Memorization time

Yo Dave, if you could share with us an idea of how many hours it takes to memorize a song, using this latest Thin Lizzy song as an example. I mean 4 or 8 or 20 hours. If it's too reveling thats fine. I really just want to guage my ability compared to a full time musician, so anybody that chooses to answer will be a great benefit to me. Thanks in advance.

Roger

Hey Roger,

Great question! The Thin Lizzy song "Still in Love With You" might be a bad example because it has two extra long solos, plus the rhythm parts are very detailed. But to answer your question "how long to memorize a song," this one could take about 8 hours or more provided you have a good memory and learn the song in small memorized chunks. On the other hand, a song like the Beatles "She Love You" might only take a couple hours.

It gets easier the more you work those memory muscles.

-Dave

Something I've found helps this is to listen to the song on repeat. It makes it much easier to learn and to remember when you can play the song back in your head and you know what it is supposed to sound like. Listen to it on your commute to work, working out in the gym...wherever. It helps you learn the song even when you are away from your guitar.

Even with songs you are familiar with, you may have to listen with different ears, listening for some of the finer details you may have missed when just listening for enjoyment.

I would worry about my memory except it seems to hit every guitar player the same way! Learn a phenomenal song or even a lick and convince yourself it shall forever be locked away in the memory vault only to be nearly totally forgotten the next day!!?? Seems to be a very common problem that I believe taking smaller chunks of guitar and committing these bite-sized morsals rather than bombarding the brain is the way to go! I do find I follow Dave's fantastic coverage of Steely Dan's classic "Deacon Blues" does stick to my fingers however.........but on the other hand (pun??!!): I've always loved this great tune!! Jim C.

Another thing I do (and have my students do) is start with a small section and play it three times in a row perfectly before moving on to the next. Once I can play several small sections perfect, I start connecting them using the same process - connect the first two chunks and play them perfectly (no mistakes or pauses) three times in a row. If you make a mistake in any of the three performances start all over again until you've got it nailed, then you can proceed to the next part. This system is a little tedious, but gets great results if you use it.

Originally Posted by: Dave Celentano

Another thing I do (and have my students do) is start with a small section and play it three times in a row perfectly before moving on to the next. Once I can play several small sections perfect, I start connecting them using the same process - connect the first two chunks and play them perfectly (no mistakes or pauses) three times in a row. If you make a mistake in any of the three performances start all over again until you've got it nailed, then you can proceed to the next part. This system is a little tedious, but gets great results if you use it.

This thread came up in a search I did for "memorization". This advice will be super helpful. I'm tired of relying on tab as a crutch and want to be able to groove with the music without it. Right now I'm learning "Human Fly" by The Cramps (lesson by Andy Gurley) and found that I was stuck on how to memorize so many repetitive riffs. [br]Thanks Dave!

Now... The long term prognosis.....

One thing thing that makes learning new material elusive it that your brain only does part of the heavy lifting. Muscle Memory is another BIG part of playing any song. Muscle Memory only learns by doing... again and again and again and....

I have had some pretty impressive experiences with muscle memory. But the one thing I do know is that I have to keep practicing, as long as I want to preform any given song. My experience is that practice is the care and feeding part of learning to befriend my Muscle Memeory. Plain and simple it is the key to all performance. To be ready for preformance, any song will require that I practice it again and again. No mater how well I drill a song, once you stop practicing, the fine details start to slip out of control. You have to feed the Muscle Memory regularly or it gets foggy and you loose the fine details that make a performance memorable.

On the other hand once I commit a song to muscle memory, it can usually be brought back preformance standard with very little practice. Even if I don't play a song to years and I don't have a cheat sheet to work with, my muscle memory still remembers more than my intellectual mind does.

I have had original songs that I didn't play for years. However once I started playing them again my fingers remembered what the chords were and would frequently just grab that chord all on their own (even bazarr jazz chords) seemingly out of thin air! If I couldn't remember a given chord, all I had to do is keep playing the parts I could remember, and my fingers did all the walking that was needed. Then, almost magically, my fingers would just grab the missing chord out of thin air. This is a truly amazing experience, that shows how powerful Muscle Memory is to musicianship.

This is your friend... Muscle Memory. It is frequently overlooked, but it is never missing in a great preformance. Unfortunatly Muscle Memory requires that you continue to practice, but the songs you choose to continue playing will become much easier over time. Muscle memory is able to do a great deal of what it takes to pull off a great preformance. However, there are no short cuts too the care and feeding of a growing Muscle Memory. Like most things musical, if you want to be great, you will have to get used to spending regular time in the wood shed.