Musicians, what songs are you learning?

[Haldeman]

I’m curious what songs musicians on this forum are currently learning, and why. Part of how I stay inspired is by learning songs played on other instruments, or songs in genres I haven’t tried to learn. But then again, sometimes a song from familiar territory just hits me right in the heart.

I’m a guitar player, and decided to try my hand at a Flamenco tune called Guadameci by Vicente Amigo (and I’m starting to realize how much work I have ahead of me, lol). In this case my why is because I wanted something beyond my current abilities to challenge me, and I wanted something with unfamiliar melody, rhythm etc to help get me out of my well-worn Americana and singer-songwriter ruts.

What about you?

 

[Evan]

I grew up with a classically trained pianist for a father, so it was mandatory piano lessons from the moment I could sit on the bench. By the time I reached my teens it was Zeppelin, Rush, Floyd, Sabbath…I then spent my late 20s in the Blue Ridge Mountains listening to bluegrass on WNCW. Since then I’ve suffered from tendinitis, so I have to keep it slow and David Gilmourish. I’ve recently rediscovered Jeff Beck, so I’ve started playing without a pick and getting really gentle with the tremolo bar. That’s kept it fresh. Mostly I don’t focus on new songs as much as I keep my guitar next to me while watching television and movies. I can always find a compelling melody in the background, and I’ll steal the basis of it and find myself expanding from there, developing it into something new. That keeps the inspiration coming.

 

[RAFL]

A few days ago, I picked up my guitar again for the first time in months. This morning, I had another long practice session. After my fingertips hurt, I looked at this forum and saw your post.
Have you ever observed what thoughts, memories and feelings arise in you when you play? I always pay close attention to this, and I recognize disturbing thoughts but also feelings of connection. For me, it is precisely these feelings of connection that I use to choose the songs to practice. I think it's individual. And today I practiced:
- Swing Low, Sweet Chariot
- Redemption Song (Bob Marley)
- Bolero (Ravel)
- American Pie
- A Polka Song (don't know the right title)
- Hey Joe (Jimmy Handrix)
- Millionaire (Chris Stapleton)
By the way, I practice a lot with the Yousician app, which I can also recommend for guitar. If you can't think of a song, this app will recommend something from a rather different genre. And so you get wonderfully inspired.
The other reason for me is that I like spontaneous jam sessions. Although I'm more of a beginner, I like to create something beautiful out of nothing with experienced musicians.
I just listened to the song you're practicing. It doesn't sound that easy. I wish you lots of fun and success with it.

 

[Evan]

Totally agree. What comes out is usually rooted in how I’m feeling, or better yet, how I want to feel. It’s great to be able to play your own soundtrack and contribute to the mood, ultimately bringing about the mood you are hoping for. Lately Pink Floyd’s Shine On You Crazy Diamond gets me right in that sweet spot of relaxation, spaceyness, and grooving along with the music. Echoes is another Floydian channel I like to groove in. Then I’ll generally wander from that into another place and noodle around there for awhile.

 

[Haldeman]

I grew up with a classically trained pianist for a father, so it was mandatory piano lessons from the moment I could sit on the bench. By the time I reached my teens it was Zeppelin, Rush, Floyd, Sabbath…I then spent my late 20s in the Blue Ridge Mountains listening to bluegrass on WNCW. Since then I’ve suffered from tendinitis, so I have to keep it slow and David Gilmourish. I’ve recently rediscovered Jeff Beck, so I’ve started playing without a pick and getting really gentle with the tremolo bar. That’s kept it fresh. Mostly I don’t focus on new songs as much as I keep my guitar next to me while watching television and movies. I can always find a compelling melody in the background, and I’ll steal the basis of it and find myself expanding from there, developing it into something new. That keeps the inspiration coming.

