Hey Community!
Just thought I’d share an idea I’m using for the New Year. Always a lot of talk about “resolutions” this time of year, and while goals can be good I’m borrowing my approach from “Atomic Habits” by James Clear. (A good read in my opinion.)
I’m picking a new song to focus on each week. I have 15 song in my repertoire currently, so potentially I could have 67 by year’s end!
This week: Day Tripper
If anyone is interested in how I’m approaching each song or how it’s going, let me know. Otherwise I’ll just leave at this.
Consider that happiness is not a goal to achieve, but the habit of noticing each time you are feeling happy. It’s the collective of those moments.
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How do you make sufficinet progress in 1 week?
It takes me at least 6 weeks to get a song mostly in memory and hands moving about 70% tempo with mistakes. At 6 months, I may be able to play along with a recording.
I may be working on 3 songs in parallel, so that means I might be able to get 6 songs a year.
Slowness comes a lot from from needing to get fingers moving to the proper locations. This means both mind control as well as stretching.
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I feel the same but I noticed if I practice in chunks of one or two bars, slowly, then work that part up to speed then the rest comes a little easier. Still takes some time. Like you, my fingers don’t always want to be where I want them to be.
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I’ll start with how I’m approaching Day Tripper…
Full disclosure, I’m not totally new to this one, however I’ve been taking note of how I’ve picked up songs in the past. Last year I went from four to fifteen. I’m in my fifth year of playing and learning.
First I watched Justin’s lesson. Then I listened to the Beatles version, taking note of the structure. It’s a little unusual because the intro is five bars of the riff. The verses are four bars with the shift from E to B on the third bar. The chorus has its own progression. The instrumental is just a variation on the riff with a different root note and position on the fretboard. There’s a two bar break of the riff between each chorus and verse. Nothing earth shattering, but it helps me visualize and practice the segments.
So, I learned the riff first, the chorus progression, and started the instrumental yesterday. I am also memorizing the lyrics separately.
Next week I will start a new song and let Day Tripper percolate for a week before returning to it. Have my sights set on playing Here Comes The Sun by spring, so I will learn the parts next week.
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You’ll be amazed how much quicker you’ll pick up songs as the years go by. What used to take me a month now often happens in a couple of days.
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Good to have goals. Be careful though to pick songs that are reasonably manageable within 7 days; otherwise any habit reinforcement will suffer.
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Thanks Kev for your learning new songs insight. I seem to start a song by playing through the intro and first verse getting the chords down more or less and then start a new song. Sounds limited right? I am going to take your advice and work through the whole song and give it more focused practice. What do you think? Thanks.
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Thanks for the run-down.
How much practice per week do you get? I get probably 1-2 hours total on a specific song, depending on how my week goes. I am also working on other stuff, so that time is the accumulation for the one song.
Also, how “done” are you when you let it rest a week? I know that works for me too, when I come back after a few days, things tend to work a bit better.
Thanks. I did notice, but not a the “amazed” stage yet. 
This does hit home for me. I tend to go for stuff that I need to learn a handful of new things before taking on the song.
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I keep an eye out for songs that I call “low hanging fruit”. They quickly / easily increase my repertoire. Justin also talks about dreamer songs. I have one or two of those on the go at all times.
For the time being I am not focused on a certain amount of competition for each week other than working out the pieces and understanding the structure. This week I have about two hours into working on Day Tripper and I have the structure down fairly well. I am behind on lyrics but should have it by Saturday. My measure of memorization is being able to write or say the entire song without notes. Same for the guitar part. Just have the instrumental to go on that front.
My goal is just working on a new song each week. A habit, not an achievement.
Thanks for sharing your thoughts all.
Good move…
It’s a good goal to have although it depends on what you aim on achieving within that one week. Do you manage to learn a song in that timeframe? I’m pretty much a beginner so possibly aiming to nail a song each week is a bit too ambitious. Good luck on your journey either way!
Hi Kevin & others. I have to pose the question of quantity versus quality. I’ve been learning with Justin Guitar for three plus years. I have a memorized repertoire of 15-20 songs, plus a file of “songs to learn,” with a few dozen I work on somewhat randomly.
My current focus is adding quality to the songs I know. Better timing, smoother transitions, dynamics, incorporating chord melodies, hammer ons and pull-offs and other embellishments, use of triads and barre chords in place of open chords for flavor. I know I could “get through” many more songs, and it does feel good to pick up a new song. But I am not a very good player, but I’m striving to get the best music out of my head and my fingers, not the most.
As for tips for learning songs, I think focusing on songs you know and have listened to a lot eases the path. For example, learning the Rolling Stones “Waiting on a Friend” was not hard. I know the five chords, and the song structure, rhythm and “groove” are ingrained in my bones after hearing it hundreds of times since the 1970s. Anyway, the only essential guitar habits are practice and have fun at it, right?
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Hello Kevin,
thanks for sharing. 
Right now I am reading that book too and it is really interesting reading. I bought it before christmass and read only around 80 pages, but that is a lot for me. I dont read anything… even the graduation 20 books to final exam… I did not read them. 
So this book also works as the system it is teaching. I am slowly learning to read a book.
My main roadblock with achieving a goal like that is choosing songs. I am extremely picky with what I want to learn. If I hear a song I really like, but don’t love, that’s a candidate. If I love it, it’s off the table. I can maybe identify two or three songs a year that fit my criteria.
If you can find enough songs that motivate you at that rate of once a week, that will probably be a lot of fun packed into the course of a year.
Hey All, Thanks for the input. First off a correction - my last response should have said completion, not competition. Secondly, I am not so much interested in a “goal” beyond establishing a new “habit”. That being focused learning on one song per week.
For John23 - I appreciate your thoughts. Let me know if you want discuss more as we go.
For Jeanine, I am not thinking I’ll nail down my songs in a week but focusing on one song may inform how much I want to continue with a given song, and may let me work on new techniques organically.
For Michael F. Good points - especially the fun!
For Michal K. I am not the best reader, so establishing the habit of reading is a better approach than the goal of becoming a better reader for me. A friend once recommended “How to Read a Book” by Mort Adler. He was mocked in the 40s when he wrote it, largely by people who didn’t actually read it or understand its purpose. We all can read, right. As I write this I think I need to read it again:).
For Stacy, I have a difficult time picking songs too. I have discovered that I want to develop community through sharing music, which for me has led to learning songs other people want to hear. I also like easily recognizable songs with solid choruses so people will sing along - Brown Eyed Girl, for one. Though loving what you play is really the key!