This is how to memorize and master a song on guitar. This is my opinion. I’m going to teach you how I memorize songs, and the method I use to learn them.
Why do I want to memorize it?
Before you begin, ask yourself why you want to memorize a piece of music. The reason may be obvious, but sometimes it’s not. Maybe you want to be able to play all the parts of a song by ear so that you can jam with your friends… or maybe you’re learning for a performance (with or without other musicians)… or maybe you just need something beautiful and challenging to play in front of your girlfriend (girlfriends love this kind of stuff).
The reasons why are important, because they will dictate the process that gets you there. If you need to perform with a band, learning the chords is probably more important than nailing every note in the lead part. On the other hand, if your only reason for learning is for personal enjoyment, maybe it doesn’t matter if you play it exactly like the original recording… maybe it doesn’t even matter if you get all the notes right!
It really depends on what kind of guitarist you are:
How to memorize and master a song on guitar
Memorizing songs on guitar can be done by anyone, but learning how to do it effectively usually entails some trial and error. In this article, I will teach you the process I use to memorize songs, as well as some common pitfalls that many people experience when attempting to memorize songs on guitar.
Memorizing a song is not the same thing as learning how to play it. Most people memorize songs by learning them by rote, which means they learn a series of shapes (usually associated with chords) and fingerings that are unique to that song.
This approach has its benefits for sure, but it also has its downsides. For one thing, there is a lot of blind memorization involved. You have to memorize the shapes and fingerings without necessarily understanding why they work in that context.
Two years ago I was in the exact same position you are now.
I had just picked up the guitar a few months before and was floundering around trying to learn a few songs from tab or just by ear.
A friend had told me that if I could learn one song, I could learn them all. But there was one problem…
After getting a few down, I had no idea how to memorize and actually master any of them.
I tried bookmarking songs, writing them down, etc… but nothing ever stuck in my brain for more than a week or two. Every time I sat down to practice I’d have to re-learn the majority of what I had learned before.
Sound familiar?
Today, though, I know exactly how to memorize and master a song on guitar. In fact, it’s pretty much automatic at this point.
I do it without thinking and without needing to go over anything that isn’t already solidly ingrained in my muscle memory and brain cells.
Once you get past that initial hump of learning your first few songs, your brain will take over for you and the rest becomes easy if you know what you’re doing!
The ability to break down, memorize and master songs on guitar will make you a better overall musician. This is a fact. Don’t believe me? Just think about it for a second: if you want to become great at something, you must first learn from the greats, right? And all of those greats didn’t just pick up their instrument and start creating instant masterpieces. No, they all learned from other musicians that came before them, and then took what they learned and made it their own.
All musicians do this; it’s called playing “covers”. But this article is not about playing covers. It’s about learning how to master a song on guitar. I’ll show you step-by-step how to memorize a song so completely that you’ll be able to play it any time, any place, without even having your guitar with you.
The best way to get comfortable with a new song is to learn the chords in such a way that you can play them in any order or combination (this is called chord progression and we’ll talk more about this later) and then practice strumming patterns over those chords (this is called rhythm playing). So let’s get started…
So you know a few notes on guitar and can form a few basic chords. You’ve got your fingers moving at the right times and have even played through a few songs.
But now you’re stuck. You don’t know what to do next.
You understand there’s more to playing great music on guitar than what you’ve learned so far, but you’re not sure what that is or how to get there.
This is where most people quit learning guitar. They drift away from the instrument, trying other things only to eventually realize they still want to play music – they just don’t know how. I see it happen all the time.
The thing is, this stage of learning guitar is completely normal! It’s part of the process of becoming a great guitarist.
The problem? Most people don’t know what to do here.
Learning to play the guitar is a lot of fun and it’s easier than you think. I’ve been playing for years now and still find new things on the guitar every time I pick it up.
It’s just a matter of figuring out what you need to do next.
Here are some tips to get you started:
1.Learn the notes on the fretboard.
2.Practice fingerpicking patterns.
3.Learn how to use a metronome (and why it’s important).
4.Practice scales and chords in different keys with different rhythms (like eighth notes, triplets, etc.).
5.If you’re having trouble with something specific, ask someone who knows how to help!
I’m assuming that you are a beginner guitar player, and have limited musical knowledge. The first thing to do is to make sure you’ve got your guitar in tune. You can use a tuning device, or if you don’t have one, you can tune relative to an E string that’s already in tune. Then, listen to the song as many times as necessary until you’re familiar with it.
Once you think you know the song well enough, start playing along with it. Play one chord at a time until you get comfortable with the changes. Once that’s down, add the strumming pattern (if there is one).
If at any time it feels like too much to take in all at once, try breaking down the song into smaller parts. For example, let’s say we are practicing a basic 4/4 rock song in C Major – I-IV-V progression (C-F-G). If the strumming pattern is fairly simple, play just one chord (C) and get used to strumming it for 4 bars. Then move on to another chord for 4 bars and so on.
The next step would be adding another chord (F), then changing between two of them for 8 bars each. Keep doing this