcribing skills, to work on quickly copping parts rather than, dare I say it, 'cheating' by using charts.

[jjkrause84]

If I only had the time....

[weelie]

Jim Campilongo has said that he has done that. One song a day. Sounds like a good simple goal. For me personally I rather focus on what Tommy Emmanuel said, to learn a song for as long as it takes. At the end of the year, I'd like to be able to perform one song instead knowing a riff of some 365.

The problem for me is that it takes a week for me to learn a song. My ears are bad, my timing is terrible, and I don't have multiple hours every day for playing. These the chords, the melody, the riffs those are the main parts to learn, then the possible solos if vital to the song. A lot of stuff to learn, too much for my lack of skills.

This past week or two I've been learning "Summertime". A couple of different progressions, from sheets I have, not by ear. In two keys and playing melody in different different ways. Still not there with it, will get to try it with the band tonight.

Campilongo also said he doesn't really remember the songs afterwards unless he has gigged them.

[Skub]

Originally Posted by weelie

Jim Campilongo has said that he has done that. One song a day. Sounds like a good simple goal. For me personally I rather focus on what Tommy Emmanuel said, to learn a song for as long as it takes. At the end of the year, I'd like to be able to perform one song instead knowing a riff of some 365.

I'd go along with the TE quotation. It's a good discipline to give yourself targets,but just the same I'd not be keen on beating myself up if some songs took much longer than a day,I've had some stuff still boiling after months.

I was in a position a while back where I needed to learn about a hundred songs in about 3 months,it was a daunting prospect for me,because I hadn't really made much of an effort to learn anything other than the odd song now and again. I actually surprised myself that I managed to achieve my target in the time frame,just goes to show what you can do if you have to.

[Asphalt Cowboy]

Hmm.... Yeah I'll go in on this. I think I'll start with "Just Passing Through" by Jason Aldean. It's got some cool stratty little licks in it that'd be good to add to my musical vocabulary.

[Sleph]

If you can do it, go for it....if you're anything like me, you'll forget the first weeks worth of songs by the time you reach the end of the first month.

I need to learn a song until I really know it...only then can I move on to the next.

Good luck!

[rcole_sooner]

I learn one song a day (sometimes), but the bad part is, most times it is a song that I once knew (like yesterday). My wife remembers songs she hasn't even heard in a year (or more), she can just remember and hear the song. My mind is so f'ed up, I can barely remember the way home. Kinda frustrating, but I enjoy playing.

[klasaine]

Originally Posted by weelie

Campilongo also said he doesn't really remember the songs afterwards unless he has gigged them.

If I don't gig them at least twice fairly close together I forget them.
No big deal though. Just the act of doing it makes you 'faster' at acquiring tunes. I'm in a position a lot where I have to learn tunes VERY quickly (this month for 3 show singers review gigs as well as a new original group I started to play with). A lot of the time I don't remember the tune until it starts and I re-remember it as it goes along.
I stopped stressing about knowing tunes once I realized my brain worked that way. I had a cover gig that had a song list of between 45 and 60 tunes that we'd do over a 3 or 4 set gig. No jamming, -just the tune, 8 bar solos and a lot of medleys. Almost none were in the original keys. I was using the 'book' as a crutch. One gig I forgot the book. I was freaking out and the drummer says, "dude, you KNOW these tunes". He was right. I only f'd up a handful out of 50 or so.

*The act of learning teaches you to learn faster and more efficiently.

[octatonic]

Glad to see people are into this.

Decided to stick with Aerosmith again today but a busier/trickier tune, which is 'Eat the Rich'.
I do likes me swagger.
Abou half way through it now.

[octatonic]

Make that one more for today.

'Growing on Me' by the Darkness.
RAAAAWK!

[octatonic]

Originally Posted by Sleph

If you can do it, go for it....if you're anything like me, you'll forget the first weeks worth of songs by the time you reach the end of the first month.

I need to learn a song until I really know it...only then can I move on to the next.

Good luck!

The trick with that is to play it everyday for 3-4 weeks.
Long term memory won't kick in until you repeat them daily for about that time and then you can drag them out once a month or so.
Try it, it definitely works for me.

So today I played 'Sweet Emotion' as a warmup before tacking 'Eat the Rich' and then 'Growing on Me'.
Tomorrow I will run through all of them before trying something new.
Within a couple of weeks I won't need to run through the entire song, just the relevant bits- but I will probably play them anyway.

I am getting dangerously close to 5150 posts.
Better get those Van Halen licks ready people.

[StarliteDeVille]

Originally Posted by octatonic

Decided I am doing far too 'music theory' related practice and not enough song learning.

I want to learn at least one song a day- nothing that difficult- mostly pop/rock stuff.
Started today with Aerosmith's 'Sweet Emotion'.
Cracking little tune- took me about 5 mins to learn the parts and then spent 30 mins or so playing it round and round.

Going to keep this thread updated with my daily progress.
If I don't update it regularly, at least once a day, 5 days a week then you have my permission to give me an ass whuppin'- or the virtual equivalent thereof.

Feel fee to join me, either learning the same songs or your own ones.

I've often said I was going to do this, build up some cover material and get some paying gigs. Oddly enough, I did learn "Walk This Way" Sunday. Seeing your post and not being to terribly off schedule at this point has inspired me to continue. Thanks and best of luck. Keep us up to date.

[tooncaster]

I have to go back and forth. Music theory helped me understand the songs better and improvise more on top of them, then it winds up distracting me and I have to get back to the basics. There are some songs I re-teach myself again and again. And some that pose consistent challenges, like the Co7 chord Neil Young used in "Lookout Joe." Always louse that one up on my first go-around.

I think Tommy Emanuel is probably right, though. (He would know, wouldn't he? ;-) ) You can learn a lot from diving into a song, especially of the Hendrix or Blind Willie McTell variety.

[ac15]

Originally Posted by octatonic

Decided I am doing far too 'music theory' related practice and not enough song learning.

I go back and forth on this as well, but I have discovered after years of playing, that the best, most musical, all around great players I know learned by learning literally thousands of songs. They learn the changes and all of the parts in the songs as well. They have no problem playing along with, or improvising to just about any kind of music because they know how to make the sounds they hear in their heads (because of all of the ear training they did), regardless of whether they know what scale they might be using. Songs can be a great teaching tool especially if you delve into the tunes and learn the parts, rather than just the chord changes.

You can study the theory behind them after the fact.

[klasaine]

Originally Posted by tooncaster

I think Tommy Emanuel is probably right, though. (He would know, wouldn't he? ;-) ) You can learn a lot from diving into a song, especially of the Hendrix or Blind Willie McTell variety.

Really you can do both.
Every time I re-learn a song I always notice something about it that I missed the first time around. Like reading a book or seeing a movie again.
There are some tunes I may not perform for a year and others that I'll play that I literally learn on the way to the gig in the car. Admittedly that performance of it probably won't be real deep or concise.

[octatonic]

Originally Posted by klasaine

Really you can do both.
Every time I re-learn a song I always notice something about it that I missed the first time around. Like reading a book or seeing a movie again.
There are some tunes I may not perform for a year and others that I'll play that I literally learn on the way to the gig in the car. Admittedly that performance of it probably won't be real deep or concise.

Absolutely.

I should say that I am working the 'learn a song a day' thing into my existing practice schedule.