How to Memorize Songs for Gigs

I remember playing a church rehearsal when I was in college where I was struggling to remember what was coming next in the song. I had a chord chart next to me with some notes I’d scribbled, but they weren’t doing me much good. I felt clueless as to what to play at the end of each song section, because I wasn’t really sure what kind of fill should happen. Sometimes I wasn't actually 100% sure what was coming next, so that made it pretty tough to know whether to play a fill. Everything felt like a stressful mess, and I was honestly pretty lost. I was faking my way through the song, but I probably sounded anything but professional.

I remember that particular week when I was in school, and I was so busy that I literally was scrambling to listen to the songs for Sunday in the car on the way to the rehearsal. My phone wouldn’t plug into the radio of my 1997 Honda Accord, so I had it sitting in the cupholder blasting the songs loudly enough to hear while driving. I couldn’t really hear the kick drum and couldn’t hear much bass. I was gathering the gist of the songs, though, which ought to be good enough for a worship song, right?

Nope. Not “right.” I learned the hard way at that rehearsal that I needed to improve my process for quickly learning songs when I was busy. This set me on a course experimenting with my own charting methods where I’d hand write some sort of chart for every song. I also learned how to “listen better,” which helps with learning things fast. You need to be able to retain what you hear.

But ultimately we want to memorize songs, right? We don’t want to be reading a chart, but we also don’t want to be second guessing the whole time. So where’s the balance? How do you successfully memorize songs?

Well, this is different for every drummer, but here are some tips!

• Plan out what fills you’re going to play throughout the song. (i.e. - This fill going into the first chorus, this fill going into the second chorus, the one at the big climactic moment, etc.)
• If you’re a visual person, write out a basic roadmap of the song (V1, C, V2, C, B, C, etc.). That way you can visualize and remember the overall, simple structure of the song. This is great for pop songs that follow predictable formats.
• Utilize “focused listening” when learning the song for the first time. Sit down with your favorite headphones or in-ears, and really listen to the song without distraction. I guarantee you’ll retain a lot more detail doing this rather than listening in the car (or through a phone speaker!).

Another way to explain that first point about planning out your fills is this: Know the song section transitions! Remember that it’s your job as the drummer to lead the band through the different sections of the song. You’ve got to play parts that clue them in on what’s coming next. That means you MUST know what’s coming next, even if a guitar player doesn’t. Sometimes by thinking through the specific fill and knowing what you’re going to play when, you can more intentionally remember how the song goes.

DO write out a roadmap, even if you’re not a visual person, because sometimes it’s impossible to remember how long an outro or guitar solo is. Write “instrumental - 4 bars” or “8 bars” so you know how long it is. Those little notes will save you when you don’t remember off the top of your head.

But most importantly, listen! This is a strong belief of mine that the better you listen in the early stages of learning a song - the more quickly and thoroughly you’ll learn it. Listen through headphones, dedicating just a few minutes to sit there and think about nothing but the song. Do this before you even pick up your sticks to practice. Get the song in your head, and get the melody playing. Here’s a good trick - Remember the melody, and let it lead you through the song! If you can play a song back in your head you’re not likely to forget it. Learn the song naturally by picking up the melody and riffs. Then play based on that. You’ll not only remember how the song goes, but you’ll also play more musically. Ain’t nobody got time to be counting the entire song!

The truth is, song memorization doesn’t always happen overnight. Depending on the song, you may have to spend significant time really memorizing it. Some songs are easier than others, though, and that song you heard on the radio the other day that keeps playing in your head may be one of the easier ones to retain. But here’s a big philosophy of mine that I want you to grasp:

Though song memorization CAN happen naturally, it requires intentional work most of the time.

What does this mean? You might have your favorite song from your childhood memorized because you’ve heard it so many times. But you may need a more intentional process in order to memorize that new song for next weekend’s gig. Here’s what I recommend doing…

• Figure out a song-learning or song-charting method that works for you. Go through this process - whatever it is - to learn the song. Then once you’ve gone through this, you’ll be much closer to having the song memorized. A lot of times the act of writing a chart will actually cause me to memorize a song. I’ll then not ever use the chart again, which is fine! Sometimes it’s not about having a chart to use. It’s more about what you’re gaining from the process of writing it.

If you’re new to this, check out the free song-learning guide that I’m constantly pitching to you. Those of you who have already worked through this are like “Not again, man. You’re way too into your song-learning method. Stop talking about it.” Yes I’m into this, because I believe it’s going to help you, too, and save you hours of wasted time! So take some time to learn, and see how you can adapt this method for charting YOUR songs. I promise you that your song memorization will get better and get easier after working through this. And it’s free. You’ve got nothing to lose. Get better and faster at learning songs, because you will thank yourself later.

​Download the song-learning guide here!​

​Or check out the full, 38-minute video workshop that accompanies the guide! ​

That’s all for today! Stay non glamorous.

God Bless,

Stephen