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Slow it down, as @drofluf there said; go over and over it till you can do it without thinking, then on to the next section.
Yes, section at a time is what seemed to be the natural way to do it but I just wanted to get a consensus.
If you start learning at the beginning, you end up knowing the start well, but the piece becomes harder and less familiar as you go through it. You end up repeating the experience of getting stuck halfway through, so that’s what you learn to do.
When you start to learn something ending-first, finishing a new section gets you to a part that you already either know or are more familiar with.
An awareness of the chords you’re playing over/through can help things feel familiar (especially for something like ragtime).
Whilst you’re still analysing, identify the bass/middle/top lines…even play them in isolation…you’ll hear stuff that you didn’t know was in there.
Also (and this might slow you down), learn it from the dots rather than tab! Painful as it is, I know this works for me…must be something to do with the deeper thought it requires. Get it on paper and pencil-in your decisions. Then, when you think you’re getting it memorised, test yourself by playing blind for a few phrases and then checking the score.
I’m another that prefers dots to tab (cue massive thread derailment) and transcribing is part of my route to working out and learning something that isn’t already written down - but that’s just the way my brain works.
Full disclosure - I can’t fingerpick to save my life, the best you’ll get out of me is some half-arsed hybrid picking!
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If it gets difficult, forget it & play something you know. (You can kid yourself you have years to learn it!!)
one section (make it as "complete" as poss so it sounds right, ie not just any old bar) at a time - get it "note right" and then get it "tempo right" then move on
not a fan of not learning in sequential order, personally I think it makes you "lazy" especially if you work "out to in" so to speak, offers the temptation to leave bits out cos you feel like "hey Ive got the beginning, got the end, I'll just to the bits I like now"
just because you do, doesn't mean you should.
Know the chords you're picking and note the recurring patterns.
I find when first learning a piece it can help to isolate the bass and melody. Hold the chords but just play through the bass line a few times. Then play the melody notes a few times.
I have to transcribe 10 songs per week so I can learn songs pretty quick, though alot of them are the generic pop 4-chord progression following the piano type ones.
just because you do, doesn't mean you should.
as gigging/performing live is way way behind me, pressure is a distant worry
just because you do, doesn't mean you should.
Fingerpicked/classical...no wiggle room...all the right notes required in the right order...I'm sweating now just thinking about it
So much easier to do electric guitar widdling/improv to a large room of sweaty blokes!
or start and the beginning and its a self lesson in gaining tempo
just because you do, doesn't mean you should.
A few things I might add.
I learned a lot from how counting is done on the drums. Drummers count 1234 for the beat. They count 1and2and3...for eighths.
And for 16ths they count 1 e & a 2 e & a 3 e...
I found it really helped to slow things right down and work on where the notes were falling whilst counting them out in this way. Particularly if you're working off tabs which cant communicate timing.
A lot of Travis is muscle memory. There's only so many patterns and variations. Eg it took me a long time to get a pull off on a melody line to land on the same beat as a bass line. But once you have the muscle memory it's much easier for a lot of future work.
If you're following a tab and a video tutorial. Consider just following the video and writing your own tab as you learn it. Something about that process helps break it down and make it easier for me anyway.