Remembering the songs! ?

Emp_Fab

I've always struggled to remember the chords and lyrics of every song in the set and now rely on an iPad on my mic stand that shows me songsheets.  That was fine as a guitarist and BV singer but now I might end up being the front man AND guitarist, and clearly, doing that whilst staring at an iPad is not an option.

How do you guys memorise the songs ?

fastonebaz

I write down the song structure in my notebook then practice it from there and listen to the song loads until its entrenched in my mind and I virtuality know the words and somehow it sticks in mind.  Basically lots of repetition. 

RocknRollDave

I am guitarist/ frontman in a band and I have a book of lyrics/ chords in front of me. 
Most of the time, I won't need to refer to it but every so often there is a song that just won't stick, or I get a moment where I totally go blank on a lyric I would normally remember 999 times out of 1000. 

Also, being a wedding band, we get lots of first dance requests and often it will be a song I have never played before. Damn right I am having the cheat sheet in front of me when we play that. 
It's false bravado not to. 

The trick, of course, is to make sure you keep looking up, that you engage with the crowd as much as you can with eye contact. 

I do find it odd, however, how some songs get stuck in my head and I can sing and play them from muscle memory, and other songs, seemingly at random, just will not stick. One example being Mr Brightside. The second part of the verse (which, annoyingly is repeated again as the song only has one verse, really) ...I just cannot remember what the first line of the lyric is. Must have played the song 500+ times now.. And I am the kind of person who listens out for lyrics and finds them easy to remember usually. Don't know what it is about that particular lyric that just isn't memorable for me! 

AntonHunter

Covers or originals? I found it easier to memorize riffs than chord sequences, but if you're learning a new song, I find it sticks way better if I work it out by ear first and then write it down rather than learn from sheet music/tabs first. If you can hear it in your head it's easier.

Another tip: write out an annotated setlist, with the key signatures next to the titles, and maybe the first line of lyrics, or that tricky bridge chord sequence. So at a glance as you start the tune there's a bit of a prompt to get you started but you're not glued to it.

Otherwise though, @fastonebaz is right, just repetition. Singing along in the car, air guitar on the train etc. Supposedly actors learn their lines last thing at night so their brain can process it while they sleep too.

Oh, and once you've done a few, it gets easier, like you're training up the bit of your brain that deals with memorizing tunes.

midiman1962

AntonHunter said:

Covers or originals? I found it easier to memorize riffs than chord sequences, but if you're learning a new song, I find it sticks way better if I work it out by ear first and then write it down rather than learn from sheet music/tabs first. If you can hear it in your head it's easier.

Another tip: write out an annotated setlist, with the key signatures next to the titles, and maybe the first line of lyrics, or that tricky bridge chord sequence. So at a glance as you start the tune there's a bit of a prompt to get you started but you're not glued to it.

Otherwise though, @fastonebaz is right, just repetition. Singing along in the car, air guitar on the train etc. Supposedly actors learn their lines last thing at night so their brain can process it while they sleep too.

Oh, and once you've done a few, it gets easier, like you're training up the bit of your brain that deals with memorizing tunes.

+1 for @AntonHunter and @fastonebaz .I learnt that I cannot do 3 things at the same time , play guitar, sing and read off an iPad so I have to know the lyrics. One thing that I learnt was that very rarely do the audience know the exact lyrics so a verse swap around or some wrong lines don’t really get noticed ( I’m guessing if you’re in a tribute band it might be different) so I don’t beat myself up about it.- ( prepares to be flamed by other tFB members) . 

Danny1969

I can't read shit on stage due to shit eyes and flashing stage lights. So basically I remember everything, right across 7 odd bands and 500 + songs. 

You don't need to remember chords really. If I've heard a song a few times I know the chords. I can hear the intervals. Once you can hear the intervals you can play a basic song in any key just by knowing your scales and intervals. This not only means you don't need to spend time learning a song, it also means you can play the song in any key. This Also applies to riffs, which when you think about it are really just intervals from chords played as single notes or double stops. Some that rely heavily on open strings can be a bitch to transpose but in general most can be moved key wise. 

Lyrics can be tricky. Generally if i can remember the first line the rest comes for some reason. Some of my friends use iPads, one guy has a fake monitor with an iPad Pro in it rather than the speaker. Then he has a BT page scroll pedal. I think that's the better way to do it rather than an iPad on a stand. 

It's amazing what you can get away with though. For years I've been singing "There's a crowd of young boys fooling around in the corner, drunk and dressed in some lyrics I never bothered to learn"   .... and no ones ever mentioned it. 

I used to play in a hair metal band and the singer got so sick of singing Animal by Def Leppard he changed the opening lyrices from Wild ride to Head Lice or Fried rice or some similar shit and no one noticed that either. 