For the sake of my own hands (I've been a carpenter almost my whole life), it can really help to tune the guitar down a whole step, especially if I'm doing something acoustic. Or if I tune it down into the range of a baritone guitar, then interested new vistas pop up just because of the "moodiness" of that low-note goodness

 

[Haldeman]

A few days ago, I picked up my guitar again for the first time in months. This morning, I had another long practice session. After my fingertips hurt, I looked at this forum and saw your post.
Have you ever observed what thoughts, memories and feelings arise in you when you play? I always pay close attention to this, and I recognize disturbing thoughts but also feelings of connection. For me, it is precisely these feelings of connection that I use to choose the songs to practice. I think it's individual. And today I practiced:
- Swing Low, Sweet Chariot
- Redemption Song (Bob Marley)
- Bolero (Ravel)
- American Pie
- A Polka Song (don't know the right title)
- Hey Joe (Jimmy Handrix)
- Millionaire (Chris Stapleton)
By the way, I practice a lot with the Yousician app, which I can also recommend for guitar. If you can't think of a song, this app will recommend something from a rather different genre. And so you get wonderfully inspired.
The other reason for me is that I like spontaneous jam sessions. Although I'm more of a beginner, I like to create something beautiful out of nothing with experienced musicians.
I just listened to the song you're practicing. It doesn't sound that easy. I wish you lots of fun and success with it.

I've never hear of Yousician! I'll give it a look...

I can also relate to the inspiration that comes from "creating something out of nothing with experience musicians". To that end, if I don't have other musicians around, investing in a basic looper pedal has been wonderful. It can be helpful for basic accompaniment or rhythm, but what I like most is creating layers and layers of melody, harmony, and atmospherics that slowly evolve and change as older loops gradually recede into the background from adding newer subsequent ones. I can have a whole journey with 8 bars...

 

[Haldeman]

Have you ever observed what thoughts, memories and feelings arise in you when you play? I always pay close attention to this, and I recognize disturbing thoughts but also feelings of connection. For me, it is precisely these feelings of connection that I use to choose the songs to practice.

Yeah, I would say my feelings usually make the decisions for me in terms of what songs I learn, or the direction I take in writing music. If a song is especially moving to me, or inspires emotions like wonder or "connection" you mentioned above, part of the practice becomes staying in contact with those feelings without getting lost in them to the point that I loose my place in the song. Some of the most beautiful songs I've learned took days to get the point where I could play through them without weeping part way through, or finding myself "waking up" after becoming lost in the emotions. The disturbing or negative thoughts aren't things I tend to pay such close attention to, its more a "noting" practice for me, like insight meditation, where I notice the disturbing thought but the return my focus back to playing the music at hand.

 

[Evan]

For the sake of my own hands (I've been a carpenter almost my whole life), it can really help to tune the guitar down a whole step, especially if I'm doing something acoustic. Or if I tune it down into the range of a baritone guitar, then interested new vistas pop up just because of the "moodiness" of that low-note goodness

I’ve actually been using my own mix of string gauges (.008, 010.5, .013, .022, .036, .046), which mixes really light plain strings with normal wound sizes. That really helps with bending and lead playing without the wound strings getting too twangy. The bigger problem for me is my right hand and wrist. Alternate picking and fingerpicking winds up my extensors to burning almost immediately. So I practice a lot of economy picking and legato. Hence moving in a more David Gilmourish direction. Slow and easy. No more speed picking. No more Yngwie shredding. And definitely no more steel acoustic. I always preferred my nylon classical guitar anyway. Also, I’ve long enjoyed playing in drop D tuning, so having those drone strings frees me up to noodle around.

 

[RAFL]

What you both say is very interesting. To get back to the question at the very beginning, which songs we practice and why. I practice various songs that move me emotionally in order to train my focus and to practice a kind of “observe your thoughts” meditation. Just as Haldeman put it perfectly here:

Yeah, I would say my feelings usually make the decisions for me in terms of what songs I learn, or the direction I take in writing music. If a song is especially moving to me, or inspires emotions like wonder or "connection" you mentioned above, part of the practice becomes staying in contact with those feelings without getting lost in them to the point that I loose my place in the song. Some of the most beautiful songs I've learned took days to get the point where I could play through them without weeping part way through, or finding myself "waking up" after becoming lost in the emotions. The disturbing or negative thoughts aren't things I tend to pay such close attention to, its more a "noting" practice for me, like insight meditation, where I notice the disturbing thought but the return my focus back to playing the music at hand.

