How do you memorise songs to play live?

I figure that you lot who play live must memorise a lot of stuff, how do you do it??

I don't play live at all, but I really struggle to memorise music. It's been a lifelong struggle for me to keep songs/notes/chords in my head. 

I bash around on piano a lot these days, mostly putting up chord charts and whacking out a song to sing terribly to. I'd love to be able to memorise 10 or 20 so I could play them anywhere, but it is just impossible for some reason. Nothing sticks in my head, and by next day it's gone.

During the Pandemic I actually memorised two instrumentals, about 7 sheets of music in all. It was an immense struggle and took 2 years! These days I'm just going for chords but it's no easier.

Got any tips, or is it just easy for you?

I'm doing this right now. Just got given a list of 20+  songs to play this Saturday lol. Fortunately I know a few of them already. But I don't find it that easy. I create a playlist on Spotify and listen + play along to them endlessly. On the setlist I'll also write down the song key and first chord as this kind of helps me remember the beginning as I'm about to play each one (but doesn't work when I'm on drums obviously). Then it's just pray to the lord I don't mess up! Proper adrenaline rush, beats bungee jumping...not =) 

I tend to work through a new song sequentially, not moving on until I know what to play, spending longer on challenging parts. I play along with the song, many times, as this helps in getting phrasing/timing correct and also in memorising the song. Once learned, playing the song regularly helps to consolidate the knowledge. 

Make a play list and listen to the songs.

You can’t and don’t remember everything 

pick 5 songs, play them through, try to remember them
do it again tomorrow, and the day after etc 

there are loads of songs I can’t remember, but if I bring them back into the “set” then they tend to come back with a few prompts again.

but pick  a small number and play them every day 

Repetition mostly for me. If it's something I'm playing with the band I have a playlist of the basic tracks on my phone (sometimes just rhythm guitar and vocal version) and then I can play that through a Bluetooth speaker and play along. If there are difficult bits then I try to isolate those and repeat them until I've got them. 

For me, some of it is being able to hear it in my “minds eye” if you know what I mean.  I suppose understanding the language of the music.  

CoffeeAndTV said:  It’s one of those skills that the more you learn, the easier it is.

Learning and remembering songs definitely improves with practice. I have a process which I have followed for years:

1. Block out the basic structure of the song on paper, eg Intro, Verse, Chorus, Verse, Chorus, Solo, Chorus, Chorus, counting bars and noting any repeats, variations, and irregularities such as extra bars. Actually I use a word processor.
2. Work out the tempo, chords and any riffs.
3. Watch live versions on YouTube to see how the original artist and other people play the song. Sometimes I use their chord shapes and fingering. Sometimes I adapt to my preferred fretboard locations. However I always learn the original fingering, even if I decide not to use it - I’ve seen too many players who avoid learning difficult bits. Whereas it’s an opportunity to expand my skill base, and even learn new techniques.
4. Write up the song. Writing things down is part of the learning process. Nowadays I use MuseScore to notate where I need to score or TAB out phrases. 
5. Decide which FX to use, and on which sections. On the AxeFX I configure a patch for the song which has scenes such as Intro, Verse, Chorus. Then I don’t have to think about what FX changes to make as I’m playing.
6. Practice, practice, practice in short sessions. The most effective session is the one just before bedtime. I think this is because my brain digests what it’s learned overnight.
7. Work out any solos. This comes at the end because I want to get the feel of the song right first, then create a solo which feels part of the song. Quite often I’ll rehearse a new song with the band before I’ve worked out a solo. How often have you seen a guitarist to whom a solo is a race through arpeggios, one per chord? I want the melody and rhythm to fit the song. 

Funny what I would and wouldn’t have problems remembering. As a general rule it helped the more I had worked out what was happening (see Roland’s answer) rather than using chord sheets, tab,etc. Even just transcribing the lyrics, if working out the music was beyond me, seemed to help. Effectively deconstructing and putting the song back together again. 

I play them a lot and my memory is good  

It depends on the song. The more one plays it, the more one is likely to remember it. Also, develop one's ear. When I mostly played in jam sessions, I used to play everything by ear. Now I spend most of my time in a couple of party bands, I use a tablet with MobileSheets (used to use SetList Helper but MS is better), because there's nothing good about having a brain fart in the middle of a gig. My charts are varied from detailed to nothing at all depending on how complex the song is and how well I know it when I wrote the chart.

CoffeeAndTV said:

It’s one of those skills that the more you learn, the easier it is.

For me learning chords to a song, it’s a case of learning and remembering the odd tricky bit when a chord progression isn’t following the norm, ie when the song goes C toEmajor as opposed to Em the bit that makes the song. Then repitition . Once the chords are in the prom then learn the fills and solos .

