Vocalist not learning lyrics

[MultiScaleMale]

When national acts are using IEMs and they still have monitors, you pretty much know they’re using teleprompters And it’s their songs.

it’s his band. If it bothers you so much, find another band. You’re not going to win this battle.

 

[Dust2Dust]

"Well I heard monsodium glutamate,
Well I heard old Neil put her down."

Checks out.

 

[Ekulati]

So many bands...so little talent/effort...

Better for people like me.

 

[CalBuzz51]

Ask if you can sing one. And memorize it.

 

[Tim Skaggs]

Hi guys! I've got a new band and everything is going great except one thing - the vocalist doesn't memorize lyrics to all the songs. It's a mix of originals and covers (probably 50/50 depending on the gig) and the originals are his own songs and he obviously has them memorized but for about half the covers (so 25% of the show) he's cribbing lyrics on a mic-stand mounted cell phone holder. These aren't long gigs, 2 hours max and 20-30 songs. Nobody else in the band is using reference material.

I've never had a bandmate not learn the lyrics like this. I'm not a vocalist at all and have never had to memorize lyrics so I don't even know where to start for advice to help him out.

The band is awesome. Good music, great vibes/hangs, they are really well connected so we get a ton of shows but it's a bit of a low moment when I see him eyes down glued to the screen. The vocalist doesn't play another instrument so we usually have him up front hyping people up and getting the audience engaged but it obviously takes a step back when he has to keep his eyes on the screen.

Anyone had anything similar? Any advice for trying to improve things? I really like the band so it's not a dealbreaker even if nothing changes.

Yes. It’s possible the vocalist is unable to memorize the lyrics. Memorizing is not a universal ability for all humans.

 

[DJ Bebop]

Hi guys! I've got a new band and everything is going great except one thing - the vocalist doesn't memorize lyrics to all the songs. It's a mix of originals and covers (probably 50/50 depending on the gig) and the originals are his own songs and he obviously has them memorized but for about half the covers (so 25% of the show) he's cribbing lyrics on a mic-stand mounted cell phone holder. These aren't long gigs, 2 hours max and 20-30 songs. Nobody else in the band is using reference material.

I've never had a bandmate not learn the lyrics like this. I'm not a vocalist at all and have never had to memorize lyrics so I don't even know where to start for advice to help him out.

The band is awesome. Good music, great vibes/hangs, they are really well connected so we get a ton of shows but it's a bit of a low moment when I see him eyes down glued to the screen. The vocalist doesn't play another instrument so we usually have him up front hyping people up and getting the audience engaged but it obviously takes a step back when he has to keep his eyes on the screen.

Anyone had anything similar? Any advice for trying to improve things? I really like the band so it's not a dealbreaker even if nothing changes.

It doesn't bother me as long as it doesn't affect the performance. Like sounding like it's just being read for the first time. Behind or ahead of the beat. No melody being sung.
Stuff like that.

 

[DJ Bebop]

Story of my ex-wife. Great singer but could never remember the words. I made a binder of all the lyrics and I’d be in trouble if I didn’t rennet her lyrics.

ex-wife

That sounds like my sister.
We don't work together anymore.

 

[logdrum]

Lots of dementia/memory type posts lately. Like the young guitar player with the iPAD, now a singer with notes

 

[Rick_Bass]

Hi! I’m an opera singer so it’s not exactly the same but in general as a vocalist for gigs like this I’m expected to memorize all songs or atleast be able to quickly look down for reference and immediately back up. I don’t think there’s anything wrong with using music but if it affects the ability to engage that can kill the momentum. Have you talked to him about it? How often are you guys rotating new songs? I’ve found that guide tracks are helpful and maybe that would be a quick way for him to practice the songs on his own.

Knowledge

 

[bcbassman]

I think you should take a positive approach with any great singer. They are not easy to replace esp. if you get along with him, her or whoever. Many bands use iPads on mic. stands for charts and words and where I can see this not looking the best, it is a way to give the singer another avenue of learning the lyrics to songs of which he is not familiar.
Let him have crib sheets or other ways to cue him on the verses so that he can move and look in other directions and still be able to sing. Then encourage him to learn the words and memorize them.
It's harder for some people to learn lyrics, but I would rather have a great singer who has to read than a lousy singer who knows the words. Just sayin...

 

[Alexis Duntov]

Hi guys! I've got a new band and everything is going great except one thing - the vocalist doesn't memorize lyrics to all the songs. It's a mix of originals and covers (probably 50/50 depending on the gig) and the originals are his own songs and he obviously has them memorized but for about half the covers (so 25% of the show) he's cribbing lyrics on a mic-stand mounted cell phone holder. These aren't long gigs, 2 hours max and 20-30 songs. Nobody else in the band is using reference material.

I've never had a bandmate not learn the lyrics like this. I'm not a vocalist at all and have never had to memorize lyrics so I don't even know where to start for advice to help him out.

The band is awesome. Good music, great vibes/hangs, they are really well connected so we get a ton of shows but it's a bit of a low moment when I see him eyes down glued to the screen. The vocalist doesn't play another instrument so we usually have him up front hyping people up and getting the audience engaged but it obviously takes a step back when he has to keep his eyes on the screen.

