From above - "The older you get, the longer it takes.". I don't find that at all !. I spent so many years (all of 'em !!) learning how to play by ear,that i can still do it with no problem. Other 'ear players' might agree,that over time,you develop a ''quick ear'' = you absorb the bare bones of a tune very easily & don't need much time to flesh 'em out afterwards. That's THE big benefit of ear playing. They still take time to get them under your fingers,that doesn't come automatically,but having learned to play mandolin by finding ''where the sounds are'',even that doesn't take too long either as long as the melody isn't too complex,
Ivan
Weber F-5 'Fern'.
Lebeda F-5 "Special".
Stelling Bellflower BANJO
Tokai - 'Tele-alike'.
Ellis DeLuxe "A" style.
You said a mouthful, Ivan!
Timothy F. Lewis
"If brains was lard, that boy couldn't grease a very big skillet" J.D. Clampett
Despite the high cost of living, it still remains popular...
For something relatively simple like a "fiddle tune," I have better luck trying to remember the B part of a tune instead of the A part. If I can call up the B, I can usually start the A.
I've noticed others doing this too... trying to get the B part, so they can lead into the A and then start the tune.
Learn a song in thirty minutes? In my dreams! It takes me a year or so of playing a song before the odds of remembering it are in my favor. And I don't read music or tab. So my technique is simple: play it hundreds of times, a.k.a. over and over and over and over.
I'm blessed with a tolerant wife.
Yup, I never use a stand or iPad. On the rare occasion that a tricky new song has been thrown at me two days before a gig, I'll write chords with Sharpie on an index card and put the card on the floor or monitor. But that's rare, and that's the limit.
A thousand times sounds about right to me.
The thing is, I know that singing, playing, memorizing, and stage presence aren't my talents. I'm a pretty good song writer, and that's about it it. So everything I do compensates for my weaknesses to push out my strength.
Mike
Those who think they should think, like they think others think they should think, need to think out their thinking, I think.
No envejecemos, maduramos. -Pablo Picasso
"Not only is my short-term memory horrible, but so is my short-term memory."
Ahhhh.....one of the many gifts given to us for not having died young.
Medical marijuana will not help your situation!
Well, I'm pretty certain what this thread is all about - it's just that all my googling comes up with comprehensive ranking systems, common reporting standard, Catholic relief fund.... and I'm not too proud to ask: What is CRS actually?
Anyway, I'm just starting the mandolin journey at 54, and although it's not my first instrument, it is my first melody instrument, as I've always been a picker and a strummer. So, my motivation in taking up this wee creature is, not least, to stimulate my brain to such an extent through the learning of new tunes (primarily by ear), that I actually start getting younger! Failing this, I hope to defy CRS (whatever tht is) by doing many of those things that have been recommended, and hopefully get a lot of pleasure in the process. Either way, I seem to be approaching the issue from the other side - hoping that the mental challenge will help me to remember. Of course it may be too late, but I forgot to take up Mandolin when I was young...
Enjoying it so far, anyway!
"What's that funny guitar thing..?"
Just worked it out! It's in the title, of course!
"What's that funny guitar thing..?"
As a songwriter, I'm with Dave (post #22). If I don't record a newly written song, the melody WILL get forgotten!
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