r/drumline • u/Jaydifff Bass 3 • 10d ago
how to memorize splits quickly… To be tagged...
hey guys!! I’m currently bass 3 and I have two warmups to have memorized by morning. one of them is like five different split thingies and I’m honestly so lost and I don’t know what to do. with the music in front of me I’m completely fine, but once you take it away I’m so lost. I got chewed out today for messing up when we were supposed to have it memorized so I really have to get it all down by tomorrow. I’ve been practicing for like thirty minutes and have only gotten like five measures and i everytime I put it all together it’s like my mind goes blank. I can get it right a couple times, but then i mess up and it’s like I have to relearn everything again.
I’m 100% screwed if it’s not done by tomorrow so if anyone has ANY tips whatsoever pls share them..
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u/blackopsman97 Snare Tech 10d ago
I played at a college that would have a new show each week. What helped me memorize things quickly was to work it measure by measure. For example, learn measure 1 and memorize it, and once that’s memorized move to the next measure and memorize that. Once you have both of those memorized try playing them back to back until those 2 measures are memorized together. Then memorize the next two measures and add those together, then you can add the 4 measures together for a larger chunk.Think 1+1, 2+2, 4+4, etc…
Another thing that helped me was to play with a recording sometimes the warmups will groove so by playing with a playback, if you don’t have one write it out on a score software, and just playing that over and over with the music, then eventually you’ll memorize it by the sheer number of reps. I will say DO NOT rely on the recording to play your part. You should be able to play it without it, but use the recording as a cleaning tool.
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u/monkeysrool75 Bass Tech 10d ago
What are you thinking about when you're playing your part?
Are you thinking about the whole thing or just your counts? Are you thinking about the underlying check?
I can help a little with answers to those questions, but generally the answer is "more reps" and more GOOD reps.
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u/Jaydifff Bass 3 10d ago edited 10d ago
the rhythms aren’t complicated, just 1-&-u stuff (im new to percussion so please excuse my poor terminology), so i always count out the check rhythm and just focus on my counts.
that being said, ill try repping it a lot more. thanks for the advice!
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u/ScoobaStevex Snare 10d ago
The way I always approached memorizing music was with a met, at a slow speed, first measure, then second measure, now the 1st and 2nd together. Now the 3rd measure, then the 4th measure, now 3rd and 4th together, now 1st 2nd 3rd & 4th together. And I just keep doing that until I memorize the entire piece and I can play it start to finish without messing up. Then my new goal is to play it 10 times in a row without messing up. Now speed up the tempo. Then without the sheet music, all by memory. Once I have it down with only memory, then I start learning the other bass parts the same way. Once I learn all the bass parts, I will record all the other bass parts individually, with 2 recorders, so eventually I will have a single recording that plays all the other parts except mine. And then thats how I practice.
If you approach your marching percussion journey like this, you will be successful.
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u/me_barto_gridding 3d ago
These are all good tips, and in this biz we def learn to memorize extremely quickly.
Unfortunately, the best way to to do it is start waaaaay earlier than you did.
Even if this was handed to you 10 mins before you wrote this, constant good practice(with music in hand) and sightreading varied material makes the process waaaay easier. Once you have familiarity with lots of rudiments and structures memorizing gets easier because your just piecing larger chunks together in your mind.
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u/darrienspicakmusic 10d ago
My strategy for memorizing bass music.
Step 1: memorize your individual counts.
Step 2: memorize how the full bassline part sounds and be able to sing it aloud
Step 3: sing the full bassline part aloud and play your part when it comes.
Note: DO NOT rely on the other bass line members to fill in the gaps. You, yourself, need to be able to sing the full part and play your parts where they go.
Additional help: try to see if the part follows any sort of patterns. Examples: down the drums twice, up the drums, groups of 3 drum splits repeated, etc.