How do you learn a song and actually remember it?
This is one of the most common questions I get from students. They can learn a song—but a week later, it’s gone. Or they can play it at home, but the moment they’re in a band situation, it falls apart.
Over 25 years of playing—in bands, dep gigs, and teaching—I’ve developed a six-step system that I use every single time. It works whether you learn by ear, from tab, or a mix of both.
Here it is.
Step 1: Listen Without Playing
If I don’t know the song, I listen to it many times without a guitar. I don’t even try to play along—I just listen.
I listen over and over until it gets in my head. This can be anywhere between 10 and 50 times.
Why this matters: You can’t play a song you don’t know. Most people skip this step—they hear a song once or twice, pick up the guitar, and try to learn it straight away. Then they wonder why they can’t remember it.
The song needs to be in your head before it can be in your hands.
Step 2: Write Out The Structure
Still without a guitar, I make notes on the structure.
How many bars is the verse? How many bars is the chorus? Is there a bridge? An intro? An outro? A solo section?
I write the whole thing out on a piece of paper.
Why this matters: This really helps with songs that have complicated structures—the ones that are difficult to memorise because they don’t follow the standard verse-chorus-verse pattern. And there’s something about writing it by hand that makes it stick. You’re not just hearing the song—you’re mapping it.
Step 3: Sketch The Song
Now I pick up the guitar and start to play along, picking out anything I can.
But here’s the key—I just sketch the song out first. The chord progression and the basics. If there’s anything complicated—a fast riff, a solo, even a little fill—I leave it and come back to it later.
I make sure I can play the song from start to finish with just basic chords. Even if that’s just simple power chords. Once I’ve got that, then I look at learning all the extra details.
Bonus tip: If you can learn these parts by ear, do it. In my experience, it helps you memorise things quicker. Even though it takes longer to learn, the memorisation will be faster. But if you can’t work things out by ear, or you’re short on time, learning from tab or sheet music is absolutely fine.
Step 4: Look, Cover, Say
This is the most important step on this list.
I call it the “look, cover, say” method. If you went to school in the UK, you might recognise that from learning spellings.
Here’s how it works:
- I learn the song as best as I can.
- I try to play along to the original—not worrying about being perfect, or even being good.
- I make a note of any mistakes.
- I practise those bits and try to iron them out.
- I go back and play along again.
- I repeat until I get it to the best I can.
Why this matters: This feedback loop has been really effective for me ever since I’ve been playing guitar. It’s the difference between knowing a song and owning it.
Step 5: Backing Tracks, Then Live
Once I feel I’m up to a good standard playing along to the original recording, I then go and play it with a backing track.
There’s something about not having the original guitar part underneath you—not having it prompting you—which can be very weird and off-putting at first.
Next up, I play it with my band.
I do both of these steps without any notes or charts. The only exception is if I’m on a dep gig and I’ve got a lot of songs to learn at short notice—then I’ll use charts. But for my main band, no notes.
If I can play it with my main band, or to a backing track successfully, then I’ve memorised it.
And here’s something important: I’m not scared to make mistakes live. That’s part of the learning and memorisation process. You have to be willing to get it wrong in order to get it right.
I then need to keep playing it like this to have it truly committed to memory. And even then—some songs you will forget. That’s normal. That’s not failure.
Step 6: Use Theory As An Accelerator
This one’s optional—but it’s a real accelerator.
I’ve found that learning theory is very helpful with the memorisation process. You don’t need it to be able to use the method I’ve outlined. But even having some basics down makes a huge difference.
Knowing what key you’re in. Knowing what scale you’re using. Knowing what numbers the chords are in the progression—for example, “it’s a one, five, six, four in the key of A minor.”
Why this matters: That kind of knowledge speeds up the memorisation process significantly. Because instead of memorising a bunch of random chords, you’re memorising a pattern. And patterns are much easier to remember than lists.
The Recap
- Listen without playing—10 to 50 times
- Write out the structure—verses, choruses, bridges, bar counts
- Sketch the song—chords first, details later
- Look, cover, say—play along, note mistakes, repeat
- Backing tracks, then live—no notes if you can help it
- Use theory as an accelerator—optional, but it helps
It’s not glamorous. It’s not a shortcut. But it works.
Watch the full video here:
What’s the hardest song you’ve ever had to memorise? Let me know in the comments—I’d love to hear what made it tricky!