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beginner forum: for novice and developing blues harp players > Tips for learning songs?
Tips for learning songs?
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Fil
242 posts
Dec 29, 2016
6:58 AM
I find learning songs pretty much a slog. You can't accompany yourself on the harp, which seems to be a stumbling block. I resort to singing along with a recording repeatedly, then trying to write the lyrics out long hand. I'd like to take a shot at singing lead at the jam, but my record of losing track of the words half way thru is pretty consistent. Any advice?
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Phil Pennington
SuperBee
4382 posts
Dec 29, 2016
11:22 AM
Beyond simple repetition, I suppose I look for patterns. I mean rhyming and meter are the biggies for aiding memorisation but internalisation of the story helps me. Sometimes that difficult because the song appears cobbled together and the logic of storytelling may be missing, but 'what's it about' is usually a good question to put to oneself.
Dangerous though as you may start reflecting on whether you really want to sing the song once you've thought long on what it's about. Or you may become more of a performer, assuming a character to enable delivery of those words. But if you are relating something personally meaningful to the words I think it helps memorisation in some way.
Killa_Hertz
2054 posts
Dec 29, 2016
12:44 PM
I think repetitions is the big one, but ....

i visualise the song. Like Bee said What is the song about? Often I see almost like a music video in my head. Whatever the song makes me see. The visual memory really helps remember it. But honestly Ive always been good at remembering songs and movies for some reason. I can watch a movie twice and quote half of the movie.

Usually a song takes me through a story, but right now im listening to Muddy Waters. .. and most of the time when listening to Muddy I just invision the band. I know Muddy is about to look at Winters and say "I didnt hear you Johnny"

I dont know if that was at all helpful ... or just ravings of a lunatic, but .... lol. There it is.


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