Makes Memorising Music Faster, Easier And More Reliable

Even if it seems to take you forever to learn new pieces and you constantly suffer from memory slips

There’s something seriously impressive about watching musicians perform effortlessly and confidently without any sheet music in front of them.

And it goes way beyond the mere appearance of accomplishment…

Playing from memory releases your brain from the task of reading music. This literally frees up mental resources that you can use to connect to the music and to interact with other musicians instead. So you’ll express yourself more freely, be more “musical” and enjoy your playing more when you play from memory.

But too many people miss out on this because it feels incredibly slow to memorise music. Or because they fear the embarrassment of experiencing memory slips when playing in front of others.

It doesn’t have to be this way…

Imagine if:

You memorised new music quickly and effortlessly
You felt totally secure when performing from memory
You developed a stronger understanding of the music and internalised it more deeply
You had complete freedom to interact with other musicians
You effortlessly formed close connections with audiences
You were a more competent, more confident musician

So many musicians assume that playing from memory is only available to the lucky few who have that ability naturally.

But anyone – at any age or any level of experience – can learn to memorise music quickly and reliably. Even if you’ve struggled with this in the past…

So, if you’d like to experience the freedom of playing confidently from memory, I'm about to show you a system that will allow you to do exactly that.

You don't need to work harder. Or discover previously hidden talents.

You just need to understand a bit about how the brain works and go about memorising things in the right way.

I’ve discovered a way to make all of this possible. Let me explain…

Neuroscience Unlocks New Possibilities…

I’ve always been interested in how we learn. Especially in the neuroscience of what it takes to make physical changes in our brains.

And the deeper I dug into this area over the years… The more I realised something unsettling…

Despite recent scientific breakthroughs showing how to learn more effectively, most people still memorise music based on a flawed understanding of how the brain works.

Scientists analysed the brains of London taxi drivers and bus drivers.

The hippocampus – a region of the brain involved in spatial memory – grew significantly larger in taxi drivers. But there was no such change in the bus drivers’ brains.

Both of these groups navigate by memory every day. This means that it’s not the amount that you use your memory that makes a difference. It’s how you use your memory that determines whether your brain changes or not.

The bus drivers simply repeated the same routes over and over again (exactly like how most musicians go about memorising a piece) while the taxi drivers had to work out a unique new route every time. This naturally forced them to use memorisation strategies that turn out to be more effective.

Unfortunately, most musicians act more like the bus drivers than the taxi drivers.

There’s bad news and good news here…

The bad news is that this leads to ineffective and unreliable results.

It takes much longer than necessary to memorise pieces in the first place. And they don’t stay securely in your memory either.

The way you currently do things means you’re probably actively making things harder for yourself. It’s like you’re trying to swim upstream, against the current.

The good news is that this means you have the potential to do so much better…

Once you discover the right way to do things you allow yourself to go with the flow. You’re no longer fighting the way your brain works… instead, you’re tapping into its full potential. You’ll memorise music faster and with less effort.

And you won’t have to try and force things to stick in your memory anymore. Instead, they’ll naturally want to stay there and be instantly available whenever you need them.

When I discovered this, I wanted to set the record straight and give people a better way to do things.

Picture of Mark Morley-Fletcher, creator of Play In The Zone

In case you don’t know me already, I’m Mark Morley-Fletcher – a jazz guitarist and educator. I'll show you what I came up with in just a minute.

Before we get into how to fix things, though, I need to explain a bit about why the common approaches aren’t working…

Choose Long-Term Progress Over Immediate Results

As you progress in your playing, the horizon may not seem to get any closer

The world’s top music schools have been churning out excellent musicians for centuries.

So you’d think they would have discovered the best methods for memorising music already. And that these would have been passed on and become common knowledge.

It turns out, though, that’s not the case.

The reason for this is that the way our brains learn might almost have been designed to be deliberately misleading…

The natural human impulse is to evaluate progress by how much we successfully memorise in an individual practice session. But it’s how things stick in the long-term that really counts.

And the strategies that produce the biggest gains over the long-term frequently perform badly over one individual practice session. This consistently leads people to choose ineffective approaches without even realising that they’re sabotaging their own progress.

It wasn’t until scientists started running studies that track progress over periods of many months that the picture of what it really takes to memorise things effectively started to emerge.

For example, one study required rhesus macaques to memorise lists using two different learning strategies.

The macaques got 3 days of practice, and then they were tested.

The learning strategy that had produced the best results during the training sessions themselves turned out to give worse results under strict test conditions. While the approach that produced slower learning during practice gave much better performance on the test itself.