The boggle at this particular moment is Alan Myles Black Velvet, the run down at “ the boy can sing knows how to move” 

topdog91 said: …there's nothing good about having a brain fart in the middle of a gig. ...

Having learned the song I’ll make a summary of it in SetListMaker. This isn’t an alternative to learning the song. It’s a professional approach to making sure things don’t go wrong. It ranks with backup guitar and spare picks, batteries, and cables.

Repetition is pretty much the key. Listen to the song several times before playing it and pick out the core of what is going on. After a few run throughs start saying, " and next it is...." so you have a handle on stuff like if there is a bridge before the first chorus but not the second. Once you have a general pattern set for the main blocks start playing along and watching lesson videos. Then it's just rinse and repeat as many times as you can until eventually muscle memory starts to kick in.

I would say also don't be afraid to put your own stamp on things. If your style makes you play a thing a certain way that is comfortable for you and it still sounds good then go with it. You can tie yourself in knots trying to match someone else's tone and style when most of the time live "close" is good enough. If it is recognisable to the crowd you have done your job.

Lots of good stuff here. Many songs are I vi v others have passing chords. Learn the structure. Learn some very easy songs to get used to learing the whole thing. 

The vocals will inform you where you are going. 

Some songs have sections, so break them down. Some people count, it's 4 of this and 2 of that. 

Practice until you wake up with the song playing in your head 

I play in a covers band, and we typically play between 30 and 40 songs a night, from a pool of 70+ numbers. I learn by playing along to YouTube or Spotify, with occasional visits to Ultimate Guitar Tabs, and sometimes by writing down the song structures. I ditch the written notes as quickly as possible, and don't use any aids live. It only gets a little tricky at the learning stage when we have to transpose an original key to suit our singer, but practice makes perfect (or close as).

I'm quite lucky as I have a very good memory in general. When I get a new debit card I only have to input the numbers twice and then I know them in my head from then on. Some people do have better memories than others. 

With songs though there are different ways to remember. Some people learn the chords and riffs and then they play back the song by remembering they need to start on a G, then play 2 passing phrase notes on A and Bb then they play a C chord etc ..
This method is nuts, it's so much more work than it needs to be. 

What you should do is just learn your intervals properly. To the point you know what's happening interval wise in your head as you hear the song. Then just listen to the new song in the car, as you work etc to learn the arrangement. Now at this point, for the vast majority of songs popular in covers band land  you generally have a very good idea how to play the song in any key and you haven't even picked up a guitar yet. 

If you don't learn your intervals then you will be stuck remembering songs by remembering chord sequences and you won't be able to shift keys instantly. This is a lot more work than it needs to be. 

I have a problem with vision in poor light, well any light other than sunlight so I don't write anything down as it's pointless for me. Plus I think if you make a crutch you rely on that crutch .. 

So my advice spend the time needed to learn all the intervals including the chord qualities. Once you got that down it's so much easier from then on. 

With the cover stuff the best thing I ever did was to stop taking notes and chord sheets and notes to gigs.  Once you trust your ear and eventually muscle memory, the music gets engrained. The more you do this the more you recognise often used patterns in songs.  Strangely I find the more chordy songs easier to memorise than 3 chord songs that are shufflued up in their own unique way.  If you don't gig you can do similar by playing along with the song and playlists with no sheet music.
Your ears will take over when you force them to.  

With solo 'pieces', you just have to keep on playing them until they stick, although there's noting wrong with having the sheet music on a stand, that's what classical musicians do.  You can always use an ipad with bluetooth foot controller to change pages if you need to.  

Roland said:

topdog91 said: …there's nothing good about having a brain fart in the middle of a gig. ...

Having learned the song I’ll make a summary of it in SetListMaker. This isn’t an alternative to learning the song. It’s a professional approach to making sure things don’t go wrong. It ranks with backup guitar and spare picks, batteries, and cables.

This. My charts are not musical notation, they are my notes including chord progressions, the odd bit of tab, backing vocals, performance notes, and anything else that is not completely ingrained. I see them as a safety net although for songs that we don't need to perform often, I will just read the chart and use my ear; most songs are simple enough so I'm not looking down too much.

Usually repetition is the key to remembering things.

Once I do something so many times it eventually sticks.

Practice, practice, practice. 

One of my hindrances when playing covers is - given 2 songs, one I like and one I'm only lukewarm on - I find it difficult to internalise the lukewarm song and takes me many many more repetitive listens to memorise it (structure, melody, nuances, progressions).  And even when I do it's still hazy in places.  It's like my brain is rejecting it lol. 

But the song I like, even if I've only heard it once, will seep into my memory much quicker.  I think it's because I'm not open minded enough compared to other people.       