I do this with the goal of building a basic knowledge with which I can then create something new. Alone or with others.
I want to get exactly where you two are (I've only been playing for about 5 years). Evan, you mentioned Pink Floyd and echoes, and you, Haldeman, mentioned the looper. The only FX unit I use is a Strymon Timeline. And that's precisely because of the echoes and the built-in looper. It took me almost a year before I was able to create a usable backing track with it to then solo over. And that's exactly where I am right now and I want to expand on that.
Can you two recommend a few songs for me to practise with, where the parts (be it bassline, rhythm or melody) can be used well with echo and looper?

 

[Haldeman]

It depends some @RAFL on how long a loop your Strymon can record, but what comes immediately to mind is "Breathe" and "Comfortably Numb" by Pink Floyd. You should hopefully have enough recording time to loop the chorus or solo sections. Chris Issac's "Wicked Game" could be fun, or for something more upbeat there's "Werewolves of London" by Warren Zevon and "Stand By Me" by Bill Withers.

 

[Haldeman]

"Georgia On My Mind" could be great too if you're looking for more challenging chord changes to comp and solo over.

 

[meadow_wind]

I’m a guitar player, and decided to try my hand at a Flamenco tune called Guadameci by Vicente Amigo (and I’m starting to realize how much work I have ahead of me, lol).

Holy molly! That is a daunting project! I just listened to it and must say it's a nice song.
If I was a guitar player and able to sing at the same time I play, I would want to learn this song:

George Helm " Pua Mamane " A True Hawaiian

But I'm a piano player, mostly classical, although I haven't played much for the past 20 years, so I lost most of my repertoire. I also sometimes like to sing but I hate the sound of my voice. What makes me want to learn a song is hard to describe other than the "goosebumps" or cry factor. I must say I'm often attracted to scores in minor key.

At the moment, I'm learning a piano cover adapted from a theme song of the TV show "Love Game in Eastern Fantasy".
The Youtube video can be found by Googling this: 永夜星河插曲「凝眸」-MappleZS钢琴演奏

I'm also working on singing this song from the same TV show: 重塑 Reshape - 都智文 Baby·J
The lyrics were a little challenging because of the speed, but it was fun to work on.

The next one I want to learn is "Somewhere in Time" theme by John Barry. It took me a bit of work to find the exact piano score played in this video, the original song, not an adaptation for beginners:

The only song I never forgot how to play, my favorite of all time: Michael Nyman - The heart asks pleasure first

 

[SlipNet]

When I get paid next month I'm investing in a chromatic harmonica, so I can play along with my favourite old blues-rock tunes from the 60s/70s. I have a real love for those old blues tunes, and often marvel at how they've mutated over the years. It's an old but vital stream, because the blues, when played well, will never go out of style. It's vital, a pure food for the soul on a primal level. I'm looking forward to payday!

 

[c0rv3n]

I’m curious what songs musicians on this forum are currently learning, and why. Part of how I stay inspired is by learning songs played on other instruments, or songs in genres I haven’t tried to learn. But then again, sometimes a song from familiar territory just hits me right in the heart.

I’m a guitar player, and decided to try my hand at a Flamenco tune called Guadameci by Vicente Amigo (and I’m starting to realize how much work I have ahead of me, lol). In this case my why is because I wanted something beyond my current abilities to challenge me, and I wanted something with unfamiliar melody, rhythm etc to help get me out of my well-worn Americana and singer-songwriter ruts.

What about you?

I'm a drummer, Ive always liked rock music, specially metal, symphonic metal, thrash metal, I'm a metal head and I'm currently learning Lost In Space by Avantasia. It is a really cool song I like the lyrics and it is not that complicated to learn.
Cheers mate!!

 

[Turgon]

I notice when I play bass in particular, I have a tendency of noticing disturbing thoughts or memories back from my 20s when I was in rock bands and living that lifestyle. So when I pick it up, need an aim and don't meander with it anymore. Right now, I'm learning Flight of Icarus by Iron Maiden and Jeremy by Pearl Jam, particularly the outros. When I play my acoustic it's different. Sometimes when I'm inspired and write my own material, can almost 'see' the lyrics. That brings me the most joy because it taps into my emotional state and gives that part of me expression. Right now, Classical Gas is the song of choice when I'm practicing. It's one of those songs I started learning a long time ago but never got around to playing it start to finish.