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Old 04-19-2018, 07:49 PM
rxm1611 rxm1611 is offline
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Default Do you memorize songs or rely on digital/paper?

Obviously I'm new to playing, but I have a question to this well experienced, sage group:

Do you read what you play off of tabs/notation when playing/practicing or do you memorize the songs you play. I want to do things right and efficient as I progress and I'm finding myself expending much energy to memorize AND learn how to play.

I apologize up front for such an elementary question, but I am extremely motivated and I am excited to have this new found addition to my life called playing music.
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Old 04-19-2018, 08:14 PM
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I was blessed with a singing voice, but I was cursed with a bad memory. I have the worst time memorizing songs. Therefore, I have a lengthy digital songbook on my iPad! It also allows me the flexibility to play requests that folks may have; I can carry as many songs as I want, even if they’re not in regular rotation. There are certain songs that are hammered into my head right now, but I’m constantly trying to learn new ones so the iPad is a HUGE help.
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Old 04-19-2018, 08:25 PM
mr. beaumont mr. beaumont is offline
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I try to commit song forms to memory.

I play very little "note for note." I prefer to have room to improvise. But that's probably just my inability to concentrate on something long enough to learn it note for note.

I'll occasionally use a lead sheet or chord chart to refresh my memory, but generally, on a gig, my goal is no paper.
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Old 04-19-2018, 08:37 PM
bsman bsman is offline
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I have probably about 1-200 songs in my memory banks. The rest I need to consult on the ipad or phone.
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Old 04-19-2018, 08:38 PM
The Bard Rocks The Bard Rocks is offline
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Default memory or written

I originally learned all my songs from notation. If I played them enough, they ended up being memorized. That worked pretty good up to 100 or so. But I kept adding songs to my repertoire and my mental hard drive got full some time ago, so now I rely upon notation and the words. Usually all I need is a glance to see what comes next. The melodies and chord changes are pretty well memorized, but I don't feel that I've done the job correctly if I fail to add the notation.

Everything is in the computer, some 8-900 pages of it, but I still use notebooks in the field. Though I have been thinking of a digital notepad ever since they came out. Ive done nothing about it. My books (many of them!) use sheet protectors to keep the music clean and untorn. They also make for a gig bag that is WAY too heavy. That's what prompted my thoughts about using a digital notepad.
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Old 04-19-2018, 08:50 PM
bluesfreek bluesfreek is offline
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Quote:
Originally Posted by bsman View Post
I have probably about 1-200 songs in my memory banks. The rest I need to consult on the ipad or phone.
Ditto

I can sing and play for a couple of hours without repeating a song. All from memory. Of course many people can't do this so use whatever helps you.
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Old 04-19-2018, 09:03 PM
Tahitijack Tahitijack is offline
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My first guitar coach always said "Get off the page.". This ment committing the song to memory. That's it. I know about 50 or 60 songs that our band plays by heart. Makes playing more fun.
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Old 04-19-2018, 09:08 PM
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I understand and remember books rather than the internet. It is the same for songs, I just cant learn a song on the net. On paper I do fine.
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Old 04-19-2018, 10:39 PM
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Erithon Erithon is offline
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I memorize the songs I learn, but they is pretty much a byproduct of practicing them. For songs that are especially technically difficult, I will focus on memorizing them as I learn them in order to help my practice; I find that if I'm not looking at a page, but simply know the music, then I can focus on developing the right technique and muscle memory.
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Old 04-20-2018, 03:22 AM
JonPR JonPR is offline
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Quote:
Originally Posted by rxm1611 View Post
Obviously I'm new to playing, but I have a question to this well experienced, sage group:

Do you read what you play off of tabs/notation when playing/practicing or do you memorize the songs you play.
Both.
That is, playing off tabs/notation (over and over) is how I memorize songs.

Obviously - as most of us (I guess) are not orchestral musicians or session players - we need to memorize songs if we are going to perform them. We don't want to stand at a gig or open mic with a music stand in front of us...
The question is only: what's the best way to memorize a song? The answer is: any way you can.

The best way is "listen and copy" (i.e. play along) - over and over - but there's no harm in using tabs and/or notation to help. You're embedding it in your fingers, your muscle memory as well as your consciousness - in fact, the point is to get it subconscious in the end, so you can play it almost without thinking about what's next.

When I want to learn a song, the first thing I do is transcribe it. I may use existing tab or notation to help, but I always find that when I listen to the track myself, I hear other things - some of them important.
I then play it over and over (sometimes just from notation, sometimes listening to the original to make sure I'm on track, and getting the things that can't be notated).
Depending on the complexity, it might be in short sections to begin with (step by step), or it might be running through the whole thing, even in sketchy outline form. An overview of the big picture (the form and structure of the piece) is as important as the details you fill it with.

