I spent the weekend learning to play Like A Rolling Stone. It is a beautifully simple progression in C that uses chords exclusively from the major scale. In terms of arrangement you can strum it like Dylan or electrify it like Hendrix. Or you can take a leaf out of Yoda's book. Just play it.
These days you can get access to note perfect video lessons in seconds. I have used them often but on occasion I find that they can be a block to me learning the whole song. This is because I often spend more time trying to perfect some minute technical detail, rather than focusing on learning to play the song. Some songs get relegated to 'long term project' and I drive my wife mad practising that bit. And I end up not ever playing the song.
If this sounds familiar here's a couple of unblockers for you....
1. Nobody cares as much as you. Sure some songs need to be played pretty close to the original, but most don't. Most people want to hear the song not the details.
2. Those Christmas TV ads with simple acoustic arrangements of famous songs probably come from somebody strumming because they want to sing. Everyone loves those. If it works for them, it'll work for you.
3. People remember what you played, not whether you got the slurred phrase in bar 11 correct. They remember feel.
4. Just learn to play it the way you can and start playing it. You can do the long term project as well. That way you learn two arrangements of the song.
5. Learning and playing the chord progression WILL help you to learn the complex parts. At worst you might find something that you like that sounds like you.
Just finish it.