CaseOfAce

As Fastonebez said - just sheer repetition - I play the song whilst singing it till I become bored of the damn thing!
There's no substitute for knowing it inside out. Eventually it just soaks in.

Our main singer has a mini-pad thing on a holder on her mic stand which isn't too obtrusive. Our previous singer was Mrs. Memory Woman - she knew 'em all by heart.

Personally not a fan of music stands for club / pub gigs for a variety of reasons - primarily I think they just look wrong.

Emp_Fab

It's for covers, and I know almost nothing of intervals etc so I'm just playing what's written down or what I can remember.

I think maybe I've got a memory problem - too much smoking weed in my earlier years.  It's odd though, as I can remember lyrics, melodies and guitar solos (to sing) from songs years old that I haven't heard for ages, but I can't remember chords.

Musicwolf

For me it's more about learning the song structure rather than the chords.  Once you've worked out the chords you can hear the intervals plus a song is basically a series of chord sequences that repeat.  It's more a matter of knowing how long each section is and where the pattern deviates.  When I'm learning a song I usually start with a MIDI backing track.  If I download one then I need to check it / correct it / re-arrange it etc or I may be creating my own from scratch.  This is a bit like writing the song out by hand, it helps you to understand the song.

After that it's repetition.  If you get it wrong stop, go back and correct it.  Don't just repeat your mistakes (you'll just get better at making them).

The more songs you learn the better you'll become at learning them.

Lyrics tend to fall into two categories - some have a clear narrative, some are a series of rhymes.  Compare songs such as Oliver's Army by Elvis Costello with Every Breath You Take by The Police.  The former is telling a story and there is a clear order, with the latter you could rearrange the verses into any order.  Far easier to learn the song with the clear story.

EricTheWeary

I've never been great at it and some songs seem to stick easier than others.

By and large if I worked something out by ear I'd remember it better. This includes lyrics, printing some words off the internet and hoping they stick didn't work. Sit down with pen and paper and a recording and work out the structure and every word. If I was then going to learn the song on guitar it meant I had listened to it closely ten times already so it helped that process as well. Of course some lyric sites are just wrong anyway. 

Oddly enough it's also a reason for more pedals - having a slightly different sound for a song helps trigger the memory. I didn't have a lot of scope for that but say one song in  the set used a tremolo pedal and one song used a long delay I'd remember the guitar parts more easily than for others.       

Roland

EricTheWeary said:

By and large if I worked something out by ear I'd remember it better.       

My way of learning a song is to take it apart. First the Intro/Verse/Chorus/Bridge structure, followed by the chords for each of these. I never, repeat never, download chord charts from the internet because they are so often wrong. Wrong key, minor instead of major, wrong inversion. If in doubt I listen at slow speed, and watch live performances. For the lyrics I’ll write them out too. Again so many internet versions are wrong with mis-hearings, or mishearing the language.

Sometimes I need to dissect the strumming pattern too. Where a rhythm is complicated, or there are lots of stops, I’ll count it out. Maneskins version of Beggin’ for example.

For riffs and solos I write them out note for note, not because I’m going to play it this way, but I need to understand what the original does. I’ll look at live performances because live solos are often different, and they all show fretboard positions.

To memorise I think about song structure, chord sequences and any extra bars, riffs, and the start of any solos. Then practice. 

When I get to play a song with the band I will often change the way I play the chords so that the voicing fits. When you’re playing on your own it’s common to play bass heavy barre chords, but with a bass player I don’t need to. Where the keys are playing an ascending chord sequence I might choose to descend, and vice versa.

When it comes to live performance I confess to using an iPad. I use it for the set list, tempo click, controlling the mixer, and a crutch if I forget the chords.

Danny1969

Emp_Fab said:

It's for covers, and I know almost nothing of intervals etc so I'm just playing what's written down or what I can remember.

I think maybe I've got a memory problem - too much smoking weed in my earlier years.  It's odd though, as I can remember lyrics, melodies and guitar solos (to sing) from songs years old that I haven't heard for ages, but I can't remember chords.

Well you can probably recognise the sound of changing from the 1 to the m6, Sex on fire, Every breath you take etc .... or a very common chord sequence like 1, 5, 6, 4 like With or Without you, since you've been gone etc. After years of gig'ing you just know those sequences ... there's really only a few sequences used in rock / pop and it's getting less as time goes by not more. Most popular stuff is diatonic too, meaning it keeps to chords within it's key so even easier to recognise immediately. 

I'm not saying someone could chart out Bohemian Rhapsody or Mr Blue Sky in their heads on the first listen but they certainly could for 99% of pub stuff like Ed Sheeran, Killers, The Weekend, Stereophonics etc. 

