Tips for Memorizing Music

When I was a classical trombone player, I rarely memorized the music that I played. Much of it was orchestra or band music, but I even used music when I played solo recitals. Now that I'm a jazz musician, I memorize music all the time. I'm constantly working to memorize Godfrey and Guy's repertoire as well as my own. When I was a trombone player, I was in awe of those who performed from memory. Now, I realize that it's nothing to fear. You just have to work on it as you would any other skill. The good news is that, the more often you memorize, the easier it gets.

Here are some tips I've picked up along the way that may help you memorize your music.

1. Memorize frequently. Even if there is no immediate need, spend some time each day memorizing something. If you're a jazz musician like me, you can memorize the melody or chords of a standard. If you are a classical musician, try memorizing an etude or a section of a solo. The more often you memorize, the easier it gets.
2. Sing. If you are learning a tune from the Great American Songbook, sing the melody. If you are memorizing an instrumental, or if you are memorizing a classical piece, sing it anyway. It'll help cement the melody in your head, and you may find that you play more musically.
3. Learn the words. Even if you never plan to sing the song in public, learning the words is another great way to keep the new song in your head. You may also find that the music takes on new life and meaning when you learn the words, and it will help you to be a more sensitive accompanist.
4. Find patterns and and forms; analyze. The more deeply you understand the music, the easier it will be to remember. Finding patterns in the music will speed up the process of memorization. When I first began memorizing chords to songs, I memorized a chord at a time, which was tedious. Later, I realized that the chords for jazz standards often follow similar patterns. It's much easier to recognize a typical 1-6-2-5 pattern than it is to memorize C6, Am7, Dm7, G7. 
5. Practice away from your instrument. Are your chops tired? Fingers aching? Sing the music in the car. Run through the music in your head while you're going to sleep. Visualize. Imagine the feel of the instrument, the fingerings (or slide positions) you'll use, etc.
6. Memorize a little at a time. It can be daunting to memorize a big piece of music. But you don't chop a big tree down with one swing of the ax. You chop away, one swing at a time. Start with eight measures. If that's the most you can memorize in that practice session, that's fine. It's eight measures more than you had memorized before you started. Build on that.
7. But still play all the way through. Even while you are memorizing a little at a time, still practice the rest of the music. By the time you've memorized most of the music, you may find that the last section is nearly memorized from sheer repetition.
8. Put it away and come back to it. My main reason for memorizing is to be able to perform my repertoire without the printed music. When you perform, you need to get it right the first time. There can be only one "first" time you play a piece of music on a particular day, but I've found that the next best thing is to go away from that music and come back later. After I've memorized a song, I will often play that song and then put it away, even if there are some mistakes I want to fix. I'll practice a few other things and then go back to the song again, keeping in mind places my memory may have blanked the first time. I'll just play it once and then repeat the process: practice something else and then come back for another run through of my memory song.
9. Constant review. Once I've memorized a song, I don't take it for granted. All of my repertoire needs constant review. Fortunately, I play a few weekly gigs in which I have a chance to cycle through my repertoire, but to me, that isn't enough. Part of my daily practice involves playing through my repertoire. I have an alphabetical list that keeps growing longer as I continue to memorize. I'll play through 10-15 songs a day from my memory list, just to keep everything under my fingers and in my head.

If you make a practice of memorizing your music, I'm sure you have some ideas of your own. If you have any tips for memorization, feel free to add then in the comments section below.

Memorizing

A lot has happened since last I wrote. I'll see what I can do about getting caught up on this blog. The latest and greatest happening is that my duo, Godfrey and Guy, landed a regular gig at Noosh Persian Bistro. It's a wonderful gig! We play at this lovely place every Friday from 7-10 (more about Noosh in another article).

One of the nicest things about a steady gig is the luxury of playing through your repertoire on a regular basis. We have been rehearsing weekly for 2.5 years. Without a regular gig, we spent a lot of time reviewing songs we had already learned. Now, we can review our songs at the gig, and we can spend our weekly rehearsal time learning new songs or shoring up our weaker numbers.

For the past couple months, I've been spending a lot of time memorizing Godfrey and Guy songs.  We have more than 100 songs in the book, and we add a handful of new ones each month. That's a lot of music to memorize. My goal is to memorize them all. I estimate that we burn through at least 40 songs each Friday. Someday, I hope to play a gig at Noosh without cracking open our book.

