Originally Posted by JeanB
First of all: My chewing gum loses its flavor long before it goes on the bedpost.

Regarding the songs. I get the sheet music first and play the notes on the guitar. I don't learn well by ear and due to my old folk singing roots, I tend to rewrite the song a little if I don't have the notation in front of me.

Then I copy the notation into my Finale music notation program and listen and read through the song several times. Then I break it down into sections of musical phrasing, planning out where to take breaths, and sing along with the program until I have mastered all the sections. Then I use my guitar and accompany myself with chords and strumming or picking and find any tricky areas and work on them.

After that, I add dynamics and work on the song to make it my own .


Hi, stranger!

I often learn music in the same way. If I have sheet music to work with (often I don't), I'll notate into my Finale notation program (one of the el cheapo ones) and work with it there (one bonus is I usually wind up making an arrangement for my little group so when I do, I'm part way there) since I don't sight read worth beans, don't play an instrument anymore (sold the sax years ago) and have no keyboard chops.

Being a senior citizen, the old memory isn't what it used to be (and it never was all that great to begin with...what were we talking about?) and I often find my memory of a song I knew sometime back is not quite right so I always try to find a good recording or some sheet music before arranging anything. Unfortunately, much of what I arrange is folk music (real folk, not sixties protest songs) and often there are umpteen variations for each song. This is especially true with Irish music. In that case, I go with the variation I know and let my vict...singers worry about learning a new version.

Btw, I had to give up chewing gum years ago.

Last edited by Lady Fitzgerald; 02/05/07 10:17 PM.
Jeannie