There’s something about a musician who knows the keys of the song by heart that takes away audiences. People prefer to listen to musicians who have memorized a piece rather than those who read from a score. It makes these musicians look more passionate about their music. In a way, this also allows audiences to absorb the music themselves.
Music students neglect to understand that memorization is not a skill they are born with. Rather, it takes years of practice and guitar lessons in South Jordan or other cities to effectively recall music notes. Ask yourself: can you say that you know a song if you cannot play it by heart or by ear? A song can’t come alive until you learn the notes to it like the movement of your hand.
Understand and Not Memorize
Although people use the term “memorize,” the better way of terming what you need to do is to “understand” the music. You cannot force yourself to memorize a piece. It won’t come naturally. It’s easy to remember the notes if you understand the piece. Familiarize yourself with the music by listening to it and playing it every chance you get. Do this by listening to the recordings of the piece first. Don’t try to learn it immediately.
Start Small
Building your memory bank is a process. It takes time. Don’t dive into learning a piece such as “Fight Fire with Fire” by the band Metallica. That’s one of the most difficult pieces you can try to learn. Instead, learn a few simple guitar chords that will let you familiarize yourself with the guitar or whatever musical instrument you want to learn.
Identify the Elements
Before you can memorize a piece of music, you must first learn to read the chords and identify the elements. You cannot play a song if you don’t know how to read the chords. That’s why you have to constantly review your knowledge about music reading. Pay close attention to things such as rhythm, phrasing, and dynamics. At the same time, you have to learn the instrument from top to bottom and inside and out.
Break It Up
You don’t have to learn everything at once. The better technique would be to break a song into parts. First, learn the introduction of the song. Then, move on to the next stanza until you reach the chorus part. Continue playing this part of the song without looking at the sheet. Only when you are 100% sure that you’ve memorized this first part should you move on to the lines after the chorus.
Visualize the Music Sheet
Some people have this great ability to take a mental snapshot of the music sheet and remembering it while they’re playing. Don’t be alarmed if you aren’t like this. If you play the music frequently enough, soon you will find yourself being able to visualize the music sheet in your head.
Finally, you need to be kind to yourself. Memorizing a music piece is no small feat. It takes time and hard work. As long as you keep practicing, there should be no reason you wouldn’t eventually remember the chords.
