Subject: RE: homage to Rise Up Singing
From:
Don Firth
Date: 02 Jan 09 - 05:35 PM
In a post on December 31st, I said I would do a little blurb on how to memorize songs for those who don't know how to go about it. At least this is the way I do it.
Learning—memorizing—songs:
Usually, what attracts me to a song in the first place is hearing it. I have learned a few songs straight from song books (I can read dots), but very few indeed. Usually this happens when I read the words in, say, Lomax's Folk Songs of North America, they appeal to me for some reason, then I dope out the melody and proceed to learn the song.
But my usual method is to learn them from records. I play the record repeatedly while I scribble down the words. This takes several playings. I try to write down the first line of each verse the first time through, the second line the second time through, and so on. By the time I have the words written down, the tune is pretty well lodged in my ear.
Or if I learn a song from someone in person, I get the words from them (they write me out a copy or dictate them to me) and then they sing me through the tune until I have it securely in my ear. I learned a lot of songs from Walt Robertson and others this way. Or they have learned songs from me this way.
This is an important part of the "folk process." Learning songs from records is the folk process one step removed.
What I do then (and not necessarily in the same sequence each time) is "vocalize" the tune: sing it through on one vowel ("ah" or "oh"), or just hum it, until I'm sure I have it. At the same time, I set the key for my voice. I carry one of those round "Master Key Chromatic Pitch Instruments" made by the Wm. Kratt Co. around with me (chromatic pitch pipe) – CLICKY #1 – and as I experiment with the tune and find my comfortable range, I check with the pitch pipe to see where I am, then figure out what key is most comfortable for my voice.
Way back, I would carry the words I had copied down around with me, folded up in a shirt pocket. I'd try to sing the song in my head (sometimes aloud, if I was alone), going as far as I could, then when I got stuck, pull out the sheet and look at it, then continue until I got stuck again. About the fourteenth or fifteenth song I learned that way was twenty-seven verses of adultery, blood, and gore: "Little Mattie Groves."
I found that one thing that tended to work reasonably well was putting the subconscious on the job. While lying in bed, just before going to sleep, I would sing the song in my head, again going as far as I could. If I got stuck, I would skip to the next verse I remembered. I'd do this maybe a couple two or three times before I drifted off to sleep. Sometimes in the morning, it was all there. Or I knew what lines I needed to work on.
I can learn a new song in two or three days by following this procedure. Then, what I need to do is sing it over and over until it is thoroughly filed in my memory.
Some of the first songs I learned ("Greensleeves," "Blue Mountain Lake," "Drill, Ye Tarriers," "High Barbaree," "The Golden Vanity") I will never forget, even if I haven't sung some of them for years.
While all this is going on, I pull out the guitar and work out the accompaniment. Chords first. The basic, necessary chords. I sing the song (or at least vocalize the tune), strumming the chords of key I now know fits my voice. When I have the essential chord changes worked out, if the song seems to call for it, I start playing with alternate chord possibilities ("Okay, I'm three measures on a C major there. How would it sound to stick an A minor in there before going to the F?"). Experiment. At first I just strum chords. Once I have them set, I tinker with right hand patterns, beginning with a simple "Burl Ives basic," then try various picking patterns. Arpeggio? What kind? Mix it up? "Lullaby lick?" Alternate bass finger-picking? Or would it be better just to stick with "Burl Ives basic?" Then maybe work out bass runs, a little between-verse bit of the tune, and so on, depending on what seems appropriate to song itself.
Remembering that an accompaniment that's too flashy can distract and detract from the song itself. Not good!
By the way, I know all the chord families and such (a couple years of music theory classes), but for anyone who might need some help, this gadget would probably prove quite useful: CLICKY #2.
Then—the original word sheet that I copied from the record goes into a file. These days, I type in into the computer. First verse and chorus double-spaced with chord symbols above the appropriate words, the rest single-spaced (usually 12 point Georgia, which I find easy to read), with notes about the song (Child ballad? Where did it come from and what is it about, when and where I first heard it and learned it, what song books or records I have that it's on, etc.) in Georgia 11 point type, at the bottom if there's room or on the back if not. If the song is long, a second page of course—or if the lines are short, I might do two columns.
I keep the file on the computer (backed up, of course), print out a copy, three-hole punch it, and put it into a three-ring binder.
Which I use for reference or to refresh my memory when needed—and which I leave at home.
By the way, once I have a song learned, I record it a few times (cassettes awhile back, but now onto a ZOOM H2 digital recorder, which I then download into the computer) and play it back for and self-criticism and analysis.
Learning songs involves exerting enough effort to engage a few brain cells. It doesn't take that much time, and it ain't that hard. And you don't have to be a member of the idle rich. And once you've got it, you may need to refresh your occasionally (that's what the three-ring binder sitting on your desk or in your bookcase is for), but you've got it.
Bon appetite.
Don Firth
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