How do you memorise songs to play live?

LionAquaLooper

One of my hindrances when playing covers is - given 2 songs, one I like and one I'm only lukewarm on - I find it difficult to internalise the lukewarm song and takes me many many more repetitive listens to memorise it (structure, melody, nuances, progressions).  And even when I do it's still hazy in places.  It's like my brain is rejecting it lol. 

But the song I like, even if I've only heard it once, will seep into my memory much quicker.  I think it's because I'm not open minded enough compared to other people.       

topdog91

LionAquaLooper said:

One of my hindrances when playing covers is - given 2 songs, one I like and one I'm only lukewarm on - I find it difficult to internalise the lukewarm song and takes me many many more repetitive listens to memorise it (structure, melody, nuances, progressions).  And even when I do it's still hazy in places.  It's like my brain is rejecting it lol. 

But the song I like, even if I've only heard it once, will seep into my memory much quicker.  I think it's because I'm not open minded enough compared to other people.       

It's completely natural! There are always songs where we "take one for the team". e.g. I don't warm to Crazy Little Thing Called Love and rely on my chart more than I'd like considering I've played it a fair few times.

Col_Decker

I'm playing Bonehead in an oasis tribute act these days (joined in Jan ... dropped just at the right time tbh). So naturally the songs I've had to learn aren't complex but there are a surprising amount of chords in some of the songs. So as well as learning from youtube, and  playing along to the songs, I've found the most useful practice method is to play the songs AND sing them. Now I'm no singer, and when I say sing I actually mean whisper quietly so no one can hear, but its defo helped me lock the chords into the lyrics which helps cement it all together in my head.

This helped me loads in Half A World Away which has a pesky D7 and Fmaj7 that switch position between different parts of the song.

I do find also that if i don't practice or gig at least once a week the songs just leave my head.

Blueingreen

If you chart a song out on paper - and that doesn’t have to be complicated - you’re engaging a different part of your brain than if you try to memorise it by just playing it. By doing both, you will improve your chances of remembering, because you're in effect using more brainpower. 

Snags

As others have said, repetition and rehearsal. Listen to the original lots in your not-playing time, even as background music, so you're instinctively familiar with where it goes.

Also, something I don't think has been mentioned, if I'm trying to learn lyrics as well as music, I often find that a lot of repetition, then leaving the whole song alone for day or two, then coming back and seeing how much I can do from memory massively helps. You think you're not getting it, but somehow it settles in that down time.

Not that it's foolproof - last night I was distracted by banter with some friends so completely stuffed up the lyrics to two songs, one of which is an original, and both of which I've done loads of times, and it took me a good 20 minutes after I'd finished to work out what had gone wrong and why my brain had locked up.

Lestratcaster

I played in bands for 15 years. Played so many setlists and songs, all from memory of course. Rarely messed up or forgot sections, always knew the form of the song.

How? Hmm...maybe due to the fact when I went to a music institute for 4 years there was a unit called 'Live Performance Workshop' which involved a new song each week of a 12 week term. On the Monday you're taught the guitar parts, and on the Friday you're called up in your term bands to go up and perform the song in the lecture. This only gave me 3 days to learn and practice the parts then rehearse in the band before. I think this helped quicken the speed it took to learn a song.

Now I'm a tutor I can see how hard it is for learners to just play 1 verse and a chorus of a song. It can potentially take them several weeks whereas I was learning the whole song within 5 days.

I think the key is to spot patterns, if the verses are the same length (i.e 2 times round a progression) then try to remember that. And map out the form of the song (how many choruses are there, what order are the sections etc). Some learners write everything down and can't play without charts, some don't need it and have it all memorised. Presumably as they're worried they can't read it quick enough to play it to the speed of the song. I think knowing it beforehand is always helpful as its always 10 times harder to learn a song you've not heard many times before.

PeteBo

In previous lifetimes when I've had to learn covers I just used to have the chords and intro verse chorus etc sequence written down, then just listen to the record and suss it out from there.
 Oddly despite being terrible for forgetting normal life type stuff and trivia I seem to be able to remember songs from the playing point of view quite well. 

Keefy

I generally start by making a transcription in standard music notation. I use repeated bars and sections as much as possible to reduce the amount of different bits that I have to learn. I don’t always go note-for-note, I sometimes sacrifice accuracy for practicability.

For a given band I make a page in Trello (https://www.trello.com) and create columns headed something like Set, Familiar, Nearly, and Sorted. Each song gets a card in Set, and as I go through learning them I move them to other columns as appropriate, and devote more time to those that need it.

For complicated songs I normally start at the end and work backwards a few bars at a time. That way I am always playing into more familiar sections.

BahHumbug

I reckon the simple act of learning songs has to be practiced, like any other musical skill.  If you practice then your brain strengthens the neural pathways specifically for that particular skill, so in this case you get better at learning songs while learning songs.

I’ve been memorising songs since I was a teenager so I’m fairly good at it.  I kind of have the opposite problem; I really struggle to follow a chord chart or lyric sheet.  I’ll get halfway through a song, lose my place and panic.  Trouble is, if it’s a song that I have to pick up at short notice, or that I’m not very interested in, I have to play from a sheet.

