Memorization Station
I don't know what it is, but there is something about having to memorize music that makes many young singers groan.
Part of me can understand this. Some music is notoriously difficult to memorize. Sometimes you're under a very tight time constraint. Maybe you've just got too much music on your plate at once, or "life stuff" gets in the way of your practicing. Perhaps you've experienced more than one of these factors at a time, in which case I feel sorry for you. Because I've been there, and I know how un-fun it can be.
However, if we're honest with ourselves, we know these kinds of situations are relatively rare. Usually, we have adequate-to-ample time to learn our music, especially if we prioritize and practice efficiently. So the other part of me doesn't get this chronic memorization aversion that's especially common among young singers.
I believe that a good deal of memorization should happen more or less organically as you practice. There should be at least SOME amount of natural memorization that occurs when you sing or play something over and over again. So if you're practicing frequently and intentionally enough, you're probably already well on your way. In fact, if you were to test yourself and sing through your current piece without looking at your score, you may be pleasantly surprised at how much of it is already memorized. (And if not, then at least you know what you have to work on, right?)
However, sometimes our brains need a little bit of extra help locking something in, particularly if the music is lengthy, complex, or tricky in some other way. And so we find ourselves in need of some strategies.
Now, there is no magic bullet when it comes to memorization. There is no perfect strategy. Everyone learns differently, and every piece of music will present new challenges. Most songs will require more than one strategy, and you may find that certain pieces will require you to alter your approach.
First off, it's usually not a good idea to memorize a whole piece at once. You'll probably overwhelm yourself and it's likely that you won't retain very much. Break the piece up into small sections, in whatever way makes sense to you. Work one section at a time, then try stringing a couple of them together. If you don't succeed at that particular string, work at it until you do.
The next time you revisit the piece, start by reviewing what you did in your last practice session and see if anything has stuck. If it did, great. If not, try to figure out why and work on it some more. Don't move on to any new material until you've got it.
If you're having trouble memorizing a particular section, the first important step is to figure out what the nature of the problem is. Is the issue text-related, music-related, or both? If it's both, it's likely that you haven't learned it securely yet, so go back to your score and do some more intentional on-book practicing.
If It's a Text Issue:
1. Write out the words. Without looking at your score. Did you have to stop and think a lot, or did you recall the text easily?
2. Look for patterns and rhymes. Once your brain is made aware of a pattern, it will memorize something a LOT more easily.
3. Recite the words out loud, from memory. (Of course, you should already have been doing this during the first phase of the music-learning process.) You can treat the text as a monologue, or speak it in rhythm.
If It's a Musical Issue:
This can be a bit more complicated, as it will be necessary to pinpoint exactly what the issue is. Is it melody? Entrances? Cut-offs? Each of these aspects might require a different strategy to memorize. Here are a few you might try:
1. Listen to a recording several times. Listen with your score in front of you, and then try to sing along to the recording without the score. Two big caveats, however: 1) Make sure you've chosen a good, accurate recording, and 2) don't fall into the trap of imitating it. This strategy should be employed only after you've learned all the notes securely and begun to make your own dramatic choices about the character.
2. "Visualize" your music without a recording. Sing your song mentally, including the piano introduction, the rests, and the playout. You can *literally* visualize the piece, looking at the score, or do it mentally. If you're the type of person who sees the score in your mind's eye all the time when you're singing or thinking about the piece, then this strategy would probably work well for you.
3. If you have some music theory skills, look for things like structure, harmonies, and key areas. This may be especially helpful if the text is very repetitive.
4. If you've got some keyboard skills, play your melody from memory. Or, if the issue is counting through the rests, play what the piano plays there (playing even a bare-bones, simplified version will work).
5. Learn how the piano part goes during your rests. Like, learn the notes and sing it while you're practicing. Not only will this help with your entrances, but it may also help you to see how the voice and piano part fit together and complement one another.
6. Make a visual "map" of the piece. If you have a block of text and then a two-measure rest you keep forgetting about, write out that block of text, followed by "2" or "2 measures" or something like that. You can also do the same for cutoffs - if you're not sure how long to hold a note, put the number of beats next to the word, like this: "you4" Or come up with your own system. Whatever works. Sing the piece while looking at your map, then try without it.
7. Do something physical while you're singing, like clap, walk to the beat, or gesture. Sometimes physicality helps our brains to remember something better. Be sure to attach the same physical movement to the same spot in the music each time you practice. (These movements may or may not be the ones you'd use in a performance of the piece.)
There are likely many more strategies you can employ, but these things are a good starting point. Remember, it's all about discovering what approach(es) will work best for YOU and the particular piece that you're singing. Do you have any tried-and-true tactics that you've used in the past? If so, let us know in the comments!
