Play what you can

I’ve been learning a few Iron Maiden songs on guitar recently. Some of the solos I can’t quite play fast enough. There are just a few small licks within some of the solos or sections that I can’t play fast enough, but I play what I can.

I learn as much of the song as I can play, which means I can learn the entire rhythm guitar part, and then I learn the solos as best I can. I can play the solos, they might just not be as fast as they’re played in the recording.

So play what you can. Even if you’re learning a song that’s above your playing ability. Learn as much of it as you can, and play the sections that you can. Even if this means you have to play some sections slowly. Learn them slowly, practice them slowly and speed them up when you can.

It’s better to learn the song and be able to play it as much as you can, than to decide not to learn it at all. I think this especially applies to solos that are too fast. Learning the language used in the solo and getting it under your fingers as much as you can is much more beneficial than just not learning the song at all.

Having the language under your fingers will give you more ideas to play while improvising and creating your own solos. Even if you have to slow pieces of the solo down you can include a slightly slower version in your own solos.

When you’re playing along with the recording you can just play a background part, rather than struggle through the section of the solo that you can’t play. That’ll still help you have a larger repertoire of songs that you can play.

ISJ