How do you memorize a new song?

[MtManiac]

As our first rehearsal approaches, I find myself preparing a small bunch of songs. None of them is particularly challenging from a technical point of view, but this will be my first time ever playing the bass with other people, so I am mostly worried about how will I manage to keep up with the groove and how to setup my instrument's sound properly.

But something that is getting in the way of my primary concerns is the fact that I don't yet remember the songs note-by-note without looking at some sort of transcription, so I have prepared printouts and handwritten notes to help me visually remember grooves, song structures, variations and such. This is what I always did when I used to play the guitar, until the time when the song has been rehearsed enough so that I don't need visual aids anymore. Reading a full transcription at rehearsals is unwieldy, therefore I make my own notes with "clues", with the target of fitting everything I need for a song in a single page. It's not a perfect system... for instance this time I am really struggling on how to capture on paper all the small variations for "Are you gonna go my way" without transcribing the whole thing.

What is your method for memorizing a song faster than just keep playing it all the time?

Also, for “Are you gonna go my way,” there are some short cuts.

The main parts during the verse are all an E mi7 riff, and you’re basically playing the E, D, and B to outline the chord. Just hit the E on the 1, and play with the other two notes along with the drums, occasionally skipping beat 3. For the solo, there is also a main riff on the same notes, followed by two sets of three notes each, each of the three notes are a chromatic run. So just remember that, remember the order of the starting note for each of those runs, and the rest should fall into place.

Those are the two big sections of the song, and the rest is the two note riff at the beginning when you first come in, the bluesy walking riff from the high E at the end of the guitar break, and the part down low at the G. So just break it down, learn the sections, and piece them together.

 

[TJH3113]

For me, it's practice and repetition. Also, just listening to the song when I'm not able to play it... to let the arrangement soak in.

 

[PhillipHolbrook]

As our first rehearsal approaches, I find myself preparing a small bunch of songs. None of them is particularly challenging from a technical point of view, but this will be my first time ever playing the bass with other people, so I am mostly worried about how will I manage to keep up with the groove and how to setup my instrument's sound properly.

But something that is getting in the way of my primary concerns is the fact that I don't yet remember the songs note-by-note without looking at some sort of transcription, so I have prepared printouts and handwritten notes to help me visually remember grooves, song structures, variations and such. This is what I always did when I used to play the guitar, until the time when the song has been rehearsed enough so that I don't need visual aids anymore. Reading a full transcription at rehearsals is unwieldy, therefore I make my own notes with "clues", with the target of fitting everything I need for a song in a single page. It's not a perfect system... for instance this time I am really struggling on how to capture on paper all the small variations for "Are you gonna go my way" without transcribing the whole thing.

What is your method for memorizing a song faster than just keep playing it all the time?

Why not write number charts? I write a number chart for every new song I get handed. That will put you at least one more step closer toward where you want to be. Just writing the chart helps lock in all the chord changes and gives you the song structure.

 

[Katoosie]

As our first rehearsal approaches, I find myself preparing a small bunch of songs. None of them is particularly challenging from a technical point of view, but this will be my first time ever playing the bass with other people, so I am mostly worried about how will I manage to keep up with the groove and how to setup my instrument's sound properly.

But something that is getting in the way of my primary concerns is the fact that I don't yet remember the songs note-by-note without looking at some sort of transcription, so I have prepared printouts and handwritten notes to help me visually remember grooves, song structures, variations and such. This is what I always did when I used to play the guitar, until the time when the song has been rehearsed enough so that I don't need visual aids anymore. Reading a full transcription at rehearsals is unwieldy, therefore I make my own notes with "clues", with the target of fitting everything I need for a song in a single page. It's not a perfect system... for instance this time I am really struggling on how to capture on paper all the small variations for "Are you gonna go my way" without transcribing the whole thing.

What is your method for memorizing a song faster than just keep playing it all the time?

I'm in a similar boat.
Also started playing with people not too long ago - it doesn't help that the material is all originals and people try to vary the songs every time. It's always a bit different.

Honestly, other than just brute force repetition and memorization? My only advice is to become good enough at music theory and improvisation that you can just wing it on the spot and make grooves/fills.

