Is it necessary to learn a song?

[fenderrules]

learning songs is one of the joys in playing guitar. c'mon man, try learning some. i think you will find it is valuable as you pick up new skills and new techniques and vocabulary as you do so.

and bro, you dont have to even take up lessons to learn songs. try learning simpler songs first before moving on to the more complex ones first. like lets say theres this song you like and you wanna try learning but it has a sweep picking pattern in it and you can't do that at the moment, so choose another one, prefably from another artist you like. once you are up to speed go on to another song which requires more technique and theory work and then keep on progressing on from there..

on a side note, im not saying im on teleplayer's side, but c'mon, give this guy a chance lah. he is probably new to guitar and asking questions like this. i mean, were'nt we all once like this as well? i still remembered asking wether power chords can only be produced from distortion pedals once LAWL...

but teleplayer, as i mentioned i am not on your side, so do try to do a bit of homework (self research on internet and stuff..) first before posting and only ask questions which you really need answering. you should know lah.

okay i hope this solves this issue between the two parties here


cheers

 

[superpotato_30]

Lets just put it as.. learning songs is one of the various ways to challenge yourself..

" The real 'practice' isnt learning scales and all that. Its when you play in front of your friends or a crowd the song covers you have learnt/composed. No one wants to hear an A major scale during a live performance.. " - Joe Satriani.


To put it in other words, learning scales and stuff is just components of what you are really gonna practice - i.e. songs.

Still asking whether learning songs is impt? Think about it.

 

[teleplayer]

huh you dont. i also thought this was some trick question.

but dude.. seriously? if you dont learn songs how are u going to enjoy playing at the beginning? would u get sense of achievement when u successfully learned a scale, which would seem quite meaningless at the start, OR when u've successfully learnt a song, completely?

i'd personally take more joy in being able to play one of my favourite songs.

put being able to improve aside, learning songs will give you more confidence in playing. you've nvr gone jamming have you?

Sadly, no. My friends around me ain't serious about music and play instruments for fun.

 

[Zenzo]

Learning songs do improve your playing.Take power chords for example.Practicing power chords by strumming F5 or any other power chords the whole day will be very boring.Learning songs from bands like blink-182 that uses power chords in most of their songs will let you able to practice playing power chords and at the same time keeping you interested from learning the guitar.Why not try playing to your favourite songs?If you do not want to learn songs,you can always do your own improvisation to improve yourself(of course improvisation will take time to learn).

 

[Kyuzo]

A musical instrument's main purpose is to play out a tune that leads it to a melody n den finally with everyting else (drums, bass or even just vocals alone) .... A song. No matter it's frm ur own or a cover. Do try to learn songs. If possible, do try to learn some theory too.

Learning songs will motivate u much more to play and improve as well and slowly, u wil somehow feel lyk thers more meaning. I guess tats how i feel.. Hehe.. Dun really noe how to explain bt.. Jus do learn some songs. U wont lose anyting.

 

[THOA]

Yup. There's nothing to loose when learninga song. Only lots of things to gain from it.

 

[wyldeboon]

not necessary to learn song. just come to soft and ask pointless questions

up ur points!!!!!!!!

 

[AEnimic]

Quite necessary, cause some songs brings forth those really unorthodox playing that you might not have realised through learning theory.

 

[pianomankris]

How can you even know what the word 'song' means, if you have no context of the meaning of the word by no exposure to actual songs themselves?

Can you write a sentence without knowing what constitutes a sentence?

You can learn what a song is a priori (ie without having any 'experience' of a song as such), but it is almost impossible to understand what a song is if the knowledge gained is not empirical (ie through experience).

How do you explain to someone what a chorus is if you haven't learned examples of a chorus yourself?

Can you write poetry without knowing what a poem is?


However, there is more to music than just 'songs'. But the only way to truly learn what a song is would be to learn as many songs as you could, and not only learn them on your instrument, but understand them e.g. structurally, harmonically etc etc


Then again, it depends on how you define 'song'. The general definition of this would be a piece of music with a vocal melody.

There is far more music than 'song'. So, in theory, you don't need to learn any 'songs', unless you have the explicit attention of playing a 'song'. You can be an instrumentalist without having ever played a 'song'.

So it depends on what you mean by your initial question.

 

[AEnimic]

Haha, I am song! LEARN ME!

From what I see, as a non-classically trained musician(but that depends if you see me as a musician too), an instrument is a practical thing. You won't continue learning if you don't understand. So the best way to bridge the gap between you and understanding some theories behind music is through learning some songs, and it depends on what type of music you listen to in order to improve anyway. Cause if it's power chord bonanza, then all you will learn is power chords.