How Many Songs Do You Know?

[dtaylor]

I've just made a list of the songs I once knew that I'd like to practice, such that I know them, to play them at the drop of a hat.

I'm still at the stage where I'm interested in learning new songs, for the challenge, and for the techniques they provide. It just means I've forgotten much of what I could once play.

My question is: do you learn songs and then forget them or do you just collect them and you are able to play them forever?
Do you have practice routines to revisit old songs regularly?

I have a very few songs that I think I know well enough such that I could play them if I hadn't played them for a year. But how many do you know like that?
As you get more years playing under your belt is it easier to learn new songs and just retain them?

Dean

[daryl]

dtaylor wrote:

.....As you get more years playing under your belt is it easier to learn new songs and just retain them?

Dean

It's definitely easier to learn new songs (with more years playing under my belt). But retaining them is a entirely different part of my brain. I typically forget them as fast as I learn them.

[dtaylor]

[/quote]
It's definitely easier to learn new songs (with more years playing under my belt). But retaining them is a entirely different part of my brain. I typically forget them as fast as I learn them. [/quote]

That wasn't the sort of thing I wanted to hear, I'd've assumed you'd find it easier to retain, oh well.

[tacticaltal]

I don't usually forget the songs I've learned, but I do need practice sometimes.

Shucks, since playing since I was 14, I guess I know quite a few.

Just about all of Jim Reeves
Ray Price (Crazy Arms, She's Got To Be A Saint, For The Good Times, I won't Mention it Again)
Marty Robbins (Almost all)
Merle Haggard (Almost all)
Willie Nelson (Always on my Mind, Angel Flying Too Close To The Ground, On The Road Again)
Jimmy Buffet (Come Monday)
George Strait (Amarillo By Morning, Drinkin' Champaign)
Eagles (Lyin' Eyes, Tequila Sunrise, New Kid In Town)
Many more.

~terry

[daryl]

dtaylor wrote:

It's definitely easier to learn new songs (with more years playing under my belt). But retaining them is a entirely different part of my brain. I typically forget them as fast as I learn them.

That wasn't the sort of thing I wanted to hear, I'd've assumed you'd find it easier to retain, oh well.

I'm willing to bet that players that sing have an easier time remembering songs.

[dennisg]

daryl wrote:

I'm willing to bet that players that sing have an easier time remembering songs.

Hard to say because I've never NOT sung, so I can't compare the two. But I will say that I have a far more difficult time remembering the lyrics of songs I haven't sung for awhile than the chords. There's a logic to chords and finger positions, while anything goes with lyrics. And, of course, the older I get, the harder it is to remember anything. I'm sorry, what were we talking about?

[davidrfinn99165]

Hmmm.....yes, I do play a lot of songs at the drop of a hat (?)......which is logical, since I've been playing for such a long time.

But you know, the more songs in your songcloset, the harder it is to remember it all, but really thankfully my brain and fingers remember quite fast when I pull some of them out. If often just takes a little refreshing.

Still, I do play a lot of songs just by heart, which is nice!

Ness

[neverfoundthetime]

As you get more years playing under your belt is it easier to learn new songs and just retain them?

Dean

It is certainly easier and quicker to learn new songs as the years go by but retaining all of them is more difficult because, well, there's more of them! I do keep a list of all the songs I can actually play and last count it was between 180-200 but I may forget the odd chord or line of lyrics now and again so maybe I can churn out only half of them without a sheet in front of me.
I will review them all this holiday to see where I actually stand. My memory is certainly waning these days but I do hold most of the lyrics to these songs pretty much in my head. I've always been good on lyrics but Dennis is right, the logic of the chord progressions make it easier to remember the chords.

[Lavallee]

neverfoundthetime wrote:

As you get more years playing under your belt is it easier to learn new songs and just retain them?

Dean

It is certainly easier and quicker to learn new songs as the years go by but retaining all of them is more difficult because, well, there's more of them! I do keep a list of all the songs I can actually play and last count it was between 180-200 but I may forget the odd chord or line of lyrics now and again so maybe I can churn out only half of them without a sheet in front of me.
I will review them all this holiday to see where I actually stand. My memory is certainly waning these days but I do hold most of the lyrics to these songs pretty much in my head. I've always been good on lyrics but Dennis is right, the logic of the chord progressions make it easier to remember the chords.

Chris, you have an elephant memory. I have seen you sing and play and a few times already and this is quite amazing, you remember everything (I hope you won't hold a grudge against me, it will never go away ). As for me even though, I forget the songs fairly quickly, right up front when I want to play it , it does not take so long to relearn pretty much all that I have learned. My brain forgets , not my fingers.

Marc

[dennisg]

I have about 10 or 12 songs I can play -- and that I do play regularly, as you know from the other thread. There's a bunch of other songs, including many of the ones I've uploaded as videos, that I go back and revisit occasionally, but I don't really remember them. And then there are dozens of songs I have only a passing familiarity with.