Hello fellow musicians.  I wanted to talk a bit about building your songbook.  As you gain experience and knowledge on your instrument, you will need to gain your own list of songs that you know how to play, and play them correctly.  This will make it easier for you to be able to play with many more musicians.  Also, it just so happens that those who havea ton of songs under their belt also know others who have a ton of songs under their belt.  Being a musician is its own world-wide circle.  Just think about some your teachers.  Many could make just a phone call or two and get in contact with any musician that they wanted.  

     So, we need to work on building up your songbook.  Honestly, the best way to start is to begin with all of the easiest songs in the genre or genres that you wish to focus on.  I began playing guitar during a certain musical phase.  The early stages of my songbook looked like this:

Allman Brothers

Grateful Dead

Phish

Bob Dylan

Van Morrison

The more I play and get gigs, the more tunes I get under my belt.  My list now looks long and often obscure, but I have been on many types of gigs, and I have learned songs on my own as well.  Now my list includes songs by Paul Anka,  Burt Bacharach, Green Day, The Police,  Miles Davis, Frank Zappa, Curtis Mayfield, Tom Petty, Mahavishnu Orchestra...  It just goes on.  

One neat thing about putting in all the time to learn the songs is the ability to start figuring out songs faster.  I usually make my own leadsheets of songs to make sure that my ear has tested all if it to make sure it is correct.  If you have ever printed a tab off of a music tab site, then you may have noticed that some are often half right, but usually nothing is ever completely right.  Always make sure that you leadsheet is right.  This practice helps you to learn songs quicker and quicker until eventually you can learn a song while playing it on a gig.  You ears and your theoretical knowledge will help you to do this on the spot.  This turns into less time that you need to rehearse and more time for you to be playing out.  

Start now.  If you need help to get a list of songs for you to look at first, please get on the site chat or send me an email and we can get the ball rolling.  You can pick up many things from learning songs that you may not pick up in your other playing.  Whether beginner or advanced, we can get you going.

In Music, 

Jeremy Laursen