When I can finally play it all the way through just from memory - without needing to check the notation - then that's just the end of the first stage. A crucial stage, obviously! I congratulate myself, smugly . But it's not the end of the process. When you've memorized a song completely, that's when you can start actually playing it. I.e., performing it (for others or just for yourself). That's when you can start adding other elements, to do with expression, making it your own, rather than just a copy that you play by rote.
It's like actors learning their lines: they don't just learn the words, they have to get into character, and be able to speak the words as if they were that person talking naturally.
Or like a good public speaker, who may have committed a speech to memory, but has to deliver it to the audience, to say it like he means it.

You might be applauded for just getting all the notes in the right order, but it's kind of empty if that's all you can do. A computer could do that (and much more efficiently than you too)! You have to perform a song like you mean it.
Quote:
Originally Posted by rxm1611 View Post
I want to do things right and efficient as I progress and I'm finding myself expending much energy to memorize AND learn how to play.
You do both at the same time, that's the point. There's no conflict.
The important thing is that you enjoy it. Don't practise in any way that feels pointless or frustrating.
If you want to learn a song, learn it. Forget about technical practice or exercises - you'll get plenty of exercise (of the best kind) learning the song.
You just have to keep doing it over and over, so you need to really love the song. (If you really love the song, but it seems impossibly difficult, then you need to simplify it: forget those fancy guitar parts and just strum the chords, or whatever.)
Quote:
Originally Posted by rxm1611 View Post
I apologize up front for such an elementary question, but I am extremely motivated and I am excited to have this new found addition to my life called playing music.
Great stuff! Keep it like that. Music is a human birthright. Our culture often tries to persuade us that only special "talented" people have a right to make music. That's a lie. We're all talented enough!

Always think of what you're doing as PLAYING, not "practising". Take it as seriously as a child takes its play (no more, no less). "Play" (not "work") is how we all learn. It's recreation, it's not a chore.
OK, it's often (always?) challenging. But that's where it gets exciting. You don't see mountaineers looking at Everest and saying "oh man, it's too high, I'm going home".
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Last edited by JonPR; 04-20-2018 at 03:30 AM.
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Old 04-20-2018, 03:33 AM
Nymuso Nymuso is offline
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Read the material to learn it. Memorize the material to perform it.
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Old 04-20-2018, 03:38 AM
tonyo tonyo is offline
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Quote:
Originally Posted by rxm1611 View Post
Obviously I'm new to playing, but I have a question to this well experienced, sage group:

Do you read what you play off of tabs/notation when playing/practicing or do you memorize the songs you play. I want to do things right and efficient as I progress and I'm finding myself expending much energy to memorize AND learn how to play.

I apologize up front for such an elementary question, but I am extremely motivated and I am excited to have this new found addition to my life called playing music.
When I first started playing over six years ago I thought it was too hard to memorize songs and had song sheets (would do it on an iPad now). One club member (acoustic music club) commented to me after a jam where the wind kept blowing my song sheets around that I should memorize say 3 or so songs to that I didn't have that trouble next time.

So I took to memorizing my songs and found it was easier than I thought and now I can play about 50 songs, 35 of them pretty much completely from memory. If I've not played a song for 3 or 4 months I have to double check the song sheets some times.

Memorizing is well worth it. You'll find you play with a better groove when you aren't doing it from a song sheet whatever form that may be.
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Old 04-20-2018, 05:49 AM
Golffishny Golffishny is offline
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Default Memory

Learn to play by ear and what the parts of a scale sounds like, root, 3rd, 5th etc. Then you can recognize a melody and transcribe it on the fly. I have lots of information floating around in my head. Always room for another song.
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Old 04-20-2018, 07:15 AM
CASD57 CASD57 is offline
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Quote:
Originally Posted by rxm1611 View Post
Obviously I'm new to playing, but I have a question to this well experienced, sage group:

Do you read what you play off of tabs/notation when playing/practicing or do you memorize the songs you play. I want to do things right and efficient as I progress and I'm finding myself expending much energy to memorize AND learn how to play.

I apologize up front for such an elementary question, but I am extremely motivated and I am excited to have this new found addition to my life called playing music.
I played in couple of bands rock and country and we always had music on stage. I mostly needed it for the first couple of words of a line and than I'd be good, in a way it would be better not to sing from a sheet because you sing differently while reading the words and chords, my best songs are sung and played from memory
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Old 04-20-2018, 07:58 AM
Shoreline Music Shoreline Music is offline
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I have always memorized songs, at least on guitar and banjo. It eliminates logistical problems like screensavers turning on or sheet music falling off the stand, and it allows me to better engage my listeners.

When I was doing the piano recital thing as a young boy, I of course had sheet music in front of me, but not since. The one exception was years later when I was playing covers in bars, I kept the entirety of "American Pie" taped on the side of my guitar. I'd always forget what verse I was on. (I later learned that the verses didn't matter; people just wanted to sing along with the chorus in their various levels of sobriety)

Nowadays, I tell my worship bands "If you're going to lead it, learn it". They grumble a bit when I tell them they don't get music onstage, but in the end everyone is a lot happier.
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