A friend from Nashville says before you get up on a stage you should know the song well enough that if your head was cut off your body would carry on.
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Favorite saying---- An amateur is someone who will practice a song until he gets it right.... a professional is someone who will practice a song until he can't get it wrong.
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You know you have a song pretty well down when it starts to bore you.
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IMHO--- As helpful a tool that they are, you should never use your CHORDIE sheets outside of a practice situation. If you're still using your cheat sheet on Tuesday for song that you plan to play at Friday's open mic.... better find a different song.
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If you keep your attention focused on your sheet music, you are doing your audience a dis-service. If you think you want the sheet within your eyes reach just in case you run into trouble, you are already doomed.
I won't say how long I've been playing but I still struggle finding that certain spot on the sheet. I'm struggling to keep my chords going, my strumming going, and the current words going, and I expect to be able to pick out a specific spot on a sheet of paper filled with words and chords??? I don't think so.
So... that's my 2 cents.