How to memorise song lyrics for singers and why it is important!
In today’s article I want to talk about something singers usually leave to the last minute! I want to share with you today how to memorise song lyrics for singers and why it is important.
If you thought that learning to sing was just about learning some funny warm ups, I have bad news for you. Singing is an activity that involves lots of skills! One of them is memorising the lyrics of the songs you want to sing.
This is not only important for pop stars! Whether you are the most famous performer on the planet or you are quite content singing in your local open mic, learning how to memorise song lyrics will help you become a better vocalist and communicator.
Why it is important to to memorise your song lyrics
To start with, learning how to memorise song lyrics is important for your vocal technique.
When you are worried about reading all the lines of your lyrics from a piece of paper or your ipad, you are fixing your sight. This has some effect on your neck muscles, which has an effect on your larynx mobility and positioning. Which has a direct effect on your ability to sing with freedom!
So right from the start, learning how to memorise song lyrics will help you work with a better instrument. An instrument that is ready to sound with power.
Learning your lyrics is the first step on making a song yours
Singing a song with the lyrics in front is great in a karaoke situation. However, it is not so great if you want to not only sing nicely but also to interpret the song and to communicate its message.
Interpreting a song means making the song yours. To make it yours you have to have a deep understanding of it. What is the song talking about? And most importantly, what does the song mean to YOU.
If you are not clear with your message, you will just be singing notes along and not really communicating a story with your own flavor of emotions.
You can’t really do that if you don’t even know your lyrics! So for any song that you want to communicate, learn your lyrics first and you will be much more ready to understand it from deep within.
I would recommend you to learn how to memorise song lyrics not only for a performance, but for every singing lesson as well. You get much more out of it if you do!
How to get started
Learning how to memorise song lyrics can feel tedious at first. However, it is not as hard as it seems!
In the era of the short attention span, it is easy to become distracted with anything that requires deep concentration. But with some techniques you will see that it becomes easier every time.
Technique 1 – Use your dead time to memorise your lyrics
Most of my students report that their practice time is while they are in the car. While I don’t think this is a good idea at all when you are practicing your vocal technique, I think it is a great opportunity to sing along with your songs and concentrate on getting the lyrics right from memory.
A good thing to do is to put together in your playlist the song that you are learning in its original version, and right after, your song without the singer – like a karaoke track. That way you get to practice with the singer to make sure you get the lyrics right, and then by yourself right after to work on memorising the lyrics.
Use your traffic time wisely!
Technique 2 – Learn your music first
There are many components of learning a song. I would suggest that you learn your melodies and the song structure FIRST, and you memorise it. Then you learn your lyrics.
Actually, if you memorise your song structure, the lyrics will come out much more naturally to you.
Make sure you write down the structure of the song and you know exactly when to sing and what.
Once you nailed those aspects, learning your lyrics will be much easier and faster.
Technique 3 – Write down your lyrics!
While you are in the process of learning your lyrics, I find it very useful to write them down. Only having them in your head is a little dangerous – when you write them down you are learning them at a deeper level.
Technique 4 – Understand the story behind the song
Every song has a story and a storyline. Songs develop a story. If you understand the story with its dynamics and its ups and downs, you will remember the lyrics much more easily. Because you will be relating them to a story and its emotions, rather than just memorising lyrics without much context.
When someone can connect an emotion to a memory, that memory lasts longer. In fact, that is what a lot of commercial advertising is based on!
Think about how the song makes YOU feel. Where in your body do you feel every part of the song? Can you name the emotions that arise when you connect with the song?
Connecting with the music piece emotionally will help you not only to memorize the lyrics, but also to enjoy it much more and to develop your own version of it.
Technique 5 – Use triggers
For every song there are usually some parts that stick more than others. If you are clear of where those triggers are, whatever comes after them is much easier to follow.
For me, what works best is to remember the first line of every verse. Once I remember the first line, the rest comes effortlessly because songs are not isolated words. They are organized in a particular way that makes sense.
I hope that helps!
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Through holistic vocal training you not only learn to become a great singer while taking care of your voice, but you also improve your mental and physical wellbeing❤️
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