First, a little background.
I'm just now coming up on a year of practicing every day. Mostly working on fingerstyle. Regardless of where I am with lessons, I keep a few simple 8 bar exercises that are my 'song list' These either came from a book I am working through or an online lesson. With time and practice, as expected I always get where I can play and possibly perform them, although they tend to run about 1 minute each.
A few weeks ago, I turn the page in a book and there is Freight Train. I'd heard it by many people, including Elizabeth Cotten and Tommy Emmanuelle. This was, I assumed, a simplifed version that ran about 16 bars. I plucked through it a time or two, then listened to the version presented in the lesson. After spending just a few minutes with the song, I knew I could nail this one. I've been practicing it for a couple of weeks now. It's not at performance level, but I feel this was the right song at the right time.
What I'm asking is, what's next? I will continue the lessons, and I don't know what's on the next page, but this is the first time in a year where I felt like I was 'playing a song,' and I want more.
Can you think of any songs that are similar in complexity to Freight Train that I could tackle next?
Hope this makes sense.
Thanks