Rllink
Well-known member
I like to memorize songs. I like to have some songs to sing if anyone asks me to play something for them and I like to have a variety to choose from if they do. When I'm busking on the corner it is easier to manage without sheet music blowing around or my tablet getting knocked over. When I'm playing somewhere with the music in front of me it is easier to look up at the audience once in a while instead of always looking down at a music stand. Sometimes I just like to go out somewhere and just play my ukulele without being encumbered with anything else. Finally, I just like memorizing music.
So, first off if find a song that I like, I find it on YouTube, and I listen to it until I'm familiar with the tune and the words. Sometimes I might have the lyrics handy and sing along with it until I feel familiar with it. Then I write the chords on a piece of paper in their progression and look for anything that looks familiar that I might have learned in another song. Just a note, this becomes more and more common as I memorize more and more songs. I play the progression without any reference to the lyrics, until I have it down. Usually I hit it for ten minutes or so at a time. Two or three sessions and I usually have it memorized. Then I memorize the lyrics in the chorus one line at a time, and I throw the chords in, and sing it. It doesn't have to be good. Then I do the same with each verse. Again, it doesn't have to be good. I sing the song through by memory several times a day until I can do it in my sleep. At this point I am concentrating on good. Finally, when I own the song and can play it well, I spiff it up a little. Some finger style, maybe combine some melody with the chords. Just polish it up.
That is my method. It works for me. It usually takes a week to memorize a song. I can sometimes do two at a time, but it probably ends up taking the same amount of time to own them as it would if I just took them one at a time. I did memorize three songs in three days one time, but they all three had the same chord progression. I'm also getting to the point where I am forgetting some of the ones that I learned and don't ever play.
So, first off if find a song that I like, I find it on YouTube, and I listen to it until I'm familiar with the tune and the words. Sometimes I might have the lyrics handy and sing along with it until I feel familiar with it. Then I write the chords on a piece of paper in their progression and look for anything that looks familiar that I might have learned in another song. Just a note, this becomes more and more common as I memorize more and more songs. I play the progression without any reference to the lyrics, until I have it down. Usually I hit it for ten minutes or so at a time. Two or three sessions and I usually have it memorized. Then I memorize the lyrics in the chorus one line at a time, and I throw the chords in, and sing it. It doesn't have to be good. Then I do the same with each verse. Again, it doesn't have to be good. I sing the song through by memory several times a day until I can do it in my sleep. At this point I am concentrating on good. Finally, when I own the song and can play it well, I spiff it up a little. Some finger style, maybe combine some melody with the chords. Just polish it up.
That is my method. It works for me. It usually takes a week to memorize a song. I can sometimes do two at a time, but it probably ends up taking the same amount of time to own them as it would if I just took them one at a time. I did memorize three songs in three days one time, but they all three had the same chord progression. I'm also getting to the point where I am forgetting some of the ones that I learned and don't ever play.
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