LouieChee - Posted - 05/29/2025:  10:44:05

I'm sitting here getting ready for a gig and I have a list of songs I've never played or heard before. My process is to find a version on streaming or YouTube in the right key (or same chord shape) so I can learn the melody and chord changes and make a break.

I'm genuinely curious for those of you who have played a long time: what was your process of learning set lists like before the internet? How did you approach learning a list of songs you didn't know? I'm 33 so basically all of my information-seeking life has been aided by the internet.

Thanks!

Bill Rogers - Posted - 05/29/2025:  11:18:37

Records mostly.

Texasbanjo - Posted - 05/29/2025:  11:22:52

Our group listened to songs, together or individually, and if (when) we found one we liked, figured out the key and at least an easy break and then played it for the whole group. Then we voted on whether to include it. From there, we each made our own breaks and then put the whole thing together and made any necessary changes.



A lot of times we heard songs on cassettes that we'd purchased at a festival. Sometimes we heard songs at jams, at festivals or from groups performing on stage.



All of us played by ear, so it wasn't difficult to figure out any song we heard fairly quickly. A song either clicked with the group or didn't.

Edited by - Texasbanjo on 05/29/2025 11:24:04

Culloden - Posted - 05/29/2025:  12:13:29

I learned a lot from records and tapes (both 8 track and cassette). One advantage I had growing up in western Virginia was that I could go to Roanoke once a month to the Fiddle and Banjo Club. I spent way more time backstage jamming with other people and learning than I spent out front listening to the bands on stage.

Laurence Diehl - Posted - 05/29/2025:  12:27:02

I used to do a fair amount of sub work. The band would send me a cassette and I’d listen to it on the way to the gig. What I listened for was beginnings and endings. If you’ve got that down, you can wing it through the middle section.

GS - Posted - 05/29/2025:  12:40:10

I won't say how old I am, but cave paintings were how I learned. 

carlb - Posted - 05/29/2025:  13:28:07

Like others, records and tapes, but sometimes from those 50 years older, and also from some my same own age.

Dean T - Posted - 05/29/2025:  13:47:39

My mentor, guitar player, singer/songwriter and leader of my small local band, knows a million songs. We worked together as mechanics, and jammed every day at lunch. I learned/jammed to hundreds of songs over the years. He called out chords if needed, until we got the songs down. I’m 100% a product of these daily jams. We are retired now, and still jamming, and playing some low key gigs now and then.

2004

 

TheLastWord - Posted - 05/29/2025:  14:48:08

Records and books.

Alvin Conder - Posted - 05/29/2025:  16:39:01

When I first started in the 70’s…started out watching my best friend go through Cripple Creek and FMB, then books, then I quickly found out that my local library had a full compliment of Folkways and Smithsonian records…burned through those….played some probably hundreds of times. Track by track to pull licks and lyrics…over and over….my Parents probably thought I was nuts. That Library…Great Library!!! And then to top it off, I was fortunate enough to be near Washington Square Park in NYC as a teen and ran into a lot of really talented musicians. I guess I learned by asking a lot of people a lot of questions and asking a mess of strangers, “Please show me what you just did there” …so to those people, who many must be gone now- “Thank You”.

RDP - Posted - 05/29/2025:  19:00:47

Watching others play and listening to cassette / 8 track tapes.

rvrose - Posted - 05/29/2025:  21:16:37

We learn set lists of songs by jamming together long before we would play it in public.

Rick

HSmith - Posted - 05/29/2025:  23:58:57

I learned to play in the UK back in the early 1970s almost exclusively by listening to vinyl albums and playing them at half speed. I can't imagine how many albums I've ruined by playing them that way, and lifting and lowering the stylus mid-track! I'd been playing for several years before I could afford to buy an 'Akai' reel-to-reel tape recorder with multiple play speeds. My future album purchases were then safe from abuse and misuse, but the learning process remained unchanged. Listen, listen, listen. Then listen some more. Listen to the chosen piece in small sections at half speed and try to reproduce the note sequences on the banjo. Try multiple alternative fingerings to find what's best. Repeat endlessly (or so it seemed to my wife).
Certainly, it's so much easier today with software like Tabledit to help. However, I believe that learning by ear as I did is an invaluable skill which may never be developed by most of the current generation of players. Much has been gained, but equally much is lost.

