Is it just me or a common problem?

etf

etf

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Hi All,
Just wanted to know if you tend to remember what you learn or after a day or so do you forget?
Not sure if its me being a late starter at 54 but I tend to find a song I love, I learn it, then after a few days and playing other things I forget how I played that original song lol. Now, is it me or just a case of playing it over and over again till it sinks in or do you constantly have the song sheets in front of you. I so admire people who just pick up an instrument at a party and can just play song after song just from memory.
Would love to hear your methods of how you get a song to sink in and stay?
Just hope my memory lasts long enough to remember I posted this after reading other posts.

ETF :cool:
 
This happens to me daily!! If I really do like a song then ill keep going back. If not, I have in my uke book should I need it :)
 
The key to getting stuff to stick in your head, and in your fingers, is repetition.

Start slow, get it right, work it up to speed and then repeat it every practice until it sticks - then periodically revisit for a refresher.
 
Thanks for the advice Buddhuu

buddhuu said:
The key to getting stuff to stick in your head, and in your fingers, is repetition.

Start slow, get it right, work it up to speed and then repeat it every practice until it sticks - then periodically revisit for a refresher.
Click to expand...
 
Sadly, I do think this is an age thing. I'm now 58. Thirty years ago, I would write a song and never forget how it went after playing it maybe ten times. I'd even be able to play it ten years later without a bum chord, etc. Then, about five years ago, I noticed this skill had deserted me. Now I have to use a crib sheet when gigging, because I just don't trust my memory like I used to be able to. Of course, another factor might simply be the sheer amount of information we are now exposed to. The human brain was not programmed to cope with the volume of info we absorb every week via the media and the net (and real life).

Buddhu offers the best advice, but, sadly, if the old brainbox is getting rusty, I'm not sure even that will solve the problem. "Adapt and survive", might be the only realistic tactic. :(
 
Age definitely slows us down.

I'm nearly 53 and I think learning comes a little slower than it did when I was, say, 17. I think maybe it just takes even more repetition now! :D
 
I think it all depends on how much you really want to learn the songs. I have maybe 50 or 60 songs in my head at any one time, they are learned for the band or busking. To keep a song in my head long term I have to play it regularly, and so it has to be in my band or solo set. This means I play the songs hundreds of times. I play the songs in private, I sing them when riding my bike, I play them in rehearsal and I perform them. That is why I have so many in my head, playing a song 20 or 30 times at home is never going to make it stick, you need a reason to learn it and a determination to play it hundreds of times.

It is why we must all practice alone. Our, partners, friends, family, etc... don't want to hear the same thing hundreds of times, but if you want to be the chap that can pull out a uke and play songs off the cuff at a party that is what you have to do.
 
Don't worry, I'm 24 and can play all of one song by memory on the uke and one on the guitar. That's all I got! Even instrumental songs that I myself have arranged...yeah, nope. It's a good thing I tabbed them all out, or else I'd be very sad.
 
All good reading. I don't want to be the one taking my ukulele to play at parties all the time, I'm to new at it to even attempt lol. However, I just admire any musician who can at the drop of a hat reel off songs without even thinking. As long as I'm still at an age that I can remember where my ukulele is I'm happy to carry on having fun day to day.
 
Practice, patience and perservernce.... You know at my age...it aint easy...LOL and you practice, learn it in sections of the verses....the more you play, the more you retain
for me if I don't play the song...I probally remember a riff..... also I tend to remember the songs I like and play well...go figure as they are the ones I played most often...good luck
 
I forgot the question.
 
I'm only 36 but I honestly doubt I will ever get off book for more than a couple songs. I took meds for a while that affected my memory and I don't know that it will ever come back, you know?
 
I thought it was just an age thing too. But it might be I just don't listen to music as much as I used to. I still can remember large chunks of songs from earlier in my life, when I used to listen to music a LOT and sing along. When I do videos, I almost ALWAYS have to have the lyrics in front of me. Oh well!

CountryMouse
 
My goal is to have 8 or 10 songs that I can play/sing from memory. That'll be enough for all practical purposes. If I'm with even the most supportive friends and the uke is at hand and they say, "Hey, Nick, howsaboutasong?!" then I doubt they'll stay put for more than a few selections.

Somewhere in the 8-10 songs there should be 2 or 3 sing-alongs, a couple of songs that kids will like, a couple of comic songs, a couple of tin pan alley love songs. I'm good to go.

The rest that I want to sing around the house I can collect in a binder. Cycle a few into and out of the remembered group from time to time. Hell, that's good enough for me.
 
I agree with what Rick said. Repetition is the key. Age definately has something to do with it though. Given the fact that we grew up in the late 60's and 70's. :) I too am 54. I think.
 
I'm forty-something (I forget exactly) and I sometimes forget where my wife went! In a crowded store, I forget where we were supposed to meet up. So, I just tell her that I find her by looking for the prettiest woman in the entire store!!

And then I have that woman help me find my wife.
 
Last edited:
Nicko said:
My goal is to have 8 or 10 songs that I can play/sing from memory. That'll be enough for all practical purposes. If I'm with even the most supportive friends and the uke is at hand and they say, "Hey, Nick, howsaboutasong?!" then I doubt they'll stay put for more than a few selections.

Somewhere in the 8-10 songs there should be 2 or 3 sing-alongs, a couple of songs that kids will like, a couple of comic songs, a couple of tin pan alley love songs. I'm good to go.

The rest that I want to sing around the house I can collect in a binder. Cycle a few into and out of the remembered group from time to time. Hell, that's good enough for me.
Click to expand...

I have a friend who plays pretty well. When I first met him I admired his seemingly ability to play anything easily off the top of his head. It seemed that he could just go one for hours. Now that I've known him for several years, it turns out he's been playing the same handful of songs over and over. For everything else he needs the music to look at.
 
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