Memorize Your Set
by Don Chapman
The first time I played in the band at NewSpring
Church I found that they want you to play
from memory. I've always been used to playing
with charts, but since I had to memorize
about a million notes for my senior piano
recital many years ago I figured I was a
big enough boy to handle it.
Why should you try to play your worship set
from memory? Two reasons: musical and spiritual. With your mind free from the concentration
required to read a chart you're able to play
more musically and you're able to worship.
Besides, praise and worship music is not
brain surgery. You can do this!
There are two methods I
use that have made
memorization surprisingly
pain free. I was
happy to find that playing
from memory takes
very little extra preparation
- you just
have to >think< a
little more when
you're rehearsing.
1. Analyze the music. Instead of mindlessly playing notes during
rehearsal, I think about what I'm playing.
How many verses are in the song? How many
choruses? What's the key? How long is the
intro? If you simply try to memorize a series
of notes you'll never do it. Instead, analyze
the song by grouping all of those notes into
bite-sized sections: intro, verse, chorus,
midtro, bridge and ending.
As I play the song, I think
of it as being
broken up into these different
sections.
I'm thinking "okay,
I'm on the first
verse, now the chorus,
now the midtro...
etc."
When you combine the analysis
with the feel
you'll be surprised at
how easy it is to
play from memory. The two
methods prop each
other up. For instance,
here's how I prepare
for rehearsal. We'll either
be given CDs
for the upcoming Sunday's
music, I'll download
the songs or listen to
them from PlanningCenterOnline.com.
I'll have fun playing through
the music using
the chart, often playing
along with the recording.
This is the "feel"
- I'm getting
a natural, emotional sense
of the song. This
takes very little time
and the pre-preparation
makes rehearsals so much
more profitable
for everyone.
Then, at rehearsal, we'll
work out exactly
how we're going to do the
song. Maybe we'll
repeat the chorus again.
Maybe we'll do it
in another key - whatever.
This is where
we're analyzing the song
- deciding the format
of how many verses, choruses
and repeats
we'll be doing. At NewSpring
they'll practice
a song a few times and
get their format down,
record the song, then move
on to the next
song. At the end of rehearsal
each band member
gets a freshly burned CD
to take home. Rehearsals
are on Monday and it helps
to hear the music
throughout the week.
When I combine the feel
of the song (emotional)
with the analysis of the
song I can play
it quite easily from memory.
I'll "hear"
the song in my head and
naturally play it.
If I lose my place for
some reason I have
the analysis to back it
up. Maybe it's kind
of like Paul said in I
Corinthians 14:15.
I'll change "pray"
to "play:"
"I will play with
the spirit, and I
will play with the understanding
also."
2. Practice before bed. The "Four Hour Workweek" is one
of my favorite books. Author Tim Ferris calls
himself a "lifehacker" - he likes
to find quick, maximized shortcuts to success
in any field. Recently on his TV special
he talked about training to be a Japanese
horseback archer. He'd practice his moves
right before going to bed and a night's rest
ingrained this practice into his mind.
So every Saturday night
before bed I run
through the following Sunday's
music. I've
been pleased at how well
this has helped
my playing from memory
on Sunday morning.
If you're struggling with
memorization, maybe
another practice-before-bed
session or two
would help even more.
For the past few weeks
I've been going completely
chartless at Brookwood
Church. As a guide,
I'll write a list of all
our songs for the
Sunday, along with the
keys on a small post
it note and stick it to
my keyboard or piano
for reference. You do have
to draw the line
somewhere, however. I tried
going chartless
for Christmas Eve but decided
against it
because:
1. I drove the whole show
on the piano. If
I messed up we'd all be
in trouble.
2. There was too much music.
3. The Trans-Siberian Carol
of the Bells
approached brain surgery
status. It reminded
me of my aforementioned
senior recital -
the song was almost classical
in its complexity.
And again, if I messed
it up we were all
in trouble.
Even then, I wasn't glued to the charts but
just used them as reference and to keep my
place.
Give memorization a try
this week. If it's
too much, try memorizing
just one song this
week, two next week and
three the next. Soon
you'll be familiar with
your song repertoire
and be chartless in no
time.
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