Originally Posted by: aliasmaximus

I've tried this technique over and over again with different material but always end up with a bunch of pieces that I cannot snap together because my brain has become habituated to stopping at the end of each section. While this may not be a universal problem, it's still quite common. It makes more sense (for most people) to learn something by continuously adding Lego bloacks to a growing string of music that you've mastered.

Fair point, that.

We do all have different ways our brains are wired. Some can work with broken down bits and others have to be able to play the broader song in order for it to click.

I do think that if there is a single riff or bit that messes up every time, you do gotta kinda drill that one on its own.

I've been learning some Steely Dan lately (because I like funky chords? ...well, I've always liked Steely Dan even in my metal years) and there are a million little things in a Steely Dan song that will trip you up and learning 'in context' for most songs is near impossible. With that said, I'd been learning the song 'Josie'. It's not a terribly difficult song by Steely Dan standards but in the intro section there is a descending section that should be very hard but trips me up like there's no tomorrow. It not a hard little run!! But, it messes me up. So, I gotta drill.

I mention this because in many ways, I'm more like you. I get the riffs together and play through the song as my method of learning and improving. Keeping in mind that I've been playing a long time and most stuff comes easily enough to allow me to learn by playing along, but I still need to get the bits down even if just a couple of run throughs of a lick and build it in to a song.