jumping from song to song

I do it too. I'll learn part of a song then jump to another. It does seem to help when I get back to learning one song or the other. I feel if there is a song you really want to learn you'll buckle down and learn it the whole way through, but if not you got pleanty of options to play around with. It makes playing guitar real fun.

I do this as well, though I've been trying to curb it a bit lately.

What led me this was that I realised that there weren't too many songs I knew all the way through. So this has become a goal for me - at least so have some songs I can play all the way through.

Having said that, I don't think it's necessarily a bad thing jumping from song to song; especially if you're in a bit of a rut or on a plateau. Often it can keep you interested. And you may then find a song that really keeps your interest and inspires you to perfect it. :)

Yes, I agree it makes it fun, but I start wondering why I know 20 songs, one quarter the way through.

Sometimes it's a matter of having a reason to play a song all the way through, as well. When I learn something, it's usually to perform it (even if only for myself). So teh whole point of learning it becomes to play it in its entire form. Sometimes it's also to come up with a single guitar arrangement for a particular song and that, too, means being able to play it from start to finish.

But if there's a song I'm only partly interested in, say the intro or a particular riff or a complete solo, then I have to come up with a reason to play the whole thing, such as making a performance piece out of it or arranging it for one guitar. Otherwise I may simply just learn one part and not worry about the rest.

Having an audience, even if it's simply sitting on the porch and playing for hikers, usually pushes me to learn the whole thing. Or knowing that I'll be playing it with others in a group setting helps, too.

And the other thing, as Wes will surely point out, when you have a whole song under your belt, you're building a repertoire - a catalogue of songs that you can be prepared to play at a drop of a hat at any occasion. So when someone asks you to play something, you've got any number of songs to choose from.

Putting together a private notebook of songs you know is one good way of giving yourself a goal when it comes to learning a complete song. You should actually have three notebooks - songs you want to learn, songs you're learning and songs you know. Adding pages to the last one is always a great feeling.

Hope this helps.

Peace

I wholeheartedly belong to your category.But...there are some good songs i can play properly on guitar.

Its all about determination.When you are learning a new song , think as if you have to perform it in front of your family members or friends.Then you will find it tough to move on a different song before completing one.

Good luck :D

Rahul

(Between - The above all is also a piece of advice to myself !)

Gene,

Having played piano for years before recently starting on guitar, I realize that sometimes learning even occurs when you are not playing.

Many, many times I have started with a piece of music that looks way too difficult, to the point of being intimidating, thinking "I can't play this", or even "I don't WANT to play this", but then start with just the first phrase/first page/whatever. Work on that a while, get sidetracked to something else, eventually come back and start working on the second phrase, etc.

Even during the time when I'm not actively playing the music, some brain connections must be forming, because, surprisingly, those phrases will come more easily and sound better even if I haven't touched the piece in a while. It's as if the music is "internalizing" during that time, and eventually I can absorb the piece from beginning to end, building it sometimes over a matter of years, even. It is very satisfying to look back and realize I finally can play a piece of music in its entirety, especially when it took a while to get there. It's like eating an elephant, you still eat it one bite at a time.

I don't think it's a bad thing when some of our practice is fragments rather than entire pieces, and I don't feel any guilt about it. You're still practicing and hopefully enjoying the challenges and results. Maybe this moment of musical "restlessness" will lead you to discover a new genre you love. Keep exposing yourself to new music and eventually you'll find something you simply MUST learn front to finish.

It's kind of like finding a good book to read. When I was younger, I felt compelled to finish a book if I started it. Now that my life is probably more than half over, I know that was a downright stupid rule. I don't have time to waste on a book if I'm not getting something out of it. If I leave the book and find myself still thinking about it, I can always return to it. If I don't miss it, it must've been time to abandon it and move on to something else.

Except for true assignments (given by my teacher or "assigned" by me) I follow my heart in what I choose to focus on, which is sometimes the whole piece and sometimes not. For me, guitar is recreation, and I don't want to get too bogged down in "must do's." :) JMHO.

Margaret

Dono if i know how to quote correctly :mrgreen: but whatever, right? Youll know what im talking about any way.

Anywho, i notice this is a major (¿problem?) for me as well, usualy when im playing a song everything is going smoothly i.e. playing stairway to heaven and get to the part where he plays the intro differently and i feel discouraged because i cant figure out what hes doin!! before the solo i think? (feel free to let me know :lol:) so i just stop playing that and go to another song.

Anywho, feeling is mutual and i think everyone does it at some point. Of course im not very Helpful? :D But reasurring I am?? I dono. Oh well, Good luck :wink:

Danada

Hell, how do i edit? :lol:

I C IT NOW THANK YOU! :D

Glare mustve covered it :D

The little button to the top right that says "Edit." :)

Another nice incentive is to find somebody to jam with. Then you have to play it all the way. At the very least you should be able to get somebody to sing the song. You won't learn just half the song if somebody else is making a commitment too :)

oktay

As usual, I think David hit the nail on the head. Just the possibility of an audience is a great motivator. I was humiliated one night when some friends hounded me into playing and I wasn't able to play anything all the way through. I felt really stupid. The next day I dedicated myself to learning a handful of songs that I could play AND SING all the way through.

I have had that problem as well as most other people Im sure.

I make a CD with songs that I can play all the way through and I always include a couple where I know enough to bluff it. I make the CD with the songs in the same order of the sheets in my binder. (the songs in my binder are always being moved around) Then I just pop in a CD and play along. I try to do this at least a couple of times a week. I make sure to keep my capo handy and put any songs alternately tuned at the end so that i don't drive myself nuts.

It helps my focus and gives me the cues for singing. It also helps with ear training on the "bluffed" songs, and I think it has helped my timing for jams.

Glad to hear that it just not me that has this tendency. But i don't really see it as a problem. I always try to go back to songs I have had trouble with, in part or in whole. I get the trouble area down and then I move on. Keep practicing what I know and trying to add up the pieces. Moving to a different song is good sometimes, if I stay too long on a troublesome piece I get discouraged. Going in search of something new and then returning later can let things sink in a bit. I have stumbled onto some songs doing this. Songs that I maybe wouldn't have tried otherwise.

I also, look at learning the guitar as a long term project as well.

I think it is perfectly normal to noodle on guitar. We all do it. We play a little bit of this, and a little bit of that. But the reason for learning songs is what todds said:
As usual, I think David hit the nail on the head. Just the possibility of an audience is a great motivator. I was humiliated one night when some friends hounded me into playing and I wasn't able to play anything all the way through. I felt really stupid. The next day I dedicated myself to learning a handful of songs that I could play AND SING all the way through.

If you play guitar, sooner or later someone is going to ask you to play it. :D

People are not impressed with flashy little bits and pieces of songs. People are impressed with songs. Period.

If you play one song perfectly from beginning to end and stop, people will believe you can play any song perfectly.

If you play 20 songs poorly, or only a part of the song, people will believe you cannot play any song well.

I actually learned this when I was a little boy studying magic tricks. I used to get books and practice the tricks. I used to be pretty good. But one thing every book emphasized over and over was this:

NEVER PERFORM A TRICK IN FRONT OF PEOPLE UNLESS YOU CAN PERFORM IT PERFECTLY.

Ever see a bad magician?

So noodle. But always have a few songs you can play when your new girlfriend tells her friends you play guitar and you are asked to play for them. 8)