 

[P. Aaron]

As our first rehearsal approaches, I find myself preparing a small bunch of songs. None of them is particularly challenging from a technical point of view, but this will be my first time ever playing the bass with other people, so I am mostly worried about how will I manage to keep up with the groove and how to setup my instrument's sound properly.

But something that is getting in the way of my primary concerns is the fact that I don't yet remember the songs note-by-note without looking at some sort of transcription, so I have prepared printouts and handwritten notes to help me visually remember grooves, song structures, variations and such. This is what I always did when I used to play the guitar, until the time when the song has been rehearsed enough so that I don't need visual aids anymore. Reading a full transcription at rehearsals is unwieldy, therefore I make my own notes with "clues", with the target of fitting everything I need for a song in a single page. It's not a perfect system... for instance this time I am really struggling on how to capture on paper all the small variations for "Are you gonna go my way" without transcribing the whole thing.

What is your method for memorizing a song faster than just keep playing it all the time?

I learn it. Walk away from it. Come back an hour later & see what I’ve retained. Then, listen w/o instrument for character. Repeat.

 

[micguy]

I start with a chart - if one isn't provided, I will make one. Play it through a few times, reading the chart, but as soon as parts start to sound familiar, you start looking away on those parts. If you have a 3 page chart, and you're pretty good on page one turn it over. Past that , it is repetition, but I do this almost every week. You do get faster at memorizing over time - at first it might be a bit slow, but you do get the hang of it - it's a muscle that you build.

My weekly routine (I do church gigs) involves memorization on Monday - by Monday night, I have it at least 90 percent memorized - I can play it without looking, with only a minor slip here or there. Tuesday morning I may have to peek at certain parts of the chart (certain things may evaporate overnight), but by Tuesday evening, it's pretty well locked in - the rest of the week is polishing, working out an exact part, and getting everything cemented in my brain, so that come Sunday morning, I'm not at all thinking about the chord structure (that's baked in) - I'm concentrating on what others are doing so I can make my part fit with whatever is happening on stage and in the audience.

Although it seems like you're wasting your time after the "Tuesday" point, repetition beyond that really does make a tune stick in your head better in the long run. Amateurs practice until they get it right, pros practice until they can't get it wrong.

If you ever get cocky, thinking you know it all, play the entire set with your eyes closed - no visual cues at all. It's surprising how well you can do that if you know the material. If you don't....well....

 

[Jay2U]

Patterns on the fretboard, that's how my memory works.

 

[Nedmundo]

Chart it, practice, practice and practice some more until it's ingrained in your brain.

Basically this. After listening and playing along with it a few times, I chart it. Lately I've been doing some lead vocals along with bass, so on those tracks the lyrics are part of the chart. Having the visual representation of the chart does help me memorize and perform the tracks. While performing, I sometimes picture the chart in my head, and where we are on the page.

To make sure it's properly ingrained, I run it through my head at random times during the day, making sure to catch every verse, pre-chorus, chorus, etc. I also play/sing it solo, without playing the track or looking at the chart. If I miss something, I check the chart (or the track) and start over. When I can run it through solo without problems, I consider it ready.

If I'm just playing bass, I don't always do this, because most of my bands' tracks are fairly straightforward, and I often know the songs already. But if I'm doing lead vocals or don't know the track very well, I always chart it and do the "solo performance" test.

 

[mcnach]

As our first rehearsal approaches, I find myself preparing a small bunch of songs. None of them is particularly challenging from a technical point of view, but this will be my first time ever playing the bass with other people, so I am mostly worried about how will I manage to keep up with the groove and how to setup my instrument's sound properly.

But something that is getting in the way of my primary concerns is the fact that I don't yet remember the songs note-by-note without looking at some sort of transcription, so I have prepared printouts and handwritten notes to help me visually remember grooves, song structures, variations and such. This is what I always did when I used to play the guitar, until the time when the song has been rehearsed enough so that I don't need visual aids anymore. Reading a full transcription at rehearsals is unwieldy, therefore I make my own notes with "clues", with the target of fitting everything I need for a song in a single page. It's not a perfect system... for instance this time I am really struggling on how to capture on paper all the small variations for "Are you gonna go my way" without transcribing the whole thing.

