Learn to Memorize Music 10x Faster!
If you’ve ever felt like your gains don’t stick no matter how much you repeat something in practice, I have some tips, backed by science, that can change that!
In this post I’m going to show you one of the most effective strategies you can use to memorize music quickly and retain it long-term. But first, we need to talk about the two least effective learning strategies according to science that you probably are using without even realizing! 😲
Worst Strategy No. 1: Massed Practice
In one of the best science-based books on effective memorization strategies, “Make It Stick: The Science of Successful Learning,” researchers Henry Roediger and Mark McDaniel identified massed practice (a,k.a., block practice) as one of the least effective memorization strategies used by most students.
Massed practice is when we repeat a passage of music over and over to try burning into memory. Cramming for a test is a common example of mass practice that many of us have used.
Worst Strategy No. 2: Rereading (or Replaying)
In the same book (“Make It Stick“), Roediger and McDaniel also list rereading as another highly ineffective memorization strategies that many of us use. This is when we finish reading a page of information, and then read it over again from the top several times to memorize the information.
In music practice, the equivalent is playing through a page of music, stopping, and replaying it from the top, over and over, to try to memorize music and improve.
Even though a LOT of scientific research has consistently shown that these two strategies are extremely ineffective, most beginer and intermediate students prefer using them anyway. So….why would we choose a memorization and learning strategy that science has clearly shown doesn’t work?
Why We Like The Bad Strategies
The simple reason is that they are easy to use and usually give us fast and noticeable results. The appeal of these strategies is that they don’t require a lof of cognitive effort. Repeating something over and over is a pretty easy thing to do for most people. And by doing it a bunch of times, we can literally see huge and immediate improvements in our motor skills and memorization of what we’re trying to learn.
Sometimes we can even feel like we’ve mastered something in a single practice session. But…as science has shown, that sense of mastery is only an illusion! 😱 In research, they call this an illusion of competence. We really haven’t mastered anything, but we feel like we have because we clearly see improvement.
But…how could it just be an illusion of mastery if we actually see and feel high levels of skill development right away?
Can You Handle The Truth?!
Well…it turns out that those significant and measurable gains we get from one intense practice session get mostly saved into short-term memory rather than long-term memory. And short-term memory, unfortunately, has a very fast rate of forgetting. This is why, after a massed and replaying practice session, you feel like you can master a skill, and the next day it’s as if all of your gains frustratingly disappeared.
So, yes, we can make a lot of progress in one practice session. But without the right strategies for memorization, we also lose quite a bit of those gains literally overnight.
World-class concert violinist and professor, Itzhak Perlman has a practice rule for this phenomenon that you should put on a stickie note and stare at every time you start a practice session:
“If you learn it slowly, you forget it slowly. And if you learn something very quickly, you forget it immediately.”
A Game-Changing Strategy: Retrieval Practice
There are several strategies we can use to improve the long-term retention of a skill, and one of the ones that words best is retrieval practice. In this strategy, you test yourself frequently during and after the learning process. But it’s not just testing yourself that does the trick; it’s how and when you test yourself that are going to give you the results that you want.
Here’s a a simple example of how it works:
- First work on a short section of music by reading or (watching a video) while trying to learn the fingerings on your guitar.
- Second, instead of going back to the top, stop and try to play as much as you can from memory even if you fail.
- Do the same thing for the next very short section of music.
- Then try to recall both phrases from memory again.
You’ll notice that this is REALLY hard to do and that you won’t be able to recall very much initially. The awesome (and slighlyt annoying) part thing about retrieval practice is that the increased cognitive effort is the key to effective memorization (so long as you correct yourself).
According to an article published in the journal, Science, because retrieval practice is more effortful, it significantly increases our focus. And increased focus has been shown time and again to significantly improve the brain’s ability to process and encode newly learned and improved information into long-term memory.
One of the best retrieval practice tools that most of us have used is flashcards. If you’ve used flashcards correctly, you knowl how challenging it can be to recall the answer on the other side of a brand new card. And although we don’t use flashcards in music practice, we can use the same idea (i.e., testing ourselves) to memorize music effectively.
My Personal Memorization Protocol
My personal memorization protocol is a “flashcard-like” system I use to memorize a new piece of music while improving mechanical skill at the same time.
Just one note: I have not seen this protocol in the research. This is just what works for me and I find that it works for my students as well. Use this idea as a template for your own memorization strategy and definitely tweak it as needed.
Step 1: Create Two Mental Categories
The first thing I do is create two categories: 1) Memorization and 2) Challenge-Spots (CSs).
For memorization, my goal is to pick short phrases of music to memorize in the correct note order (e.g., left to right), with the correct fingering, and with the correct rhythm.
