How do you memorize Songs?

[Engle]

If it’s rock/pop, I will print out the lyrics and make minimal notes.
During Personal practice time, as soon as I feel I can play the song, I close the book and fake my way through it.

For jazz, I use a similar process with charts.
The longer you use a chart, the more you depend on it.

 

[DrThumpenstein]

I've always been very lucky, in that I was born with a good ear and for most songs, if I am familiar with the song or it's a common song form, I am able to play a basic line by the end of the first hearing. I write down parts that are trickier at first. Just the act of writing them helps me to learn the part. But to really learn it, repetition is the key.

 

[corinpills]

In my experience, memorizing which finger goes on which fret has not very much to do with playing music. I learn the chords to a song (and the vocal melody, ideally) and i have learned thousands of songs, so I quickly recognize the chord patterns in terms of what number of the scale they correspond to: l lV llm V7, etc.
And the next part is analyzing the form. Verse, verse chorus verse chorus bridge chorus, that sort of thing.

 

[rtslinger]

Once I learn a song, I continue to play it, this keeps it fresh in my mind and the notes under my fingers.
I usually practice the band set list a few times during the week and both days on the weekend if I am not gigging
I will normally play straight through for 2.5-3.0 hours. The total songs in the set list are

so in 3 hours I can get through about 60 of them and finish the rest the next day
This has always worked for me. Good luck with whatever you decide gets you to your goal RTS

 

[HardNHeavy]

repetition and humming the bassline in my head, i can mentally see and hear the notes

 

[jnuts1]

a lot of people say transcription but that is a sure fire way for me to NEVER remember the song and rely on charts. i need the song in my head so i can sing it. once i have it in my head its there.

 

[MotorCityMinion]

Slug it out thru repetition. Make up what I miss by winging it.

 

[mambo4]

My approach is to write my part out in full in standard notation. The process of writing, checking and editing gets it into memory very quickly, with better accuracy and more reliable long-term recall. If I do forget something, a quick glance at the score and it all comes flooding back..

Ditto, for exactly those reasons

I sometimes cut corners though, and just chart it out with chord symbols
If a particular rhythm is important or tricky I will jot it out using those flat head rhythm marks

Although half the time I do *that* I realize It's 90% done and go ahead and fully notate.

Some will say wiring it out is overkill for basic pop /rock stuff
But it absolutely improves memory
plus I get to practice reading & writing music

Added bonus : a month later when the guitar player starts to argue that's not how it goes , I have evidence

 

[And I]

after i "learn" them, i play them a bunch along to a recording without the aid of sheet music or cheat sheets. after two or three playthroughs i've usually got them down.

 

[mambo4]

a lot of people say transcription but that is a sure fire way for me to NEVER remember the song and rely on charts.

It's not the case for me, if *I* am the one transcribing at least.
I have often written my own chart even after being handed one already written out.

 

[HolmeBass]

Repetition ad nauseam.

And if I stop repeating it, eventually I forget it.

 

[ProbablyTooLoud]

I just go one section at a time, never moving past a section til I have it down, then put it all together. Sometimes the sections line up with verses, choruses, and bridges, etc. But sometimes I have to divide or subdivide things in ways that make sense to me. Anyways, the short version is to learn a song, I divide it up, play sections over and over til I'm pleased with them, then move on. When I have the whole thing, I play it a gazillion times, or til I can do it right a couple times through - whichever comes first.

 

[Altitude]

Most songs have repeated sections, such as verse-chorus-verse-chorus-bridge-chorus. Play through each section until you have them down cold. Then just piece the sections together into a song. Playing more complex music, I've also used 'events' such as a particular instrument part or lyric to tip me to where certain lines or sections happen.

Agreed.

In most of the musical styles we're likely to perform, the songs are comprised of sections. The sections are mostly the same each time they're played and the song is a grouping of the sections, positioned and repeated.

So, when you're learning a song, think of it as:

• What are the sections? Usually there's a verse, a chorus, and maybe one or two transitional or bridge sections.
• What are your responsibilities in each section?
• How are the sections put together and repeated to comprise the song?

Easier to learn this way because your mind can process smaller groupings of information versus trying to understand the entire song as a sequence of notes you play beginning at the top and ending at the end.

I don't know how actors memorize lines. They have none of these advantages - they really do have to learn the entire role as one big piece.

 

[lbbc]

I practice each song until I can "play it in my sleep". I do the same with lyrics ...and then put them together before rehearsal with my band!

Then, I rep the songs (in set list order) the days leading up to a gig!

 

[ProbablyTooLoud]

I don't know how actors memorize lines. They have none of these advantages - they really do have to learn the entire role as one big piece.

I made a living as a professional theatre actor for about ten years, and was in the biz from childhood. Mom's an actress.

It's not that hard. Most just go one line at a time and get there through repetition. And there are guideposts and milestones non-actors will not see. Also, memorizing Shakespeare is fun: the predictably of the meter helps a ton. Memorizing a long paragraph of Beckett? Nightmare.

And!

I've been away from the tv/movie biz for decades, but people have been using in-ear feeds for quite a while. Not sure how prevalent this is now, but in the 80s when 9 was a kid doing commercials/TV, it was a thing.

Sorry for the derail.

 

[DrThumpenstein]

Probably the best bit of advice I’ve had along the lines, and how I know that it’s time to move that song to the “maintenance“ list:

Don’t practice until you get it right, practice until you don’t get it wrong.

 

[sean_on_bass]

Simple questions are often not easily answered.
This to me is one of those.
I would like to understand the ways that more experienced bass players do this.
When I played Saxophone/clarinet in a big band situation we always had a chart in front of us. As a result I can read treble clef very well and I am working on bringing bass clef to the same level.

As much as being able to read is a huge asset it can have some draw backs.
So this is why I am asking…. How do you memorize your parts?

I learn the music one section at a time. I do it either by ear, or from a chart, or both. Once i can reliably play the first section from memory through repetition, i learn the next. Before moving to the third section i must being able to play the first two from memory. I do this until i can play the whole song, then play said song a few times daily to further ingrain it into memory.

 

[Ric5]

Simple questions are often not easily answered.
This to me is one of those.
I would like to understand the ways that more experienced bass players do this.
When I played Saxophone/clarinet in a big band situation we always had a chart in front of us. As a result I can read treble clef very well and I am working on bringing bass clef to the same level.

As much as being able to read is a huge asset it can have some draw backs.
So this is why I am asking…. How do you memorize your parts?

I quite often need a chart to start with, but the faster I get away from any form of sheet music the faster it goes into long term memory. So lots of repetition, some songs are easier than others.

 

[Killing Floor]

I play a few bars up to a verse at a time depending how busy and if there’s singing. Small bites.

 

[darwin-bass]

1. Listen to the recording until you know the song (can predict what comes next)
2. Use theory to identify the key and chord progression which helps to break the song into chunks.
3. Learn the order of the chunks and the patterns within each chunk.
4. Let time work for you. Don't cram it the night before, work through it for the whole week.