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I think memorization really comes from repetition. I played every one of these songs many times over and over until I got to the point where I know the melodies well. At some point, the fingers just seem to know where to find the notes without any conscious thought.
Marquita, you’re definitely doing great. You probably realize I was playing for a few years before I joined TAC. Even so, the first few flat-picking tunes took me quite a while to learn. I learned them in sections, “chunking them down” as Tony calls it. After about 6 or 8 months of that, I found I was able to learn new songs much more quickly. In fact, there were several of these Song Vault tunes that I recorded and posted with an hour or two of the first time I looked at them. I’m pretty good at reading music and the tabs really help me learn quickly.
I have noticed some other people learn finger-picking tunes much faster than I do. My time with them will hopefully come. Overall, I’m really pleased with the progress I’ve made at TAC, but as for just about everyone else I know, it comes one small win at a time. Being retired, I spend a lot more time on the guitar than many people can. I am very lucky in that regard, but others are fortunate in the regard that they have started their guitar journeys long before they reached retirement age. Hopefully they will be lucky enough to enjoy as much string time as I do when they reach that point.
Keep workin those open mics. They are helping me tremendously, and that’s probably true for you too.