What is your method for memorizing a song faster than just keep playing it all the time?

I start with a sheet, sometimes two, with the lyrics all printed. I print them with a wide enough margin that I can later add notes. That takes care of the structure: I mark the verses, choruses, insert any other bits, like solos. I like using different colours to mark different things. Then at a glance I have what I need to know where I am in the song. I annotate any additional information necessary there.

Then I take the audio of the song and process it through an app called 'Moises' to separate it into individual instruments. It's not perfect but it does a very decent job. That gives me the opportunity to isolate the bass and listen closely, or just the bass but with some drums playing quietly and some vocals too... whatever you want. You can change the key as well. From that I just export as mp3 a version without the bass, and another with just the bass.
It makes practicing the song more fun when you can substitute their own bass player

And repeat repeat repeat...

I would make a playlist with the songs I have to learn, and play it as often as I can tolerate it to become familiar with it and sort of "passively absorb" it. If I know a song well enough to hum it and I know its structure (which I can get if I forget, by looking at the lyrics sheet with my annotations), I can probably play something passable. That way you can get a bunch of songs ready to gig in very little time. After that, spend the time refining them.

That works for me, maybe some of this could be useful to you too.

 

[micahwc]

After you get comfortable playing them with music/chord sheets etc; start playing them in practice from memory. Make mistakes. Look up parts that give you trouble. Rewind passages and play them multiple times. Keep doing this until you have the song memorized; and then completely forget them when you go on stage.

that’s what I do.

 

[Carl Hillman]

Repetitive listening first...transcribe a chart...play along w/the chart...and, if you have time to spread it out over a few days, get plenty of sleep. That helps you retain what you've learned.

 

[Rayjay]

Do:
-Listen to the song enough times to be able to hum it in your head (accurately)
-Know theory and have a well-trained ear
-Be in a constant state of transcribing in your head
-Learn the lyrics (very very useful!!)
-Transcribe every instrument’s parts, including the vocal melody and vocal harmonies
-Practice playing it in all 12 keys
-Analyze the tune on a chart, if necessary (for pop, last few steps may be unnecessary; for Giant Steps, maybe more useful…)

Don’t:
-Attempt to memorize chord changes by name or a chart
-Attempt to memorize (or otherwise use) tablature or memorize what frets a song uses

 

[C Stone]

Listen to the song once through without playing then I’ll work in the bass, if a section gives me trouble I will stop the tune there and repeat it as many times as it takes until I work it out. That’s it.

 

[StringCanvas]

After you get comfortable playing them with music/chord sheets etc; start playing them in practice from memory. Make mistakes. Look up parts that give you trouble. Rewind passages and play them multiple times. Keep doing this until you have the song memorized; and then completely forget them when you go on stage.

The part about being comfortable to make mistakes is the biggest part. I'm not saying to go in without knowing the part, but once I know it well enough, playing it 3 times with mistakes without looking is worth playing it 20 times while looking at the parts. When I find that I always miss a part or a transition, I know that's the part I'm going to go back and play over and over and over before the next rehearsal.

I've also noticed that even in songs where I'm not singing, trying to sing/hum even a little, even a background part, even if I'm not actually singing into the mic, really helps to bring songs together for me. It might not work for everyone, but I've found it's improved my bass playing a lot.

 

[u2brothr]

Repetition. Practicing transitions. Listening.

One new tactic that I use is a meditation/envisioning. I find it helpful right before sleeping is to envision myself on stage and the song is about to play. The bass is in my hand.

Do I know what I'm doing? Usually if I know the parts I actually envision myself hitting the right notes in the right rhythmic sequence. If I stutter during this thought process (what note goes there? What fret am I fingering? What sound is the bass supposed to make there?), I know that I need to work on that particular part during my practice sessions.

Weird. I know. Almost like the motto.... "he can do that with his eyes closed".