Putting a bit of effort into learning theory has actually saved me hours of working stuff out. If something sounds normal and not jazzy or edgy then it's diatonic. That straight away tells you the 4 or 5 chords that are used and you immediately know what chords aren't used ... because if they were used it wouldn't sound diatonic. 

You know like some people go Start, Settings, Devices, then click Device manager and some people just right click the start button to get Device manager  .... it's literally that. Those little short cuts you learn to get around the OS save you countless hours over the years and a learning a little bit of theory does exactly that too. 

Snags

For covers, break the song into sections/parts. Most songs are normally just two or three patterns that are glued together in whatever order. So learn those (whether it's verse/chorus/bridge, or whatever) and then learn the order they come in.

Play along to the original until you can do it without thinking. Then play along without the backing. Then go back and play with the backing again and see if you screwed up without the clues that exist in the recording.

For lyrics - just learn them. Once you can play the chords through OK (or the parts, if it's riffs and fills) get the lyrics up from AZ Lyrics or metro lyrics or wherever. Then listen to the actual song whilst reading the lyrics - that gives you a chance to correct all the bits that are wrong.

Then just learn it a verse at a time. Repeat, repeat, repeat. Play and sing along with the words in front of you, then take them away. Then put them back to see if you went wrong. Rinse and repeat until you don't need them in front of you. I also used to sing the lyrics quietly whilst walking the dog as well, etc. - gets to the stage when I'm learning something that I can't get it out of my head and it's constantly there even when I'm trying to sleep (which is bloody annoying).

Once you're confident, practice the whole thing without backing and prompts. Lots. Then do it with the backing again because bits will have drifted (but don't be afraid to make it your own if you need to).

And then ... do it live and fuck it up, do it live again and don't. Once you've got past the second one, it's in there.

fretmeister

Repetition.

Not until I get it right, but until I can't get it wrong.


Even for jazz band gigs where it's expected for the players to have the sheet music I learn it so I don't need it - including any repeats that might change on the fly depending on how many soloists want to take a turn.

Lestratcaster

I have to learn new songs pretty much every week to teach to guitar students, and then play them in full along side them. Sometimes I'll have it charted out so I know what section is where, but for the more complex ones its hard to read and play fast enough to keep up with the song. For chord type songs though I can pretty much memorise sections and what chords are where (esp if there's not many chords in the song). Over the years I've trained my ear to recognise changes and I have over 500 songs on my repertoire list. Repetition is one way, to keep playing the song 1000 times (maybe not 1000, more like 50). Breaking down the sections i.e verses, choruses and recognising patterns (like the chorus is the same as the intro etc) help speed things up more.

AsterixTG

I have a strategy for ensuring I learn the songs for every set I have to play.

Only ever play originals in a mediocre band, only ever be good enough for support slots so you only ever have to worry about learning enough material to fill 30 minutes max . On the rare off chance you get a headline slot, just extend the solos of the six songs you were going to do by 3 minutes each. This ensures you won't get asked for another headline slot and normality will resume.

Works for me.

p90fool

Danny1969 said:

Putting a bit of effort into learning theory has actually saved me hours of working stuff out. If something sounds normal and not jazzy or edgy then it's diatonic. That straight away tells you the 4 or 5 chords that are used and you immediately know what chords aren't used ... because if they were used it wouldn't sound diatonic. 

This. I have bandmate friends who've watched me work out songs in real time without pausing them and they think I'm musically gifted, but it's just experience and a little theory knowledge. 

Then there are other songs where I immediately know I'm going to have to get a pen and paper and have one hand on the space bar - the handful of genuinely brilliant musicians I've worked with can blitz through those like I can with a George Ezra song. 

slacker

I write down all the lyrics chords arrangements etc in a big notebook. I learn the lyrics of one song then add another and so on. Some lyrics are easy to learn some not. I ditched dear prudence for get back as I already knew the words.

If you have to read the lyrics they need to be easy, a wordy song like feel it still by Portugal the man is really difficult to read. You have to learn it. I haven't.

poopot

A few years back the function band had a singer who insisted on a music stand with the lyrics on it… two gigs and replaced!!!!

you wouldn’t go to the theatre and expect to see the actors carrying around the script!… 

it’s just covers, put a playlist on your MP3 player and listen on repeat until it’s drummed into your head!… practice playing them until you can’t forget them…

PolarityMan

I find it hard when you are playing a part that only makes sense in context with something else. Like there's a song my band's other guitarist wrote where I'm doing a lot of harmonising with his lines but my part taken on its own isn't a very memorable line (he's a classic guitarist with no thought to voice leading!) as a result I find it really fucking hard to remember., 

poopot

Or do a flow chart for each song…