I practiced Fly Me To The Moon two hours today

[TF]

No other tune. And now I can play it better - a lot better.

This is the way I want to go for future practicing. Not to give 30 tunes four minutes' practice each. Just to play ONE tune until it flows smoothly and effortlessly.

Then MAYBE move on to another tune. Many or most of you have figured this out already.

And now excuse me while I practice Fly Me for another two hours.

[AllanAllen]

It certainly helps to hammer a tune like that.

I also like to play them 10 times a day whenever I walk by the guitar. Parker heads for that. Just to be able to pick up a guitar cold and play Billie’s Bounce is an achievement.

[vintagelove]

The good news is you really practiced countless tunes even though you only focused on one. The cycle is the basis of so much music, not just jazz, it's really amazing.

Maybe the next day do the same with a rhythm changes tune. IOW, keep working on the same fundamentals while using different tunes to prevent getting bored.

[Doublea A]

No other tune. And now I can play it better - a lot better.

This is the way I want to go for future practicing. Not to give 30 tunes four minutes' practice each. Just to play ONE tune until it flows smoothly and effortlessly.

Then MAYBE move on to another tune. Many or most of you have figured this out already.

And now excuse me while I practice Fly Me for another two hours.

Great stuff !
It sounds like you have discovered a system for learning tunes that works for you.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[deacon Mark]

I think a great thing to do get one down cold. A bird in the hand beats two in the bush.

[paulkogut]

I've heard Pat Metheney talk about practicing Falling Grace for six hours straight, and supposedly Thelonious Monk would play the same tune for days on end, so you're in good company....

This approach might not be equally productive for everyone at every stage of development, but once you reach the point where you can 'play tunes', I think it can be extremely beneficial

Best wishes for everyone's music!

PK

[Dave_E]

One of the best guitarists on the planet had that advice. When you’re learning a new tune…. Don’t play anything else, don’t practice scales etc., eat, sleep, visualize and play nothing else. It works. It’s really hard to do though.

[garybaldy]

I'm focusing on Pent Up House with a GJ flavour.

[Strat-itis]

I practiced What is this thing called love for like a month for my lessons and surprise I ended up playing it better.

[Question]

There seems to be a misconception that spending a lot of time on one tune means that other tunes are being neglected.

I estimate that about 80% of what I learn working on one tune applies to most other tunes, especially standards.

I am talking about things like time, phrasing, building lines, tone, articulation, hearing harmony, harmonizing melodies, voicing chords, improvising, technique, etc..

If your goal is just to memorize tunes and build repertoire, then of course you will need to spend time with many tunes.

But even then, really learning one tune well will help in learning and memorizing other tunes more easily.

This has been my experience.