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How to Memorize Music and Lyrics Forever and Ever

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Memorizing song lyrics hasn’t always been my strongest asset.

Learning chords, chord progressions, scales and guitar solos were always the easy part.

I’d go through them once or twice and they were stored in my brain for ages. But those nasty lyrics didn’t seem to get further than my short term memory.

I ultimately tackled this problem by using a learning technique called spaced repetition.

Spaced repetition works with graduated time intervals. It makes use of the spacing effect where you learn something several times spaced over a long time span.

Instead of cramming (hastily and intense studying at the latest possible moment) which is great for storing huge amounts of information for a short period of time, spaced repetition will pass the information from the short term memory onto the long term memory and make it last indefinitely.

Source
This technique was first discovered by Hermann Ebbinghaus, a german psychologist who experimented with the study of memory and did some extraordinary findings. He contributed to science with brilliant insights on the forgetting curve, the learning curve and the spacing effect.

Application
While you can apply the spaced repetition technique to any kind of (musical) information, we’ll take “memorizing lyrics” as an example.Continue Reading

How to Play Guitar and Sing at The Same Time

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Once you know how to play some chords and strum a few songs, the next step is to sing along with the rhythm you are playing.

It’s a great feeling being able to play and sing at the same time.

Developing this skill will open up a whole new world for you. You can entertain friends and family or learn to perform and play for an audience.

For me it’s also a feeling of freedom. Whenever I feel like it, I pick up my guitar and start playing and singing my favorite songs. It makes me feel good instantly.

Learning to play and sing at the same time is tough in the beginning, but if you follow the tips below and practice regularly you will get the hang of it.

Work hard, have fun and reap the benefits!

1 – Start off easy
First things first. Pick a song you like and something that is easy to play. A familiar song with easy chords and an easy strumming pattern.

2 – Listen first
Before you start trying to play and sing simultaneously you first need to listen to the song quite a few times. Listen to the song on your iPod, iPad or whatever device you prefer, until you know the song inside out. Listen to the melody, listen to the lyrics, listen to the guitar and listen to the beat of the song. Try to count the beats. You can do this by listening to the kick (bass drum) and snare of the drummer.Continue Reading

How to Overcome The Fear of Playing in Front of People

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Most musicians have to deal with performance anxiety sooner or later in one way or another.

There are professional musicians who struggle with it each and every single performance and others who overcome it quickly.

I also was not immune to the fear of playing in front of people. I remember one of my first gigs when I smoked 2 pack of cigarettes before going on stage.

The nervousness was unbearable, but the strange thing was when I got on stage and started playing I was so focused that the anxiety fell away. All that was left was pure excitement.

Once I started playing gigs every week it was no more an issue. I learned that doing more of the same thing takes away the fear.

But then “change” can come along, new things happening, unexpected situations, bigger stages, different people, larger crowds and you have to deal with the uneasiness all over again and that’s a pain in the #ss.

Still, when you’re aware of a few simple rules and take the necessary steps the nervousness becomes tolerant and will eventually disappear completely. A big part of the salvation lies in your own hands and is easy to attain.

Fear simply comes from worrying about the future, the unknown, thinking about what might happen, going through all the ‘what if’ scenarios and torturing yourself with what others might think.

They are all scenarios that arent’ there, cause you’re here now and those situations aren’t. They only live in your mind.

And yes that’s the theory, you still have to deal with it or better said ‘let go of it’.

Well, here are the keys to help you out and truly enjoy the entire experience of your performance.Continue Reading

How to Build an Awesome Repertoire

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Building, learning and mastering a repertoire is part of being a musician. It’s your chance to show who you are as a musician.

It’s a great feeling to be prepared and feel confident whenever someone asks you to play something, to perform spontaneously in front an audience because you know you can or just to be able to play a bunch of songs when you’re relaxing at home, on the beach, on a holiday or when you’re hanging out with family and friends without having to rely on your sheet music.

You will feel free and liberated.

Building a repertoire when you’re playing in a band can be a fun challenge too.

Depending on the number of musicians, what kind of musicians and instruments in the band (acoustic guitar, electric guitar, male vocal, female vocal, bass, drummer, keyboard, trumpet, violin, cello, accordeon, steel guitar, etc.) they will definitely influence the choice of songs and the styles you pick for your repertoire.

For every instrument so many ideas come to mind. Such a pleasure :)

So how do you go about building your own repertoire?

Let’s take a closer look.

Picking the right songs
Take out a paper and pencil or a laptop if you prefer. Choose songs you love and songs that are appealing to the audience. It’s likely that the songs you choose will remain on your repertoire for quite a while so choose wisely. If you’re playing covers and you want to play songs that do well by a large number of people then songs by the Beatles or Eagles or always a good pick. Of course it also depends on the style of music you play, the average age of your audience and where your show is located. Continue Reading