Mental Practice and Memory

[ttl2019]

To all,
Would someone share with me the technique of memorize music when practicing ?
Thanks

[Koala]

Hey, welcome to IBM. There isnt one nor the secret. I believe one thing that might help you out is to break up the music into short segments and just learn them one by one.

hope this helps,

[lydiandreams]

Koala hit the nail on the head with breaking up various parts. Also a lot of repetition will help with placing the new information into your long-term memory. Keep at it dude. You'll be fine.

[Danster]

For me its repetition, repetition, repitition. It amazes me how many times I have to play something before I can really "get it under my fingers." For example, the latest "Guitar One" has a very simple arrangement of "The First Noel." I betcha I've spent 5 or 6 hours on that piece already, and I haven't played it perfect yet from beginning to end. :mad: I don't know how in the hell that Hendrix played Sgt Peppers Lonely Hearts Club Band live two days after the album came out. That freakin' amazes me. I'm hoping the time it takes me to learn a song will decrease as my general ability on guitar improves.

[Anubis]

Another thing I have discovered over the years is that I find it much easier to hear the music in my head today . When I was younger I could learn solos and rhythms but I couldn't really hear them in my head.
I had to listen to the original recording to know how it should really sound even though I could play the stuff note for note.
Today I find it a lot easier to memorize long musical sequences in my head and because of that it is much easier to play them to.
I don't know any shortcuts to do this though. I guess it will come naturally the more you play.

[gh0sty]

Don't worry, your memory will improve. Since I've started playing guitar (about 3 years ago), my memory has improved DRASTICALLY, and I'm not just speaking musically... It seems that I'm also able to remember really tiny details about everything now! Just keep learning, and it'll come.

gh0st

[Koala]

LOL my music memory improves while i just keep forgettin about everything not music related :D

[gregburt]

I find that it's easier to memorize melodies, changes, etc when I understand what's happening in the music.

Say with "All the things you are" - it starts off with a vi-ii-V-I-IV-VII in Ab - the VII becomes a V in C that then goes to the I.

Then it does the whole thing again in Eb - finishing up on the ii-V-I of G.

This is a lot easier to remember than

Fm7 - Bbm7 - Eb7 - AbMaj7 - DbMaj7 - G7+ - CMaj7 - CMaj7
Cm7 - Fm7 - Bb7 - EbMaj7 - Abmaj7 - Am7 - D7 - GMaj7 - GMaj7

It also makes it easier to transpose on the fly when the singer says - "thats a bit high can you drop it down a tone".

;)

[LarryJ]

It depends, there are some little tricks i have. Thinking about parts/theory etc seems to help alot, when I'm away from the guitar. It also gives me something to think about while i'm sitting in class :D

The other little thing I learned to do, is to play parts 'subconsciously'. In other words, I've been learning the modes , and little parts of solo's etc while watching tv, and not paying attention to the guitar. This takes a bit of practice first, so you know where your fingers go, but it works for solo's as well. Take a simple lick, maybe 6 to 8 notes, and play it while not paying attention. This way it will be ingranined in your memory, without you thinking about it , and it will be alot less boring if you have your mind on something else other than playing a little part of a solo that doesn't make much sense until you get the whole thing down.

If your talking about remembering the stuff you write...well, a tape recorder is the only answer. Cheap ones can be picked up and work quite well, or you can notate it as you write. This helps, and it doesn't, unless you are able to notate the exact rhythmic notation, and understand it...which I can't do. It does however really put the riff or progression or whatever into my head, because I'm forced to break it down and play it a bunch of times while concentrating on it, in order to write it down. In this way, I remember things almost exactly as I played them, and never have to look at the notation again, its like how you can write notes in class, and just the physical act of writing them down can help you memorize it, you might not need to read them ever again.

As far as the actual memory goes, I think all guitarists struggle with it. I have been playing for 4 years, and mine is still pretty bad, but the stuff thats worth remembering I remember. It takes repitition, and a good ear. The more I try to write songs, and develop progressions (instead of copying other peoples) the better my memory is becoming, and my ear for music as well, whereas in the past I would make up a riff and forget it 5-10 minutes later, so I do think it improves with time/practice.

Hope these help you out a little, just keep working at it and you'll see results.

-Larry

[FredrikD]

I've just figured out that if you really know what you are doing it's easier to remember it. So, write down your songs in power tab or something and you will never have to look at the tab again.

I think a lot of the insecurity that comes with playing songs is that you remember the feeling of the song and you used this when you played the song before. It happned that I played the same song for days and then just forgot it cause the feeling I had when I came up with the song disappeared. What I mean is that when you play a song and you don't really know if that 16th note is dotted or not, you just play. Then atleast, my memory uses note-length that doesn't really exist and I get confused. I've always remember which notes to strike. It's always how to play it that I forget. But I always remember the things I wrote down, so I don't have to look at it.