TSJMajesty
Fractal Fanatic
I find that if I'm stumped by a song that I know is attainable for me (NOT something like DT As I Am), I need to back up, and determine what the actual technique is, that I need to improve.
Example: I'm one of those players that tend to balance my hand with my last 2 fingers on the body of the guitar when picking fast. (It's why I don't like PU rings.) But as I move my hand to the lower strings, it's hard for me to still balance my hand; It's too far of a reach. So as a result, my picking technique is more sloppy on the lower strings.
So rather than continue to play that ascending, 3-note-per-string lick that starts low, I'll sit with the metronome, and just play 16th notes, or triplets, on the low E string, forgetting about the riff for now, using just simple, single-note stuff, and work on getting that picking nice and even, and articulate and consistent.
So I generally try to improve the techniques a song requires, if the song itself is giving me trouble, rather than continue to try to learn just that song, because I also feel that type of improvement will translate to making it easier to learn other songs/riffs/solos.
Example: I'm one of those players that tend to balance my hand with my last 2 fingers on the body of the guitar when picking fast. (It's why I don't like PU rings.) But as I move my hand to the lower strings, it's hard for me to still balance my hand; It's too far of a reach. So as a result, my picking technique is more sloppy on the lower strings.
So rather than continue to play that ascending, 3-note-per-string lick that starts low, I'll sit with the metronome, and just play 16th notes, or triplets, on the low E string, forgetting about the riff for now, using just simple, single-note stuff, and work on getting that picking nice and even, and articulate and consistent.
So I generally try to improve the techniques a song requires, if the song itself is giving me trouble, rather than continue to try to learn just that song, because I also feel that type of improvement will translate to making it easier to learn other songs/riffs/solos.