There are two main reasons I am memorizing our music. First, it's easier to gain rapport with an audience if you don't have the music in front of you. Instead of staring at the music stand, you can make eye contact with the audience. Second, when I've memorized a song, I feel a deeper connection with it. If a song is memorized, I play it with more presence and command.

The weekly repetition helps me keep these songs in my head. We can't play through all of our music in one night, but there are few songs we play every week. I also find that challenging my memory is like exercising a muscle. The more time I spend memorizing, the easier it becomes.

Finally, there is so much music to memorize that it could easily become overwhelming. I've found that the best approach is to memorize 1-2 songs each week, cycle through the other songs I've already memorized, and then challenge myself to play those songs from memory on the gig. Like anything else worth doing, it's a gradual process.

Memory Work

I've been spending a lot of time memorizing music lately. It's assumed that I'll have my music memorized for my own guitar lessons, and I've been memorizing my own performance repertoire.

There are three main reasons I'm memorizing the music I perform most frequently:

1. To connect more deeply with my audience and with the other musicians.
2. To develop a deeper understanding of the music.
3. To set up less equipment! I'm all for minimizing my gear. It will be a great day when I don't have to set up a stand and a big book for a gig.

Most of my repertoire consists of jazz standards, which means that I have a lot of chords to memorize…a LOT of chords! Some songs come more easily because I've either played them for a long time or because they follow a common format.

Here's my standard routine for memorizing a song. This prepares me to sing, comp, or solo over the chord changes. I follow this routine even with songs I've played a long time. I've found that, while I've memorized some chord changes through sheer repetition over the course time, I can get lost when I have to improvise a solo without a lead sheet, because I've been relying on muscle memory rather than a better understanding of the chord structure.

1. Learn the melody and the words. Sing and play the melody over and over again. Sing it in the car or on a walk. Sing it to your dog. It should be stuck in your head so much that it drives you a little crazy. Even if you don't think you'll ever sing the lead in a performance, sing the melody when you practice. The melody is your guiding light when you're comping or soloing.
2. Then learn the chord structure. Although jazz songs typically have more complicated chords than blues, rock, or folk songs, there is always a form. Find sections that are the same or similar, so that you can understand the overall form of the song. If you've learned the melody, then you are already familiar with the structure of the song. Have I mentioned that you should learn the melody?
3. Outline the chords. So you think you've memorized the chords? Think again! Now try going through the song, outlining each chord. I'm not talking about arpeggiating the chords using whatever chord shape you want. For each chord, play the root, 3rd, 5th, and 7th in time. If the chord lasts 4 beats, then you can play R357 as quarter notes. If the chord is a half note, then you'll have to double that up and play R357 as 8th notes. Once you can play R357, reverse it. Start from the 7th and play downward 753R in time. Bonus points if you can sing the song while you do this. This will not only deepen your knowledge of the chords, but it is a HUGE help in learning to improvise over difficult chord changes.
4. Improvise over the chord changes. You can practice improvising to a track or to Band in a Box. If you really want a challenge, improvise unaccompanied, with a metronome clicking on beats 2 and 4 to keep you honest (or clicking only on beat 4 to really test your sense of time). If you can improvise without accompaniment and keep a tempo, it's going to be a breeze when you play with accompaniment.

If you think this sounds time consuming, you are correct! Yes, it takes a lot of time, but this is some serious quality time with the music. It'll take me a while to go through my repertoire like this, but it'll be worth the effort. I've found this approach to be very satisfying. I'm learning my music more thoroughly, and I'm able to close the songbook a little more often when performing.

I don't want to minimize the ability to read music. Any guitarist who plays in a big band or a pit orchestra will tell you how important it is to be able to sight-read. I will continue to keep up my reading skills, but I'll deepen my understanding of music through memorization.

Oh, and learn the melody.

Lesson #10

Another lesson with Dave Frackenpohl, another lesson summary. This helps me wrap my head around each new assignment, and I hope these summaries will also help others who are on the same path.

