Lately I feel like I have spread myself too thin, and Iām playing a lot of songs every day, but not really getting a whole lot better with any of them. Maybe I need to focus down my efforts on really improving just a few songs. Problem is, I like them all so much itās hard to trim the list down 
Iād like to hear from you guys. How many songs do you aim to practice each day?
0 voters
Same here, I used to play several songs each day, because I like them all, but I had to find out, that I didnāt really progress. I achieved a certain level, but then hit a āglass ceilingā. So I decided to focus on 2 songs per day and to try to really make progress. That works better for me. If time is left, I allow myself to play more songs, just for enjoyment, without the expectation to get them perfect.
Guess I have followed Justinās typical practice routine format for the beginners grades where the first 10 minutes is song revision (thatās 3-4 songs revised - usually alternate them) and then at the end of the practice session thereās another 10-15 minutes for new song work (thatās a couple of songs depending on the complexity).
I like to try to get as good as I can with a song as possible before moving on. I have to balance that with moving on when I get bored, but I think Iāve found a good middle ground.
I work on ~2 songs at a time both for about a month each. Thereās a 2 week lag between the start of each song so I essentially start a new song every 2 weeks. Once Iām done with a song I record it and post it here to get that sense of accomplishment and move on.
I do spend the first 5 min of my practice warming up by playing some songs that I already know, but mostly just messing around playing parts and not playing the full song.
I guess Iām at the other end of the scale. I have a list of 20 songs that I play most days. I have no doubt that it greatly slows my progress in each song compared to you guys practicing far fewer, but itās the way I like to do things. Otherwise I just get too bored of a song, and will likely stop playing it rather than perfecting it.
Well, it depends. I doubt itās ever more than 6 or 7 because I tend to play songs more than once if itās a āsong practiceā session. But sometimes itās just 1 or 2. And on other days I focus on technique or just strumming around without any particular stuff to practice.
My answer is none, which may not be all that helpful for someone focused on playing by rote, and probably cuts across the grain and may not work for everyone. I practice the building blocks for songs. That would be progressions, chord voicings, scales, modes, triads, techniques, etc. I play songs using those building blocks stitched together, but I donāt practice them as songs. Itās a toolkit type of approach.
What does this allow me to do? I can improvise, comp, and suss out a lot of songs fairly quickly on the spot, to a lesser (which I will acknowledge) or greater degree of proficiency. Practicing a bag full of songs is a learning by rote method.
No option for āit dependsā.
Also practicing is different than playing.
For me it changes daily/weekly/monthly. Some songs I practice and play a bit then throw out within a day or two.
Some days I work on a couple of new songs Iām still learning. Some days I play 20 different songs in a row. Other days I experiment, either with improv/songwriting or playing old songs in a new way.
When Iām learning something new I play it a lot until I either get it or throw it out.
I used to learn around 3 songs a day, but with trying to learn more complex songs I dropped down to 2 with one being a dreamer and one camp fire type of song. In all honesty I rarely play older stuff which I already learnt as I get to the point where I need to have a break from them once I nail them down 
although that does not mean I never play again the same songs, itās just not that often as learning new stuff.
By āa dreamerā, do you mean a song that you want to be able to play, but itās difficult for you right now? Like a longer-term goal kind of song?
Absolutely a song out of reach for me initially that pushes my boundries a bit. Justin had a lesson about practicing 3 type of songs in order to avoid hiatus and make your practice effective. I was doing it before seeing the lesson so if guru says it is a good method I stick to it
Thanks Adrian, I think I really needed to see that lesson 
Now to pick one ādreamerā song out of the many, many possible options ā¦
Oh yes this is not a dream, but a nightmare to pick one which I go through every now and then no worries Brendan hope you settle on your choice!
Hey Brendan,
I focus on two at a time. Other simpler āstrummyā ones may be thrown in here and there, buts its 2 for me. Earlier on in my journey I was doing the same as you - learning too many at once. @adi_mrok gave me some great advice back then, and it set me on a good path thereafter.
Cheers Shane
That reminds me of the advice Justin gives in one lesson where he says to go back over songs that you have learned every now and then to move them from the short term memory to the long term memory.
Yes, it probably also depends where you are in the learning process and your ability to embed the songs to memory as you build up your repetiore. Some people may have to play the songs more often than other to memorise them before they park them to the side.
Itās smart to notice this and track your progress.
This is a good time to record yourself and listen back to it.
There are several aspects to the songs you are playing
You can take a step back and look at repertoire level
ā
I picked up some songs along the way during the years and I started keeping them in a list in google sheets. Looks like I know about 50 songs by heart (chords and lyrics), some I play a lot, some seldom to refresh them. After a while, I had to make sure I put enough up tempo songs in there, not to sound like a complete emotional wreck or something
Made some choices in tonightās practice.
Going to really focus in on these 3 for a couple weeks at least and see how that goes.