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Memorizing lyrics, any tips?

#41
There’s a lot of excellent advice here, especially: Car commute loops for max repetitions. Spaced repetition (to allow your subconscious mind to become involved). Writing out the lyrics by hand. Reading lyrics like a short story. And isolating a handful of keywords in each verse to memorize.

I can only add, get reading glasses if you’re farsighted (whether for lyrics or not). They’ll make life easier.
 
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#42
LBS-bass said:
I'm so far-sighted that it needs to be at least three feet in front of me; most of the time I don't have the stage space for it and that much distance means a separate stand for it. But that would be ideal. At this point in my life I really would prefer not to have to memorize so much.
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Recently I've seen a photo of a guy playing guitar and singing, who had his tablet on the far end of mike boom. Kinda like this, but almost horizontally. Of course the boom angle was much greater than on this pic. I think such arrangement could give you the 3 feet you need.
upload_2023-8-13_12-59-44.png
 
#43
I saw Pete Townsend using one of those big ol bkack music stands at a gig not too long ago. Have no idea if it was for music or lyrics but, that really looked out of place. I'm sure he really cares if anyone disapproves. Once in a great while I will pull Travelin Man / Beautiful Loser out. That makes me really have to think. Timing and lyrics, but it's fun! My drummer gives me the ol stink eye when I call it. He doesn't sing it, I do.
 
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#44
josephbass86 said:
So I just joined a new band and they want me to sing lead vocals…a lot of lead vocals, like 10-15 songs for the whole 3-4 hour set.

So I’ve been working on it and actually playing and singing the melody at the same time hasn’t been much trouble, my biggest stumbling block has been memorizing all the words.

I’ve basically been hammering away at it, singing the 1st verse to a song over and over til it’s committed to memory. For example I got all the lyrics down to Pride and Joy but that was after 3 days of hammering away at it for a couple hours. I feel that is too long for a simple blues lyric.

This has always been a problem for me even before music, I remember having a hell of time trying to get words memorized to anything whether it was a speech or whatever, it just took forever to get down.

Yet I know musicians and even non musicians who can have all the lyrics down after only listening to a song a handful of times.

It’s like magic to me. Is there some sort of secret I’m missing out on?

Sorry for the long rambling post but any helpful tips would be appreciated.
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Write the lyrics down from memory AS you sing them. If you know the words, you can write them. But writing does help you to remember them under a little pressure. Also, if you LOVE the song, it's easier to memorize them. Much harder with music you feel 'meh' with. I know from my own experience.
 
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#45
I find stupid lyrics harder to memorize. Springsteen songs can be very wordy but because I like them and they typically have a story or point I can remember them easier

I memorize in sections and don’t move on to the next section until I have the previous down. That works best for me.
 
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#46
USAJO said:
I memorize in sections and don’t move on to the next section until I have the previous down. That works best for me.
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pretty much what I do as well...although I do try to grab all hooky earworms first as it gives me points to resolve to during the process of committing to memory, then I go to the top and work my way down
 
#47
USAJO said:
I find stupid lyrics harder to memorize. Springsteen songs can be very wordy but because I like them and they typically have a story or point I can remember them easier

I memorize in sections and don’t move on to the next section until I have the previous down. That works best for me.
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good timing... Springsteen "Born To Run" on the radio exactly as I read this...
 
#49
Lots of great suggestions here. Putting what works for me in bullet points:
  • Choose lyrics that I can connect with on an emotional level in order to make it easier to remember (as well as to be able to connect the audience).
  • Hand write the lyrics, often more than once.
  • Sing the song as often as possible, at least in my head.
  • Once I'm close, hand write the first line of each section as a 'cheat sheet' (the first line goes on the set list in case I blank out).
  • Definitely more likely to be called out by an audience member for a blown lyric than a blown instrumental passage.
 
#50
josephbass86 said:
So I just joined a new band and they want me to sing lead vocals…a lot of lead vocals, like 10-15 songs for the whole 3-4 hour set.

So I’ve been working on it and actually playing and singing the melody at the same time hasn’t been much trouble, my biggest stumbling block has been memorizing all the words.

I’ve basically been hammering away at it, singing the 1st verse to a song over and over til it’s committed to memory. For example I got all the lyrics down to Pride and Joy but that was after 3 days of hammering away at it for a couple hours. I feel that is too long for a simple blues lyric.

This has always been a problem for me even before music, I remember having a hell of time trying to get words memorized to anything whether it was a speech or whatever, it just took forever to get down.

Yet I know musicians and even non musicians who can have all the lyrics down after only listening to a song a handful of times.

It’s like magic to me. Is there some sort of secret I’m missing out on?

Sorry for the long rambling post but any helpful tips would be appreciated.
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I'm in a similar situation. Good job I know most of the songs already, but with the new ones I find that printing out the lyrics in a much larger font helps. Because even without the words in front of you, you are still reading them in your mind. So make them easier to see. I also use cheats such as one word or phrase can give you the rest the line or verse.
 
#51
I was doing a gig in Canada years ago and singing Hotel California I incorrectly sang “stabbed it with their spears and knives” and a table of people all stood up and pointed this out to me.

On break they invited me over and told me that was their favorite line in the song and I sang it wrong.

We all laughed but I’ll never forget that. Lyrics do mean something to a lot of people. Try not to screw up hoser.
 
#52
Ever wonder why you can recall lyrics from when you were 10 better then ones you actively work on now? It's because you've been singing those songs for X years (in my case over 50) and they are just part of your brain matter. I don't think anything besides repetition, repetition, repetition is applicable.

I don't do much in lead vocals, but did have a project where I was covering some lead just to get through jams while looking for a front man. I found that listening to the songs in question as much as possible was the answer. When I was working, I'd listen during commute, on every break (went out for walks and sang along!) and even sometimes during work, and then of course when actually practicing. Several hours a day were committed to burning the song in. It just takes time.

I do use a tablet when burning songs in (I sometimes can't even get the backing vocals locked when they are seemingly random phrases), so will have the lyrics available until they lock in. If it's something I do regularly, the tablet goes away after a while - mostly because I don't like trying to read on top of singing and playing.
 
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#54
Does anyone else here have a photographic memory? I don't have 100% visual recall but if I look at a page often enough, I can often bring back a picture of the page in my mind and "see" the words. I just realized that I sometimes rely on this trick, but I don't consciously use this with the intent to remember anything. But it's one more way that sometimes things come back to me.
 
#55
josephbass86 said:
So I’ve been working on it and actually playing and singing the melody at the same time hasn’t been much trouble, my biggest stumbling block has been memorizing all the words.
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That was where I was 18 years ago. I was always self-conscious about lyrics. I used to be ultra-focused on perfecting my playing and singing to the point of perfection. What a waste of time.

What I have learned is to focus on the performance - which is the whole song, with other players and myself. If I have to "improvise" on lyrics or bassline, so be it. The final product is the combination of all the parts.

For me, each performance is different. Mostly the same, but if you recorded my playing and singing Pride and Joy over the last 20 years and compared them, none have them been identical. But as time has gone by, my lack of worry about perfection and concentration on performance and emotion has made each version really special.
 
#56
LBS-bass said:
Does anyone else here have a photographic memory? I don't have 100% visual recall but if I look at a page often enough, I can often bring back a picture of the page in my mind and "see" the words. I just realized that I sometimes rely on this trick, but I don't consciously use this with the intent to remember anything. But it's one more way that sometimes things come back to me.
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My wife has it, or something similar. I don't. I mean I have quite good memory for lyrics, but it works in some other way.
 

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