There’s a 3 step process you can use for memorizing music. And it’s the same process whether you’re memorizing 1 song, or a whole book of songs.
Learning how to memorize songs on sax will really help you as a sax player, especially if you’re thinking of joining a band, or going along to a jam session. But how do you get started?
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Mission Impossible
So picture the scene – you’ve just joined a new band and they give you this huge book of songs to learn. AND, you need to memorize all the songs because there’s no music on stage!
So how are you going to do that?
For most of us that would seem…impossible.
And without a system for how to memorize songs on sax, it probably would be impossible – right?
But….today I’m going to share a system that will help you.
My memorizing system
And I know this system works, because this is what happened to me when I joined a band. We didn’t use music on stage and I had a HUGE pad of music to learn. And I ended up doing that gig for years.
So how did I memorize all those songs on sax?
This is a topic that we talk about a lot in Sax School with our thousands of students. And basically I’ve broken down my memorizing process to just three steps. I’m going to show them to you today.
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Before you start
Now of course, before you start memorizing songs, you need to learn the songs. There are tons of resources here on my blog that will help you with basic playing skills. And of course, if you’re ready to dig further with that we can help you over at Sax School PRO.
So once you’ve learned the music – and you can play all the way through at the right speed and you’re comfortable with everything, it’s time for step 1.
Step #1 Memorize Gradually
The first step is to begin memorizing gradually.
This is important, because, just like learning to read a new piece, we need to focus on accuracy.
Remember, your brain works by building up a picture of the thing you’re learning. So the more times you play something correctly, the more quickly you’ll retain it. And the more accurately you will perform it.
Here’s another way to think about this.
Red balls and green balls
Imagine your brain has a big bag and a bunch of red and green balls. Every time you play your piece correctly during your practice, your brain pops a green ball into your giant bag.
And, every time you make a mistake with that piece, play it incorrectly or mess up, your brain puts a red ball into that bag.
So let’s say you’re conscientious with your sax practice. After a whole week of working on your song for the gig on Saturday, you’ve got 60 green balls in that bag, and only 4 red ones. Nice!
So Saturday comes and it’s time for the gig. You’re on stage, it’s time to play “the piece” your brain reaches into your mental bag and…
Is it more likely to grab a green ball or red one? 60 to 4, I’d say your chances are on the green ball.
Success, happy audience, you get paid, girlfriend still talks to you, whatever happy outcome you can imagine!
On the other hand, if you’ve been a bit distracted and by the end of the week you have 60 red balls and only 4 green balls in your brain bag, guess which is most likely to come out on the gig?
And unfortunately that’s the strategy most people adopt when it comes to performing of any kind. They are not focussing on accuracy and consistency. They are only focussing on quantity.
Ok so back to our Step 1.
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One bar at a time
The best way to work up to memorizing songs on sax is by starting in little chunks – maybe a phrase or just one bar.
- Look at the first bar.
- Play it with the music.
- Turn the music over
- Play that first bar.
Once you’ve got that first bar right, go for two bars. Work through gradually like this and before you know it you’ll have the whole piece down.
Now you might be thinking this sounds impossible to you. Maybe you usually struggle to learn just a couple of bars. But I really encourage you to be be systematic about how to memorize songs on sax.
- Go slowly
- Set yourself a small, achievable goal -e.g. just one phrase this week
- Be consistent
If you stick with it, you’ll be surprised how quickly you can memorize the whole song.
Pro Tip: Learn the Key
To make this process of how to memorize songs on sax even easier, I always learn the key and how the first few notes fit with the key. Doing this will really help you with step 2 and it’s very important for Step 3!
So here’s an example. For the tune “Hey There”, we’re in the key of F. We start on an F and in the first phrase we just run down the major scale. So now I know the key, the starting note and the shape of the first phrase. And this will help me get started and remember the rest of this song when I come to play it in a gig.
Step#2 Put it on repeat
This step is easy because you can do it throughout your whole day. And you can do it while you’re working on step 1- it will help to make your memorizing rock solid.
Make a “mix tape” of the songs you want to memorize and play them constantly throughout your day. You could do this with a playlist on Spotify or Apple Music, whatever platform you use. Or you could compile a bunch of tracks in your favourite DAW like Logic Pro or Audacity, or Garageband .
The point is though, get that playlist in your ears as you’re driving, mowing the lawn, walking the dog, at the gym, or whatever.
Pro Tip: Feel it in your fingers
And while you’re listening, you need to visualise the notes on your sax. Feel your fingers pressing the right keys as you listen to the sax lines. You need to feel the sax in your hands as you listen and imagine you are playing those notes.
This “visualisation” will really help to cement the melody in your mind AND relate the melody to the way it feels under your fingers – super important.
Becoming a Better Performer
Before we go onto Step 3, I want you to know I didn’t find this super easy at the start either. When I started playing in pub bands or function bands – even doing jazz gigs, I din’t know where to start learning all of this music. I had no idea that it was even possible to memorise a load of music, and so I would play from the sheet music on stage. And that meant I was always so focussed on the music in front of me, that I often forgot to have fun on stage. And that means you don’t connect with the audience in the same way.
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But when you know how to memorize songs on sax, it makes you feel so much more confident on stage, and connected with your audience. You become a better performer. And that’s a lot more fun.
Step # 3 Make a Cheat Sheet
So the final step is to make a simple “cheat sheet” which is just a list of song titles and keys.
Remember back in Step 1 when I talked about knowing the keys of the pieces you’re learning and how the first few notes worked in that key? This is why.
Having the title and the key written down will help you to remember the first few notes of the song. And once you get started, the rest will flow.
Pro Tip: Check you Cheat Sheet Daily
Now spend some time each day looking at that list. Keep it in your pocket, or put it on your phone!
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- Imagine the key for each song and how that sounds.
- How does that first line fit with the key?
- Can you sing it?
- Can you feel it under your fingers?
- Mentally practice the songs even if you don’t have your sax.
As you work down the list each day, play each song. If you get stuck, go back to Step 1. But eventually, you’ll be able to get all of them – that’s when you ditch the cheat sheet and go solo!
PRO TIP: Even after learning all of the songs, I would still suggest returning to your cheat sheet regularly. You might have it folded up in your sax case or on your phone so you can review it when you have a spare minute.
Remember, memory is a long game that you need to work at constantly. So once you have your pieces learned, you need to keep your memory “fitness” up.
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