Memorizing words to a song?

[Mandobart]

When I first started on guitar I learned songs I'd already been listening to for years - I didn't have to think about the lyrics; they just came out from memory.

Once I was picking tunes at a festival jam and someone asked if I knew John Prine's "Bruised Orange (Chain of Sorrow)". I had (inexplicably) never attempted to play it before, but out it came - chords and lyrics. It was there in my "mind's ear" from hearing it so much over the years.

For me, being an avid listener makes me a better player and also helps me remember progressions, leads, melody and lyrics. The best way for me to learn new lyrics is to create a playlist of the songs I'm learning and play it on my iPod on my commute, singing along with the songs.

IMO, active listening helps develop audiation, which is so important to improvisation and playing along on songs you may not know.

[YamaYairi]

Writing them out long hand works much better. Lately I've been lazy and just print them out from the computer. It takes longer to learn them that way.
If a song is a story I find it easier than if it's just a bunch of verses of thoughts.
I have had such trouble learning "Trouble" by Cat Stevens.

[ljguitar]

Originally Posted by Cecil6243

…Years ago when I sang for a garage band the writing out part worked for me and I'm glad I did. Our first gig was in front of 500 people and the words came out of me without thinking. I was a little nervous to say the least.

Hi Cecil…
For me learning the words was always a matter of listening, practicing singing with my playing, and sheer repetition. Thankfully, since about 15 years ago, an iPad & appropriate software is my gigging buddy.

I also play on a Worship Team at least 3 weekends a month (for the past few years), and we learn new songs at a prodigious rate. I listen to all the songs on the list, in performance order, 4 times a day with the charts open on my iPad (next to my computer) as I do my daily email, texts, chats, scanning forums etc, and play through the charts on my own twice a day before the weekend I play.

I still take the iPad to the stage (it's fixed to my mic stand) but by Sunday first service (we play for two services back to back), I know the song. Our tech team projects the words on the back wall so the stage can see them without staring at our scores/tablets, and that is a great help as well.

For gigs/open mic/concerts I don't do songs I don't know.
No need for back up there. And when doing weddings or funerals etc., if the tech team in the venue is putting lyrics on back walls…It looks like I've memorized everything.

Weddings usually provide plenty of lead time to learn songs - funerals not much lead time at all. The main funeral company in our city have the software to tap into the front and rear projection monitor systems in the venue the funeral is being held - and in their own funeral homes they have installed front/back screens similar to church facilities.

They reach out to musicians and/or speakers and project lyrics and notes on back walls of churches, and other facilities (including their own).

I think our city Concert facilities are in the process of installing back wall monitors. It's obvious if you watch all the large Nashville concerts, the venues there now have back wall monitors for their concerts and the artists can provide them the lyrics to their arrangements.

It's becoming easier for we musicians to tap into these resources. I'm developing my own files on thumb drive and small ssd to carry with me for weddings and funerals (and other public events).

[Nama Ensou]

Here’s the hardest song I ever learned, which took me a year and a half, only to find out that I needed to transpose it. Lots of lyrics, lots of complication in the chord changes, and it was three years from start to finish, but now that I put the time and effort in it’s actually helped make other complex songs seem so much more manageable now that I took the effort to fight my way through this one.

津波 (Tsunami - Southern All Stars)

風に戸惑う弱気な僕通りすがるあの日の幻影
本当は見た目以上涙もろい過去がある
止めど流る清か水よ消せど燃ゆる魔性の火よ
あんなに好きな女性に出逢う夏は二度とない
人は誰も愛求めて闇に彷徨う運命
そして風まかせ、運命に涙枯れるまで

見つめ合うと素直にお喋り出来ない
津波のような侘しさにそう、怯えてる
めぐり逢えた瞬間から魔法が解けない
鏡のような夢の中で思い出はいつの日も雨
夢が終わり目覚める時深い闇に夜明けが来る
本当は見た目以上打たれ強い僕がいる
泣き出しそうな空眺め波に漂うカモメ
きっと世は情け、想い出に旅立ちを胸に

人は涙見せずに大人になれないガラスのような恋だとは
そう、気付いてる身も心愛しい女性しか見えない
張り裂けそうな胸の奥で悲しみに耐えるのは何故
見つめ合うと素直にお喋り出来ない
津波のような侘しさにそう、怯えてる
めぐり逢えた瞬間から死ぬまで好きと言って
鏡のような夢の中で微笑をくれたのは誰
好きなのに泣いたのは何故思い出はいつの日も... 雨

[RTR]

Originally Posted by Brent Hahn

Some songs make it easier or harder due to their nature. "Long Black Veil" has lots of verses (if you choose to do them all) but it runs sequentially. The tempo is slow. And you have the whole length of a chorus to remember what the next verse is. "The Lady is a Tramp," on the other hand, is a song where you could do the verses and bridges in almost any order and it would make the same amount of sense. It's tempting to play it way up-tempo. Performers have written lots of their own verses to it, and I bet some of them happened on the spot because they couldn't remember what really came next.

If you refer to the Marijohn Wilkin/ Danny Dill composition (Long Black Veil). it has only 3 short verses and a chorus, As such very easy to memorize. I have never heard any more verses and it has been recorded by over 140 artists first one being Leffty Frizzel.

[Charlie Bernstein]

I've never been good at memorizing.

I learn to play the song first, then just keep going over the lyrics line by line over and over. It takes me weeks for months to absorb the lyrics, and I have to put time into reviewing before I perform a song, even if I've sung it a lot.

Now you know.

[The Bard Rocks]

One difficulty I experience is getting the verses in the correct order. Not so hard on ballads, but on some songs the first half of a verse could be used on any half of any verse. I used to have about 100 fairly well memorized, meaning I might mess up the order, or change a word or three, but not so bad that most listeners would ever notice.

Now that my repertoire has expanded dramatically, I need the words in front of me. Thank you iPad.

Actually, this is one of the unspoken benefits of being considered "old". Expectations are lower. No one says anything if I don't have the lyrics memorized. I usually do not need the chords and usually only need to glance at lyrics and keep the i{ad low on the stand so my guitar can been seen by those watching. Thank you, 14 point fonts.

[Nama Ensou]

Originally Posted by The Bard Rocks

One difficulty I experience is getting the verses in the correct order.

Not a solution for every song, but making a phrase of the first word in each verse is a big help for many songs. Then there are progressional hints, like what happens next, even if it’s not as logically laid out as your mention of ballads for example.

Best thing for me has always been to keep playing all the time, and if I’m not gigging regularly then randomly run over my lists and play through any songs I know might give me trouble.

Ironically the Japanese song from a couple posts back doesn’t really give me much trouble because it’s fairly logically laid out, but I also find it harder to forget songs that took more effort in the beginning anyway.

[K20C]

If I play it enough times, it just happens. It takes longer on some songs than others. Long ago, I decided I could either memorize the lyrics to 4 Bob Dylan tunes or 30 non-Bob tunes. I compromised with 1 Bob tune and 20 non-Bob tunes.

[Nama Ensou]

Originally Posted by K20C

If I play it enough times, it just happens. It takes longer on some songs than others. Long ago, I decided I could either memorize the lyrics to 4 Bob Dylan tunes or 30 non-Bob tunes. I compromised with 1 Bob tune and 20 non-Bob tunes.

LoL!
I still have to run through Tambourine Man if I’m not playing it on a regular basis, because if I don’t then someone is definitely going to show up and say it’s their favorite song!

I like what you said about it just happening and really, a lot of songs we go to learn are pretty much already in our heads.