How do you learn full songs?

[stephen sawall]

Most people can only learn 3 or 4 songs a week. I have had to learn 15 - 20 in 3 or 4 days a few times.
The more you do it the easier it becomes for most people.

Tab and YouTube these days. Before that by ear.

I think writing out the progression by hand helps me remember the pattern.

 

[johnny q]

Back in the 70s, we would drop the needle on a vinyl record and keep placing it back on the same spot until you figured it out! These days, I just don't have the time I did when I was a kid, so I listen to the song (usually on YouTube or streaming) and figure out as much as I can from ear. From there, what I am unclear on I go to YouTube (which seemingly has lessons and tabs for every song ever recorded.) I only learn complete songs these days for my cover bands and I learn them well enough that people will recognize the familiar parts. I don't stress out over chord voicings, positions, slides etc. Drunk chicks don't care.

 

[* velcro-fly *]

Most people can only learn 3 or 4 songs a week. I have had to learn 15 - 20 in 3 or 4 days a few times.
The more you do it the easier it becomes for most people.

Tab and YouTube these days. Before that by ear.

I think writing out the progression by hand helps me remember the pattern.

I had a two year run that ended this last March of an every Wednesday gig, with a new guest every time, that would bring in 10-15 new songs to learn on top of the other regulars songs in the 3 hour set, most of it in very much not in my wheelhouse territory. This was on top of my normal regularly booked actual Rock band gig.... Thank gawd for all the early years of forced album / cassette / 8-track pre youtube ear training. I would do basic charts for everything though with notes because chances are / were I would never play any of the songs again

 

[* velcro-fly *]

I don't sing, in fact I don't pay much attention to lyrics. So I can't rely on those to learn songs.

How do you learning full songs?

I'll add to the above that vocal cues are huge, and its hard to rehearse new songs with a band with the singer not being there, no matter how down you think you have the material

 

[grimmchaos]

I go through each song, learn section at a time (usually starting with tabs, but then figuring the wrongly tabbed parts out by ear when I know it's not right), and then rinse/repeat/jam with the song itself until it's memorized. Of course, the first time playing with the band without a backing track can be a little squirrely, but we've been doing it long enough by the 2nd time through the song we got it down. To be fair, we are normally doing classic rock/metal covers and nothing is really that complicated nor difficult, other than solo sections.

Even stuff we know and have played for years is hard to play correctly without the vocal cues. I may not know all the lyrics to all the songs, but definitely listen to and use the vocal melody to know where I'm supposed to be. In my band, I also end up being the guy everyone relies on to know where they are supposed to be... so that's a fun twist for me.

 

[HellraiserJohnny]

I learned all my early songs by destroying my albums. I'd learn peice by peice, line by line listening and then duplicating what I heard. It wasn't fast but the ear training I got was priceless. I built it up to the piont that I could listen to songs on the radio and just know the chords as I heard them being played and knew the framework of the solos before I ever picked up my guitar. There was no Internet or YouTube back then so that's how me and all my frends did it.

 

[TheBiggestJerk]

I don't sing, in fact I don't pay much attention to lyrics. So I can't rely on those to learn songs.

How do you learning full songs?

Sit down and work it out. Listen, read, noodle, listen, read, noodle, repeat.

 

[DrewJD82]

I’m assuming OP is asking more about getting songs from beginning to end memorized and prepared, rather than the actual learning part.

Cheat sheets go a long way and they don’t have to just be the song parts, mine usually look like-

Intro/clean/dly
Verse
Chorus
Verse w/trem
wah section
Chorus
Solo
Chorus

The last cover band I joined had songs in every damn tuning from E to A standard and had about 40 songs in the average setlist, I had heard the songs for years prior so I didn’t really need to learn how they went or arrangements, but I had to keep notes just for fucking tunings and presets. Scribble Strips/preset/scene names also help, too.

Once I learn the music and have the sounds dialed in I practice everything beginning to end, standing up and as if I’m playing the show. If I fuck up, I start over at the beginning.

 

[Fusionbear]

Here is an older recording of a cover gig I did a while ago to give an example how varied songs can be.... FM9T through a QSC CP12 on this one and also into FOH



This gig had 32 songs total in three sets. I had a notebook with me that I could reference if I had a brain fart. ..lol...

 

[jb44]

This one time in, band camp...