Today’s question comes courtesy of Phil Gerace posting in the Ukulele Players (Uke Players) group on Facebook. This is an issue that haunts more than just ukulele players, but musicians in general. Some seem to have an easy time with memorization and others just struggle, and struggle some more.

I used to try to rely on mindless repetition to get things memorized. Back in the day when I was playing a song instrumentally, OR singing it while being accompanied by a pianist or orchestra, this worked OK (never great, but OK). However, when I started trying to memorize songs that I had to sing and play at the same time, this method of memorization broke down for me and just did not work at all.

My problem stems from the fact that the brain is remarkably efficient. Why should it expend energy creating pathways in the brain to ‘memorize’ a song when you always have that sheet music handy in front of you? At least in my case, it won’t do it, because it doesn’t need to. As long as that sheet music is handy, it says, ‘Don’t ask me. Look at the sheet music.”

This is THE main reason I have become disillusioned with my ‘classical’ training over the past few years, which was heavily focused on the reading and interpretation of sheet music. I don’t blame my teachers or the musical establishment, but I do wish I could have found some help in thinking differently about this years and years ago.

I’ve made a lot of progress on this in the last year through reading up on the subject (I wish I could cite all the people I’m indebted to for their thoughts on this, but I don’t think I could trace them all down) and trying to apply a little bit of reason to my meditations on the subject. As a result, I made up a first draft of a Memorization Bingo which included a lot of different ways to break down a song and really look at it from the inside out. Now this is where all my classical training did help me out tremendously, as many of the things I put on my bingo sheet involved music theory and solfa/solfeggio (sight reading) training.

In the first version I had a number of tasks that involved drawing out the lyrics in picture form. However, I did not find that helpful (for me), so I cut the bingo card down from a 5 x 5 grid to a 4 x 4 grid to make a version 2.0. This cut me down 9 full squares, but I figured if I was not memorized by the time I finished the 16 squares I could do the bingo all over again, or make additional marks on squares I felt I needed more help on.

Memorization Bingo 2.0

You can edit this and generate your own card at https://bingobaker.com/view/3226564. I think some of the squares might need a little explanation, so below is a list of all sixteen items and a brief overview of each. The ones with numbers before them are meant to be done in a sequence. The rest of the items don’t necessarily need to be in a certain order, but some orders make more sense than others.

• 1 – Analyze, Mark & Color Code the Sheet Music : I usually start with sheet music and make sure to feel comfortable playing the song before I start memorizing. During this step I can mark anything on the sheet music I want to remember, separate it into logical sections and phrases (giving them rehearsal numbers/letters or section letters according to the form of the song), analyze the chord progression and add splashes of color for emphasis. This lays the groundwork for all the other things I’m going to do.
• 2 – Write Section Letter on Side A of the Flashcards : Now I’ve done the tough work of making a note of everything I think is important in the song and breaking down its structure I can start on my flashcards by putting a rehearsal letter/number or form letter on one side of my cards.
• 3 – Add Chord #s, Lyrics & Solfa to Side B of the Flashcards : Now I flip the cards over and add 3 lines of information. I start with the lyrics. Above the lyrics I put the chord numbers (NOT the chord names, but the numbers I’ve gotten from analyzing the chord progression – this will be important to me later as I try to transpose the song to other keys). Then under the lyrics I write out the solfa letters as a reminder of the what the melody is like; for a melody that went Do Do Sol Sol La La Sol (Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star) I would just write out D D S S L L S.
• Write the Melody from Memory on Staff Paper or in Solfa
• Add Chords to written Staff Notation or Solfa from Memory : I’d save this one for after the one above, but you don’t have to.
• Cycle 5 Times Through All the Chords
• Play Each Section 3 Times in a Row Perfectly
• Practice with Song Flashcards Forward
• Practice with Song Flashcards Reversed
• Practice with Flashcards Randomized
• Sing Chord Numbers in Place of Words : Helps to cement the chord progression and prepare you to transpose the song.
• Solfa Sing the Melody from Memory : Sing it with your Do Re Mi.
• Sing Chord Names in Place of Words
• Practice at 5 Different Tempos with a Metronome : Practicing at different tempos is a great test to see if you’re ready to play the song with others, as tempos often shift in group performances from what you’re used to.
• Practice Transposing the song to 3 Different Keys : This is where practicing with the chord numbers will really come in handy. I think transposing a song to a different key, even if you never plan to do this in performance, is just a good brain exercise to get that song in there firmly.
• Practice Performing: RECORD & Don’t Stop : I do this one last as a test to see if I needed to do anything more.

Honestly, on the last song I tried this out on, I was memorized long before I got through the entire list. I still think it is an excellent way to make sure that song is so firmly cemented in your brain that you’d have a hard time messing it up, even in the most high-pressure performance situations.

Anyway, I hope that’s helpful. Feel free to modify and adapt as you will. Uke on!

Post filed under All UkulelePlay! Blog Posts.