It's difficult for learners to accept and trust that the best route to learning is slow, and that frustration and poor results now are essential for better performance later. But several more approaches that have been scientifically verified to improve learning actually reduce performance in the short-term.

These new ideas haven’t made their way far outside academic circles yet, though. So most teachers still use the old ineffective – even counterproductive – methods when they teach.

But it’s not just the high-level strategies that are holding things back. There’s another reason why most people struggle to memorise music well…

Use All Three “Memory Streams”

It turns out that there are three different “streams” of memory that you can use when learning a piece of music: physical, aural, and conceptual.

Most musicians rely on just one of these…

And that’s a recipe for disaster.

When you rely on an individual memory stream then you’ve got a single point of failure. It only takes one small slip to break the thread and send everything off the rails.

In order to give really secure performances, you need to build in redundancy by using all three memory streams. That way, if you have a glitch in any one stream then the others will keep you on track.

If one breaks down you’ve still got two left as backup. And even if two fail simultaneously (which is very unlikely) you can still keep going.

So why don’t people automatically use the three streams?

Every individual has a strong personal preference for just one of these memory streams. Left to their own devices they’ll exclusively use their preferred stream and not even realise that the other two are available.

Unless you deliberately work on cultivating all three types then you’ll be able to memorise things – but the results will never be solid.

Whereas I see many students make rapid progress as soon as they add in just one new memory stream.

Check out what Joan told me, for example:

"After an hour I'm playing with more confidence and better intonation"

"Despite being an analytical person with "fancy degrees", for music I rely almost entirely on aural memory. After an hour or so of conceptual analysis, I'm playing my current violin piece (Mollenhauer Fantasia: Boy Paganini) with more confidence and better intonation."

- Joan Tomoff

All these problems we’ve covered so far happen in the memorising phase.

But there are other issues that crop up when the time comes to play from memory. And these turn out to be just as hard for people to correct…

Practice With Performance In Mind

Picture of a microphone in a pressure performance situation

It’s important to understand that any performance situation places extra pressures on you that simply aren’t there in practice.

These have a direct impact on your ability to play from memory successfully. They reduce the mental “bandwidth” that you’re used to being able to rely on.

This leads to the common situation where your mind “goes blank” and you experience memory slips when performing pieces that you’ve regularly played perfectly in practice.

This doesn’t mean that you’re incapable of performing from memory. You just need to understand how to practice so that pieces will be memorised robustly enough to withstand the rigours of performance.

There are special methods you can use to do this. And tests you can apply to check when something is ready to perform from memory.

You might be thinking:

"Those sound like important things to understand... But how do I use them to improve?"

Well, I brought together the key understandings about how memory works and combined each one with practical exercises that get you applying them to music you want to learn. Any musician can use this system to improve their ability to play from memory.

Introducing Memorise Music Quickly & Reliably

I’ve packaged up the key neuroscience insights about how to memorise things and turned them into a short course called “Memorise Music Quickly & Reliably”.

It applies to any instrument (including singers) and any style of music. Musicians at all levels – from occasional amateurs through to teachers and full-time pro performers – have all gone through the course and got outstanding results.

And it gives you only the things you need rather than overloading you with information just for the sake of it.

You get the key theoretical concepts. But mainly you’ll learn by doing.

You go through the material in an order that builds logically. And you put each concept into practice with real musical examples before you move on to the next lesson.

That way you can be sure you’re building up a solid foundation rather than just learning theory that doesn’t help you in the real world.

You’ll be able to wave goodbye to current frustrations about how slow and painful a process it is to memorise pieces. And you won’t have to live in constant fear of memory slips either.

Instead, you’ll memorise new repertoire faster and more securely. And you’ll perform from memory with total confidence.

The end result is that you’ll feel more connected to your music and be able to get into the Zone more often when you play,

Check out what these musicians have to say about the course:

Photo of Tricia Koury - Memorising Music Quickly & Reliably student

"Worked a treat. I’m now playing completely from memory"

"Used to try and memorise a piece starting from beginning. I now break it down choosing short excerpts, mark what I consider to be triggers, etc. Play a couple of times, close up the book, then play from memory.

This has worked a treat. I’m now playing Canon in D piano duet, primo. completely from memory. All I'm missing is a duet partner.

My sister, who's played piano all her life (me about 3 years) could never memorise a piece: I am proud to say I am teaching her.

Thankyou Mark, you have ticked all the boxes..."

- Tricia Koury

"Would have taken me months but I was able to memorise it within a couple of weeks"

"A really excellent course. I did the course over a few days and also listened to your Q & A and was able to memorise a Chopin Nocturne and a jazz standard using the techniques in the course.

