Here's a question for the group...

Everyone needs to begin by memorizing chord progressions to the songs they want to play but, at some point, the genre becomes second nature and you automatically "know" the chords to almost any piece anyone performs, whether you've heard it before or not.

My question is a two parter. First, how long were you playing before you reached that point and second, is it faster to collect the progressions to a huge list of songs than it is to just play with other people until the genre becomes internalized?

What experiences have people had?

- Mark