So my tip, which I think helps learning as well as playing from sheets, is to write yourself out a sheet which just has the prompts that you absolutely need to get through the song.  For instance, don’t write out all the lyrics, just write out the verse you always stumble over.  Or maybe the first word of each line.  Or if you must have all the lyrics, do the bits that you know in small font, and tricky bits in big font, so they stand out.

p90fool

A crucial part of memorising songs is understanding how they work, so that they become a pattern of interrelated layers rather than just random notes or chords. 

I depped for a band once where the other guitarist had no theory whatsoever, he just memorised tablature for the whole set without any understanding of it.

That's a monumental feat of parrot fashion memory, like a list of a thousand car number plates. If he got lost he couldn't just pull something relevant out of the bag in Bb minor or whatever, he just panicked and stopped playing until the next song. 


If you understand intervals and how chord patterns tend to go in pop music then most songs become obvious fairly quickly, and the ones which defy the clichés are often memorable for exactly that. 

Like everything, if you do it all the time it gets easier. 

26.2

p90fool said:

A crucial part of memorising songs is understanding how they work, so that they become a pattern of interrelated layers rather than just random notes or chords. 

I depped for a band once where the other guitarist had no theory whatsoever, he just memorised tablature for the whole set without any understanding of it.

That's a monumental feat of parrot fashion memory, like a list of a thousand car number plates. If he got lost he couldn't just pull something relevant out of the bag in Bb minor or whatever, he just panicked and stopped playing until the next song. 


If you understand intervals and how chord patterns tend to go in pop music then most songs become obvious fairly quickly, and the ones which defy the clichés are often memorable for exactly that. 

Like everything, if you do it all the time it gets easier. 

This is spot on. 

Keefy

I've also found that the more I learn, the more I can learn. Rather than my brain becoming full, the ability to learn is a skill that can itself be improved by practice.

snowblind

Keefy said:

I've also found that the more I learn, the more I can learn. Rather than my brain becoming full, the ability to learn is a skill that can itself be improved by practice.

There are sound biochemical explanations for why this is true. Memory, like so much else, is a case of use it or lose it. Seen some great research recently on the mechanics and chemistry of memory which is absolutely fascinating (if you like that sort of thing).

Not sure if this applies to anyone else but I would suggest avoiding NSAIDs like ibuprofen when trying to learn new stuff. 
I find whenever I use that stuff my information recall gets fuzzy. It kind of sticks a blanket over your memory. You know the information is in there but it just won't focus. As I say, may just be me but biochemistry is a fickle thing.

axisus

Many thanks all, loads of interesting answers!

LionAquaLooper

Regarding cover songs - the funny thing is even with repetitive listens and playalongs, i find that without a band rehearsal it can still go to shit on my part. It's because I'll listen to songs repeatedly hearing the genuine singer and their delivery always the same (and some vocal parts are cues for a section change or break) . Then I'll hear my singer do it, completely different voice different delivery and all those associations embedded in my head can get thrown off.

Doesn't happen frequently but it's why I hate turning up to a gig without at least one band rehearsal. Understandably it's not always possible. We got given 20+ songs to memorise for tonight and had only a couple of days to do it. No band rehearsal. Should be alright but i predict a fk up here and there....and won't necessarily just be me because one person messes up, it throws everybody else off as we all know. 

fretmeister

Endless repetition until I can’t make a mistake even when pissed. I also look for cues in what the other instruments are doing so if I am lost I know that if X plays the thing I can drop in to the next section on time.

Vocal music is a lot easier to learn as there are a lot more cues and often a stronger / stricter structure.

Repetition is the main thing though. To the point of boredom at rehearsal.

Unless it’s a trad jazz gig I won’t have music sheets / iPads etc. 

Danny1969

One thing to remember, stay in tempo and stay in key ... if you do that then you can't really make a total balls up clanger

Onpar

A few things work for me. I play the solos in our band so also have to learn and memorise them as close to the record as possible.

1. Learn the song. 
I don't mean learn how to play the song, I literally mean learn how the song goes. Which means both actively listening to the song, and passively listening to the songs. To the point it makes you feel sick when you hear them. Create a Spotify playlist and play it (listen to it) whenever you can.

2. Play the song on your instrument in your head. 
You should be able to hum/sing/hear the chords/notes internally. 

Without knowing the song (properly) or knowing how your instrument parts go how would someone expect to play the parts.

3. Now it's time to learn the guitar (insert any instrument) parts.
Learn them. Do it however works for you. 

4. Play along to the record.
I personally use boss waza headphones for this and it works great. Play the Spotify playlist on the headphones and play along. 

I've found that amateur musicians rarely do all the above and somehow expect to play the songs correctly. It's especially annoying in band situations. Members quite often want rehearsals. This is completely unnecessary. What they actually need to do is learn there parts first. The rehearsal should be the final check. Not a place to learn the bloody song

This is all from the perspective of a cover band musician looking to learn a a recorded song.

Whistler

fretmeister said:

Endless repetition until I can’t make a mistake ...

@fretmeister wins today's prize!

Julie Andrews (The sound of music) said that amateurs rehearse until they can sing or play a song correctly, wheras professionals rehearse until they cannot get it wrong. I have found this to be true.

Musicwolf

Onpar said:

I've found that amateur musicians rarely do all the above and somehow expect to play the songs correctly. It's especially annoying in band situations. Members quite often want rehearsals. This is completely unnecessary. What they actually need to do is learn there parts first. The rehearsal should be the final check. Not a place to learn the bloody song

Absolutely this.  Don’t waste my time, and money, by asking me to watch you doing your bloody homework in the rehearsal room.