The Nocturne would have taken me months to learn but I was able to memorise it within a couple of weeks which was amazing. Although, I have a pretty good knowledge of the structure of memory, your organised and systematic approach was very helpful."

- Anna Stewart

Photo of Yvonne Clarke - Memorising Music Quickly & Reliably student

"I am enjoying a greater connection with my instrument..."

"As someone who has never played from memory, and who has no need to do so, I approached this course with curiosity. I was pleasantly surprised by its benefits; I should have known better than to be surprised as Mark is a terrific teacher, and I regard each of his lessons as gold.

There are gems for each of us in his teaching, and this was true here. What I learnt in this short course has been taken into other areas of my music to great benefit, namely being aware simultaneously of my physical fingering, audiation, and (note) cognition.

I am enjoying a greater connection with my instrument because of the very helpful exercises this course contains; a rewarding, lovely outcome."

- Yvonne Clarke

Could you work all this out on your own?

Maybe. It's possible but I doubt it...

The source material for the course is scattered across multiple areas. Most of it is about memorising in general – not music specifically. And most of it is in the form of theoretical principles – not practical exercises.

So you’d need to find all the raw ingredients… translate them into music-based exercises… and then sequence them in the right order so that you’ve got a step-by-step system rather than a bunch of disconnected tips.

OR you can take this course and learn everything in a few quick and easy lessons, while I hold your hand through the process.

You’ll play more freely once you’re released from the dependence on sheet music. And you’ll be able to put more emotion into your playing.

Perhaps more importantly, you'll feel like a REAL musician and ENJOY playing from memory more than when you used to play from the score.

Here's just a small taste of what you'll learn inside the course:

Module #1: Laying Solid Foundations

Why you need all 3 stages of memorising (encoding, consolidation, and retrieval) and how to train each one
How breaking the music you want to learn down into “chunks” allows you to memorise more quickly, easily and securely
How to select the best sized chunks to work with
Why strategies that worked ok when you were younger become less effective as you age (and how to overcome this problem)
The 3 separate “streams” of memory that make recall solid rather than fragile. Plus exercises to strengthen each stream individually (most musicians rely on just one stream which leaves them vulnerable)
Why your ability to get the information out of your head is just as important as how you put it in (you’ll be surprised how often problems with memorising stem from this frequently overlooked stage!)

Module #2: Memorising Entire Pieces

The key difference between how students and professionals memorise pieces (the professional way is just as easy to do, but way more effective)
A simple strategy for splitting your time between the different sections of a long piece (this ensures your memory is solid throughout with no weak points or gaps)
The tempting trap that guarantees you’ll forget a piece after a week or so rather than having it stick for good (almost everyone makes this mistake)
How working on multiple dimensions of a piece can help strengthen your ability to play it from memory
When you should ditch the sheet music and start working on playing something from memory
How to use flash cards and interval timers together with “interleaved practice” and “spaced repetition” to make things stick better in the long-term

Module #3: Performing From Memory

How long it takes to memorise a piece solidly enough so that you can rely on it in performance
How to stress test your memory of a piece so that you find out if it’s ready or not before you crash and burn on stage
Why you can play a piece from memory in practice without problems… but then find you run into issues in performance (and how to fix this)
A practice strategy that allows you to recover from memory slips if they do occur (paradoxically, when you know how to deal with them, memory slips become much LESS likely to happen)
How deliberately designing “adversity conditions” improves your ability to perform from memory
What causes memory slips in performance – and 2 strategies you can use to reduce the chance that this will happen
Practical exercises to boost your confidence when performing from memory in front of an audience

Here's What You’ll Get When You Join The Course Today:

Bite-sized video lessons available on-demand as soon as you join. These lessons will teach you the essential neuroscience principles that you must follow to memorise music effectively. And they’ll help you avoid the pitfalls that slow most musicians down.
Simple but powerful exercises that you complete after each lesson to deepen your learning and apply the concepts to music you want to memorise. Each exercise will only take you a few minutes.
A Q&A call recording that goes much deeper into understanding and implementing the material in the course (there's almost 2 hours of hugely valuable material here. But don't worry! The accompanying show notes allow you to jump straight to the sections that interest you and skip everything else)

This is the only course I know of that gives you a complete system for memorising music so that it sticks reliably.

The material inside the course has the ability to change the way you play forever. You’ll memorise pieces faster and easier, setting you up to express yourself more freely and feel more connected to the music you play.

So I reckon $200 would be more than a fair price.

But I believe this is knowledge that every musician deserves to have. I want to make it available to as many people as possible.

So I’m not even going to charge you half that much. I’m giving you the course for just $69.

