FOOD FOR THOUGHT
Justin Sandercoe of justinguitar.com lends GT his insight as one of the world’s most successful guitar teachers. This month: Song Work.
Playing songs is what it’s all about! And a balanced practice routine should help you to achieve the skills you need, to be able to play the songs you want to play. But what songs should you be working on? Many students fall into traps of either playing songs that are too easy or far too hard. So how does one find the balance?
I recommend that all guitarists work on three types of songs at any one time. I call them 'Campfire', 'Developers' and 'Dreamers', and here's why this can be such a great way to stay motivated on guitar.
Campfire songs are ones you can play with ease. Ones you can
and play confidently. Everyone should have at least 10 songs they can play at a party, so think about that kind of situation when you decide on your list. Think about where and with whom you might play them, and then choose appropriately. Songs that people like to sing along with in my circles are Wish You Were Here, Heart Of Gold, Hallelujah, Free Fallin', Time Of Your Life ...but if your social circle's taste is more country, etc, then obviously choose accordingly.
Pick songs that are easy to recall even after a few beers. Revise them every few months to keep them current in your mind, maybe with some extra revision if you have something coming up where you might be put on the spot.
'Developers' are songs that you can mostly play but have some things that are a bit of a struggle. Your practice should focus on skills that you need to develop to be able to play these songs. They could be any style, but do pick things that are likely to be possible after some consistent practice.
The aim for the Developers is to get them confident enough that they become Campfire songs. As you get more confident on guitar, the difficulty of songs on your Campfire list is likely to get harder. You might include some chord melody arrangements or songs with fancy intros or riffs. Things like Blackbird, Angels, Stairway, Norwegian Wood, Needle And The Damage Done, and so on.
The last category is 'Dreamers' - songs you hope to play one day. As long as you go at these with the right intention then they can be a lot of fun and rewarding. Many students start off trying to play a Dreamer and get frustrated that it’s too hard and then lose interest.
So approach songs like this with curiosity. Wonder at how hard it might be to play. Test out where you are with it. See what things you need to get onto your practice routine to be able to play it one day.
I don’t recommend just keeping on a really hard song without the right attitude. It’s just depressing.
Sometimes you will find a song is easier than you thought, sometimes harder. But giving it a go will soon let you know. When teaching this ‘Three Song Type’ concept I made a list of Dreamers and just had a go. It was wonderful fun, liberating and approaching hard songs with curiosity instead of fear, changed everything.
I’d given up on ever trying any songs by Tommy Emmanuel assuming they would be impossible for a mere mortal, but when I took it slowly and gave it a try, I found I could get my fingers around them better than I thought. I'm not saying it was easy, but I was thrilled to finally muddle my way through a couple of my faves. Once I realised that some were possible, I popped a few into my Developers list.
In contrast, I’ve always wanted to get Cliffs Of Dover under my fingers but that EJ thing just doesn’t work for me. I have a go at it every now and again; I try adding some picking practice to my routine for a bit but it always seems futile. I don’t think I’ll be doing an EJ cover band any time soon, but I really do enjoy trying.
As your skill set grows, the distance between the three types of song narrows in some ways and expands in others. You’ll find there are far more songs that are possible, but many find they want to branch out more too and might end up trying some things they might not have tried before; classical, jazz, flamenco… use your Dreamer Time to explore.
Taking the pressure off and remembering to have fun with guitar is super valuable. This is vitally important for guitar players, no matter where they find themselves on their journey.
These days I learn all kinds of songs for ‘work’ but what I’m talking about here are songs for yourself (in case you’re a working musician). I sometimes deliberately mix things up and teach songs that I really love, that maybe many people won’t be into learning (Song For George by Eric Johnson and Waltz #2 by Elliott Smith are recent examples) because we all have to balance our work and fun time.
In case you’ve not got all your GT back issues and can’t access my previous article on a Holistic Practice Routine - I recommend spending half your time doing five-minute focus sessions and half your time on whatever you enjoy - possibly (probably) playing songs. There's plenty of info on making effective practice routines over on the website if you want some more on that. Happy trails! J.
“WONDER AT HOW HARD IT MIGHT BE. TEST OUT WHERE YOU ARE WITH IT. SEE WHAT YOU NEED TO PRACTISE IF YOU WANT TO PLAY IT ONE DAY”