Remembering chords of songs

niumaiat · #1 10-12-2015, 02:44 PM

I've often wondered how some people can play songs with ease without referring to a song book with chords written above the words. Do they memorise the chords?

I wonder if knowing the key to play a particular song is enough to work out the chords as you sing along without worrying about which chords to play beforehand?

Be glad to hear what other people do.

RedJoker · #2 10-12-2015, 03:10 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by niumaiat

I've often wondered how some people can play songs with ease without referring to a song book with chords written above the words. Do they memorise the chords?

I wonder if knowing the key to play a particular song is enough to work out the chords as you sing along without worrying about which chords to play beforehand?

Be glad to hear what other people do.

I'm the opposite. I can remember the chords but not the lyrics. Ha!

Silly Moustache · #3 10-12-2015, 03:10 PM

Hi, I tend to use cheat sheets as you describe, which I have in a folder on a stand at about groin height, so it doesn't obscure my guitar or me from my audience.

These sheets remind me of the key, which guitar and where the capo goes, plus the arrangement - i.e. who starts, does the intro,and who takes breaks where etc. (I usually play with a double bass player and/or a mando or dobro player).

As I always know the number well enough to know the melody, the chord progression (which is often a I,IV, V or I,IV,I,VI,II,V,I etc) but it is the lyrics or their order that can catch me out. I usualy only need to glance down for the first word or so.

If we were performing more frequently I probably wouldn't need anythng more than a playlist.

stanron · #4 10-12-2015, 03:51 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by niumaiat

I've often wondered how some people can play songs with ease without referring to a song book with chords written above the words. Do they memorise the chords?

Memorise everything. It's a skill which you can learn. The more you do it the better you get at it, like most skills.

Performing a song becomes a sequence of actions, a string of events which includes chords, words, tune and twiddly bits. Each bit leads to the next bit and all you have to remember is what comes next.

The problem comes if you decide to have a crib sheet 'just in case'. You don't develop the memory chains in the same way and you have less reason to try to commit stuff to memory.

Quote:

I wonder if knowing the key to play a particular song is enough to work out the chords as you sing along without worrying about which chords to play beforehand?

Be glad to hear what other people do.

There are some songs where you will be able to predict chord changes. A root chord that changes to it's dominant 7th is probably going to change to chord IV. A V chord after a certain number of bars is likely to return to chord I. The first time you hear that song you have to guess, but the next time your memory will remember your guess and whether it was right or not. It's worth developing your memory.

lpa53 · #5 10-12-2015, 04:11 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by stanron

Memorise everything. It's a skill which you can learn. The more you do it the better you get at it, like most skills.....

I agree with this. I've tried using cheat sheets when performing and it stunts the musicality. I'm in my sixties and just recently had my first gig since college. When working on my sets, expecially with new songs, I had a terrible time memorizing and at times nearly gave up. Some times it took several weeks to get a song committed to memory (lyrics are the worst), but sticking with it eventually paid off.

In addition, memorizing things is a great brain exercise that will keep your noggin young!

niumaiat · #6 10-12-2015, 04:19 PM

Thank you all for your advice. I will try out some of the things mentioned in the various replies. Much appreciated.

ljguitar · #7 10-12-2015, 04:43 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by niumaiat

…Do they memorise the chords?

Hi niumaiat…

I memorize the chord progression to each section of a song, and the form of the song (Intro-Vs-Chorus-Vs-Bridge-Chorus-Chorus-end).

And if there is a solo, I memorize that too.

Graeme · #8 10-13-2015, 03:36 AM

I memorise both chords, lyrics ( and also lead runs to an extent).My playing/singing partner uses visuals all the time despite the fact she is 20 years younger than me. When i was a kid I learned chordal work and changes by playing in the dark a lot. It just helped me remember them better and helped me learn the fingerboard. When learning lyrics it helps me to read them out loud in bed at night just before going to sleep.

Hotspur · #9 10-13-2015, 11:13 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by niumaiat

I've often wondered how some people can play songs with ease without referring to a song book with chords written above the words. Do they memorise the chords?

I wonder if knowing the key to play a particular song is enough to work out the chords as you sing along without worrying about which chords to play beforehand?

Be glad to hear what other people do.

Memorizing music becomes a lot easier when your ear is better.

Academic concepts like chord names, or technical things like finger positions, are hard to memorize. What's easy to memorize is SOUNDS. We do it all the time! Think of all the songs you can identify just by hearing a few bars of the intro!

Trying to memorize songs by chord names or finger positions is akin to trying to memorize a sonnet by memorizing the spelling of the words. It's adding an additional layer of abstraction that makes things much, much harder.

So work on your ear, and as it gets better, you'll find that memorizing songs automatically gets easier.

RedJoker · #10 10-13-2015, 11:23 AM

I played an open mic last night and I forgot the lyrics to the second verse of a song. I just cycled through the chords one more time and jumped in on the second pass. When I mentioned it to my friends, they never realized there was a problem.

mdhttr · #11 10-13-2015, 02:12 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Hotspur

Memorizing music becomes a lot easier when your ear is better.

+1

I had the benefit many years ago of a guitar teacher who taught me to listen to songs and work out the chords myself. What started out as trial and error developed into having an ear for the unique sounds of keys and chords. With time you develop a feel for it and it becomes subconscious.

mdhttr · #12 10-13-2015, 02:14 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by RedJoker

I'm the opposite. I can remember the chords but not the lyrics. Ha!

And this too. I need the cheat sheet for the lyrics, not the chords.

Acoustigator · #13 10-13-2015, 06:40 PM

Once you've played lots of songs over a period of years, you become familar with the common relationships between chords. A song in E minor, for instance (Neil Young's "Heart of Gold" is a good example) is nearly always going to move through G, C, and/or D at some point. Those chords all relate to one another because their root notes are in the Em scale.

After a while you start noticing the repeated patterns in different songs in the same key, and it gets easier to remember the chords -- to the point where you can sort of hear them coming.

nwsht · #14 10-13-2015, 07:24 PM

I just made a similar post. I know folks that can spit any one of hundreds of songs, with many of them being greater than three chords. If you've been gigging a long time sure; but until then, how would anyone take you seriously?

jseth · #15 10-13-2015, 08:24 PM

Like the old saying... the journey of a thousand steps begins with one step... same with memorizing songs...

I work off a song list of about 300 tunes, with another 50 or so of my own songs... and I don't need lyric sheets or chord charts for any of them. I have always been blessed to be able to remember songs...

One thing I think that helps tremendously is when you have a decent knowledge of Diatonic Chord Theory; knowing "how" chords fit together to make the sounds in Western music with which I am so familiar really makes the memorizing aspect a lot easier, because MOST songs actually make sense within that framework, with usually a chord or two that are a bit "outside" the norm...

If I haven't played a song in a few years, I might need to brush up on it; what form and rhythm I use for my version, make sure I remember the words... like that. Once I've done this, I'm good to go!

I find that, at age 64, I sometimes forget a verse or an opening line (I absolutely am MORTIFIED when I forget the opening line of one of my own songs!), but I've learned to just wait for it and it will come to me... I just don't TRY to remember it, but trust that it will come back... and it does, time after time...

Another "trick" of mine is that I really only play songs that I absolutely LOVE and connect with... oh, I've played my share of "Margaritaville" and the like, but I'm talking about songs with which I have a much deeper connection. When a song means a lot to me, I'm more likely to remember it in toto...

So, pick a song and REALLY learn it, music and lyrics... and you are on your way!