How to Memorize Song Lyrics Easily
Today I’m going to show you how to memorize song lyrics easily. I’m going to show you a method that also helps you never to forget your lyrics so you don’t freeze up when you’re standing there all alone singing for thousands of people!
I’ve just been cast as Ebenezer Scrooge in “A Christmas Carol”, at Centerpoint Legacy Theater in Centerville, Utah. The music and lyrics are by Alan Menken and Lynn Ahrens. This show was originally called the Madison Square Garden Christmas Carol and I had the good fortune of seeing this show when it played at Madison Square Garden, in New York City.
We’re in rehearsals now and today I’m going to show you how to memorize song lyrics easily. This method helps you to learn easily and never freeze up and forget during your big solo moment.
For years I’ve used “The Memory Book” by Harry Lorayne and Jerry Lucas. This is a Ballantine Book published in 1975 by an arrangement with Stein and Day Publishers. It has some amazing techniques in it. I’ll use two techniques to memorize a solo Ebenezer Scrooge sings. You can apply these techniques to any song you want to memorize.
How to Memorize Song Lyrics Easily – Technique #1: Ridiculous Picture
Technique #1: Ridiculous Picture
“In order to remember any new piece of information, it must be associated to something you already know or remember in some RIDICULOUS way.”
How to Memorize Song Lyrics Easily – Technique #2: Association
Technique #2: Association
Thoughts may be associated to each other, so that one thought will remind you of the next thought. (pp. 9)
There are two steps involved.
#1. You need a ridiculous–impossible, crazy, illogical, absurd–picture or image.
#2. You must associate the two items. (pp. 9)
Let me illustrate with a solo from the show. After Scrooge sees his past, present and future Christmases, he’s a changed man. He sings a solo entitled, “Yesterday, Tomorrow and Today”.
Step A: I’ll pick several words from each line and create ridiculous–impossible, crazy, illogical, absurd pictures or images with them. If it’s an abstract word, I’ll create a word or combination of words that sound like or remind me of the abstract word.
Step B: I’ll associate or link these pictures together in a crazy way.
Lyrics to “Yesterday, Tomorrow and Today” from the musical “A Christmas Carol”
The rehearsal track is provided by MT PIT which contracts with the theater. They create great minus tracks with live musicians and rent them to theaters throughout the world. Check them out. Google MT PIT to learn more about them.
“Ebeneezer Scrooge! Ahhhhhhhh
At last I understand.” (from under a stand of binoculars. One is bolted to my head)
“I have seen a future full of darkness, all the darkness of my heart.
Step A: Pick Words: seen– future– darkness– heart
(Picture) seeing Ghost of Future darkness heart
(or Foot Chair)
Step B (Associate): Seeing with giant binoculars bolted to my head. I See giant ghost of Christmas Future. Darkness with stars is bursting out of her chest. A giant bloody heart comes out of her chest and is staked to my heart.
At my door a world in need of kindness. From man’s kindness, I departed.
Step A: door world kindness man departed
Kind nests
Step B: My heart staked to huge door on a world . Door on world Opens and a world holding 1000’s of kind nests with a little man in them. I run from a 1000 little man’s as they jump on my head and de-part my hair.
All the hours and days and years I’ve wasted. All the joy and love I never tasted!
Step A: hours days years wasted Joy love tasted
Step B: As my hair is departed from my head falls a Giant Clock with me as hour hands, (logic hours + days + years) clock with me falls into giant wasted basket. Half full of liquid joy dish soap and Love Dove Soap bar floating on the joy and I taste it. Then vomit.
All the errors of the past replaced with something strange…Give me time to change.
Step A: errors past replaced something strange time change
Arrows
Step B: Instead of joy soap, i vomit all the very old Arrows of my past which are re-pasted all over my naked body in something strange, leaving too much skin exposed please Give me time to change my arrows. I bolt my binoculars to see.
I can see a future full of beauty, and my spirit starts to fly.
Step A: See future beauty spirit fly
footchair
Step B: With bolted cans for binoculars I can see a Giant Footchair (future) with a 1000 beauty’s standing on it. They fall on me and my spirit starts to fly.
I can change the world, yes, it’s my duty! God forgive me, Let me try!
Step A: Change world duty God forgive me try
Step B: As I fly around the world I drop 1000’s of dollars in change on the world. It’s my booty. Heavens part and God spanks and forgives me. I try not to cry by spinning like a tasmanian devil
I’ll spend my fortune on the one who needs me, go where kindness and my conscience lead me,
Step A: spin fortune one knees me kindness conscience leads me
Step B: tasmanian devil spinning on my fortune money flys out hit’s ONE giant who knees me and kicks me to go where a kind nest and a Ex-con scientist lead me.
Give my heart and soul to all! God speed me on my way, And to God I pray———–
Step A: Give my heart and soul to all God speed me my way God I pray
Step B: con-scientist rips my heart and soul out of me and gives my heart and soul to all. Collapsing, God pulls me speedily up with a shepherd’s hook upward on a high (my) way to heaven and to God I pray…
Let the Christmas Spirit live within me, yesterday, tomorrow and today!
Step A: Christmas Spirit live within me yesterday
Step B: Once in heaven a Giant Christmas Spirit (looks like Paul McCartney in Santa’s clothes) opens my mouth and dives in and lives within me. Sticks his head out and sings “Yesterday”.
“I have seen a future full of darkness, all the darkness of my heart.
At my door a world in need of kindness. From man’s kindness, I departed.
All the hours and days and years I’ve wasted. All the joy and love I never tasted!
All the errors of the past replaced with something strange…Give me time to change.
I can see a future full of beauty, and my spirit starts to fly.
I can change the world, yes, it’s my duty! God forgive me, Let me try!
I’ll spend my fortune on the one who needs me, go where kindness and my conscience lead me,
Give my heart and soul to all! God speed me on my way, And to God I pray———–
Let the Christmas Spirit live within me, yesterday, tomorrow and today!”
Going through this process will help “force the original awareness that’s necessary to remember anything. It will force you to concentrate and use your imagination as you never have before, and it will force you to form associations consciously.” (pp. 9)
If I find some picture needs changing, I change it to make it more ridiculous and crazy. These are my pictures. Yours would be different…and better for you.
I recommend “The Memory Book” to teach you how to memorize song lyrics easily. It’s helped me through the years with lyrics, scripts and other memorization projects.
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Remembering your lyrics is vital, but even more important is learning your vocal type. I’m not talking about whether you are soprano, alto, tenor or bass. Your vocal type is what you tend to do when you sing from chest to head voice. Do you tend to pull chest? Flip? Strain? Go Breathy?
Go to PowerToSing.com and take the vocal test, which I call the PowerTest. Take the quiz and discover your vocal type. After you get your vocal type, go to the Knowledge Center and watch the videos about your vocal type.
Download the free exercises and start practicing them. They’ll help you progress rapidly.
I’m Chuck Gilmore with Power To Sing. You can sing higher with beauty, confidence and power.
I’ll see you inside the next video.
