How to Learn a Song

How to Learn a Song

When you decide to learn a song, do you have a strategy? In my previous article about practicing, I talk about breaking up your music into smaller chunks. Dividing a song up into logical sections and focusing on each one helps guarantee mastery. Working on the entire song from beginning to end each time means you’ll have some sections nailed down while others… not so much. The Roadkill Method of Practice – running over your song several times – might work if your song is short. Most songs, though, are too long for this.

Your Practice Toolkit

In order to learn a song, you should have the following:

• Music. This might seem really obvious, but people can learn music by ear. You may be one of them. If you can do this, great! You still need something to make notes on. I admit that I’m of the age where I walk out to the kitchen and wonder why I. If I don’t write something down, I generally don’t remember. Music provides a place to make note of all sorts of things – we’ll get into that in a minute. I prefer that my students use a music score or a lead sheet, but you can also use a lyric sheet.
• Pencil & Eraser. Before you start practicing, make sure you have a pencil handy. If the pencil doesn’t have an eraser, get yourself one. I keep a pencil in my music binder / tote bag. I also have several in my recording space. When I need to make a note, I don’t want to search for a pencil. Also. I use pencil, not pen. That way, I can erase notations that I no longer need or change my mind about. If you’re borrowing music, make your notes lightly in pencil so you can erase them before returning the music.
• Recordings. Even if you’re working with a live pianist, ensemble, or band, grab a recording of the accompaniment. If your teacher or coach can’t provide one, do a web search for “[song name] accompaniment”. I like this karaoke site for inexpensive pop music backing tracks. YouTube can be a good source of free tracks for a variety of genres. You’ll also want at least one recording of a performance – a couple of recordings are better.

Let’s Get Started

Active Listening

To get started, actively listen to your song. Active Listening requires you to pay complete attention to your song. While listening, follow along in your music. Don’t put a recording on and do something else. This isn’t the time for background noise.

Performance Recordings

While you listen to the performance(s) of your song, make note of the following in your music:

• What sounds tricky? This could be anything – rhythms, melody line, spitting the words out, etc. Put a little star above the phrases that sound like they might pose a challenge. When you start working on your song, these will be areas to focus on.
• Words. Depending on when your song was written, the words might be difficult. An old song may have words or phrases that we don’t use in modern times. If you have this situation, underline the words or phrases that feel weird to say. As you learn your song, you’ll have a visual cue to pay attention to these spots so the words don’t take you by surprise.
• What do you like? Performance recordings help you start working out your own interpretation of a song. While I would never suggest copying what another singer did with a song, the recordings will provide some ideas and inspiration. Mark these ideas into your music. As you become more familiar with the piece, you’ll have a starting place for phrasing, dynamics, character, and how to convey aspects of the song. How do these ideas fit into your voice? Multiple recordings will give you more options. You’ll also learn a few thing that you don’t like too, which is also useful information.

Listen to the performances several times before you start singing. These performance recordings might also be your sing-a-long learning tracks which is fine. Be careful not to mimic the singer as you’re learning the piece. The goal should always be to sing it in your own voice.

Backing Track

Don’t wait until you’re ready to use the backing track to listen to it. Incorporate it into your practice sessions when you start learning your song. You can learn a lot from it.

• Does the accompaniment support you? Does it play the melody? If it doesn’t, does the harmony give you some guidance? Are there places where the accompaniment drops out? Or maybe places where it sounds like it might clash with the melody? If you have the music score (and you can read music), you might be able to pick these places out even without listening.
• Entrances. Even if the accompaniment seems supportive and the melody feels fairly easy, some entrances still pose a challenge. What pitches are played just before big entrances? Does it spoon feed you your pitch or do you need to figure it out? Is the accompaniment doing something that makes your entrance “sneak up” on you?

As you become more familiar with your song, go back and listen to the backing track. Don’t sing out loud. Instead, look at your music and sing the song in your head.

Foreign Languages

Translation it!

In my studio, I make it the student’s responsibility to find a literal translation of the song they are singing. Nowadays, unless the song is brand new or really obscure, a quick web search will bring up a decent translation of the text. If you can’t find a translation, ask your teacher or coach to help you find one. Whatever you do, don’t rely on the lyrics written in your native tongue. These lyrics might give you the general meaning, but they were written to make a nice poem that fits the rhythm. They won’t tell you what word you’re currently singing which becomes incredibly important as you work on your delivery. Write the literal translation of your song above the music, lining up the foreign words with the notes as best you can.

Pronunciation

In my studio, I usually provide recording of me speaking the words slowly. I encourage my students to work with it before trying to sing their lines. Often, they’ll work back and forth – speak a phrase then sing it. Trying to get the pronunciation right while learning notes and rhythms creates a recipe for disaster. Your brain can’t juggle all of it all at once! Write any notes you need on pronunciation in your music. Don’t expect to remember all the pronunciation rules for a language that you don’t speak!

If your teacher does not provide a pronunciation track (or if you are working on your own), you still have options. Try to find a performance recording of the song where the singer has a clear voice. You can also try to do a web search using “[song title] pronunciation”. Sometimes you can find recordings of people speaking the lyrics. Google Translate has a pronunciation option. I do not recommend this as your first stop as it isn’t always accurate, but in a pinch, it can point you in the right direction. If you’re using Google Translate, compare it to your performance recording – does it sound relatively the same?

IPA

No. Not the type of beer. IPA stands for International Phonetic Alphabet. Classical singers learn how to use it when they are in college or conservatory, but you don’t have to be a college grad to use and understand it. I picked up Anna Wentlent’s IPA Made Easy a few years ago. While this doesn’t cover everything, it covers many of the common sounds of English, Italian, Spanish, French, German, and Latin. I often use this book to double check specific vowels or consonant sounds as I’m creating pronunciation tracks for my students or working on my own projects. I always recommend this book to my classically-oriented students.

