It's hard to explain..but For me its more then just memorizing exactly what the charts read, ...I cant explain it but although I can read charts especially when playing with a band,....but as a solo I never need them. If this makes any sense, for me I can just hear the music in my head and my fingers just know what chords to play in the song in turn that let's me sync my vocals & lyrics all together effortlessly to perform a song,....hope I'm making this understandable?

Sounds like a gift to me Donny. My daughter can read music really well, but memorizes everything quickly. When she plays with me she doesn't even need charts. If she's heard the melody, she can play it.

Do you ever need to read lyrics?

For me it's actually easier to memorize chords and melodies than lyrics. I find the old standard so much easier to remember than so of a lot of rock stuff, especially Eagles songs, like "Your Lyyin' Eyes" that have so many verses. I would have to be performing a song like that a few nights a week to keep it in my memory bank.

Paul Id say 90% of my songs I know the lyrics simply by having played them for so many years,.....but occasionally if needed on songs I don't do frequently or maybe a odd request I simply bring up a lyric txt file on the laptop and glance at it a few times while performing no big deal,. the more you play without charts and lyrics the more you wont need them for a crutch..and you'll have a much better stage presence to the audiences too....good luck..

Count me in. I identify with what Frank wrote.

I too have always been somewhat fortunate with memorizing the lyrics, however, I do bring them up on the netbook PC for each and every song I perform - just to be on the safe side. You would be amazed at the number of times I have performed Margarettaville, but on rare occasions, maybe this has something to do with aging, I have a brain fart and for the life of me cannot remember the first line. BOOM! When the lyrics are right in front of you, the problem is quickly solved.

With my setup, and the custom console which includes the 9-inch netbook PC, I can instantly recall the lyrics to any song in my song list. At one time, this list included more than 3000 songs, which was insane. In recent years, I managed to whittle it down to just under 700, which made life a lot easier. This is especially helpful for songs that you rarely perform and may need a little help recalling the words.

Now, that same song list is also in my keyboard's music finder directory, along with the information that tells me the key I sing and play that song in. For example, When I select Johnny B Goode, within the title in parentheses I see (A), which tells me that I must transpose down 3 half steps in order to put style into my most comfortable singing range for that particular song. This is also helpful when I'm performing with a band, which I did regularly many years ago. I would just announce "Johnny B Goode in A" and everyone was ready to go when I began playing the intro.

Since the advent of the Yamaha PSR-S-950, the lyrics can be linked directly to registrations, thereby displaying them on the screen the instant the song is selected. This is a great feature for OMB entertainers and really helps eliminate dead time between songs. However, you must have pretty good vision to see those tiny words on the screen, which is something most of us do not have. Therefore, I'll stick with the 9-inch netbook PC display, which I use a white background and bold black letters.

All the best,

Gary

Let me throw my 2 cents into this. I recently converted from a smaller model iPad for lead sheets to the Pro12 tablet. JerryGr sold me on what a cool device the Pro12 tablet is with his post here TonyMads got interested in it too. I worked with Tony to get him up to speed on its use helped him configure his PA900 to talk to the tablet.

With that said to date I've got just over 100 of the most popular tunes I play at senior venues talking to my Pa4x choose anyone of those 100 from Songbook on the Korg and the lead sheet will immediately be displayed. At the moment for a gig I'm playing tomorrow I created a 52 custom list in Songbook, when I choose that Songbook entry the lead sheet is immediately pulled up on the tablet, it will work in reverse too i.e. if I pull a lead sheet on the tablet the corresponding style and instruments will immediately be set on the PA4x. I've also set both the tablet and Pa4x to pull up a midi file and the lead sheet that matches.

The search function on the tablet is instantaneous as well, so even if I get a request for a tune I don't have in Songbook I can at least immediately get to the lead sheet.

Sounds pretty neat, Steve. Maybe we can get together when I get to the sunny Florida Keys in November so I can see it first hand.

All the best,

Gary

Sounds like a plan not sure just when we'll be there this coming winter.

With luck, and no more health problems than I now have, I hope to spend the entire winter down there, Steve. No reason to shovel snow.

Gary

Gary you and Carrol deserve a nice warm winter down south enjoy..