How many new tunes can you learn simultaneously?

I find that it depends on 3 factors:

1) How many sections (i.e. A parts, B parts, etc.).
2) How comfortable I am with the key or mode of the tune.
3) How often I’ve heard the tune. By this I don’t necessarily mean how many times I’ve ‘dropped the needle’ whilst in ‘learning’ mode, but rather how much the tune has been imprinted in my brain over time (usually evidenced by whether I can sing the melody).

That being said, I’m finding that it is difficult for me to really focus on more than 1 or 2 tunes at at time. I’ve only been learning ITM tunes for about 3 months. I’m wondering if this will change as I get more tunes under my belt. My preference is to totally learn a tune before moving on, much to the dismay of family members who have to hear tune fragments over and over again.

The problem arises if they are tunes of the same type and in similar styles and the same key/mode (such as two reels in D) - the sort of tunes that might go well together in a set; then it can be only too easy to use the B part of one with the A part of the other. This has happened to tunes in the past and in one or two cases the composite tune has survived in its own right.

If you learn different types of tune together, such as a reel with a jig or polka, with different keys or modes you should be ok - it will stop you from going stale on one tune and will give you a rest.

Your listening and playing skills will improve with time. Eventually you will be able to learn tunes quickly enough for this not to be an issue.

This may be way more info than you’re looking for, but here it goes!

I think you’ll find that your ability to learn new tunes will change. You are obviously paying attention to how you learn, and I think that awareness will help.

When I began learning tunes, a little over two years ago, one tune per week was pretty challenging. I was in the beginning stages of learning my instrument, and although I’d listened to ITM, I hadn’t really *listened*, so I knew very few tunes in my head.

As I learned to play more tunes, I began to recognize patterns and phrases that I’d played before- my musical “vocabulary” started developing. That made it easier. I went to weekly sessions (a tune learning session, and a faster traditional session), and listened constantly to recordings, especially the ones I heard mentioned by others during sessions. I began to carry around more tunes in my head, and found that it was definitely easier to learn to play ones that I was familiar with. I remember Reverend telling me that when they have somewhere around 100 tunes, some players start noticing an increased ability to learn and retain tunes. I didn’t stop to get an exact count, but sometime just before the two-year mark (at roughly one “new” tune per week), I did seem to experience a sort of breakthrough.

Now, when I hear the question, “How many tunes can you learn simultaneously?” I’d have to ask, “At what level and over what time frame?” At some level, I start learning a tune the first time I hear it. Each time I hear it again, it cements itself a little more certainly in my brain. Then, I start to play kind of a rough skeleton of the tune, just main notes, and familiar phrases. The tune fills itself out from there, adding a bit each time I try to play it. Somewhere along the line I stop and work out the tricky bits. And I still have one or two focus tunes each week that, if asked, I would say are my “new” ones for the week.

It may seem a long, drawn-out process, but it’s happening for many tunes simultaneously. If I had to put a number on it, I’d say I’m actively learning (picking out on my instrument) at least a dozen tunes. Maybe more than that, because I sometimes find that I’ve played a tune at a session, can’t remember the name, then find it’s because I didn’t know the name and didn’t know I knew the tune. Then there are all those tunes for which I’m still in the listen/learn stage. And I guess I should include all the tunes that I would claim I’ve “learned”, yet I learn more about them each time I play or hear them…

I think that my skill in learning a new tune will develop further, and the process will continue to change for me over time. I hope so, because I’m really looking forward to when I can be one of those players that picks up tunes by the second time through, at session speed!

As for family members involuntarily subjected to the learning process: I always tell my son that if he decides to play ITM, he will have such an advantage. Just think of all the tunes he already has in his head!

“If you learn different types of tune together, such as a reel with a jig or polka, with different keys or modes you should be ok - it will stop you from going stale on one tune and will give you a rest.” Wonderful, Lazyhound!

I try to do this. I am currently working on a reel and a slip jig.

Once I tried to learn Kid on a Mountain and Foxhunters at the same time. I still get the two mixed up together if I am not careful.

I would submit the answer depends on the definition of “learn.” It’s fairly easy to pick up some tunes in a brief period of time when you’re concentrating on that particular tune. I don’t feel I’ve learned a tune thoroughly unless I can let it sit idle in my brain for a month or so, then play it through accurately on the first or second try. I think the ability to pull a tune from dormancy is the mark of a good musician.

I agree with sfarrell about that. Even if you have enough time
to learn 10 tunes a week, there’s nothing you can do to speed
up that long - term retention (if you are an average person, that
is, not one of those geniuses with perfect pitch and a
photographic memory).

about three’s my limit on the fiddle.