All in my head. They just work on a constant rotation spending either brief periods in the font lobe or staying there for years on end. 

And what annoys you most about that?? Ha!

Nothing annoying really. I sometimes think it would be good to remember the names of some of the tunes. I often wonder how many tunes I know, it wouldn’t surprise me if it ran into the thousands. I can pick them up fairly quickly especially if they are played 3 times in a session. But I’m not that handy on the fiddle yet.

I think remembering tunes is a bit like remembering jokes. When you hear a joke it can trigger the memory of another joke. But if you hear too many new jokes in a row you won’t remember any of them. Someone told me that they write down the opening line of jokes to help them remember. Maybe the same would work for tunes perhaps.

My list is in four column MSWORD document (one page double sided) with the following categories (note, as I also play banjo there are four categories in A. 
Font size 9.

D
DDAD
C
F
G
GDAD
AEAE - aEADE
AEAE - aEAC#E
GDAE - aEADE
GEAD - aEAC#E
 

You guys have way more tunes memorized than I do. I maintain a list in my phone’s notes app. I list the tunes in the order I’ve learned them - the name and whether standard or cross. I just counted 70 tunes. However, though I did have them all memorized at one time, I don’t now. I may have a third of them.

For me, the biggest challenge is remembering the first few notes. I think something akin to what martyjoe was saying.

quote:

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Originally posted by carlb

GEAD - aEAC#E

Error corrected
GDAE - aEAC#E

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I’m kinda in the same camp. I ended up with Notes + scattered recordings + random YouTube links + trying to remember who I learned something from then I had bunch of shared google spreadsheets for different jams and people lol..

Eventually I got annoyed enough that I started building a little TuneList tool for myself and my friends to keep tune names, keys/tunings, recordings and references together.

Interesting reading everybody’s systems though because they’re all solving slightly different problems. The “remembering the first few notes” thing especially resonates because that’s exactly my issue and was a major driver for wanting a tool to jog my memory in a jam. It’s. Crazy how just like literally 4 seconds of a tune reminds you of it completely.

quote: I know a few folks who only keep tunes they know in their head.. is this a source of pride for you or just the way you've always done it? I'd be damn proud - my goal before dying is to be competent enough to sit in any jam and just play all the tunes after hearing them a few times through. 

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Originally posted by martyjoe

I think remembering tunes is a bit like remembering jokes. When you hear a joke it can trigger the memory of another joke. But if you hear too many new jokes in a row you won’t remember any of them. Someone told me that they write down the opening line of jokes to help them remember. Maybe the same would work for tunes perhaps.

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New stuff I want to learn (songs) I print them out double space. Sometimes, the chord letters are already there. Sometimes, I pencil them in.
So I have hundreds of these.
But daily is recorded on video using a tablet. The sound quality of the video is better than the audio recorder on the tablet. Maybe 20 videos per session, make one directory. Sessions every other day. Offload them every 3 months. I play fiddle in band situations, so no more fiddle tunes than like maybe Bob Wills approach where he may be leading a tune, but it's more about the band. 

3 ring binder. I keep a pile of sheet music separate that I don't carry when I'm playing out. All I want is a quick reminder on paper at the jam if I need it. I used to keep a binder with just the first few measures of the A and B part. It worked pretty well, but I do most transcribing myself by hand. Rather than do the extra work it's easier to just carry the whole tune in the binder or leave it home where I'll decide it's fate another day. Ultimately, there's always recycling. I'm not digitally ept, so it's paper and pen for me.

Yes, a written reminder is also effective. In this instance, I will usually just write the note names with a shorthand rhythm detail just above. Definitely, need the rhythm as well.

I mention this here from time to time. Many years ago I turned my tune organizing efforts into a web site. One of the primary ways I learn tunes is by making transcriptions which I post free online. It's organized in a few different ways to help find what you want, and includes links to source recordings. 

FiddleTunes.net

quote:

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Originally posted by Brian Wood

I mention this here from time to time. Many years ago I turned my tune organizing efforts into a web site. One of the primary ways I learn tunes is by making transcriptions which I post free online. It's organized in a few different ways to help find what you want, and includes links to source recordings. 

FiddleTunes.net

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This is a serious answer to the problem and a nice site.

I randomly opened a tune, Birchfield's Sally Ann. I like when transcribers add the harmony, as you've done on this tune. 

quote:

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Originally posted by Brian Wood

I mention this here from time to time. Many years ago I turned my tune organizing efforts into a web site. One of the primary ways I learn tunes is by making transcriptions which I post free online. It's organized in a few different ways to help find what you want, and includes links to source recordings. 

FiddleTunes.net

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This is a serious answer to the problem and a nice site.

I randomly opened a tune, Birchfield's Sally Ann. I like when transcribers add the harmony, as you've done on this tune. 

Edit - I see it posted double!

It’s a balance between showing the essential charisterics in a version of a tune, and not overwhelming the transcription with distracting detail.

Assuming the transcription is accurate, and no reason to think it isn’t; the detail aids in the study of that aspect of the performer’s style.

For a while now, I’ve been learning everything by ear. My versions are not always perfectly accurate, but I’m enjoying myself.

quote:

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Originally posted by Tunelist

quote: I know a few folks who only keep tunes they know in their head.. is this a source of pride for you or just the way you've always done it? I'd be damn proud - my goal before dying is to be competent enough to sit in any jam and just play all the tunes after hearing them a few times through. 

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Originally posted by martyjoe

I think remembering tunes is a bit like remembering jokes. When you hear a joke it can trigger the memory of another joke. But if you hear too many new jokes in a row you won’t remember any of them. Someone told me that they write down the opening line of jokes to help them remember. Maybe the same would work for tunes perhaps.

