How to really learn and memorize a song.
Hi David,
Repetition: How many times ?
Here is what happens often to me: I play a song entirely and I do 1 or 2 small mistakes. I repeat that song paying attention at that point and it goes well.
Now I pick up another song and do the same.
When I go back to the first song (after 2 days normally) I do another mistake, in the same point or even in a different one.
I repeat doing well.
Now my question is: Would it be better if I play the same song 10 times before proceeding to a second one ? This would slow down the entire repertoire revision, cause I've 12 songs and each song will be played only once per week.
My impression is that would be better to have a small (like 4-5 songs) repertoire played perfectly in place of a bigger one not played at 100%
What do you think / suggest ?, consider that I'm not going to gig yet but studying a lot on the LOA program.
Thanks.
That's very confortant.
I considered to have to play all the songs perfectly and that was very frustrating.
If we assume 3 error per song like the average normal I'm good then :)
Until now I did how you say, repertoire once a week and a lot of time in new material.
Now I'm slowing down a bit because I wanted to better that repertorie but Il looks like I do always some small mistake. I wont worry about that then and proceed.
Do you suggest to play the repertoire all together or to play a couple of song for each day ?
Thanks.
A new song that you've finished you might play once a day until it's memorized, but otherwise play all your songs once a week, one after the other. This is of course just a general rule of thumb... feel free to amend as your time and interests change.
Good morning luckyharp . When playing a song where there's a consistent mistake area, start by practicing the mistake area first, playing it multiple times slowly and as each rep is completed, progressively speed it up until you reach the intended full speed. Once you have all those areas dialed in, play the song.
Here's the important part... practicing songs you've already learned will not make you better... it's not practice, it's repertoire retention. Also, there is no perfect performance, just an acceptable error rate... how many errors is acceptable is up to you (three mistakes in one song would be considered normal).
With this in mind, I recommend you only practice the songs you've learned once a week, spending the other days on new material... the material that will drive you forward. Make sure to follow what I recommend in the Blues Harmonica Fundamentals... 10m Technique, 30m Study Song and 20m Application (Chorus Forms)... the Chorus Form portion of practice is the most important for you at your level.