Time to Sing!

Now that you’ve laid the groundwork, it’s time to sing. If you take the time to do the steps above when you learn a song, this next bit will be much easier.

Chunk It Up

Start by breaking your song up into logical sections. It might be by verses and chorus, or it might be by A/B/C section, or it could even be by page. It doesn’t matter as long as you aren’t trying to learn the entire song all at once. Work on your song a section at a time. Follow my advice in the practice article, and focus on one section per practice session. You might get through your song in one day’s worth of practice or it might take you a couple of days. Hopefully you aren’t trying to learn a song under a tight deadline so you can spread it out. This will give your brain a chance to digest the new material.

Notes & Rhythms

Learn your notes and rhythms with your sing-a-long track. If you can play the piano – even if you aren’t all that good – you can plunk out notes or check pitches. I still recommend using the sing-a-long to check rhythms. If you’re singing in a foreign language, you may want to work back and forth between your spoken pronunciation track and singing the line. If you aren’t sure how to sing a word or phrase and make it sound right, listen to the performance recording(s). When in doubt, make a note to discuss with your teacher at your next session.

Don’t Forget Your Pencil

As you work through a section, mark the following:

• Tricky Spots. I usually write the date over these spots instead of just circling the notes or measures. This tells me that this is more than just a reminder to pay attention. I need to go back and focus on it some more. These may also be spots that you will want to take to your teacher for extra help. Once you’ve mastered the spot, erase the date.
• Breath Marks(*). Circle rests. Mark where you’re going to breath mid-phrase using a checkmark, line, “B”, etc. You may get to a point where you don’t have to mark every breath, but you’ll never get away from marking them entirely. Pay attention to phrases where you feel like you can’t make it to the end. If a light speed tempo gives you no chance to breath, you need a strategy and you need to mark it in your music. Eventually, if you memorize the song, you’ll be memorizing your breaths right along with the notes and words – having them marked makes it easy to check!
• Important Words & Phrases. Does the melody “drive” to a certain word or phrase? Do you want to shape the phrase so you’re calling out an idea? Underline the word or draw an arrow as cue. As you move from learning your notes to working on interpretation, you’ll have a jump start on the process. Meanwhile, as you’re still learning your notes, you can start practicing “leaning in” to these spots. Do this regardless of whether the song is in your native tongue or not.
• Rhythms & Cadences. Have you ever had a song where the rhythm of the music doesn’t match with the cadence of a word’s syllables? This happens all the time – like when the last (weak) syllable of the word is being held out longer than the strong syllable. This usually isn’t a big deal, but every now and again, it messes with the pronunciation of the word. Mark these spots and work out a strategy.

(*) I’ll put on my voice teacher hat here and say that there are lots of reasons people run out of air before they’re done with a phrase. Your teacher can help you troubleshoot what’s going on. In my studio, the first thing I always ask is, “Where are you taking a breath and do you have it marked?”

If you want to see how to mark your music (and not just what to mark), check out the video that I created demonstrating a bunch of ideas.

Transitions

Once you’ve nailed down the individual sections, start connecting them. Often times, this will happen naturally – no extra work on your part. When you learn a song that doesn’t flow directly from one section to the next, work on the transition. Adjust your focus to 4 – 8 bars leading into the next section and 4 bars of the new section.

• Pitch. Can you find your starting pitch for the new section? Does it come from the last note you sang in the previous section? Can you pick it up from the accompaniment? Do you need a strategy? If you’re having problems with a start pitch, mark where it comes from if you can. If you can’t, then this is one of those tricky spots that will need to be drilled and/or discussed with your teacher.
• Changes. Section changes often change more than just the notes. A new section could have a different mood, a new key, different tempo, etc.

Keep Building

Increase the size of your focus as you master your transitions until you’re singing the song from beginning to end. Start thinking about the big picture, especially if there are big changes between sections. How will you approach these spots so that you convey the message(s) of the piece while keeping it cohesive? If this is a musical theatre piece, start building in your character elements. Your director will most likely give you items to think about and do, but you’ll still need to work it into your body and voice. If this is for an audition, what are you trying to showcase?

Record Yourself

But I hate the sound of my voice! But I look like a dork! I can’t watch/listen to myself! I hear you and I was once in your shoes. As we learn a song, we often think we’re doing a thing correctly when we actually aren’t. If you’re working with a coach or teacher, you’re probably not seeing them more than once a week. Do you want to continue doing something incorrectly until that next session (and then later have to unlearn what you did) or do you want to nip the issue in the bud?

Once you’ve learned the song, a video will tell you if you’re conveying the message of the song. It will show you if you’re doing too much or not enough. The video becomes your second set of eyes and will help you refine your song faster than if you wait for your next lesson or coaching session.

Watching and listening to yourself becomes easier the more you do it. Try to approach it like you’re listening to/watching someone else. Also try not to be overly harsh – we can be our own worse critics! Pick out a couple of points to focus on — a phrase you’re having difficulty with, the emotional aspect of a section, etc.

Practice Journal

When you learn a song, a practice journal will keep you organized. Use it to plan your practice sessions and to give you points to discuss with your teacher.

Feeling overwhelmed?

A big complicated song requires a bunch of steps to learn it. However, not all songs require all the steps above, or even if they do, the steps may not take all that long. If you run into issues when you learn a song, use this article as a guide for troubleshooting. If you want help, book a discovery call with me. I would love to help you take your music practice to the level!