Lesson #11 :Memorization!! (Oh yes you can!!) (stds 1,2,3,4,5,6,7/9.1, 9.3, 9.4) All contents of this presentation: © 2007 TB Music

Why do we have to memorize our music?? To perform at the highest possible level. To ensure that each member of the marching band “team” is performing to standard. To free your mind allowing for concentration on performance and marching. You can’t lose your music if you’ve got it memorized (hopefully your head remains attached to your body!).

Like anything else we learn the key to success is establishing the proper thought process/sequence. Before MEMORIZING the music we must be able to PLAY the music! So……. 1.Scan the printed music using the “Sight Reading” process as described in lesson #10. 2.Practice the music so that you can play it all the way through fairly well. 3.Listen to the recording and follow in the printed music WITHOUT the instrument. 4.Listen to the recording and finger along on your instrument without making any sound.

5.Listen to the recording and SOFTLY play along on your instrument ( the recording should ALWAYS be louder than your instrument). 6.Review the parts of the music which you have difficulty with and work on them until you master them. 7.Play along with the recording again with a bit more confidence (REMEMBER!! the recording should ALWAYS be louder than your instrument! Control your sound so that you play WITH the recording instead of in competition with it!). 8.Play the song over and over again with the recording until you are VERY comfortable with it and can play correctly all the way through. 9.Fix rough spots and correct mistakes. 10.Get ready to MEMORIZE IT! Remember : Perfection is not the goal (yet). The object of this sequence of practice is to LEARN TO PLAY THE MUSIC in the context of performing WITH a group successfully.

And now…. We MEMORIZE! (Face the fear and do it anyway!!) 1.Learn to play the music as described earlier.(We will use your music to illustrate the following concepts. You DO have your music with you, right??) 2.Look for patterns in the music. Repeating patterns Parts of the song (the main melody, chorus, intro, etc..). 3.Divide the music into parts and label them using a pen/pencil. 4.Group parts that are similar or seem to repeat. Parts are usually several measures in length. 5.You should end up with 4 or 5 “parts” to memorize instead of many separate measures. And then…………… MUNCH, Edvard The Scream 1893

We’re almost there…….. 6.Memorize each “part” of the music. How?? Practice each part until it is close to PERFECT! Play the part of the song with the recording looking at the music. Play it again only “peeking” at the music. Play it again NOT looking at the music (with and without the recording). Repeat this process until the part is memorized. 7.After memorizing the parts of the song look at the music and listen to the recording to find the order in which the parts of the song occur. Memorize this “Part Pattern”.

And finally………. 8.Play the memorized parts of the song in the right order WITH the recording. 9.Fix mistakes and clean up rough spots. Practice over and over until your performance of the music is VERY close to PERFECT!! 10.Perform with the BH Band and put on a fabulous performance!! “Fun” is the feeling of pride and accomplishment you will feel from all of the hard work you put in. Also “Fun” is soaking up the applause of your audience knowing that you did your absolute best and there is no doubt in your mind that you performed brilliantly!! Congratulations!! You earned it!!

Next time : Lesson #12 :Improvisation!! Cheer Tunes for the BH/DH Game (Oh yes you can!!) (stds 1,2,3,4,5,6,7/9.1, 9.3, 9.4) All contents of this presentation: © 2007 TB Music