The funny thing is that when you get used to always singing and playing and it becomes the norm, it may start feeling awkward or strange not to do that.

I have a terrible memory; I hardly ever remember the names of people I deal with on daily basis even - I've been working in the same place on and off for over ten years, the last three with tenure, and I don't remember the names of half my colleagues I meet every day, let alone my students.

Perhaps for that reason, I often find I don't remember how to play a given song, unless I sing it too. I have said this before, but in the late 90's I was in this band that played gigs up to 2-3 times a week at best, and for over a year we never practiced, or I never played at home, only played gigs...and once I did bring home the guitar and tried to 'rehearse' our songs...and I had no clue how do I play them. I had to stand up and look away from the guitar and imagine how the drummer counts in and get ready for the vocal, and my hands remembered the song quite OK, but if I looked at the neck I got lost how to play it. It took me all day to be able to passably play the songs with guitar only, but then I think I still today remember the songs & how they are played.

Usually, I have maybe 20 songs I remember right now, almost all for my live band, but as I - if I play the guitar, which may happen once a week or so - usually always come up with one or two new songs - they tend to fade away from memory as new ideas push to the surface. It's both a blessing and a curse - in one way it is nice, because it means that, like the last session I had with one band of mine, we only play once a year and that too while drunk - I made 5 songs for the band the night before the practice, and now they are just awaiting to be finalized and recorded. Well one of the songs was too much hit material - basically an 'axis of awesome' song I realized, although played with a capo and not instantly recognized as one - but anyway way too hit-oriented for my taste. Songs can't sound too commercial, or if they do, I always insert some horrible sounding part or something to make it less hit-like, because if I dislike some brand of music, it's the Top-40 stuff that reeks of planned commercialism.