Jerry Hatrick - Posted - 05/30/2025:  01:54:53

Yes, it was a laborious process before the the Internet and YouTube, trying to match records to sheet music and instruction manuals. It sorted out the sheep from the goats, because those without patience, or some sort of manic obsession, soon took up another interest. We have a lot now for those that want to acquire the knowledge as quickly and easily as possible, but I think what has been lost is that slowly acquired understanding about music, how it is structured, ordered timing wise and actually written down, which you don’t really get by strumming along to dodgy Internet chord song pages.

One advantage of ‘slow learning’ is that you retain the information better, and can still play those songs and tunes, say fifty years later, without having to rely on using a tablet on stage to remind you of the lyrics and chord changes. Whilst I wish we had all of today’s resources back when I started out, I’m also glad in some ways that we didn’t.

Bob Buckingham - Posted - 05/30/2025:  05:08:16

I found two books on banjo, but mostly listened to records and sought out players who could give advice. I found a fellow ten years older than me who patiently urged me on while giving me great advice. H learned form his grandfather.
But mostly it was will power with a strong drive to learn to play. Today I teach young people every chance I get.

jduke - Posted - 05/30/2025:  05:29:03

Books with the square floppy plastic records!

tonygo - Posted - 05/30/2025:  06:56:43

I was a slave to a Marantz Tape Recorder. I could slow down tunes and it had a feature that allowed you to go back to the exact same spot on the tape. Over and over. I just listened on walks, at work, in the van, on my pillow at night.

steve davis - Posted - 05/30/2025:  07:33:27

I learned at first by hearing chords changes.
BNL and the Oak books helped a lot,too.I learned to read tablature and took one lesson from Bela when he worked at the Music Emporium.

Learning to play on the fly means you don't have to work on preparing every tune that happens,but certain fiddletunes and stuff like Little Rock Getaway needed a good deal of preparation before leaving the house.

KCJones - Posted - 05/30/2025:  07:35:50

You guys are amazing. No wonder old people are so good at everything, you had to really want it to get it back then. Sometimes I wonder if making things easier to learn makes them easier to quit.

You can pay like 20 bucks for a personalized video lesson from Tony Trishka or Noam Pikelny, including feedback on playing and answering specific questions. Kinda crazy to think about.

Pick-A-Lick - Posted - 05/30/2025:  10:17:29

quote:

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Originally posted by Jerry Hatrick

Yes, it was a laborious process before the the Internet and YouTube, trying to match records to sheet music and instruction manuals. It sorted out the sheep from the goats, because those without patience, or some sort of manic obsession, soon took up another interest. We have a lot now for those that want to acquire the knowledge as quickly and easily as possible, but I think what has been lost is that slowly acquired understanding about music, how it is structured, ordered timing wise and actually written down, which you don’t really get by strumming along to dodgy Internet chord song pages.



One advantage of ‘slow learning’ is that you retain the information better, and can still play those songs and tunes, say fifty years later, without having to rely on using a tablet on stage to remind you of the lyrics and chord changes. Whilst I wish we had all of today’s resources back when I started out, I’m also glad in some ways that we didn’t.

---

Well said. Learning guitar, trumpet, and other, from the late 1960's on was same rinse and repeat chore for me and for most of the aspiring musicians of the time.

When I took up bluegrass banjo in the late 2010's the process of learning an instrument was so much easier and streamlined, especially considering I had previous musical knowledge and experience playing with others in group settings. Today's plethora of online resources make learning fun and interesting while support is available from many resources like BHO, forums, blogs, YouTube, and others.

stanleytone - Posted - 05/30/2025:  13:37:52

Tab helped me a lot.
Then slowing stuff down and tabbing things out myself

cevant - Posted - 05/30/2025:  20:31:30

Nothing like showing up to a concert early so that you can plant yourself right in front your hero and watch exactly what they are doing. Then go home and fix all the mistakes you were making when you first learned it off their records. Easier to do when tickets were 10 bucks.

One of the ways to do that these days is to go banjo camp, where a lot of the pros are very accessible.

Edited by - cevant on 05/30/2025 20:34:28

pmiller510 - Posted - 05/31/2025:  04:42:55

Like most above. Any way I could: other musicians, records (when and if I could find them), tapes I made at festivals and off other folks record collections, some tab, festival gatherings, concerts in driving distance (which were few and far between), playing with others whenever possible, and a lot of listening.

steve davis - Posted - 05/31/2025:  08:09:17

I think there may be more isolation in today's learning process.On-line lessons are amazing,but there are deep lessons in simply playing with others,randomly.
The "in the moment" lessons of random "hiccups" from yourself or others,playing behind what's going on around you and receiving a nod to take a break are best learned in real time with no warning.

