Joe Water's posting thread entiteld "Music or Memory"
http://www.synthzone.com/ubbs/Forum37/HTML/001511.html has inspired me
to start this thread for getting feedback on song memorization tricks & tips used by other people on this board. There are two ways to approach memorization. One is memorization by listening to a recording (by ear) and the other is memorizing from music (sheet music, fakebook or leadsheet).
Here are some techniques I use:
Before I begin, I FIRST become familiar with the melody of the song, listening to it on CD or playing the leadsheet melody and then memorizing the melody in my head.
I then MEMORIZE the lyrics separately AWAY from the music. I try to memorize the lyrics as a SPOKEN line from a play, NOT sung. Afterall, singing is really about TELLING a story. This step is important as it helps you really UNDERSTAND the lyrics which will in turn guide you in the vocal 'phrasing' later on when singing it.
Next I try to 'pickout' the chords either off the record or via a leadsheet and then MEMORIZE the chord progression. Most popular pop/country/rock & blues tunes pretty much follow standard chord progression formulas so once you've memorized a few, you will start hearing repeatedly used chord progressions unique to specific genres of music (II-V-I or IV-V-I etc). Jazz tunes (with endless use of chord substitions)on the other hand can be a different matter
Once you have the chord progression memorized(with appropriate chord voicings with smooth voice leading) in your head and fingers, you can start playing (by ear) the melody (adding fills and counter melody parts) while you play along the memorized chords. Having the chord progression memorized will provide a firm foundation for further developing your song into a well developed song arrangement.
Of course my approach is ONLY one method of song memorization. There are certainly MANY others so I would LOVE to hear about techniques used by others.
- Scott