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#89857 - 06/24/01 05:23 PM Music Memorization Techniques !
Scottyee Offline
Senior Member

Registered: 12/01/99
Posts: 10427
Loc: San Francisco Bay Area, CA, US...
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
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#89858 - 06/24/01 07:39 PM Re: Music Memorization Techniques !
Fran Carango Offline
Senior Member

Registered: 05/26/99
Posts: 9673
Loc: Levittown, Pa, USA
Scott, one of the best ways I have found to memorize a song is to write the notation and/or chords by hand. Also write down the lyrics. This helps you retain the music in your brain[I think it goes into the right side]..Fran
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#89859 - 06/24/01 08:41 PM Re: Music Memorization Techniques !
Scottyee Offline
Senior Member

Registered: 12/01/99
Posts: 10427
Loc: San Francisco Bay Area, CA, US...
Fran Thanks for the great suggestion. Yes, for some reason actually writing down the lyrics and chords really does help a lot. Funny thing is that I remember back in school having to write " I will refrain from unecessary talking" like 100 times when I was in the the 4th grade. It didn't seem to work. hmmmmmmmm.

I also noticed that if I work on song memorization an hour BEFORE going to bed at night that our sub-conscious mind is able to further synthesize & solidify this new information WHILE we're asleep. I've waken up in the morning many times to find that the song or lyrics I had been struggling with the night before is now memorized. Amazing! - Scott
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#89860 - 06/26/01 10:53 PM Re: Music Memorization Techniques !
Scottyee Offline
Senior Member

Registered: 12/01/99
Posts: 10427
Loc: San Francisco Bay Area, CA, US...
Here are a couple more music memory ideas which seem to work for me. When memorizing lyrics, VISUALLY (clearly imagine in your head) what is going on in the lyrics. WHO are you as the singer-communicator and to WHOM (a specific person or group of people) are you singing (talking) to? Exactly WHAT are you trying to tell the listener? WHERE are you (the scene or setting)? Answering these questions will help you find your personal interpretation of a song and make lyric memorization much easier too.

When memorizing keyboard parts, use ALL of your senses. don't just listen (of course listenng is #1), but also WATCH and FEEL what your hands are doing when you are actually playing the chords & notes. Use ALL your senses in the memory process. I try to pay attention to the way my hands are proceeding from chord to chord (smooth voicing leading) and use this as a memory tool as well. I find it best to integrate many different memorization approaches. Still wanting to hear memorization techniques used by others of you. Or is memorization such a snap for the rest of you that you don't really care? "does anybody really know what time it is, does anybody really care?" - Chicago
- Scott
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#89861 - 06/27/01 12:56 AM Re: Music Memorization Techniques !
Uncle Dave Offline
Senior Member

Registered: 12/01/99
Posts: 12800
Loc: Penn Yan, NY
i....DON'T CARE......ABOUT TIME.
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No longer monitoring this forum. Please visit www.daveboydmusic.com for contact info

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#89862 - 06/26/01 09:21 PM Re: Music Memorization Techniques !
Vic01 Offline
Member

Registered: 12/12/00
Posts: 275
Loc: Madison, Wisconsin USA
The memory was the first thing to go and I can't remember what was second...

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