SemiLiveMusic:I use the user programable Music Finder database built into my Yamaha Tyros to manage my core song repetoire collection (600 Songs), which makes it easy to search for (by genre, era, artist, tempo, style) and pull up any song in just a short few seconds.

It's nearly impossible to know & have memorized every song request out there, so I usually try to take take along at least one thick fakebook with me. The toughest trick (for me) isn't recalling the melody, but figuring out the correct harmony (chords) that go with it. The lucky advantage though is that (for most requested songs) the chord progression follows a commonly played chord progression pattern.

One way to learn to pick up (by ear) the chords to songs is to learn to recognize & play these commonly heard chord progressions (I-VI-II-V; IV-V; etc) and then hear how they fit into specific melodies. Checkout this excellent resource book which lists all the popular chord progressions as well as the many songs which use them:

Money Chords, by Richard Scott: http://www.angelfire.com/fl4/moneychords/MC.html

Here's a terrific online chord tutorial to get you started: http://www.angelfire.com/fl4/moneychords/lesson.html


As mentioned in an earlier thread, this highlights the importance of developing good ear training skills (note internval recognition, chord and chord progrogression recognition) which is the key to playing by ear.

Further developing these above skills will increase your ability to satisfy audience song requests by ear & on the fly.


Scott