For challenge spots (CSs), my goal is to identify and mark (on paper) every specific challenge that comes up in my first short musical phrase.
Step 2: Pick a Very, Very, Very Short Phrase
Once you understand these categories, the next step is to pick a very short phrase (e.g., only around 6-10 notes). Mark the phrase as “P1” for “Phrase 1.”
Step 3: “Skim” Through the Music
Next, “skim” your phrase by playing through it twice, note by note, to get an idea of what it’s going to sound and feel like, and to identify and bracket off any minor or major challenges that come up.
The first time you “skim” through it, bracket off every single mechanical challenge that comes up (e.g., 1-2 notes before the challenge + the challenge note/chord) and write what happend (e.g., “missed 3rd note”). If you’re working with a video or audio source, have a blank sheet of paper and pencil next to you and write down the timestamp from your music source for each challenge-spot (CS).
The second time you “skim,” make a concerted effort to memorize the phrase.
Step 4: The Three-Attempt Rule (This Is Crucial)
Hide your music source (e.g., sheet music, tab, video, or audio source) and try to play as much of your phrase as you can without looking at or listening to your music source. Even if you’re struggling a lot — which you will — do NOT look at your music source.
Even if you couldn’t remember a single note, try two more times for a total of three recall attempts. But REALLY try!
The point here is to maximize your cognitive effort BEFORE looking or listening back to your music source to either correct or validate your attempt. The more mentally effortful it is, the faster you will leran it and the better it’s going to sink into long-term memory. So a little mental “pain” is a good thing!
After your third attempt, whether you got it or not, look at or listen to your music source. If you got it right by your third attempt, validate what you did by repeating it 1-2 more times from memory. If you didn’t get it right, find out where your memorization challege-spots are, play through them correctly, and then try one more time from memory.
This method works extremely well ONLY if you correct or validate your attempts. And this is true even if you can’t recall anything in your 3 attemps. Remember this:
Effective memorization = Maximum Cognitive Effort + Validation or Correction + Repetition of the Correct Phrase. (In that order!).
Step 5: Chain Your Phrases Together
Your next step is to do the exact same thing for your next super short phrase. “Skim” and mark your CSs, try 3 recall attempts, correct or validate, and repeat the correct phrase.
At this point you have two “chunks” of music and your next step is to try playing those two chunks, back to back, from memory, for a maxiumum of 3 attemps.
If you get it right the first time, play it one more time correctly. If you don’t get it right by the 3rd attempt, review your music source, correct your attempt, and play it correctly 1-2 more times.
A Note on Mechanics, Sound Quality, & Musical Expression
Since our goal right now is memorization, don’t worry too much about sounding your best. Just focus on playing with as much relaxation, mechanical accuracy, and connection as possible even if it doesn’t sound ideal.
Yes, our ultimate goal is to play with our best sound and be as musically expressive as possible, but right now it’s more important to focus most of your efforts on memorization and mechanics and less on your expression. (Don’t worry, we’ll change this soon).
Working on Your Challenge Spots
Now that we’ve worked on memorizing your first two musical chunks, we’re going to introduce a little desirable interference and spacing by working on the challenge spots (CSs) we identified and marked in our sheet music (or time-stamped on our sheet of paper).
We’re going to work on correcting & improving each of those CSs from memory as well but in a slightly different way. While operating under the umbrella of relaxation (i.e., never play with tension), follow these problem-solving steps:
1. Look at your first CS, identify where the problem occurred, and say it aloud (e.g., “I missed the 3rd note”). You should have already written the problem over the CS when skimming your music earlier.
2. Figure out why you think the problem occurred and say it aloud (e.g., “My elbow may have been too high”).
3. Come up with a solution (e.g., Bring elbow in).
4. Test your solution by playing through the CS correctly once while looking at your music source, and 4-5 more times correctly in a row (or as best you can for now) from memory.
5. When you’re done, do the same for your remaining CSs. That’s Set Number 1.
6. Do 2-3 total sets of CS problem-solving and improvement. This is called interleaved practice, which also helps you encode your improvements into long-term memory and helps you learn faster!
7. Once you’re done with your 2-3 sets of CSs, take a 1-2 minute movement & relaxation break and come back to test your memory again.
8. When you sit down again, try to play your two original musical phrases back to back, completely from memory. Follow the same protocol we worked on earlier:
9. Try 3 times without looking at your music source.
10. Validate or correct.
11. Repeat your correct phrase 1-2 more times.
A Memorization Schedule That Actually Works
At this point, you can either move on to the next section of your piece and follow the same protocol, or you can work on something totally different, like another piece of music.
The next day you sit down to practice the same material, try to recall the chained phrases from the previous day from memory up to three times. It will feel challenging and may suck, but remember that your extra effort combined with correction, valifdation, and repetition of your correct phrase is what you need to improve.
