Are you a guitar player without a song to play? If you love playing riffs and leads, you may have achieved a degree of musical success without ever having learned to play a song from start to finish. So, is song playing necessary?
A lot of guitarists manage to avoid the sequential learning style that’s often presented by a teacher or method. If you are one of those guitarists, you probably skipped right to the parts of guitar playing that interested you the most. Avoiding whole-song playing seems to make sense if you love lead playing, but also if you’re either disinterested in singing or feel lacking in vocal skills. After all, what could be wrong with playing what you want to play?
I’m a big supporter of musicians devoting themselves first and foremost to the music they love! I’m also committed, however, to helping guitarists continue to grow in those same areas. Sometimes that means investigating foreign territory! I have seldom met a songless guitarist who didn’t, at some point, encounter limitations in rhythm, form and more. These are problems that can be solved simply by gaining an understanding of the complete song, including the rhythm, harmony and melody. That understanding comes most readily by learning to simultaneously sing and strum!
How do you know if you need to learn (or return to learning) to play songs?
The first clue that you might benefit from learning songs may be that you don’t want to! If you find yourself squirming at the thought, consider that your resistance may be due feeling it will be a lot of unpleasant work! It’s never much fun to do something that you don’t feel you’re good at doing. But that’s the nature of stretching into new territory. Just like when you first picked up a guitar, song playing will require an investment period that involves discipline, but as you improve, your enjoyment skyrocket! You’ll also reap rewards in your general musicianship—and there are plenty of them!
How learning songs will help your playing
Here is a partial list of the benefits of song playing:
Correct or tighten up rhythm by singing the melody while strumming or fingerpicking the pulse.
Develop an awareness of and ability to communicate about form, including the number of measures in each section and the number of beats in each measure.
Develop a heightened melodic sense and the ability to tie in to or refer to the melody in solos.
Aurally connect all of the musical elements (rhythm, harmony, melody).
Strengthen memorization skills.
Expand the overall feel for and response to the song (an essential in the art of soloing!)
How to make it happen
Choose a song that you like, but be sure it’s a simple song, preferably one that is written in 3/4 or 4/4 time. It should have a moderate tempo and no more than three or four chords. Use a basic strum and take your time! The goal is not to create a performance piece, but simply to learn to play a few songs correctly. Don’t worry about your vocal quality. Instead, focus on putting all of the elements together.
A recording device can be handy for your work and a metronome is essential. If you’re not sure that your rhythm is correct, you can contact me to assist you with your method, determine your level of accuracy or help you with corrections. Here‘s a quick, cheap, and easy way to get personalized help with one or more songs. Also, be sure to check out Getting Started, which includes nine songs with instructions and a CD, as well as more tips on song playing. And, to get twenty great, time-tested songs for free, download The World Still Needs These Songs (below).
This e-book contains lead sheets (melody, chords, and lyrics) for 20 great songs from the public domain, written in easy-to-play keys. I even included a brief history and links to inspiring performances of each song! Get your free copy here!
