Three suggestions: 1. Always remember what key you are in and then play and hold a long very dramatic ROOT note while you LISTEN and try to hear the melody in your head. It will come back. Playing flashy sixteenth notes or flutter notes of the ROOT for several bars can also work; the melody will come back to you. Just make sure it looks like you are doing this ON PURPOSE!! 2. sing a silly atonal scat line as you smile toward another friendly player and invite/implore them to enagage (like trade 4s with you or harmonize duet). Be a like a mime with them for a moment as you listen. 3. Start playing echo phrases back to whatever the band is playing even of you don't recognize it (turn it into a fun call and response moment) But whatever you do, NEVER give the audience the scared oops "deer in the headlights" look!!! It is fun practicing these Plan B backup drills with bandmates when there is no audience.

"Swing" and "bowing" should not be mixed; they are quite different issues. If it were just "bowing" alone I would have voted bowing.

@Michael Cormican Interesting; Here's what I meant: I have a very strong sense of swing; was raised by a hard swinging piano player so its in my blood, and I can syncopate with the best of them much like Stuff Smith's style. BUT I never developed the use of slur patterns or "shuffle bowing" like Venuti did. I tend to use down up down up and I slur mostly triplets or grps of 4 notes but rarely 2. Interestingly, I'm learning these bowing patterns now from bluegrass players who use Venuti's patterns but do NOT swing, (again because "swing feel" is a separate issue from bowing patterns)

What if you memorized the melody years before you had any knowledge or understanding of what the chord changes are… do you really “know” it??? Best example is Christmas Carols

@Michael Cormican Ha! With a flourish!!! Now you've inspired me to try this...

@Matt Holborn Tx; this taught me that I cd figure out the notes by ear....but bowing each one felt different.