Andy P
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Post by Andy P on Dec 3, 2015 11:39:57 GMT
Does anyone else have trouble remembering words when singing live? I do. I think the problem lies in my ability to concentrate, or rather lack thereof. Looking round the room whilst performing presents a thousand distractions for my butterfly mind. The only way round it is to keep my eyes shut and then I feel a bit stupid. Anyway, not to be outdone, and following the general wisdom that to keep your brain alive you need to use it, I thought I'd try to learn this wonderful Leon Rosselson song. Trying to remember these rapid-fire lyrics and rattle them off at the requisite pace is going to be the ultimate challenge. Is this a futile exercise, doomed to failure? Watch this space.
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doc
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Post by doc on Dec 3, 2015 12:10:30 GMT
I've always had trouble remembering words to songs. I also sing with eyes closed but never realised it until I was asked why I do that. I don't know why but there it is.
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Andy P
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Post by Andy P on Dec 3, 2015 13:08:32 GMT
I've always had trouble remembering words to songs. I also sing with eyes closed but never realised it until I was asked why I do that. I don't know why but there it is. I remember many years ago seeing the lovely Marie Little at the Singout Folk Club in Crewe. She always kept her eyes shut while singing. On this particular night she started The Highwayman (I think that's what it was from memory), a pretty long ballad. As the song progressed she kept turning very slightly to her right. By the time she finished and opened her eyes she found she'd sung the last couple of verses to the side wall about eight feet away. How she laughed!
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ocarolan
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Post by ocarolan on Dec 3, 2015 13:17:25 GMT
I really struggle with remembering song words, apart from for a small number of songs that I've been singing so often and for so many years that I can actually remember the words well....on a good day! I have succumbed to the curse of lyric sheets (cue heated debate) most of the time now. I try not to look at them , but it's a comforting safety net! Keith (Leon R is fab - I used to do some of his songs - Andy did you see him at The Sing Out as part of The Three City Four - superb stuff!)
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Andy P
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Post by Andy P on Dec 3, 2015 13:29:25 GMT
Yes I remember seeing him/them Keith. One of so many great performers in those halcyon days .....
The trouble I've found with lyric sheets is that if I just have them there in case of emergency, when I do feel a memory blank coming up, by the time I've found where I'm up to on the page I've missed the cue!
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Post by ocarolan on Dec 3, 2015 13:37:11 GMT
.. a bit of a very brief guitar twiddle usually allows me a quick glance at the first line of each verse. Most times I get the right verse....
Keith
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Andy P
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Post by Andy P on Dec 3, 2015 13:39:58 GMT
.. a bit of a very brief guitar twiddle usually allows me a quick glance at the first line of each verse. Most times I get the right verse.... Keith That's fine if the first line is enough to get you through the rest of the verse!
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Post by ocarolan on Dec 3, 2015 14:02:43 GMT
.. a bit of a very brief guitar twiddle usually allows me a quick glance at the first line of each verse. Most times I get the right verse.... Keith That's fine if the first line is enough to get you through the rest of the verse! ...for many songs it can be - I'll put big * marks at the particuarly potentially problematical bits! I do still struggle though with ones with loads of words. If there's a chorus though, then an instrumental verse plus a sung chorus can be a useful diversion...sometimes....as long as I don't look too panic-stricken! Keith One of the most impressive feats of memory I've ever seen "live" was Richard Digance singing this - Pity it's not a "live" vid!
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Post by fatfingerjohn on Dec 3, 2015 14:06:18 GMT
I really struggle with remembering song words, apart from for a small number of songs that I've been singing so often and for so many years that I can actually remember the words well....on a good day! I have succumbed to the curse of lyric sheets (cue heated debate) most of the time now. I try not to look at them , but it's a comforting safety net! Keith (Leon R is fab - I used to do some of his songs - Andy did you see him at The Sing Out as part of The Three City Four - superb stuff!) I'm so glad I'm not alone. I can remember the lyrics of songs I did 40 year ago without even thinking about them (although if playing in public the nerves still make me want to have the comfort blanket of them available in front of me). But, for a song I may have been practicing in, say the last 2 months, I often can't remember the 2nd line of words never mind the whole thing. Funnily I can usually remember the chord progressions well without them in front of me; must be a different part of the brain that hasn't yet gone awol.
If I do venture out to a public venue and there is a frown at having the words in front of you, then I simply enjoy others and don't even think of doing anything myself. I've met the odd person who say its an insult to your audience not to have bothered to learn the lyrics. In my case its not that I can't be bothered, just can't! Mind if I was being paid a fair mount I might have to try that bit harder.
But top orchestral people have the music in front of them and no-one seems to mind.
FFJ
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Post by slasher on Dec 3, 2015 14:42:53 GMT
I'm of the "Don't sing it in public until you know it" persuasion. constant repitition works for me. I used to go through a new song before setting off for work and would then sing it in the car on the way too, and from work and then go through it again in the evening. Now I'm retired I just nip up to my "music room" a few times a day to work on a new song until it sticks. I appreciate that some people have difficulties with memory or stress related forgetfulness but too many people seem to want to join-in and be part of things without being prepared to put any effort in. At one session I used to attend there were fourteen performers one evening. Eleven were singing from word sheets. Another of the other three looked at me and said "If they can't be bothered to learn, I can't be bothered to listen". A little harsh perhaps but I do sympathise with that view. At a session I now regularly attend one of the diehards arrived in the room to see four or five performers shuffeling word sheets. He looked around and quietly said "Ahh, a library..."
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Post by creamburmese on Dec 3, 2015 19:28:05 GMT
I not only can't remember words, but melodies my fingers have nailed dozens of times in the practice room fly away when I'm under stress. This, apparently, is because I've only learned them in muscle memory, and this reliably departs when stress is involved, so "conscious learning" (aka visualization) is also necessary. This I find incredibly difficult. However I do find if I shut my eyes, I do a whole lot better at visualizing the patterns that come next - so maybe there is something about deactivating the visual cortex that allows other parts of the brain to function better. I was recently lucky enough to have a front seat only a few feet away from Roland Dyens (who is a world famous classical guitarist) and it looked to me like his eyes were never completely open when he was playing... On a related theme, I have also discovered that I also lose my place if I can't hear what I'm playing .... so maybe hearing aids and blinkers is what I really need!
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Post by creamburmese on Dec 3, 2015 19:30:27 GMT
And if you could see how marked up my orchestra music was you would see why it is necessary to have it in front of you. !!!
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Post by vikingblues on Dec 3, 2015 19:50:55 GMT
I can't even remember words I wrote myself. Fortunately I'm not mad enough to sing live so that lets me off the hook. It also saves an audience from suffering! Mark
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andrewjw
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Post by andrewjw on Dec 3, 2015 20:05:54 GMT
Like Keith I can usually remember the words to songs from years ago but fail miserably on more recent offerings. We've succumbed to using A5 crib sheets printed as large as possible and keeping any chord/key/tuning reminders printed in black ...other colours become invisible if there are any coloured stage lights around. If all else fails then making up the lyrics as you go along works quite well ....! Don Henley supposedly put in a few "Oh Baby" 's if he was stuck for words...probably risky for folky stuff...
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Andy P
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Post by Andy P on Dec 3, 2015 23:32:04 GMT
That's fine if the first line is enough to get you through the rest of the verse! Keith One of the most impressive feats of memory I've ever seen "live" was Richard Digance singing this - Pity it's not a "live" vid! I've not seen that before. Nostalgia in spades!
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