Memorizing music

[chantezlebas]

Hi janek,

Im playing in lots of bands (various styles of music) and im having a hard time memorizing all the music.
i really have do do this because most of the band leaders dont allow me to use written music on gigs...i also prefer not to read during the gigs because i can focus more on whats going around me on stage.
Can you tell me how do you memorize music ?


Thank you,
Sergio

[janekbass]

for me it's just a matter of spending time with the music. I'm not sure how much time you're dedicating to learning the music, but I think there's always room to spend more.....

I have a tour coming up next month to India with Simon Phillips and the music is very challenging. I'm working on having all the music memorized by the time we get to rehearsals so that I can enjoy the gig and interact more with the band. I think of everything as a melody whether it's a bassline, a chord sequence, or an actually melody itself. Know the melody to a song will mean you are never lost because you can always refer back to it at any point in the form and locate where you are.

Jamming the music along with the record also helps me a lot. If you go on tour or play many many shows with a band you're going to have no problem remembering the music. I recreate this by playing entire sets of music along with the record over and over again to simulate having played many shows. I'll make sure I have time each day to go through this process of playing the music with the album over the period of a couple of weeks, and slowly eliminate the sheet music from in front of me until I have the show down.

There have been situations where I've had less than a day to learn over 15 songs, and once where I was on a plane doing that and didn't have my bass with me. I think I managed that due to the fact that they were actually "songs". And when you can hear the I IV and V chords, and understand song form, you can pretty much piece any song together no matter where you are.

I do have a bit of a photographic memory when it comes to music. I can look at a chart just a couple of times and remember the information on the page for a very long time.

I hope some of that helps.

Easy,

Janek

[Ale]

Great post. I think it's all about creating a relation to the music. The first time you read the sheet, hear the recording, you have to create a relation. If you think "well this is just a paper with som chords, so what" you will never memorize it. It's important to pick up the parts that you find interesting, that moves you, so you can relate the song to something.
Having a good ear and know some diatonic funtions and harmonic language will help you a lot. If you know one song, you know hundreds.
Bring a paper to rehearsals, write down the key, notate the rythm, stuff that you can study will learning the song, that will make you memorize it.
For me, the most important thing, dont forget to listen and analyze, and keep your mind open.

[flypejose]

I think Janek said it all. It has a lot to do with repetition. In that sense, memorizing music is not different from memorizing other stuff like, a speech, a lecture, places, faces, etc. I may add that memorizing music involves emotions. That is, you are more likely to remember the general impression a chord progression, rhythm, a piece of music create on you. I can tell you it helps a lot.

I can venture to say that some of us are able to memorize a chord progression by just looking at a chord chart because they are used to the impression that specific chord movements make on them. These are accomplished musicians. To illustrate, take for example the piece “3 views of a secret”; I think if you are into transcribing, you are more likely to remember the impression it makes on you, thereby remember the progression. So, try paying attention to the emotions the music you are trying to memorize creates in you. Good topic, though.