 

[Fynn]

My step by step approach to learning and memorizing new songs:

1. Listen to the song for the first time. Not listening for anything specific, just trying to figure out the song and maybe try to take note (mentally or on paper) of special things
2. Go online to find the lyrics and maybe see if there is some sort of chord chart out there. If not, write your own.
3. Check if the version of the song is correct and if I found a chord chart see if that is correct as well.
4. Relate the lyrics to the chord changes (I usually have a page with just the lyrics and put basic chord symbols over the words where they change and try to sort it in a logical way).
5. Then get into nuances. Listen to the actual bassline and try to figure out whats special about it. For example, sometimes you find simple basslines that just use the root and the fifth, sometimes you have basslines that play arpeggios, sometimes you have basslines that go all over the place.
6. Make a decision whether or not it makes sense for you to learn the bassline note by note, or if you want to just copy the vibe roughly, or if you want to do something completely different. Time constraints can be a reason to not learn a complicated line note for note for example. But you could also be in a situation where you just don't think the original bassline fits your band very much.
7. With your notes and the decisions you made along the way, rehearse it. Sometimes you might make a mistake and have too much on your plate at once. Then I would recommend to make some changes in your plan accordingly. Don't try to force yourself through a situation, if you feel that it doesn't really work. You also sometimes might be positively suprised by how easy something is for you, and then you can get a bit deeper into if you want.


On another note though, people often argue about whether or not you should have notes on stage with you. Generally I would say, if others in your band do it, or you don't think people would care, then go ahead. I would recommend a digital solution like an iPad though, because paper can become a real hassle on a gig.

 

[jimmyjames77]

How do you get to Carnegie Hall?
Practice practice practice. Good luck.

 

[McFarlin]

Osmosis

 

[Auspuff]

As our first rehearsal approaches, I find myself preparing a small bunch of songs. None of them is particularly challenging from a technical point of view, but this will be my first time ever playing the bass with other people, so I am mostly worried about how will I manage to keep up with the groove and how to setup my instrument's sound properly.

But something that is getting in the way of my primary concerns is the fact that I don't yet remember the songs note-by-note without looking at some sort of transcription, so I have prepared printouts and handwritten notes to help me visually remember grooves, song structures, variations and such. This is what I always did when I used to play the guitar, until the time when the song has been rehearsed enough so that I don't need visual aids anymore. Reading a full transcription at rehearsals is unwieldy, therefore I make my own notes with "clues", with the target of fitting everything I need for a song in a single page. It's not a perfect system... for instance this time I am really struggling on how to capture on paper all the small variations for "Are you gonna go my way" without transcribing the whole thing.

What is your method for memorizing a song faster than just keep playing it all the time?

You have to feel it.

 

[Pocket Dave]

Based on my experience and learning challenges, it's taken both repetition and numbers charts.

When I got back into playing bass after decades playing guitar in bands, I jumped into the deep end by offering services to working bands needing a sub; I could get away with that based on my rep as a guitarist, though I wouldn't have hired me early on as a bass player. I was in way over my head.

Since I had to learn massive amounts of songs quickly, I put 2-3 hours a night aside every night to woodshed new songs by listening and playing along over and over. Even when I didn't have an impending gig, I forced myself to learn new songs, 2-3 hours a night. This helped by committing songs to both brain memory and muscle memory. Over time, it also helped to tighten up my learning curve.

Since I wanted to know what worked best, I also spent a LOT of time preparing number charts whenever I thought a song was complicated or used an unfamiliar-to-me progression. This also helped, especially when it came to seeing songs on a different level.

What REALLY helped for me was doing both.

I continued to sub, and I got better. Then I got hired by a band that works all the time - I just got off tonight's gig. In this band, I was initially given a list to learn, but really it was kind of a bate-and-switch; There were a lot more songs than what was on that first list, about 10 times as many, and I had to learn most of them as they were sprung on me onstage from one night to the next.

But something unexpected happened in the process; Learning all those songs by rote and charts - for this band and others - had made it easier to recognize common progressions, common transitions and best paths for playing bass in a supportive way for others. Nowadays when the band leader springs a new song on me mid-show, if I've even heard it before, I know what's coming next on the fretboard. If I haven't, we may have a rough start, but we'll get there, and I'll make a note to "add it to the list".

The trick is you do it enough and you become like a good juggler - All jugglers drop pins; The good ones make it look like part of the act.