On Mon, 11 Feb 2002, Joe Gargano wrote:
> I have a problem remembering lyrics to a piece I have heard a million times.
> It could be that im focusing on the melody, piano, rhythm and looking at the
> sheet music but not studying the lyrics.
>
> I need to know what methods work best for most of you when remembering the
> lyrics.
Repetition repetition repetition repetition repetition...both in an out of
context.
1) Once you've really got the music "down pat", really concentrate on the
lyrics as you rehearse the piece.
2) Recite the lyrics to yourself as if they were a poem. Do this a lot.
Type up or handwrite a page with the lyrics and take it everywhere with
you. Read it out loud while you're on the toilet, in your car in traffic,
in bed last thing before you go to sleep and first thing after you wake
up. If you're dining alone, keep the lyrics next to you and review them as
you eat.
3) Copy the words over and over from memory, either by typing them or
handwriting them (or both). The first few times, you may want to have the
text at hand (keep the book closed, but the relevant page bookmarked). But
eventually you should be able to type/write the words out from memory. You
can do this pretty much anywhere, particularly the handwritten way. Just
keep a pen and notebook to hand. This is a very useful alternative to
"doodling" in a boring meeting, and a good way to use your time when
you're waiting for a flight, a doctor's appointment, etc.
4) Create a "cue sheet". This helps me incredibly when I'm learning roles
and long arias in foreign languages. Basically, set the sheet up as
follows (the example is the Letter Aria from WERTHER):
Werther, Werther
Qui m'aurais dit la place que dans mon coeur il occupe
aujord'hui
Depuis qu'il est parti - malgre moi, tous me lasse
Et mon ame est pleine de lui.
Ces lettres...ces lettres. Ah! je les relis sans cesse.
Avec quel charme...mais aussi quelle tristesse...
Je devrais les detruire. Je ne puis.
Je vous ecris de ma petite chambre.
Un ciel gris et lourd de decembre
Pese sur moi comme un linceul...et je suis seul. Seul.
Toujours seul.
Ah! personne aupres de lui!
Pas un seul temoinage de tendresse ou meme de pitie.
Dieu! Comment me venu ce triste courage d'ordonner cet exil
et cette isolement
The idea is to create two columns, the first containing only the first
word from each phrase or textual idea, and the second containing the rest
of that phrase or idea. Then, take a piece of 8x10 cover stock (paper),
and cut a rectangular wedge out of one corner - as tall as a single line
of text, and as wide as the longest word in the left hand column. You then
cover the entire page except the first word on the top line with this
card. And you then "cue" off the first word in that line, and recite to
yourself the remainder of that line. Then move the card down to reveal the
first word in the second line (left column) while the right column of that
line remains covered. And "cue" off that word, as you did in the first
line, to recite the rest of line #2. Continue in this fashion as you
proceed through the whole text. Then, when you feel you've pretty much
got things memorised, start with the last line of the last page - flip the
card over, so it's the first word in that last line that's showing, and
all else is covered. Then move backward line by line through the piece,
again reciting the covered text in the right column that you "cued" onto
from the revealed word in the left column.
5) Do your own literal translations of all non-English texts. This is the
first step towards getting the words "into" your head. The painstaking
process of translation - particularly from languages one doesn't speak at
all - gets one really focussed on each word and its meaning.
ALWAYS THINK ABOUT WHAT THE WORDS MEAN. This is the absolutely best way
to get lyrics to "sink in". Words are not just series of verbal noises.
They are symbols that express ideas and emotions. If you always keep in
mind what the words are actually saying when you sing, from the very
first time you sing the piece, instead of just vocalising the consonants
and vowels while you concentrate on the music, you'll find the words will
"learn themselves" much more quickly. Not only that, the words will become
part of your actual muscle memory of the piece from the get-go: this is
much better than developing a muscle memory of the piece in which the
words are ignored, and later having to superimpose the words on top of
that muscle memory.
Karen Mercedes
http://www.radix.net/~dalila/index.html
***************************************
What lies behind us, and what lies before us
are tiny matters compared to what lies within us.
- Ralph Waldo Emerson
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