Caveat
At some point it will be way too easy for us to recall older material (e.g., phrases 1 & 2). When this starts to happen, we need to treat our phrases like cards in a flashcard app that delivers “easier” material less often. For example, if you can recall phrases 1+2, they get repeated less often then newer stuff that’s harder to recall. (By the way, I use Brainscape for this and it’s great! *No affiliation either).
Memorization Steps
Here’s a summary of how can memorize music using the ideas we discussed above:
1. Every time you select a mini-phrase, label it (e.g., A, B, C, D, E, etc.).
2. Using the same protocol you’ve learned, work on Phrase A first.
3. Work on Phrase B.
4. Work on your CSs for both phrases.
5. Take a break.
6. Chain Phrases A & B from memory.
7. Take a break.
8. Work on Phrase C
9. Chain B-C.
10. Chain A-B-C.
11. Work on your CSs for A, B & C
12. Break.
13. Work on Phrase D.
14. Chain C-D.
15. Chain B-C-D.
16. Chain A-B-C-D.
17. Break.
18. Work on CSs for C-D.
Continue working through your piece using this same general idea and feel free to tweak the steps as needed.
When Memorization Still Feels Challening: From Block to Random
Earlier I mentioned that solutions to your CSs should be repeated 4-5 times correctly in a row. This seems to be a standard practice for most successful musicians.
Memorization is a bit different and tends to benefit from fewer repetitions per set and more space between each set. But sometimes, musical phrases are just too freaking hard to memorize with just a few reps. When this happens, we can use a little massed practice (i.e., more reps.) in our early sets to give the memorization process a little kick in the pants.
Now, you’re probably thinking, “Didn’t he just say that massed practice was a bad idea for memorization?!” Well….yes, I did. 🙄 But, like everything in life, there are always exceptions to the rule.
When only a few reps. isn’t doing the trick, sometimes we need to add in a few more. The best way to do it is to add extra correct repetitions of your phrases after your 3 recall attempts.
Here’s an example for Phrase A:
1. Skim & Mark CSs.
2. Skim for memorization.
3. 3 Recall Attempts.
4. Look at music source to correct or validate.
5. Play your correct phrase 2 times from memory.
6. If you still feel really unsure, play your correct phrase 3 more times from memory (massed practice).
You can do the same thing for Phrase B so that you end up with this:
- A-A-A-A-A
- B-B-B-B-B
When you then chain both phrases together, you can use the same idea: A+B, A+B, A+B, A+B, A+B
But once we start adding more phrases (e.g., Phrase C, D, E, etc.), we start using another repetition strategy I like to call serial interleaved practice chaining. This is another way to structure your sets and repetitions so that you still add extra reps. and space between sets, while repeating your sets in serial order.
Here’s an example:
1. Phrases A+B (5 times)
2. Phrase C (5 times)
3. Phrases B+C (4 times)
4. Phrases A+B+C (3 times)
5. Phrase D (5 times)
6. Phrases C+D (4 times)
7. Phrases B+C+D (3 times)
8. Phrases A+B+C+D (2 times)
You’ll notice that as the phrases get longer, you repeat them less often which forces you to increase your memorization effort (i.e., the spacing effect). You could easily go through your entire peice of music using this protocol, although I still recommend keeping your total reps. low as soon as you can both for injury prevention and to improve your memorization skills.
Boosting Your Results Even More
When the serial option starts feeling comfortable, the next step is to switch to random interleaved practice. In this strategy, you attempt to recall your phrases in a totally ramdom order. Note that when you use this option, you’ll want to do so with larger sections of music (e.g., Phrase A = 4 lines of music, Phrase B = 4 lines of music, etc.).
An easy way to do this is to write your phrase letters (A, B, C, etc.) on little papers, mix them up, and then pick each one at random (e.g., B, E, A, D, C). Then mix them up and do it again.
Research on memorization shows that this schedule of going from block, to serial, to random practice may lead to more effective learning. And it’s not limited to memorization. You can also use the same idea when working on your CSs!
Transform Your Guitar Playing Today
The trick is not to practice harder, but to practice smarter. By replacing ineffective memorization strategies with retrieval practice, you’ll memorize music faster and retain it longer than you ever thought possible. But reading about these strategies won’t make you better. You have to apply them and do so consistently. And this is where most students fail.
If you’re tired of practicing for hours and not making progress, the best thing you can do is work with a coach who can keep you accountable on a daily basis. I’ve been coaching students for over 20 years and can help you break through plateaus and develop the skills of a professional musician (even if you’re just playing for fun). Check out my Spanish Guitar Mastery coaching program here to see how you can fast-track your practice to successful playing.
