Although a mandatory requisite for being a musician, the ability to internalize music and perform it to an audience can be stressful and problematic. Yet, surprisingly, it’s a topic that’s rarely discussed. Speaking to a roster of A-listers drawn from the worlds of rock, blues, jazz, prog, fusion, and more, it’s apparent that certain rules apply across the board, while others are specific to the artist or situation.
So, if you’ve struggled with memorizing melodies, song forms, arrangements, or parts, let the guys who do so under the pressure of big stages and highly discerning audiences help you get your own memory skills up to scratch. We put three questions to each of our guitarists, and here’s what they said..
. How do you approach memorizing music for a particular performance? Steve Morse: “Learn it by playing it repetitively (muscle memory), by hearing the music in your mind (musical memory), and by analysis (logical memory). Muscle memory is helped by starting slow and perfect, without stopping, in order to identify which sections need work.
Listening to the music obviously helps memorization, and analysis should identify which keys are used, and then diagram the arrangement.” Andy Timmons: “It depends on the level of complexity of the material. If a score is provided, I choose to not reference the chart first but learn by ear as much as possible.
Of course the score is there for help with any difficult passages. I realized years ago that if I read first,.