How many tunes/songs.......

[Taylorneil]

do you try to learn simultaneously, or do you master one before moving on to another?
Just wondering.

[GHS]

While it depends upon the complexity of the piece, I usually have two, three, or more going at once. If you work on one too much, ( at least for me) you can get finger/hand fatigue pretty quick...along with "frustration burnout". Seems to work better if you work on a song...give a rest for a few days, then go back to it, muscle memory seems to kick in and things go a lot smoother. Try and see what works for you.

[The Bard Rocks]

It varies. There are times when I am not actively working on anything; the stuff i want to learn is temporarily shelved. And other times, there are several at once. Sometimes a song will take my fancy or I will need one for a special occasion and I will concentrate on just that for a while or maybe I want to take one further than I have before.

There are days when I noodle and see what comes out and days when I just sightread new stuff. Other days I rehearse or go over old favorites. Generally, I have several in various stages. Right now, it's a bunch of mostly fiddle tunes that I have always promised myself to play.

[rstaight]

I will work three or four at time. I will put in some extra time on one I am having a particular problem with.

You need to change it up a bit or practicing starts to feel like job. At least to me it does. Then it is no longer enjoyable.

[TBman]

One to three usually. I never really master a finger style piece. There's usually always something I could have done a little better.

[cdkrugjr]

I have songs I want to play, some easier, some harder.

I have one harder song I'm trying to learn, perhaps 2-3 easy ones, so I get the dopamine victory hit rather than continue to beat my head against the wall with stretch piece after stretch piece

[musicman1951]

Obviously, there are no rules here. Whatever works for you.

I like to have a bunch going at once. I keep changing my arrangement over time as I play the song and new ideas come.

[Methos1979]

I usually have anywhere from 5-10 on the 'cheater' list. These are songs that I have in my Android phone app that is displayed on my mic stand as a quick reference for live play. As I get them down cold they leave the cheater list and new ones go on.

Note that these are basic chord type songs that I play either fingerstyle or strum (depending on the song) that I am 'making my own'. By that I mean I never really sit down and try to copy a cover song exactly but rather find the chord progressions that work best for me in Ultimate Guitar and then arrange it to our liking for public performance.

[Rosewood99]

Two new songs at at time is the most my brain can handle.

[ChrisE]

I'm not much of a player so I just learn the chord progression and try to memorize all the lyrics. I'll do 3 or 4 at time when the mood strikes.

The last group I learned were:

Drinkin Problem by Midland
Santa Looked a Lot Like Daddy by Buck Owens
Amie by Pure Prairie League
Whiskey and You by Chris Stapleton.

Like I said, easy songs; just trying to remember the lyrics.

[DesertTwang]

I don't look at my guitar practice in terms of isolated tunes, but in terms of my overall abilities. Rather than viewing a particular tune as the goal, I work on improving overall so I can tackle any tune I like, according to my abilities. Over time, the way I play any given tune changes as my abilities improve. I have found that working on a bunch of tunes helps me learn faster because of a process I call cross-pollination: concepts and technique addressed during the process of learning one tune later turn out to help me tackle another tune much faster and more efficiently, often on ways I didn't anticipate.

[bufflehead]

Originally Posted by paulzoom

Two new songs at at time is the most my brain can handle.

Same here. Whenever I try to slip in a third song, I end up rushing it, and then a couple months later I've forgotten it completely.

[Bob from Brooklyn]

Two or three sounds about right. If I'm struggling with one I'll leave it for a bit. It seems to resolve itself when I return to it.

[Joe Beamish]

Originally Posted by DesertTwang

...Rather than viewing a particular tune as the goal, I work on improving overall so I can tackle any tune I like, according to my abilities. Over time, the way I play any given tune changes as my abilities improve....

I combine this with learning one song at a time. When I'm not working on that song, I'm either reviewing or enjoying old songs I know, or doing lessons from a book or video, pretty aimlessly actually.

I used to work on multiple songs, but after seeing Tommy Emmanuel in a video recommending one at a time, I took it to heart, and this has been a good move I think.

[BluesBelly]

Originally Posted by musicman1951

Obviously, there are no rules here. Whatever works for you.

I like to have a bunch going at once. I keep changing my arrangement over time as I play the song and new ideas come.

+1.
I learn a song using my techniques and in my singing key if not capoed.
As time progresses I may change up certain elements of the song to reflect my current improved state of musicianship. A song that I may have just strummed a few years back might now be played finger style or a combination of strumming and finger style. I never do a song exactly as originally performed unless the situation dictates e.g. worship music or old standards played with other musicians etc.
If you only learn a song the way it was originally written or performed then your just another dude performing a song. If you do a song your way it speaks as Your Style then you own it!

Blues