Memorizing

[KMatt]

I've recently tried to build my repertoire and memorize more songs - pretty much just standards and the occasional pop tune. However, it's taking more work than I planned to memorize songs and keep them memorized. I've studied a lot of classical music and have always been able to sight-read pretty well. While that's great for some things, I think it's actually hurt me in this area because it was always easier for me to read stuff than memorize it.

 

So for you people who are able to keep an entire catalog of songs in your head, do you have any tips that make it easier?

[oscarr111111]

Listen to them a lot, learn the theory behind them. Also I find that if I learn something by ear its much easier to remember (but obviously has its own drawbacks too..).

[harmonizer]

What I do is not exactly memorizing. I have a "cheat sheet", which is actually a printout of a 1-page spreadsheet, which has one row for every song our band is actively playing. The row For each song indicates:

 

1. which patches or performances of my sound module to use

2. what key the song is in

3. what instrument(s) I play (I also play the sax), and whether I

sing any vocals (usually backing vocals, for me)

4. Reminders about starting notes, difficult parts, or lyrics

(sometimes the first line of each verse).

 

Having this list takes alot of stress off my overtaxed brain, which usually has to worry about non-musical things during the day. Using this list makes it easier for me to appear to have my parts memorized, even if I'm not quite there.

[Chris Link]

It seems to me that memorizing is a skill that, like many others, some people find quite easy, but others struggle with. With practice, it certainly can be developed. My guess is that you actually know from memory a lot of your classical pieces better than you think. Sit down and play something you know really well. If you mess up, review the sheet music and plunge in again. If you "hear" the notes in your head or "see" them on the keyboard, your hands will follow- assuming that you know it cold with the sheet music in front of you. Sheet music, fake books, cheat sheets, etc. all have their place, but I'm guessing you know more than you think. When you feel comfortable without the sheet music, you'll be able to think more about how you want the music to sound.

 

Plus, most folks playing live want the interaction between the players that comes with "real time" interaction. If the guitar player has found a groove and is heading into another chorus of soloing, do you want to cut him off because the sheet music says it's time for another verse? Of course, not.

 

If you are a classical player, you should find most "standard" jazz or pop tunes simple enough to memorize the basic chord changes, anyway.

 

[Rod S]

I make my own 'fake' book as I go along. It's got chord symbols, and the lyrics, usually 1 page is enough. Usually with one glance I can remember, or I just follow along as I play. Works well because I can also distribute it to other people to make sure we're on the same page.

[Byrdman]

Put the music on a stand behind you so you have to turn round to see it. It helps you to concentrate on reading a few bars and then playing it so that your memorization improves.

 

Especially useful if you can play from memory until they remove the music!

[Dave Pierce]

I'm one of those people who always found memorization to be really easy. When I was in band in school, and got to high school marching band, they told us we had to start memorizing the material instead of using the printed music. I was really surprised that all of the other kids thought this would be hard. I had been doing that all along, and I had just assumed that everyone else did too. I figured the music was just on the stand in case you happened to forget something, but once we had played a song three or four times, I certainly never actually looked at it.

 

I quickly learned to keep these thoughts to myself, though. Didn't make me many friends with the other kids.

 

--Dave

 

[Clifton]

There are some tricks that the guy I'm studying with has taught me. And he's one of those freakish fellas who knows every tune in any key you like.

 

For learning the harmony:

1) Analyze the form. AABA? AABC? ABCD?

2) Look at the A sections. If its an AABA tune (which it's likely to be if it's a standard), what is the difference between A1, A2 and A3? The difference is usually only the last 2 or 4 bars of the section. The rest is the same. So just think of it in terms of what is different each time. If A1 and A3 are the same, you only have to remember there's a turnaround to modulate to the bridge in the last 2 bars of a A2 (for eg).

3) Having looked at the As, thats 75% of the tune learned already! Then it's just the bridge to learn, which is often quite different to the A sections. No trickery can help you there.

 

The idea is to learn the absolute minimum you have to, really.

 

Another very clever trick (ESPECIALLY when you need to transpose) is to learn the tune in terms of its tonal centres and cadences, rather than the chord names. So for a tune like Confirmation (to use the first tune that popped into my head), instead of learning a jumble of chord names like so:

 

(A1)

Fmaj7 | EØ A7b9 | D-7 G7 | C-7 F7 | Bb7 | Am7 D7 | G7 | G-7 C7 |

 

You're far better off to be thinking in terms of what the tonal centers are, and what cadences are used to move between them (GT is short for Go To, meaning a ii-V):

 

I | GT vi (incomplete) | GT V (incomplete) | G T | IV | G T | II | GT I

 

Ok obviously you wouldn't notate it on a chart this way, but in your mind you need to think that way. Not only is it less to remember, but also makes transposing not such a nightmare.

That said, this method does take a while to get your head around, but it really does make things easier.

 

Learning melodies, especially bop melodies, however, I find somewhat harder. Looking at it in terms of its patterns and internal logic makes things easier (what note stays & what note moves, how it relates to the underlying harmony, etc. ). Learning the lyrics too is also recommended by many, not only to appreciate the song, but to solidify your understanding of the rythm of the melody (and is handy when working with singers, of course).

