Dammit!!! I just can't learn stuff.

axisus

I have reasonable dexterity for playing guitar, alt picking is dead easy and I can widdle terrible blues all day long. All that is OK, but I just can't seem to learn solos and stuff. I really struggle with reading TAB for some reason, but worse than that, I can't get anything to stay in my memory. I spend 40 mins trying to get just a handful of notes down and the next day I've forgotten them!

I have learned 4 solos in my life. 2 from TAB and 2 working the notes out. A few years ago I attempted Satch's Always with me, always with you. Somehow I got about a minute in, and can still play that bit, but every attempt since at the next 10 notes has failed. 

How can I improve my guitar playing memory????

notanon

Some people learn things backward. Learn the last 2 bars first then the two bars before last.. . . That way you learn something new then practice what you know rather than getting stuck into practicing what you know.

bingefeller

Do a search on Youtube for Dr. Noa Kageyama.  He talks about practice, memorizing and performing music.  His website has some good tips too - https://bulletproofmusician.com/when-is-the-best-time-to-start-memorizing-a-piece-for-fast-accurate-results/

He suggests some stuff that you may not even think of e.g random practice habits. 

Maynehead

It's about little and often. Keep the melody in your head and just keep it rolling on throughout the day, then when you get 5 mins grab the guitar and refresh your memory.

Do this for about and week and it should be fully committed to memory.

Lestratcaster

Its all muscle memory and rhythm. See if you can sing the solo first, usually if you can sing something you can play it. Then break it up in to small phrases and get each phrase right timing wise. Start slow and build it up. Keep coming back to it as mentioned above.

m_c

As has been said, little and often.
However, when practising, don't always restart from the start when you need to start again. All that does, is ensure you play the section you already know far more, rather than the bit you're stuck on.

I've also found a mix of techniques seems to help me remember. I start with just learning the part well with the TAB/sheet music/lyrics in front of me. I then add in a metronome/drum truck at a speed slow enough I can play it with minimal glitches. I then work on getting it to the correct tempo. Once I'm feeling confident at that, I ditch the metronome/drum track, hide the TAB/Sheet music, then work on trying to play the part at whatever tempo I can remember it. Once I can mostly manage it from memory, I add the metronome/drum track back in.
And a key thing that took me a long time to appreciate, is don't stop when you make a mistake! Try to keep going and get back on track. Only stop if you have well and truly screwed up!

CarpeDiem

In addition to the suggestions already made, I would break the solo down into chunks, starting at the beginning and working through it sequentially. Focus on any difficult sections and avoid jumping ahead. Listen to the solo enough that you know it in your head. Keep practicing it until it fully locks into muscle memory.

revsorg

@axisus - if you don't mind me asking, how old are you, and is this an issue that you've always had?

I ask because I recently had a heart problem diagnosed so my wife suggested I follow the diets at nutritionfacts.org - aside from losing over 2 stone I've found that my general mental functioning has improved somewhat - my thought processes are clearer and my memory is a bit better.  My limited understanding is that the change in diet aims to improve narrowing of arteries around your heart.  The same narrowing of blood vessels is occurring in your brain, and changing your diet has the potential to reverse this.

axisus

revsorg said:

@axisus - if you don't mind me asking, how old are you, and is this an issue that you've always had?

54. When I was young (under 20) I memorised music (piano those days) very quickly indeed. I can remember stuff that I have learned OK, but it's just getting new stuff in my head. It's been this way for many years now. I'm not convinced about diet helping! The one thing that I do better with is when I figure stuff out myself. The grey matter has to work a bit harder.

Thanks for the suggestions all. I'm gonna try and nail that bastard Satch song again!

breakstuff

Thanks to this thread I've started to learn Always With You,Always With Me and now my fingertips are killing me.

Thanks a lot @axisus ;

  

breakstuff

No,actually really thanks.It's given me the kick up the arse I needed to pick up a guitar and actually learn something new 

amarok1971

i have the same problem, im 46 so i can't really blame age, although depression aint helping one bit  

Alnico

amarok1971 said:

i have the same problem, im 46 so i can't really blame age, although depression aint helping one bit  

This.

I haven't picked up a guitar for 2 months because of the feelings involved in breaking up with my Wife. Even now after we're back together for the last 10 days, I'm still basically a wreck and only just now coming to the point where I can handle playing again.
My playing comes from an emotional platform that I depend on to play and if it isn't stable, I just can't do it. I just don't want to play when I feel like that.
I'm surrounded by great gear and I've looked at it all for 2 months and thought
"Pffft.....whatever!"