Anyone had anything similar? Any advice for trying to improve things? I really like the band so it's not a dealbreaker even if nothing changes.

A vocalist I work with writes out the lyrics to the songs in a notebook. Just putting pen to paper and seeing the words in her own writing helps her. The other trick is to be able to speak the lyrics; that is, learn them conversationally, without the pitches. This helps to internalize the words as words and not just pitches.

 

[BAG]

Our singer has an amazing voice,
She is a dancer and does the "backing singer style dance moves" as naturally as breathing,
She has taught another much less experienced vocalist how to harmonise and the same moves,
She is quite attractive,
But..... she relies on a tablet with lyrics.

We don't gig often and generally play once a week just for the fun of it so if she needs them as a crutch on gigs I'll live with that.

Unfortunately she is moving to another country so we'll need a replacement and finding one that is almost the complete package will be very hard. Finding one that is into similar music and doesn't require the constant ego massage of gigs will be very difficult indeed.

 

[dBChad]

I'll repeat the idea of video a gig and show them the playback. That actually helps everyone. My wife did that for the first show in my last band, it was uncomfortable, but I'm glad she did. We learned that while we sound good, we had no stage presence and were kind of boring to watch. Stage presence became part of our rehearsals after that and we had much better success afterwards.

I can empathize with the singer, as I've forgotten songs I had down solid once there's a crowd on the other side of the mic, but I printed cheat sheets I could tape to the monitor as I think looking at an electronic device mid set isn't a professional look. Are you so bored you're watching cat videos on Youtube, are you Googling whatever random thought just popped into your head, taking a selfie? Cell phones kind of have their own baggage.

 

[crguti]

watching a cover band is already bad, but it 's worse when the vocalist doesn't know the lyrics

 

[basseux]

Even Elvis needed help....see 2:45.




I played with some guys that the singer/BL never learned the lyrics. He'd wear sunglasses to hide that he was reading off the Ipad.

Really ?
This looks more like comedy.

 

[Zooberwerx]

watching a cover band is already bad, but it 's worse when the vocalist doesn't know the lyrics

It's halfway to karaoke....hey, there's an idea! Fire the vocalist but keep the iPad. Invite audience members on-stage to sing. Warning: be prepared to do "Me & Bobby McGee" and anything Patsy Cline.

Riis

 

[lbbc]

It seems like the singer, in almost every cover band (4 hours), in my area uses either an iPad, Kindle, Phone or Binder with lyrics. I really don't mind it if it's being used as a reference...just not eyes glued to the screen. Heck, my singer does too and I refer to it too sometimes (as it's next to me as well). As long as you're still engaging the audience...it really doesn't matter

 

[mstillman]

I’d be in trouble if I didn’t rennet her lyrics.

Is rennet a typo, jargon, or an actual term? Couldn't find a relevant definition. Just curious, thanks.

 

[hrodbert696]

I will comment, there's a difference between having a pad on stage for occasional reference that isn't distracting, and total reliance on singing from a pad where it kills any stage presence. I don't have a problem with the former. There's also a spectrum from "not knowing the lyrics" to "occasionally flubbing a lyric." I sing "The Middle" in Mugshot Monday and the verses are so similar, it's easy to flub them - is this one "DO your best" or "TRY your best?" That kind of thing, live, doesn't usually matter much.

It's unclear to me if the OP's singer's problem is difficulty learning lyrics or just that they don't put in an effort to learn lyrics.

A couple of tricks I'd suggest for certain issues - I don't know if vocal teachers or anyone have official names for them, but I'll call them "leading words" and "subtext narrative."

By "leading words," I mean that in some songs what I needed to do was just to drill the first word or phrase of each verse. I could get muddled, but if I hit that first word the rest of the line would kick in. For instance, doing "Wagon Wheel" (I know, I know...) I used to get tangled over what the verb was leading each verse, and then stumble over getting through it. So I drilled into my head, "HEADING... RUNNING... WALKING..." and the rest fell into place.

"Subtext narrative" is my term for creating a logic to songs where the lyrics don't have an obvious surface logic. There are some artists - Yes and RHCP both come to mind - where the lyrics are often abstract word-paintings and lines seem to come in a jumble one after another with no apparent connection. For songs like that, I try to come up with a story line - the narrative part - that underlies the words (the subtext). For instance, for RHCP's "Can't Stop" I make the first verse about an indigenous kid who's relocated to a big city and gotten mixed up in an underground criminal scene.

 

[LBS-bass]

Most of your major acts are using teleprompters, they are enclosed in boxes on the floor to look like floor monitors.

How many shows are you doing per month? He might not feel it's worth the effort required to learn everything to do one or two shows a month or so. He might be right about that.

The old days of working at this like it's an actual job are pretty much over for many of us. That said, there's a way to use a prompter and a way not to. It's like any other public speaking sort of thing - you use your prompts to glance at quickly, jog your memory, read ahead, but you also make a point to maintain eye contact with the audience. It's best used for reassurance. I have no problem with singers using tablets as long as they're making the effort to engage the audience as well. But that's a skill that needs to be practiced and a person can get better at it over time.