Karaoke Forums

I have a son who at 3 years of age knew the words to every commercial on TV and the radio.  He grew up listening to "oldies" radio and could sing the words to every oldie, by heart.  

I, on the other hand, can't remember the words to much of anything if left on my own.  And if I stop glancing at the monitor for too long, I get lost in the words of even the songs I most often sing.

Anyone else share this experience?

Sure do. Used to have to memorize choreography AND lyrics to dozens of songs, never had a problem. If I can get through ONE song now without glancing at the monitor I'm doing well. Funny thing is, I don't trust myself to remember the words, I guess, which is why I look. Karaoke makes for lazy memory skills I think.

k

You may be right about the impact of karaoke on my/your memory skills.  I know I could memorize anything I set my mind to.  But my son doesn't even have to try!

He'd do great on that Wayne Brady karaoke show, I'd stink

I've never been good at memorizing lyrics-read that as I've always been bad at remembering lyrics. I can only sing maybe 2 songs without looking at the screen, You're Sixteen  and  It's Now Or Never, two very easy songs. I am going to try to learn more, but at 50 years of age I don't have much hope of ever being good at learning song lyrics. I admire the ability that some folks have to remember lyrics, different brains work differently.

I've become dependant on viewing lyrics-  Never had the ability to memorize lyrics.. Never developed that

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Northeast United States runner up for the "Singing Hall of Shame".

It's great to know I'm not alone.  I started to wonder if this deficiency reflected a particular "disability" on my part?  I keep running into people who just assume because of my love of karaoke I have all of "these" lyrics memorized

Again, I'm sure I could memorize many lyrics if I put my mind to it.  And I realize that could be beneficial, but I have no desire to do so.

When I was a kid, I used to marvel at how singers, newscasters and actors could remember their words and lyrics, knowing that I'd never be able to do that.  It was karaoke that enabled me to be able to sing a song without doing what Jason on AI did the other night.  (For those who didin't see it, he totally forgot the lyrics and la, la'd his way through).  

I used to rely on the lyric screen completely.  But I found some of the songs I was singing had the lyrics come up way too late (almost behind the music), especially on some of the up-beat songs.  I learnt the lyrics for those songs and found I could concentrate on the timing of the music better.  So I started learning other song's lyrics and now I have no need to look at the screen unless I pick a song from the book that I have not learnt the words to.

All my own disks I take to a karaoke are CD's, not CDGs... no lyrics displayed...  If I brain-fade the lyrics, I just ad-lib.  :drunk:

When I only had 50 or so songs, I made a real effort to remember every lyric without looking. Now I mostly remember, but I glance at the monitor every so often as a crutch. Sometimes I know the words perfectly well, but get nervous and glance over.

But I don't worry if I miss a word or two -- as long as you don't show your discomfort, not many people notice or care.

That's important - don't show discomfort.

While I don't sing much at all at my show, if I'm singing and someone comes over with a question, I'll usually lose my place, but never "falter".  I know I'll get back on track.  Usually I get lost just having to let the person know to see Robin (my wife) with their question!

I have way, way more songs that I can't remember all the lyrics to, but even the ones I do have memorized can go south in a hurry if someone I know walks in and greets me, or some cutie is paying a little extra attention. ( OK, that doesn't happen often! )

I get distracted very easily, so it is very amazing to me how any performer, be it karaoke, drummer, guitar player, bass player or lead singer can interact with the audience and never miss a beat.

I think I read somewhere that musicians use a different part of their brain that allows them to retain all of the music and lyrics.

                                                           Rudy

Amen, brother!


They do miss them, all the time. But in a live situation, you have the other musicians to help you cover up, give you an extra four bars to recover, and to change the tempo a midge to help.

Interesting,

While as a musician I am great at playing "by ear", I never really memorized much, if any, of the classical music I played.  I always envied pianists who could do that

As a keyboardist (mostly piano), I read music, but I can play by ear pretty well.  I used to teach myself songs I heard off of the radio.  Then when my son was little, I would play little kids' songs for him; those were by ear also.  

Eric, I had classical training also, but I only memorized stuff when I had to (for a recital, or for the Guild, where you play before a bunch of judges).  

I remember once I went to a wedding reception and the pianist was chatting to people a lot while he was playing--and not missing a beat!  (He was playing solo, btw.)  Me?  I can't do that.  Another thing that's hard for me to do is to accompany myself while singing--some people can make that look and sound sooooo easy, but I'm not one of them.  I would rather either play OR sing.  

As for having to look at the monitor--well I usually do, just to be on the safe side.

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I love being a mom!

Yeh, I can play piano (technically incorrect fingering) and cannot play and sing at the same time, either.

I look at the monitor always, because I'm ADD and lose focus the minute I see a nice xss.  

I always look at the monitor, but I think many of us could memorize some of the songs if we had to and got focused enough.   On soe of the older karaoke renditions, knowing at least some of the lyrics really helps because the text changes on the monitor can somtimes be clunky.

Speaking of focused, last night at the karaoke place, they were showing a movie on one of the tv's where a guy goes flying out of a car, spining across the street, and finally when he comes to a stop, lying on his back, looking up at the night sky, he calmly takes out a cigarette and lights it.  Now that is focused.  Of course that may be the only legal place to smoke a cigarette where he lives too!  

Is that the new GM Camaro? Just kidding! Yeah I do also, that really impresses them.

mckyj57, yeah live music does have it mistakes here and there, it's just most people aren't anal about their music, LIKE I AM! Sadly if I go see a band whose music I am really into, I do hear most of the mistakes. My brother will hear them too, we usually exchange a glance and a smile.
                                              Rudy

Interesting responses (humerous ones too). I had a stroke awhile back, and if I didn't carry my name tag...I'd forget THAT!!! Seriously though, I've never really seen someone that knows ALL the words to every song they sing now-adays. Even the pros have stage monitors with the lyrics for quick reference. Seems as though the more "technologically advanced" we become, the less we reley on our own inate (like we USED to have too ) abilities. Back in the late 60's, when I was singing with a band, we HAD to memorize all the lyrics....no choice. Now....it's " I WANT MY MAYPO.....ooppss....MONITOR" !!

                                   Donny "B"    8)

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It's a wonderful life!!

Some of the musicians I know, they would tell you it isn't a mistake -- it's how they chose to play it that night!

Yep, and I don't pee in the shower either!