Mastering that song from beginning to end.

[Toby Walker]

Recently I had a student ask how they should go about learning the lessons that they downloaded from me. As structure has always been an important component of my own journey, I thought this might make for a good topic.

After assessing their abilities, I wrote them back the following response, which I thought might be of benefit to some of you here on the AGF. Mind you, it's not the be all and end all of the subject, but merely what has worked for me in my career.

So what does it mean to learn a song from beginning to end? The description is deceptively simple: first to last note, but it's all those other things that you put in between which breathes life into the tune. Let's start there.

First, you must select a song that hands down, knocks you out. It has to move you and only you can decide what that song is. Once you've made that selection, the next step is to listen to a variety of versions of it if those are available to you. This will give you an idea of the many possibilities of how that song can be played.

Next, learn the nuts and bolts of the song... it's chord progression and the basic accompaniment. Nothing too fancy at first, just something to play so you can start to get a feel of the song itself under your fingers. You can even print out the lyrics at this point and map out how you'd like to structure it, i.e, verse, verse, chorus, verse, solo, chorus... etc.

At this point you may want to fashion an intro to the song. This can be as basic as simply playing a few bars of the song itself before you start the first verse. Next, try singing some of the lyrics to the basic accompaniment that by now, you should be able to play in your sleep. You must have that guitar part down solid if you want to then sing along with it. You may also want to fashion out and ending to the song at this point. Like your intro, you may choose to use some bars of the song or something else that you may work out later in the song. Just make sure to end the song on the 'key' chord. In other words, if the song is in the key of E, end it on an E chord.

Now it's time to add the 'tinsel.' Perhaps you'd like to dress up the accompaniment, or add some licks after you've sang part of the verse. You may want to figure out what you'd like to play during your solo. This is where you're making the song interesting and more importantly, putting your own personal stamp on the song.

The next task is to completely master what you have worked on. You'll need to work on it through daily and constant practice, ironing out all those bumpy spots, which are most noticeable when you stumble, make mistakes, or just feel that the notes may not still feel right to you. Another step during this stage would be to record yourself, both audibly and visually, which is easy enough to do with any smart phone. This will give you an insight which is completely different than when you're engaged in playing the song. You can then listen with more concentration and be able to visually spot why you may be making mistakes, or looking uncomfortable.

The final step in complete mastery is this: no matter how much you've already practiced the song, remember that there is a HUGE difference between playing it alone in your bedroom and playing it in front of others. The more you do that, the more the more you will fell that you've finally mastered and owned your song, and there's no better feeling then that, except enjoying a fine cup of freshly brewed Kenya coffee. ; )

I hope this information helps a few of you out. Again, it is entirely subjective and I'm certain that many of you have additional or completely different ways of approaching this. It's all good and any additional input would certainly be valuable.

Thanks for this post Toby. It is very helpful. In my context, which is playing in a church band, I have a reasonable amount of difficulty learning new material, and it takes longer for me to learn the new songs than the rest of the band. But I try to learn the song just by rote memorization, by shoving it down my own throat so to speak. If I can create a step-by-step for learning a new song, based on your thoughts, it may make it a lot easier.

It's a slightly different context, since I'm learning material to play in the band and your suggestions seem to be geared towards learning solo performance pieces, but the concept is portable to my needs. Most of my playing career has been in clubs/bars/coffeehouses, where learning a song has not been much of an issue.

Your comment "First, you must select a song that hands down, knocks you out." hits a chord with me also, because songs I love are much easier to learn.

I think my memory is getting increasingly poor as I age (although I am a young 62) and perhaps a better "structure" is needed for me to be able to learn material.

[jeanray1113]

Thanks, Toby, for, as always, a helpful post. I was so happy to see you back here again!
I have played and sang for myself and occasionally for family/friends, but it's been a little over a year since I starting performing at a local open mic. You're sure on the money about performance adding a whole new level to the concept of mastery!

I think your process makes a lot of sense. It's pretty close to what I usually do, although, sometimes, I kind of getting ahead of myself and start adding the ornamentation before I probably should. Your point about listening to many different versions of the song is also a good one. It's so easy to hear a song that you like done by a certain performer and kind of emulating that. While I don't think that's all bad, I am at a place where I am working with my teacher about learning to "make it my own" and not just try to do it exactly like the original.

[Toby Walker]

Originally Posted by Mark Stone

It's a slightly different context, since I'm learning material to play in the band and your suggestions seem to be geared towards learning solo performance pieces, but the concept is portable to my needs. Most of my playing career has been in clubs/bars/coffeehouses, where learning a song has not been much of an issue.

Absolutely Mark. You bring up a very good point and allow me to possibly expand on it. Think about how stronger a song would be if every band member also owned the song in comparable way. Band rehearsals can often times be very similar to what I described in my opening post. Instead of an individual working out the basic chord format, order of the verses and choruses (or adhering to the order already given in the original song), it's more of a collaborative effort which can have it's own cohesive value.

[Mr Fixit eh]

Hi Toby,
This is a very helpful post.

When I was first learning to play guitar, I would print out the chordsheet and play the song from memory until I thought it sounded good. I feel really bad for my early audiences

As I progressed in my desire to sound better, I began to record songs to YouTube and without listening to them very closely I posted in the Show and Tell here. I feel bad for those members that listened to them, but I took the kind and gracious feedback and suggestions to heart and began to actually listen to my recordings critically. This was a real wake up call for me.

In my enthusiasm, I embarked on a Song Of The Month personal challenge. This was a great tool in helping to improve my repertoire and rapidly improve my playing skills. Towards the end I got more and more frustrated because I kept getting feedback like, "It sounds good, but you really need to feel the song more." or "maybe you should focus on quality, not quantity."

Over the last couple of years, I have come closer to what you prescribe in your post. It has helped me to have better ownership of the song, and my playing has improved.


You did said something that doesn't work well for me personally,

Originally Posted by Toby Walker

You must have that guitar part down solid if you want to then sing along with it.

I find the opposite in my experience. I need to start singing along as soon as I pick up the guitar.

So true what you say about the difference between playing on the sofa and recording yourself. It takes it to an even higher level when you go out and play for a live audience. My brother-in-law is a pro musician going on 65 years, and he is known to say, "A live performance is worth ten practices." Nowadays, I try to perform new material on small, non-threatening audiences before I break it out on a high stress audience and it seems to help a lot.

Thanks for taking the time to share this insight with the AGF, Toby. I always look forward to your posts.

Steve

[Toby Walker]

Originally Posted by Mr Fixit eh

You did said something that doesn't work well for me personally, I find the opposite in my experience. I need to start singing along as soon as I pick up the guitar.

Hi Steve,

I can certainly understand that. Everybody's different. In my case and in the cases of some of my students the guitar accompaniment can be technically complex, which is why it may be hard for them to add singing to the mix early on. Thanks for your input!