Hey Friend,
Naw, I’m not trying to be rude. But sometimes you’ve got to step up and take some ownership.
There’s never been a better time in history to learn how to play a musical instrument.
There are tons of paid and free online instruction, videos, tab downloads, even free apps that can show you note-for-note how to play a song.
Literally anyone can grab their cellphone and record a “how-to” video, upload it to Youtube and have it shared out to the world within minutes.
With this limitless flow of new content hitting the World Wide Web, it’s become so easy to almost instantly “scratch that itch” when you decide you want to learn a new song - or anything for that matter!
Overall, that’s a good thing - access to information gets us where we’re going a lot faster these days, no matter what it is we’re learning about.
So how do YOU learn songs?
What’s your favorite method to add a song to your repertoire?
Something I’ve been thinking about lately is how we did it before the Internet…
We were far more limited in our access to resources that could help us excel. In fact, if we wanted something, we had to physically go out into the world and find it.
When it came to learning how to play songs and music, it was a much more tangible act.
We had to either locate someone who could show us how they learned the music, beg, borrow or steal a piece of sheet music (as long as we know how to read it), or figure it out for ourselves.
That’s what I’d like to focus on…
Figuring it out yourself.
With the proliferation of the “done for you” instructional videos and tabs, I think it’s a healthy exercise to step back and spend some time learning how it was done way back in the “BI” (Before Internet).
I think there are certain skills we miss out on when the instruction is simply handed out.
Don’t get me wrong - I love how accessible music instruction has become. I wouldn’t go back to the “old way” of figuring out a song as a permanent practice.
But there are benefits to studying music using old school techniques, and it’s worth trying them out yourself.
Don’t worry, I’m not going to make you go out and find old vinyl records and a turntable, or cassettes and a tape deck - I’m not a monster!
I think we can rely on modern technology to at least deliver the music to our ears while we study it. Besides, cultured society frowns on using torture methods of the past…
Just kidding, it wasn’t so bad lifting the needle off a record and moving it back a millimeter so I could listen to that 3 second section of a guitar part I was trying to learn - 50 times in a row!
What I’d like to help you do is start flexing your musical skills a bit past simply repeating what you’ve been shown.
Once you have some basic guitar skills and have moved past the "sore fingers” stage, you can begin relying on your own listening abilities to figure out some of the songs you want to learn.
Face it, there are millions of songs out there that have never been popular enough to warrant someone tabbing it out.
That doesn’t mean they aren’t good songs - it just means they didn’t hit the mainstream because the record company didn’t promote them.
I’ve always felt the best songs on an album never make it to the radio airwaves…
So there’s a chance no one has tabbed that awesome song you love. If you want to learn it, it’s up to you.
You’ll be surprised how your musicianship grows by taking ownership of learning a tune on your own.
It’s kinda like taking your first step alone.
But not scary - it’ll be fun!
Peace~
Dave
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