I also can't play in an untidy room but if I tidy up I feel very comfortable playing and that's been like that since I started in the 80's - I'm 45 now.

I think mental health overall is a big factor in playing but I also know that some people play incredibly well when they're going through emotional stress.
I also, also know that I'm not one of them!

OP - Where do you live?

Grunfeld

axisus said:

How can I improve my guitar playing memory????

Have you used Transcribe!  ?
It's just perfect for for learning stuff note-for-note.

• Open a song file
• Mark the bars of the solo
• Loop whatever bars you want to learn.

It's basically that simple.  And it has other useful stuff to assist that and make it super easy.
You'll have learned the program fully in a a weekend.

axisus

Yeah, I've had transcribe for years. Great software but doesn't help you to remember. 

Alnico

Grunfeld said:

axisus said:

How can I improve my guitar playing memory????

Have you used Transcribe!  ?
It's just perfect for for learning stuff note-for-note.

• Open a song file
• Mark the bars of the solo
• Loop whatever bars you want to learn.

It's basically that simple.  And it has other useful stuff to assist that and make it super easy.
You'll have learned the program fully in a a weekend.

axisus said:

Yeah, I've had transcribe for years. Great software but doesn't help you to remember. 

Thanks,

I'm going to try that!

Grunfeld

axisus said:

Yeah, I've had transcribe for years. Great software but doesn't help you to remember. 

Perhaps you need to increase the repetitions?
For example, I know what you mean that some bars are harder to remember than others.
So in the "Speed Up" section you have an option to set the amount of repetitions the loop plays, at whatever speed you choose, before it speeds up.
You could set it to play 100 repetitions of 2 bars at 50% speed, before it moves on to play another 100 reps at say 55% speed.  If you do that all the way up to 70% or 100%... that's a lot of repetitions.
I'm reasonably sure that it would ensure you'd remember how to play those two bars.
Which you then link to another few bars.  And so on.
I know it sounds bleedin' obvious but really, it is.
If you're not remembering it then your hands haven't played it enough.  Surely?

axisus

Grunfeld said:

axisus said:

Yeah, I've had transcribe for years. Great software but doesn't help you to remember. 

Perhaps you need to increase the repetitions?
For example, I know what you mean that some bars are harder to remember than others.
So in the "Speed Up" section you have an option to set the amount of repetitions the loop plays, at whatever speed you choose, before it speeds up.
You could set it to play 100 repetitions of 2 bars at 50% speed, before it moves on to play another 100 reps at say 55% speed.  If you do that all the way up to 70% or 100%... that's a lot of repetitions.
I'm reasonably sure that it would ensure you'd remember how to play those two bars.
Which you then link to another few bars.  And so on.
I know it sounds bleedin' obvious but really, it is.
If you're not remembering it then your hands haven't played it enough.  Surely?

Basically you are right, I need to treat it more like a task that needs completing rather than an occasional hobby thing. I've started work on the Satch tune again. Feeling determined! I am really not a natural at this stuff though

AxeInsight

@axisus How much do you know about the theory around the solos you learned ? I find that if I know the framework in which the notes of the solo are embedded, it makes it that much easier to figure out and remember (I don't remember the lick as just a series of notes but also locks it in the context of the scale or whatever construct it's in).

Hope it makes any sense, feel free to ask me to clarify if it doesn't.

Max

axisus

Er ...... Zero theory. I know notheeeng!

Kinioo

...I can only say what works for me (probably most have been said already here):

- I listen to original solo a lot and I mean A LOT - driving my car I can listen to the same song/solo good few times;
- I try to remember the melody (I am actual quite good at it) and sing it all day even if im in the office working in the front of the computer I sing it out !!
-  I sit down with my guitar, tabs or tutorial and try to break the solo down i..e few bars at the time and learn them / memorize them (practice at very low speed starting with 50% usually sometimes even @ 25%);
- then I move to another few bars repeat the same process...
- Once I have most of the solo memorized I increase the speed;
- I come back to licks/parts I am struggling with and repeat it good few times at lower speed once I have the muscle memory I increase the speed;
- I use GuitarPro for tabs / speed training.

What also works for me is - when I am really struggling with some parts / licks I just stop practicing/learning it for a day or two then I come back to it with fresh approach - it can work magic !

Chris