Tips to Remembering Lyrics

Ever gone to a concert and you’re singing along with the Artist then realize that he/she just flopped a couple of words of the song? It’s not a big deal for fans who usually just smile and keep enjoying the show, but for the performer it’s one of those winching, embarrassing moments where you want to sink into a hole.

As a singer there is really not much you can do to guarantee it won’t happen. Our minds just tend to go blank every once in a while, and sometimes that’s right in the middle of a show. But you can reduce the chances of it happening by practicing a few simple techniques. I’ve found that these tips work nicely when you’re singing cover songs, but it can work for your own material as well.

The first thing you want to do is familiarize yourself with the song in general. You want to know exactly how the syllables of each word fall in with the rhythm of the song. The best way to do this is to play the song in its entirety on a portable CD or mp3 player, somewhere where you can use headphones so that you can block out outside noises and interference.  At this point all you want to do is to get familiar with the arrangement of the song.

Next you want to print out the lyrics and sing-along with the original song (not the backing tracks). If you are going to play an instrument while singing the song, don’t try to learn the instrumentation yet. Rather just sing along with the song.  This will help you to start focusing more on the lyrics and melody and less on the instrumentation. Remember what we’re doing here is trying to memorize the lyrics; we’ll talk about the playing an instrument later.

Hopefully you have an instrumental version of the song. If not that’s ok, you can still use the next tip, however having an instrumental version or backing track will help keep you in sync with the rhythm. Sing the song with the backing track from beginning to end a few times while reading the printed lyric sheet. Do this a few times until you’re comfortable singing the song without the original vocals as a guide. Remember use the printed lyric sheet. Don’t try to sing by memory yet.

Now most popular songs have a chorus that tends to repeat the same lyrics over & over. This is usually the part of the song we always remember and don’t even need a lyric sheet; however the verses are a little trickier. Without using the backing tracks or original song with the vocals, look at “only” the first two lines of the first verse (cover the rest of the lyrics). Sing the lines a couple of times. If you mess up, that’s fine, just keep doing it till it becomes second nature to you. Do the same thing with the next 2 lines and so on.

At a certain point you should know the song structure and have a good grasp of the lyrics, but you might not have them burn into memory yet. So what do you do to remember them? Well you have to make them more personal (even if it is one of your own original tunes). Grab a sheet of paper and try to write the lyrics “by hand” without looking at the printed sheet. If you mess up, don’t throw away the sheet to start over, simply scratch over the error and write the correct word above it.

What this does is provide a sort of physical connection between you and the lyrics. From now on when you sing the song, you will mentally see the version you wrote down instead of the generic printed version. For cover tunes, this works as if you wrote the song. For original songs, you may find that initial connection you first had when you wrote the song that may have gotten lost in the recording & production stages.

The time it will take for you to remember the lyrics can vary. For some folks this technique can help them memorize the lyrics in a few hours. Others may take a couple of days. There also the issue of how intricate the lyrics are. For example it will take you longer to remember the lyrics from a Bob Dylan song than one from Billy Preston. Not that one is better than the other, but simply because one style has either fewer or more repeated lyrics than the other.

If you play an instrument like a guitar or piano, try to learn how to play the song after you’ve learned the lyrics. Most pop songs have very basic chord structures that will repeat throughout the song, so unlike with lyrics once you learn them, it won’t be hard to memorize them.  If you learn how to sing the song while playing, the lyrics will become second nature to you just like the chord progressions. Those of you who play an instrument know what I mean. You play a song over & over to a point where your hands automatically go from one note to another without much thought.

Learning to play & sing the song at the same time creates a more personal connection between you and the song. It also helps you develop the ability to block out certain distractions. Like feedback from a mic, a noisy room, and even that hot groupie that’s slobbering over you…;)