I think this is going to take more than just practice for me…it seems so difficult. I will say that since focusing on the wreck of ol 97 I’ve finally memorized the melody and can do some basic scale progressions within the melody, but I also tend to get stuck on the same patterns and I cannot yet randomize the melody either unless I get off topic. I hope this gets easier! I think I may be too much of a left brain thinker. Creativity is going to take time to develop. Anyone else out there have this problem? The players I’ve seen recently seem to all have a natural capacity to just play…though some have told me they have been playing for over thirty years too, but I don’t want it to take thirty years to be somewhat competent…discouraged, but going to do this every day for a month and see how I progress.
Memorizing songs=
I learned the melody by humming it and when I played the note I hummed as well to memorize under my fingers. Your suggestion helped me…thanks! I can’t sing worth a darn so…humming it is!
Patience! These things don’t happen overnight.
We all learn at different speeds, but yes everyone has the same problems for a time. Creativity is linked to experimentation, listening skills, retention of learned material, amount of time spent on the instrument, etc…it doesn’t just “happen”…it is another learned skill…varying how we play something while retaining the main theme
Yes, it will get easier…the more it’s done the easier it gets.
If you’re doing Wreck of the old '97, you might do some listening to Footprints in the Snow…very similar melody sections but usually played fairly differently…might give you some ideas…
If what you’re trying gets too frustrating or you’re getting too discouraged, have something else handy to work on for a while, then come back to it…Sometimes it takes a break from something to let the brain catch up with a new thinking pattern.
Hope this helps some…Good luck, and work on enjoying the process of learning…demanding time limited results from yourself is not a great goal early in the playing process.
Dave
Hi Kristopher
I would echo everything Dave @fiddle_wood says. It takes an abundance of Patience, Practice and Perseverance to learn to play a musical instrument. Some days are good some days are bad.
Yes…ME!!! I challenge you to watch and attempt to learn all of my build-a-break lessons on the site. Some of the advanced solos may be too difficult but I usually start out on a basic melody. But I talk about how I expand that basic melody into licks, rolls. You can find these by going to the banjo page then clicking “build-a-break” on the collection filter on the left. And, be sure to watch my rolling backup lesson: https://banjobenclark.com/lessons/how-to-play-rolling-backup-for-fiddle-tunes-more-banjo-intermediate
Challenge accepted!
Hello @crohnieks. Do you have any informal monthly jam-sessions you could attend every month? Just reading your post brought back some memories. About 32-years ago, I had just taken up the banjo for about a year while still in college. My brother mentioned to me a monthly “Hoe-Down” jam-session at our Town Hall. Eagerly, I took my banjo there and joined in. There was always a group of about 32-players or so sitting in a circle of chairs or standing with our instruments while some of the women cooked dinner. The group with mandolins, guitars, banjo, fiddles would play from song to song and was a bit difficult to hear yourself, but it was there, that I cut my teeth on being able to move from song to song (without knowing the song) and catch on to the chord progression and experiment with various styles of backup. Eventually a few of us noticed each other and we formed a group that played in some country shows, churches and other events. Back then, I only had bluegrass records to learn licks from so seemed like a slow process learning. (the build-a-break licks @BanjoBen is like learning with full-afterburners on)
Incidentally, I met a beautiful woman there at the Hoe-Down that smiled at me when our eyes me while I was playing “Bending the Strings” or “Foggy Mountain Breakdown” when it came time to take turns playing special numbers. I still remember the whole room going to black & white yet she remained in living color. :-)
We’re still in love and have been married for 32-years. At any rate, I was thinking that joining such a monthly Picking event might help develop your skills and ability to jam if you can find one. HAPPY PICKING!