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Just the way I started off playing back in 1969 (accordion). I took lessons in 1974 (sax & bagpipes) and learnt how to read but the ear was fully developed by then so I’ve always been uncomfortable with notation. I'm still illiterate on the accordion (and fiddle) to this day even though I made a career out of it. If I need to read a tune I do it with flute then I can play it on the fiddle. 

Simple Paper List with categories for different tunings and keys. They include D tuning, cross A/G, standard tuning for songs in G, C, A, & D, a waltz category, pseudo-Irish, polkas, and fiddle songs with vocals. If I don't have a tune in hand well enough to lead it at a jam/session it doesn't go on the list. Think the total is somewhere around 240 or so.

Funny reading these because everybody’s converging on similar systems with different tools.

Mine eventually turned into building myself an app because I got tired of notes + recordings + spreadsheets living in different places and then creating jam lists in the app with my friends became obvious.

Mostly I use it as a tune notebook for my fiddle journey, a place to remember names, tunings, recordings, references, who I learned it from, that sort of thing.

If anybody’s curious it’s tunelist.app/ with a beta code 5miles.

Like pmiller510, my tunelists are on sheets of paper in instrument cases, notebooks, and other scraps. Usually organized by key (I only rarely crosstune) and often made for a specific purpose or event. The rest are still in my head (hopefully). I don't really need more because I don't attend scheduled jam sessions like a lot of people do today. I've been in lots of jams, but they were informal sessions with friends old or new. Tunes and songs are started by somebody who knows them, and everybody else joins in as best they can. No leaders, and especially no dictators.
I guess my musical life has always been somewhat disorganized, although interesting, at least to me. Johnbow mentioned Joe Birchfield's version of "Sally Ann." I recorded that in my living room, about 45 years ago now. I recently came across it on YouTube, digitized by someone from the original LP, and just added it to the video library here. I never was tempted to transcribe it, and in fact have never even tried to play it. I just enjoyed him playing it. There are a couple tunes on my music page here of Joe playing with me playing banjo, recorded around his kitchen table. "Lost John" and "Boil Them Cabbage Down" would not be on my tunelist - I was just trying to follow him. Years ago the Hilltoppers and I were all at some kind of outdoor event in several fields separated by narrow paths. Joe and I approached each other on one from opposite directions and he threw up his arm and said "There's my old friend!" which meant a lot to me. Still does.
Memories like that are what I treasure - doesn' really matter how many tunes I know.
Sorry if I've drifted a bit.

Growing up, my father and I had a physical folder for fiddle tunes that went in one of the sheet music cabinets. It had all the tunes we played at barn dances, and when I learned new tunes, pages would be added. Since all the pages were loose, they could be reorganized any way to suit an occasion (by key, nationality, era, etc.). I often wish I still had that folder because I know there are some tunes I’ve forgotten. Because it was a normal size folder and wasn’t too thick, it could go into the music pocket of any case, so it was always available for reference at a gig and required no Bluetooth or WiFi connection (which was great when we played barndances way up in the mountains). The biggest problem was wind if we were playing from the sheet music, although we had the tunes memorized enough that we often didn’t need to get the folder out.

In more recent years I’ve printed out arrangements of tunes that I liked and put them together by key, but I don’t take music with me to play at jams or sessions because it’s frowned upon so heavily. If I have a gig, I like to plan out the repertoire and bring the music in my case so I can refer to it if I ever draw a blank before starting a tune.

A good friend and band mate has put together set lists that he collated for gigs. Each set is color coded and has a mood that can be chosen for an occasion. An iPad on a central stand is accessible for everyone as reference, especially for the songs, where the accompaniment instruments watch for the chord changes and the singers follow the lyrics. The iPad is much more weather-friendly. The only limitation is that the screen is big enough for just one page—you can’t look ahead while playing a tune.

I’ve thought about making a spreadsheet and trying to make it searchable for cross-referencing, but in the end, I just find all the data entry and crunching extremely dull and I much prefer holding a sheet of paper.

For the Irish sessions, a good portion of my repertoire has been learned by ear. That makes things much harder for me because I can pick a tune up right away if I hear a few notes but often can’t start one, as without sheet music to see, names and tunes don’t attach to each other in my brain very well. I’ve got a few core tunes I can always play, but many of the tunes I know I can’t start without a prompt. My memory retention is much better with tunes I learned from a page instead of by ear.

You guys who can pick up a tune after a hearing do amaze me. I cannot do it. I do remember one instance where I got one quickly - an Edden Hammons tune (can’t remember the name), but the tune had no B part, so I guess only counts as half a tune.

My collection of sheet music is out on our regular Monday sessions. I memorize things over time but we're also playing newer tunes all the time so reading is useful. On the other hand I dislike using sheet music for performances and generally think a set list should be enough. I do have one more trick, and that is all my collected tunes are also on a list of opening lines only to spur my memory. Those can be printed out out as needed. Even the full list of a couple hundred tunes only takes a few sheets of paper that can be folded in my pocket or case.

Since I am a full time caretaker for my wife now I haven't done a gig in a long time anyway. These days the Monday jam in my shop is just about it.

Brian, you’ve inspired me to create a similar page of notated first lines. I assume you’re using standard notation. May I ask what sort of staff paper you are using? Most commercially available blank staff paper contains 12 or so lines, so even my paltry 70 tunes, and using both sides of the page, would still use three pages. Have you custom-made your own staff paper, or am I off on the wrong track here?