How Many Songs in your Repertoire?

[PetesaHut]

I have had a long time away from playing my guitar and have forgotten most of my Repertoire.

I need to start fresh and learn a new set; this is for me a pleasure and not an imposition. But if someone asked me to play a few songs in there entirety, I have to admit, I would struggle.

That made me wonder, how many of you can play a list of songs right through without any assistance of any kind. (approx)

I’m happy to have everyone respond, but I'm especially interested in non-professional guitarists.

[Bob from Brooklyn]

I got into the habit of reading lyrics on stage. I'm trying to break away from that now. I probably have about 12-15 that I can play thru without forgetting the words.

[TBman]

I'm not your typical guitar player, but I'll work on 2 to 3 finger style tunes at a time. I have stacks of stuff to revisit as well.

When I was a flatpicker/Strummer (and had a better memory) I played a lot of things.

[troystory92]

Got 150 songs front to back that I can play all from memory. Not much room for anything else tho, lol. Usually don’t play over 75 at any gig.

[packmule]

I'm back playing again since the end of April this year, after a 10 year hiatus. At the moment I'm playing 13 old time/bluegrass tunes and 15 original songs - 5 that I remember from back in the day and 10 that I've written since starting back playing again. Haven't remembered all my original songs from back in the day but at the time I had a back catalogue of about 100 songs I'd written and performed with my bands over the years.

[HOF dad]

Originally Posted by troystory92

Got 150 songs front to back that I can play all from memory. Not much room for anything else tho, lol. Usually don’t play over 75 at any gig.

That's is just amazing to me.
Since I've never played out at all I don't have a need to be able to do that.
As a hobbyist / noodler (and mostly non-singer) I probably have maybe 10 I can pretty much present a whole song.
If you're not singing along, many tunes get too redundant.

[Tahitijack]

Our band has 50 songs. Three sets of 15 plus about 5 we use to extend our last set or answer a one more request.

[RobinD]

Two hours. Many as you like, then I need a nap.

[Steve DeRosa]

Originally Posted by PetesaHut

...I’m happy to have everyone respond, but I'm especially interested in non-professional guitarists.

Made a list a while back of every song I've ever played in the last 55 years - probably left out a few inadvertently in the process...

Came up with well over 600 songs - 200-250 of which I could play at a moment's notice, and about a hundred more that I could get back up to speed in short order...

I haven't been a "professional" in the strict sense - card-carrying AFM member, club/studio/backup musician, freelance vocal/orchestral arranger-for-hire - since the mid-90's...

These days our band - individually and collectively - takes local gigs, does fundraisers and charity work, operates on our own schedule, and has a heluva lot of fun just enjoying the music; FWIW our bass player and vocalist have a similarly large repertoire - and one of the things that resonates with our audiences is that we can pull up just about any genre/artist upon request...

"Professional" is as professional does - and that doesn't always mean a multi-million-dollar recording contract and five-continent album-promo tour...

[brancher]

I have about 100 songs in my overall list I take with me, including both finger style tunes and picking tunes. But I practice about 45 of those regularly as sort of my 'core' -- I practice/rehearse them regularly and I do a lot of improv/lead stuff to try and add style/color. The rest I'd have to revisit/rehearse before presenting.

Nobody's ever asked me to play all 45 in a sitting, though (my fingers would fall off).

[zombywoof]

When I gigged probably 100 or more between two bands. Never knew what was coming next but we had a ton of stuff to choose from. These days I do not have a clue how many I can play well or not so well. Part of it is I am constantly re-arranging tunes so learning them anew - playing around with the number of beats to a bar, changing tempo, seeing what other chords will work and so on. Some times it is simply a matter of not being able to get my hands to do what they once did. Other times I all of sudden will just draw a blank on a song I have been playing for over 50 years as my memory turns to Swiss Cheese.

[HHP]

Probably 30-35 between guitar and mandolin. All instrumentals and most will have 2-3 variations worked out. A lot of them get combined into medleys.

[Nymuso]

Our group has a list of over 200 that we can either do cold or resurrect as we please. Personally I have much more than that, several hundred or so.

[v32 finish]

you are all insane.

(in a good way). this is another reason that this place impresses me.. I'm not nearly on the level of most of you, but gives me something to aspire to. I just played my very first 'outing' in front of others, to mostly positive reception. I have a bad habit of learning just intros or the first 1/3 to 1/2 of a song and then moving on. So I have a list of maybe 10-20 that I need to tighten up and learn their entirety.

Front to finish (honestly) it's probably under 20. With another 20 that I just know pieces of. I can't ever imagine knowing triple or quadruple that, by heart, all the way thru.. but like I said, it's something I'm working on, and it's usually a joy to do so, too.

cheers
SC

[justonwo]

It’s always a bit sad to me when I hear an old song that I haven’t heard in years and remember that I used to know how to play it, particularly when the memory is so distant that I can’t even remember vaguely how it started.

I probably have mastery over 30 songs or so at a time. Many fall off and are added each year. When I was playing electric in a band, that number was larger I think.