I usually get into trouble if I start trying to remember the words to a song or how a particular tune goes. Most of the thinking goes into learning the song/tune in the first place, however after that is accomplished the mechanical part of playing seems to flow. If I havn't played a song in some time and start worrying about the words I will most likely forget them.

For quite a few years our band would make a "play list", consisting of the songs we planned to play and the order in which they would be played. Sometimes we would get about half way through the list before we started skipping around. Currently we just use a song list picking tunes that seem to fit the moment. The only planned selections are the opening and closing songs.

I love to improvise and it seems that if I can whistle a tune/variation/or an impromptu melodie, I can usually play it with little effort once I find a comfortable key. It's fun to go out in the woods with the penny whistle and just play away.

Years ago I began playing the guitar combining cords and melody. This seems to have come about because there was no one else around to play cords. I play way up and down the neck, however, I'm usually not aware of the name of the cord that's being played.

Cap't Bob