When I think I’ve found a song I want to learn that sounds cool, I start learning it and either 2 things happen.
I get bored because it is mostly just 1/8 notes with very little change or just goes from f 2 bars to g 2 bars all 1/8 notes etc.
Or it plays along at a pace I can keep up with and then it does a little solo part that I get all finger twisted on and can never seem to get.
1 to easy or the other small parts too complicated.
Eventually I just go back to practicing scales or something…
@genelong I know what you mean When I try to learn a song, I break it down into smaller parts (e.g. the intro, the basic pattern, the bridge, any solos) and then try learn each one separately. I seek out videos and tabs on the web, etc. Sometimes I just can’t get one or more of the parts 100% right, but I just keep at it. Don’t worry, you’re not alone. Hang in there!
I fully identify with this.
Lots and lots to unpack here. Can you give a song as an example? There may be some helpful gems to offer you, but it would be better (for me anyway) if it was to something more specific.
The song itself is only 91 so not particularly fast but I think it is the change from a steady speed to a little faster speed changing strings that gets me.
I can play both sections separately way faster than the song is but when I try to play the 2 parts with the song I get twisted up. Maybe it is just the anticipation of the faster part to come.
The 2 sections first line second bar where it goes from 1/8 to 1/16th notes.
The other is the second line first bar same thing 1/8th notes to 1/16th notes.
I have a few things to offer here.
First - whenever you are trying to play a piece that has a challenging passage - those 1/16th note phrases - make sure of the following:
1.) That you can sing the fast part perfectly. This is so that your musical brain and your ears know exactly where the notes are, and exactly what they sound like. If your ears (music brain) can’t hear and make sense of the phrase, it means you’re asking your eyes and hands to do all the work, and they have a very hard time executing confident musical ideas if the musical brain and ears aren’t leading the charge.
2.) Try different fingerings if possible. That open G string in the 2nd bar seems very suspicious to me. I would be playing it on the 5th fret of the D string. It would make a much nicer fingering (in my opinion) for that quick batch of 1/16ths
3.) Play the challenging part slowly slowly slowly slowly slowly. Don’t play it faster than you can execute it 100% perfectly. Just roll through beats 3 and 4 of bar 2, and land on that first note of bar 3 until it is smooth and easy and perfect at a nice, slow tempo. Then go up a few clicks. Do this until you have it at tempo. If you can’t get it at tempo, then set the piece in the “save it for later” pile, and keep on the technique and fingering exercises to build up coordination and speed.
So:
1 - get it in your musical brain and in your ear
2 - check for best fingering options / alternate fingering options
3 - play it slow, over and over, speed it up gradually.
That’s the advice for a piece that has challenging bits. There are totally different hurdles to jump over when the song is monotonous and simple. If you come across that and find it challenging, again, throw an example up and folks can chime in.
Your first comment rings so true for me that when I read it I was actually saying get out of my brain!
I have to basically memorize the entire sequence and picture the finger movements before I can even attempt anything complicated.
Michael Jacksons Beat It for example, the riff taught in this course, while I don’t play it perfect I can play it up to speed, or could, but I didn’t have a chance until I could at least picture the entire thing in my head.
Thanks for all the comments! They do help.
When I try to learn a song, I break it down into smaller parts (e.g. the intro, the basic pattern, the bridge, any solos) and then try learn each one separately. I seek out videos and tabs on the web, etc. Sometimes I just can’t get one or more of the parts 100% right, but I just keep at it. Don’t worry, you’re not alone. Hang in there! 