That bit of pressure tests our resolve and choices.
Welcome the unexpected.

steve davis - Posted - 06/01/2025:  15:37:10

Dad played guitar,banjo,pedal steel and simple piano.
Mom played and taught piano.
Brother played "All-State" clarinet for 3 years in high school.
Sister took to pedal steel real easy when she lived at home.
Dad's mother played many instruments and sang very well.
All my cousins and many aunts and uncles played music.

We lived at the end of a long peninsula (with a lighthouse) and made our own fun.

mmuussiiccaall - Posted - 06/02/2025:  12:24:08

quote:

---

Originally posted by LouieChee

I'm sitting here getting ready for a gig and I have a list of songs I've never played or heard before. My process is to find a version on streaming or YouTube in the right key (or same chord shape) so I can learn the melody and chord changes and make a break.

 

---

I myself also used all the above methods, but when it came time to finally teach it to others, I bought a library of theory books and distilled them down so I could explain  the why & where behind the licks to my students.

Spudwheat - Posted - 06/03/2025:  05:20:52

quote:

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Originally posted by GS

I won't say how old I am, but cave paintings were how I learned. 

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Was the banjo even invented? 

Spudwheat - Posted - 06/03/2025:  05:24:32

quote:

---

Originally posted by Dean T

My mentor, guitar player, singer/songwriter and leader of my small local band, knows a million songs. We worked together as mechanics, and jammed every day at lunch. I learned/jammed to hundreds of songs over the years. He called out chords if needed, until we got the songs down. I’m 100% a product of these daily jams. We are retired now, and still jamming, and playing some low key gigs now and then.

---

Nice picture. Which of the 3 guitars is the one with the knowledge? You guys look pretty young, so he must've started memorizing tunes as an infant. 

Edited by - Spudwheat on 06/03/2025 05:26:29

Dean T - Posted - 06/03/2025:  05:45:43

quote:

---

Originally posted by Spudwheat

quote:

---

Originally posted by Dean T

My mentor, guitar player, singer/songwriter and leader of my small local band, knows a million songs. We worked together as mechanics, and jammed every day at lunch. I learned/jammed to hundreds of songs over the years. He called out chords if needed, until we got the songs down. I’m 100% a product of these daily jams. We are retired now, and still jamming, and playing some low key gigs now and then.

---

Nice picture. Which of the 3 guitars is the one with the knowledge? You guys look pretty young, so he must've started memorizing tunes as an infant. 

---

Thanks! The guy on the far right, with the old Guild guitar. He's 72 now, so he was 49 in that picture. He played in a country band for years. He kept that guitar in his locker at work, and we played every chance we got. 

GS - Posted - 06/03/2025:  08:03:54

quote:

---

Originally posted by Spudwheat

quote:

---

Originally posted by GS

I won't say how old I am, but cave paintings were how I learned. 

---

Was the banjo even invented? 

---

Oh, we had LOADS of good stuff back then. I don't think we called it a banjo, though. To give you an idea, it's probably in an episode of The Flintstones. Fine picker was Barney. 

steve davis - Posted - 06/05/2025:  08:05:04

A good practice is to attend jams and learn to play along with tunes you've never heard before.
Yes,you can play a meaningful break to a previously unknown tune'

Patrick Dengate - Posted - 06/12/2025:  06:11:37

quote:

---

Originally posted by GS

I won't say how old I am, but cave paintings were how I learned. 

---

When Picasso first views the cave paintings of Lascaux, he reportedly said "We have learned nothing (since)." So—maybe that's really all any of us needed?

wrench13 - Posted - 06/12/2025:  07:03:19

One painful note at a time. 50 yrs ago, when I first started on fiddle, no lessons, tapes, records or anything was available for teaching, and I dont read music. Killed a few crap tape players, and wore out a few records to the point where you could see daylight through the grooves. Figured out a lot of music theory on my own, finding to my surprise that its common knowledge now with the internet. Made some of my own rules too! But these days, unless I'm asked to play a specific break or theme for a tune, when I do pickup work, I only need the key. After all, you can hear chord changes coming a mile away for most BG, oldtime and folk music. Guess thats the difference between learning something from watching a video and figuring stuff out on your own.