Memorizing Music

Having trouble memorizing your pieces? There are several ways to go about this effectively. Here is just one method that I've found useful:


Write out the words.
Write out the text, a sentence or phrase at a time, repeating the words out loud,
and memorizing the translation (if in a foreign language) at the same time.

Do this over and over until you can do most of the song without getting stuck.

Then, for the places where you do forget, take the last few words of the previous line and "link" it to the first few of the next line.

Example:
Line ends with "And I will pledge with mine."
Next line is "Or leave a kiss within the cup..."
You would then write (several times) "pledge with mine or leave a kiss".

The act of using several senses: sound, sight, and touch, plus thinking of the meaning, will really help cement the words for you.

When you get to the point where you can "rattle off" the words, without punctuation and without stopping to think, then you truly know your words!