LionAquaLooper said:

One of my hindrances when playing covers is - given 2 songs, one I like and one I'm only lukewarm on - I find it difficult to internalise the lukewarm song and takes me many many more repetitive listens to memorise it (structure, melody, nuances, progressions).  And even when I do it's still hazy in places.  It's like my brain is rejecting it lol. 

But the song I like, even if I've only heard it once, will seep into my memory much quicker.  I think it's because I'm not open minded enough compared to other people.       

It's completely natural! There are always songs where we "take one for the team". e.g. I don't warm to Crazy Little Thing Called Love and rely on my chart more than I'd like considering I've played it a fair few times.

I'm playing Bonehead in an oasis tribute act these days (joined in Jan ... dropped just at the right time tbh). So naturally the songs I've had to learn aren't complex but there are a surprising amount of chords in some of the songs. So as well as learning from youtube, and  playing along to the songs, I've found the most useful practice method is to play the songs AND sing them. Now I'm no singer, and when I say sing I actually mean whisper quietly so no one can hear, but its defo helped me lock the chords into the lyrics which helps cement it all together in my head.

This helped me loads in Half A World Away which has a pesky D7 and Fmaj7 that switch position between different parts of the song.

I do find also that if i don't practice or gig at least once a week the songs just leave my head.

I played in bands for 15 years. Played so many setlists and songs, all from memory of course. Rarely messed up or forgot sections, always knew the form of the song.

How? Hmm...maybe due to the fact when I went to a music institute for 4 years there was a unit called 'Live Performance Workshop' which involved a new song each week of a 12 week term. On the Monday you're taught the guitar parts, and on the Friday you're called up in your term bands to go up and perform the song in the lecture. This only gave me 3 days to learn and practice the parts then rehearse in the band before. I think this helped quicken the speed it took to learn a song.

Now I'm a tutor I can see how hard it is for learners to just play 1 verse and a chorus of a song. It can potentially take them several weeks whereas I was learning the whole song within 5 days.

I think the key is to spot patterns, if the verses are the same length (i.e 2 times round a progression) then try to remember that. And map out the form of the song (how many choruses are there, what order are the sections etc). Some learners write everything down and can't play without charts, some don't need it and have it all memorised. Presumably as they're worried they can't read it quick enough to play it to the speed of the song. I think knowing it beforehand is always helpful as its always 10 times harder to learn a song you've not heard many times before.

In previous lifetimes when I've had to learn covers I just used to have the chords and intro verse chorus etc sequence written down, then just listen to the record and suss it out from there.
 Oddly despite being terrible for forgetting normal life type stuff and trivia I seem to be able to remember songs from the playing point of view quite well. 

I generally start by making a transcription in standard music notation. I use repeated bars and sections as much as possible to reduce the amount of different bits that I have to learn. I don’t always go note-for-note, I sometimes sacrifice accuracy for practicability.

For a given band I make a page in Trello (https://www.trello.com) and create columns headed something like Set, Familiar, Nearly, and Sorted. Each song gets a card in Set, and as I go through learning them I move them to other columns as appropriate, and devote more time to those that need it.

For complicated songs I normally start at the end and work backwards a few bars at a time. That way I am always playing into more familiar sections.

I reckon the simple act of learning songs has to be practiced, like any other musical skill.  If you practice then your brain strengthens the neural pathways specifically for that particular skill, so in this case you get better at learning songs while learning songs.

I’ve been memorising songs since I was a teenager so I’m fairly good at it.  I kind of have the opposite problem; I really struggle to follow a chord chart or lyric sheet.  I’ll get halfway through a song, lose my place and panic.  Trouble is, if it’s a song that I have to pick up at short notice, or that I’m not very interested in, I have to play from a sheet.

So my tip, which I think helps learning as well as playing from sheets, is to write yourself out a sheet which just has the prompts that you absolutely need to get through the song.  For instance, don’t write out all the lyrics, just write out the verse you always stumble over.  Or maybe the first word of each line.  Or if you must have all the lyrics, do the bits that you know in small font, and tricky bits in big font, so they stand out.

A crucial part of memorising songs is understanding how they work, so that they become a pattern of interrelated layers rather than just random notes or chords. 

I depped for a band once where the other guitarist had no theory whatsoever, he just memorised tablature for the whole set without any understanding of it.

That's a monumental feat of parrot fashion memory, like a list of a thousand car number plates. If he got lost he couldn't just pull something relevant out of the bag in Bb minor or whatever, he just panicked and stopped playing until the next song. 


If you understand intervals and how chord patterns tend to go in pop music then most songs become obvious fairly quickly, and the ones which defy the clichés are often memorable for exactly that. 

Like everything, if you do it all the time it gets easier.