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! Hi, I’m Chuck Gilmore with Power To Sing. 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 “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 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. “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. 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 depart 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 binoculars I 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. 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: spinning on my fortune money flys
out hit’s ONE giant who knees me and orders me to go where a kind nest holding hands with
an 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: Kind nest and con-scientist give my
heart and soul (rip it out of me) to all. God pulls me speedily up with a shepherd's
hook upward on a high (my) way to heaven and I’m praying and screaming 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. 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. If you liked this video, please give it a
thumbs up, subscribe and share it with a friend. Have you ever felt nervous about forgetting
your lyrics? Let me know in the comments below. Be sure to join me on Twitter, Facebook and
Instagram at Power To Sing. 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. Subtitles by the Amara.org community
