Remembering Lyrics
January 27, 2008
John in Iowa writes:
How do you learn so many songs with so many, many lyrics? Do you sing the song(s) a hundred times. Do you do anything special to help you remember?
It’s not that I can remember all of the lyrics. I just give myself the freedom to make up something on the fly if I forget a line.
There are some songs I can’t remember no matter what I do. Banks of the Ohio is one of those songs that I always blank out on – probably because I can’t stand the song and Dr. Danny always asks for it at the jam.
Outside of the few tunes I just don’t like, everything else is easy to remember simply because I don’t particularly care one way or another if I get the lyrics exactly right. Sometimes I’ll make up whole new verses to a song as I am playing just because I love playing around with words and rhythm.