 

[TaurusT]

It was once I started looking at the sheet that I usually got confused and played it all wrong.

[ProfD]

Clifton is right. If you can remember the form, progressions and main melody, that is half the battle won.

 

TaurusT, additionally, listen to the tunes over and over again in order to commit more of it to memory.

[Mr. Nightime]

Remember that the more songs you commit to memory, the easier it gets. You'll start recognizing patterns in one song that closely mirror others. Clifton put it quite well. You'll get where you can just listen to a song, and without thinking analyse the structure looking for the patterns. As you progress, you'll find that you can jot down the structure with chord progressions just by ear. Learn the number system, where instead of C-F-G you think I IV V, C-Am-Dm-G as I vi ii V, and so on. Then all you need is to find the key center, and the majority of the song is learned. Then you can concentrate on the subtleties like voicing, variations, and interaction.

 

I've always been able to learn the chord structure easily. In many cases I know it before I sit down to play it, even if I haven't heard the song in years. Lyrics, OTOH, can sometimes give me fits to learn.

 

[BluesKeys]

What I do is not exactly memorizing. I have a "cheat sheet", which is actually a printout of a 1-page spreadsheet, which has one row for every song our band is actively playing. The row For each song indicates:

 

1. which patches or performances of my sound module to use

2. what key the song is in

3. what instrument(s) I play (I also play the sax), and whether I

sing any vocals (usually backing vocals, for me)

4. Reminders about starting notes, difficult parts, or lyrics

(sometimes the first line of each verse).

 

Having this list takes alot of stress off my overtaxed brain, which usually has to worry about non-musical things during the day. Using this list makes it easier for me to appear to have my parts memorized, even if I'm not quite there.

 

I do exactly what you are doing harmonizer. I make little notes that are likely Greek to anyone else but it's enough to ease my mind when I don't recognize the songs by name.

 

I have 60 tunes to learn for a band I joined a little over a month ago. I would be lost if I didn't have the setlist with all my extra stuff on it. By last weekend (3rd gig) I have a pretty good grasp of the material. I still had a few missed Q's but I was the only one to notice them.

[Bill H.]

I do it different than you guys I guess. I pull the music and attempt to play it as soon as I the basic thing down, even if I'm going to make mistakes. Then I'll look it over and see where I screwed up and where I was OK, work on the rough edges, and pull the music again. My brain only starts to memorize if there's no music to read. Otherwise, I'm looking at cheats or whatever for months.

 

It works the fastest for me. I'm currently learning about 10 songs a week for a praise band, and I try to memorize as much as possible, because I have my hands full just playing keys and singing without worrying about turning music and constantly looking at it.

[TaurusT]

I totally rely on memory myself. Then if there is something I don't quite understand (usually only in jazzvoicings) I look up the sheetmusic. But then again, I barely study in new pieces these days, other than orchestral structures.

 

I remember though, when I was a kid I would pretend I was reading from the notes. What my teacher didn't know was that I actually listened the song on CD first and studied it by ear. Then when I'd come to practice it would seem as if I was directly reading from the sheet.

 

God, such a naughty boy I was!

 

I also did the papernote-thing with patchprograms, quick chords, and all that. But that is only needed at the point you play 50-60 songs you never heard of before per evening with your band. It's darn handy in those cases though. I remember in the beginning the drummer we had back then often started without "my signal" when I was still pressing buttons to get the right sounds. This was with a flexible repertoire-list.

[Mr. Nightime]

I was kinda the same way when I was taking lessons. My teacher was a bit different. The sheet music I got was basically a lead sheet; chords and melody. (she had a Gulbranson). When she would give me a new piece to learn, I'd have her play it once, and let my ears do the rest. I could refer to her playing it if I made a mistake, and it gave me the freedom to put my own slant on the song.

 

In retrospect it would have been nice to learn more traditional classical pieces, but it's helped me in my chord voicings, improvisation, and interaction skills.

[kanker.]

It seems to me that memorizing is a skill that, like many others, some people find quite easy, but others struggle with.

Yeah, I've been reading music since I was 4, but have never been a good sight reader. My way of coping with this was to memorize pieces very quickly because that comes infinitely easier to me.

[TaurusT]

I think memorizing is very crucial for being a good composer. Especially in film. If I start drawing out a music cue in my head and it is a long scene, then I really have to sketch out what instruments I'll use, what sort of melodies I'll -probably- compose, how the themedevelopment should/could be handled, even though I won't even write a single note down. I think being able to memorize well benefits your ability to imagine a composition grow out of a complete thought. Seeing a composition in the big picture, see its skeleton, and watch it take flesh as you craft it.

[Clifton]

Some interesting discussion happening here.

 

To add to my comment I posted earlier, learning the melody in solfeggio (doh ray me fa sol la ti do) is a must for the sake of transposing. I personally find thinking of everything in solfeggio really difficult, so using it in combination with thinking of the patterns works for me. Certain 'cue' notes I learn in solfeggio.