We started off playing my transcription of a Zoot Simms solo from It's Only a Paper Moon, recorded with Count Basie. It went pretty well. Dave suggested a different fingering for a lick I had been having problems with. After that, I played a Samba accompaniment etude from The Brazilian Guitar Book. Again, I played pretty well. He turned on the metronome and had me play. Overall, my time was pretty solid. I noticed a few spots where I was playing the bass note on beat 1 slightly early, but I managed to correct myself the next time the same rhythm appeared. After the etude, we read through Triste, which is part of my next assignment. Next, I played my transcription of Joe Pass' solo from I'm Beginning to See the Light, recorded with Ella Fitzgerald. I could have played this one better, but I did alright. Next, we began working on Autumn Leaves. We played it in the standard key of E minor, and then we played in it B minor, since I play it in that key with my duo partner, Lori. Then we played it in G minor, since that's the key most horn players will want to play it in.

My next assignment:

• It's Only a Paper Moon. I thought I was done with the Zoot Simms solo transcription, but no! The solo is in C. Now I'm supposed to transpose that solo to B-flat.
• Triste. In The Brazilian Guitar Book, there is a chord-melody arrangement of Triste in A for me to learn. I also will be memorizing the melody and chord changes in B-flat.
• I'm Beginning to See the Light. Just like Paper Moon, I thought I was finally done with the Joe Pass solo transcription, but no! The solo is in C. Now I'm supposed to transpose it to B-flat.
• Autumn Leaves. Depending on which group I'm with, I usually play this in E minor (the standard key) or B minor. Now I will be learning it in G minor, and I'll be finding another solo to transcribe. Dave wants me to find a solo in G minor, but I suspect I'll be learning that solo in another key at some point.

It seems like the word for the day was "transposition." I was pleased with the way I transposed today. That's something I've been working on, and my transposition skills are improving. Rather than thinking chord by chord, Dave has had me thinking of the function of each chord. When I am aware of the function of each upcoming chord, I'm able to transpose more easily. This sort of thinking has also been helpful with memorization. Lori and I are challenging ourselves to memorize a couple songs each week. When I focus on the function of each chord, it helps me view the song as a whole a little more easily.

Overall, these lessons with Dave have been very helpful. I have a long way to go, but I'm noticing progress in my playing. Jazz is a strange beast. As a classical player, I could measure my progress by the solos, etudes, and orchestral excerpts I was able to play. With a huge emphasis on improvisation, I find it more difficult to measure my progress as a jazz player. I just notice little things here and there that show improvement. A couple rehearsals ago, I found that I was able to improvise over some chord changes that gave me fits a year ago. It's becoming easier to memorize songs as I begin to be able to view the music as a whole. Transposing is getting easier. I can't point to any particular song as evidence. I'm just feeling more and more comfortable as a jazz musician, and I'm excited about the direction Dave is taking me.

Listening and Memorizing

When I was a classical trombone player, I was blessed with excellent teachers. I feel equally lucky to have hooked up with a terrific jazz guitar teacher. It's been interesting to experience high level teachers in two different genres and instruments. As you might imagine, jazz guitar lessons are quite different from classical trombone lessons.

The biggest difference between classical trombone and jazz guitar lessons seems to be the emphasis on listening and memorization as a jazz player. There was certainly emphasis on listening as a classical musician, particularly in ensemble playing. In my jazz guitar lessons, however, there is a heavy emphasis in playing by ear versus reading as a classical trombonist.

Reading is still important as a jazz guitarist. We usually spend some time sight-reading lead sheets or duets, but for the most part, we aren't even looking at music. It's assumed that I will memorize my assignments, and I always have an "ear assignment": transcribing an improvised solo, learning to play it, and stealing licks to apply to my own improvisations.

I take a lesson every other week. A little while ago, I realized that by the time I start my second week of practicing, I'm no longer using music. It's all memorized. Through memorization, I'm internalizing the music more than I ever did as a classical player – which makes me wish I had spent more time memorizing when I was a trombone player! It's also fun to be able to practice anywhere, anytime, because the music is all in my head.

The heavy emphasis on listening has been an overall benefit. When playing gigs, I'm more attuned to what is going on around me, and I find it easier to interact with the other players.

Since memorizing the music for my lessons is so beneficial, the next logical step is to memorize the music in my own book, especially the Tea for Two and Godfrey and Guy repertoire. That's a lot of music, but with practice, I'm finding that it's becoming easier to memorize new songs. I would love to someday show up to a gig with one of my groups and not have to pull out a single sheet of music!