How do you memorize a new song?

[dbsfgyd1]

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?

Chordfy app is just what you need you get chord charts and you can vary the play back speed for trickier parts. 400,000 song library and I’ve been using it for years.

As for memorizing songs, I break a song down in pieces. The intro, the verse, pre chorus chorus and ending and anything (things) that don’t fit in those individual parts there like identifiable licks and such. Learn each section, then assemble the pieces. Odd are all the verses choruses are the same chord progression

I have an Idea for you. For rehearsals, take pictures of your notes on your phone or IPad. Load them on to the forscore app where they can be cataloged and recalled. If there are multiple pages it allows you to scroll.

I once took a gig in a band of conservatory grads that did all their own rather self indulgent arrangements and with the requirement that they be played note for note lest offending them greatly. The bass book had about 60 some odd songs with at least 3 pages and mostly 4 to 5. They were chocked full of repeats and codas that transcended all pages.

What I learned was that when I ran in to a repeat sign or sent to coda, 90% of the time it was one of the sections I mentioned above. Music becomes a series of building blocks.

The other thing I learned on my first gig with them, outdoors on day with 30 mph winds, an IPad is a really good idea.

BTW, My biggest problem is memorizing song titles to the music. One year I had three songs we learned at the same time that started “Would”. There was Would I, Would You, and Would A. That was fun. LOL!!

Hope this helps. Best wishes.

 

[Queue]

Sometimes I'm lucky enough to find a recording with bass removed on YouTube. Those are great for learning and practicing.

 

[Pings Bass]

If there's a set part but no music I'll transcribe it from the recording, then play it till I remember it.

If there's music, I'll just read it till I remember it.

If it's all aural with no reference recording, I'll write down what I can and struggle.

 

[jnewmark]

I've always been 95% prepared to play my part when it comes to a band rehearsal. And, as has been noted before, repetition until it gets to be mostly muscle memory. Familiarize yourself with the song, listen as hard as you can to the bass part, and start playing along. If I'm stuck on something, I might go to YouTube and see if there is a tutorial, or try to find a chord or tab sheet, but that's a last resource. I play by ear so, at this point, (40 years of bass ), its a process that is almost as natural as brushing my teeth. Also, I didn't read the whole thread, but I'm assuming you are learning covers or otherwise recorded material ?

 

[robassable]

This is going against the grain of what many other's are suggesting, but I have found the quickest way to memorize a tune is to NOT chart it out whatsoever. I am actually good at reading charts and have done countless gig relying on them. I have come to realize however, that as soon as the tune is on paper or a tablet, it becomes a crutch, making it ultimately, more difficult and time consuming to memorize. There are no short cuts.

To memorize a new tune as quickly as possible: I first listen to the entire song many times focusing not only on the bass lines, but also the structure and changes. Then I start breaking it down from the beginning measure by measure, playing along with it, then playing the same section by myself. Over time using this method my ear has improved greatly, as well as my capacity to memorize songs. If you think you have to write it out, get your face out of the charts as soon as possible. Rely on your memory instead.

 

[SteveCS]

...
I have come to realize however, that as soon as the tune is on paper or a tablet, it becomes a crutch, making it ultimately, more difficult and time consuming to memorize.
...
If you think you have to write it out, get your face out of the charts as soon as possible.
...

It is obviously horses for courses. My experience has always been that by the time I've finished writing something out in standard notation I can pretty much file the paper away and just play the part without reference. Writing our in full clearly takes longer than writing a lead sheet and requires much closer analysis and consciousness of what the part is - perhaps that's the difference - but that investment in time gets paid back several times over in retention and accuracy of recall. There are songs I wrote out in full decades ago that I can still just pull out of the hat at the drop of a dime (apologies for the mixed metaphors).

 

[Snarf]

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

I don't do this very often, usually because on most gigs that I play it's okay to be reading charts. So I'll use the chart commissioned by my bandleader so that I'm literally on the same page with everyone else. Once I've played it enough, I can dispense with the chart.

If I'm doing something that requires me to be off book, it's just repetition, but on my own time. I'll usually write it out anyway, because that helps my retention. That said, after you've learned a couple thousand songs, there's just a lot of pattern recognition that sets in. So you have a solid understanding that "song X follows form Y, with variation Z."

 

[Pocket Dave]

That said, after you've learned a couple thousand songs, there's just a lot of pattern recognition that sets in. So you have a solid understanding that "song X follows form Y, with variation Z."

Yep.

Such as in old school country, a 4 bridge often followed by a 2-5 resolve, or a walk-down-to-6 chorus.

Or a 3-4 gospel progression with a 2-6 turn.