Do you have to memorize your music? Of course not. How’s that for an easy answer? Okay, the podcast is over and we can call it a day. But of course, the answer isn’t that simple.

No, you don’t have to memorize your music, but the fact that you’re asking the question tells me that you’re almost certainly thinking about memorization the wrong way, or at least very differently from how I have learned to think of it.

What I want to help you understand today is the role that memorization can play in your musical growth, how it can make you a better musician, how it can help you learn music faster, not necessarily because you are memorizing, but because the act of memorizing brings your focus to the music in a different way.

But not if you’re trying to memorize the way you may have when you were young. The kind of effortless assimilation that came so easily to me when I was younger, and perhaps to you too, doesn’t happen with my aging brain. I still memorize, but I use a process that is more conscious, less automatic, and I can tell you that the conscious process is easier, more secure and more interesting. When I memorize this way, I know I know my music. That’s practically confidence in a bottle.

What I’m going to help you understand today is the true value of memorization, whether or not you ever play without your music, and how you can develop your powers of memorization, even if you can’t remember where you left your glasses. Memorization isn’t about remembering. It’s about learning and knowing, done purposefully, and it’s not as hard or as scary as you may think.

If you’re already a confident memorizer, then that idea won’t be new to you, but keep listening, because there will be a few important ideas and strategies in this episode that will help you too.

Links to things I think you might be interested in that were mentioned in the podcast episode:

• Join the Arpeggios with E.A.S.E Quick Study Course.

• Want more memorization tips? Check out podcast episode 158, Memorization Basics: How to Make It Stick

• Harpmastery.com

Get involved in the show! Send your questions and suggestions for future podcast episodes to me at [email protected]

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