Karaoke Forums

Just curious how many people know the words to most of the songs they sing. I need the karaoke screen, myself, but I think it would be better to actually try and learn the words. There are songs I"ve sung a lot that I should know by now, but the screen provides an easy crutch! What is your method?

When I was in the band, i'd used to break each section down - basically learn the first verse - then second, keep moving up - playing/singing along with the actual song, repeat until you get the entire song memorized. Then do it a few more times with the actual song, then try the karaoke version without the tv on. Once you can remember the lyrics & sing without the tv, it makes the performance alot better all around, because you aren't just focusing in on the screen, you can actually look around the audience, moving around, etc.

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There is only a couple of songs I even know the lyrics all the way through. I rarely sing the same song twice consecutive times I go to sing and I always sing at least one new song each time so I almost always have to look at the screen. It may not look good or sound good but I sing for my enjoyment so....

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Seize the day and SING!!!

I know most of my lyrics pretty well, but I do over 200 songs so I do glance over at some from time to time, particularly if I haven't done them for a while.

For me, it's practice-practice-practice for the method. If it is something I really want to learn well, I actually practice singing it without looking. Also, I will catch myself repeating them to myself in the car (I don't usually listen to the radio).

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[color=#ffff55]Mickey J.[/color]
Alas for those who never sing, but die with all their music in them.
-- Oliver Wendell Holmes, Sr.

There are a few I can do without the screen but only a few, most of them are Journey songs.

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The Line Array Experiment is over. Nothing to see here. Move along.

Oh man.

A good therapist could probably help you with that.

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Dave's not here.

I know the lyrics to most of the songs I sing at karaoke.

I tend to focus on a song I want to learn - I write out the lyrics, load it onto my iPod and listen to it over and over - sometimes just looped, and sometimes building up a playlist with it mixed in several times. I don't even try to sing it at first...eventually, I find myself singing along when it comes up.

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"I hold the key to an open door....will I ever be free...?"

I am pretty good with lyrics, but I need to look at the screen for some songs to get the timing/order right on some songs.

I have over 100 songs that I sing too. I have a handful of them memorized, and some partially memorized. MOst of them, I am familiar with, so all I need is to glance at the screen every few lines, and I'm good to go.

I love those singers that come up to me and say: "I wanna sing XXXX, but I don't know the words."

I always tell them that they will be INFINITELY better if you sing a song you know by heart. The lyrics are a good guide in case you forget the order of the verses, or something like that, but I don't think you can do a good job on a song unless you know about 90% of it by heart.

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C Mc
KJ, FL

Some people's brains are just wired differently and they can't memorize the lyrics to the songs they like to sing. Many of these people can sing songs a lot better than someone who can memorize their favorite songs. I've seen and heard way too many bad singers at karaoke that never looked at the televison while they were singing. Memorization is no guarantee that the singer will actually be able to sing. Personally, I don't think I would sound any differently if I were able to memorize the lyrics to the songs I like to sing. If karaoke night was about memorizing lyrics, they wouldn't make karaoke discs with the words on them for people to look at while they were singing.

I have sang thousands of songs and if I have done one enough to memorize it then it is boring. The only time I sing them is for opening or roaming the floor singing for a sound check. I only have 3 or 4 "siggies" that I sing on a regular basis.

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I tend to memorize songs pretty easily, if I sing them once or twice off the screen I'm usually good to go after that. A lot of songs I can sing right out of the gates without the lyrics on screen. However, I do sometimes forget a line here or there and will use the lyrics display to job my memory.

Interesting point. A couple years ago I was working production for a Country Music festival in northern WI. Sammy Kershaw was headlining one night and one of the first things his crew brought to us was a flat panel monitor to be placed down-stage center. When the show started, on the display was a scrolling teleprompter of the lyrics to each song he performed, and they were his own songs!! So I guess no matter how well you know a tune, a backup plan can be helpful.

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DJ Tony
Let It Rip Karaoke

I'm a screen watcher for sure. I know the words to a few songs, but always look at the screen. Heck I watch the screen all night singing along to ther people's songs. No wonder my eyes are bad.

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Cheat sheets!

By that I mean separate the song into musical components like verses, bridge, chorus etc...justify the verse to the left, the chorus is bold and centered- the bridge is right justified. Just that act of listening to the song to write the words forces you to concentrate on the lyrics...then seperating them will give you strong visual connectors to help you memorise the song. When you practice at home- try using the "cheat sheet" and get to the point where you only have to glance peroidically..Usually once I get the first line of a verse etc- The rest of it drops into place...in a short period you'll have the song memorized.

I know close to 800 songs and I used this technique to memorise all if them. I also keep the book of cheat sheets so if i have a "brain fart" I can glance down and the unusual compartmentilizing makes it easy to spot where I need to be. This is also a great idea if you're performing with several different bands or using different arrangements of the same song. It can be hard to keep the various arrangemements straight & this is my most valuable tool for doing that. I have a book for "tracks" and different books for each band I work with. I also make notes as to what Key I do the songs in.

Hope it helps.

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That was my method when I was fronting and backing in different bands. Really works well. When I do set lists I use different colors and different margins, as well as bold and italics for different things as well.

I have become just helpless, though, because I've had a screen in front of my face forever. It's really a horrible thing to do, to continually fall back on it just because it's there.

I have about 500 songs in my repertoire and it always surprises me the ones that stick in my mind with no problem at all; in fact, I find myself singing along to songs that I may hear in another environment and am totally blown away that without even thinking, my lyrics flow. Time to defrag my brain harddrive, get rid of the stuff I don't even use, and make room for the stuff I DO!

I now sing at least 200 songs. I can probably sing less than 10 without looking at the words.

Felix the KJ

The best thing about karaoke is trying songs you never sung before
The Lyrics help with this

Michael Stipe from REM is notorious for forgetting his own lyrics to most of their 80s songs. He's not all high tech about a monitor, though. He'll literally hold a piece of paper in his hand with the lyrics written on it.

It is weird that I know all of those 80s REM hits by heart, but teh guy who wrote them and has undoubtedly performed them thousands of times needs a cheat sheet.

Like you said, some people are just wired differently!!

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C Mc
KJ, FL

I cannot memorize songs to save my life. I only know two by heart...Little Deuce Coupe and Born To Be Wild. I have had that problem since I was 25. So the screen is a help. I think if I had the ability to memorize things quickly, I would have been in a band more than I had. I used to be an actor on stage and after I turned 25 the ability was gone. Bad choices in my life kind of made it hard to do that.