The Correct Way To Practice Songs On Guitar

A Simple 3 Step Guide To Follow Whenever You’re Learning A New Song

Try to avoid learning a new song in it’s entirety all at once. It can often be too overwhelming.

A much smarter way is to break the song down into its component parts and tackle it with more pragmatically.

Step One:

Find a song sheet with the chords and print it out. Go through the song and identify the chord progressions it’s using.

While it may appear that a song has a ton of different chord changes in reality most songs use anywhere from 1 – 3 chord progressions only. These progressions simply cycle and repeat through the song.

So it’s likely you’ll find one progression for the verse and one for the chorus section as an example. Write those 2 progressions out.

Step Two:

Now turn your attention to the strumming pattern. In 95% of cases you’ll be able to apply one of the strums you’ve learned in the Guitar in a Nutshell course to the song.

It’s just a matter of identifying which one is being used. If you haven’t developed your ear enough yet to simply ‘hear it’ then use good old fashioned trial and error.

Step Three:

Put the progressions and strum together. Drill the sections around and around until they are flowing easily. Depending upon your current level this could take less than 60 sections or hours… it all depends on where you’re at.

The Final Touch

The final touch is to visit www.youtube.com and do a search for the original song. Try playing along with the original but be aware of the fact that not all song sheets on the web are accurate (especially ones uploaded by other users) and that you may also need to use a capo in order to play in the same key as the original tune.

Continue Reading > Why It’s A Bad Idea To Learn Your Favorite Songs First

Contents:

00. Introduction
01. How Do You Know When You’re Ready To Start Learning Songs?
02. How Many Chords And Strums Do You Need To Know?
03. The Correct Way To Practice Songs On Guitar
04. Why It’s A Bad Idea To Learn Your Favorite Songs First
05. What Are The Easiest Songs For Beginners To Start With?
06. I’m Having Trouble Playing Guitar And Singing At The Same Time

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