That’s about the cost of a single music lesson in order to get the insights that could open new doors for your music.

All you have to do is hit the "Join now" button below to get all of this right now.

Photo of Vincent Cousins - pianist and Practice Multiplier student

"I can learn music easier, faster and far more reliably"

"Although I could memorise pieces before doing the course, having done the course I can learn music easier, faster and far more reliably whether playing from memory or sheet music.

The course has boosted my confidence and competence to just sit and play with enjoyment. Thank you Mark."

- Vincent Cousins

"Having never played a piece from memory, I was unsure about my chance of success"

"Having never played a piece from memory, I was unsure about my chance of success with this goal.

The first lesson set my mind at ease, because it got right into the techniques that we would use and the reasons they work. I had always thought repetition would do the job and it hadn't.

It took work to implement Mark's program, but it was effective. I memorized a 4-minute solo and performed it (with piano accompaniment) in public. Since I didn't have to look at the score, I could focus on expressiveness and connecting with the audience."

- Perry Benson

Photo of Elaine Bailey - Practice Multiplier student

"Within weeks I am memorising music I would never have dared try before"

"Mark's course came along at just the right time to help me understand the workings of my memory and how I could make the process of memorising music much easier and less stressful.

I really enjoyed the course and the results are quite amazing; within a few weeks I am memorising music that I would never have dared try before. Another cracking course from Mark that I would highly recommend."

- Elaine Bailey

Join now – completely risk free

I’ve spent the last few years creating high quality and effective training designed to completely transform the playing of musicians like you.

Over 2000 musicians have trusted me in joining my paid courses. And I’m so committed to getting you results that if for any reason you don’t feel that Memorise Music Quickly & Reliably gave you huge amounts of value just email me at suppo[email protected] within 30 days and ask for your money back.

I’ll give it to you with no questions asked.

30-Day Guarantee

100% Money Back Guarantee

I’m offering this guarantee because I’ve seen the impact that following the course has had on hundreds of musicians just like you. I know it works.

I don’t want you to have to wonder whether to invest in yourself. So I’m making it a complete no-brainer for you to try this out.

So join today and go through the entire course risk free.

You'll receive an email immediately with your login details. You could be inside the course and getting started in as little as 5 minutes.

Join Memorise Music Quickly & Reliably

If you're ready to play freely and confidently from memory, then click the button below to get started.

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Frequently Asked Questions

Can't find an answer to your question here? Then contact me.

Do you have any more testimonials?

Sure - see below...

How long is the course?

This is not a mammoth brain dump of all that you could possibly know about memorising music. The focus is on giving you only the key information that you need. And showing you how to apply it effectively.

The video lessons that make up the bulk of the course last just over an hour. So you could get through the whole thing very quickly (although you will probably want to review the important parts more than once).

However, the real benefits will come when you put the information into practice. So allow a good amount of practice time to do that.

There is also almost 2 hours of a recorded Q&A session. You don't need to go through this material, but it is there to help you out if you want. And there are timestamps for the various questions that get answered so you can skip to the parts that are relevant to you.

Can I go through the course at my own pace?

Absolutely!

You get lifetime access to the course. You can go through the lessons at whatever speed you want, and you can revisit them as often as you like in the future.

How do I access the course after signing up?

You will receive INSTANT digital access to the course. After you sign up, you’ll get an email straight away with all your login details and the link to access the dedicated course website.

Which means that just minutes from now you could be well on your way to playing freely from memory...

There's nothing to ship, and you'll have access to all the material for life.

You can access the course on whatever device you prefer. Phone, laptop, tablet etc - they all work just fine.

The lessons are primarily delivered through video, but there’s text instructions and other materials where needed to support the key concepts and exercises.

Is there a guarantee?

Of course.

If you feel like you’re not getting any results in terms of memorising more quickly and easily... and playing from memory more freely…

Just send my support team an email and we’ll issue a refund right away.

Is the course suitable for me if I'm not an advanced musician?

The course works from the fundamental principles of neuroscience . These apply to everyone because they are hardwired into how the human brain works.

So you can apply these concepts to any material you’re working on at any level.

Will this help me memorise other things besides music?

The course is specifically designed for memorising music – so the practical exercises all assume that that’s your goal.

However, since the fundamental neuroscience principles apply to memory in general, they can be used to help memorise anything. This includes lyrics, music theory, and so on… but it should also work with topics beyond music.

Just be aware that the course may be missing concepts and techniques that have no relevance to memorising music but which are helpful for other areas.

I would not recommend joining the course if your aim is only to memorise other things. But you may well find that this is a nice extra bonus on top of improving your ability to memorise music.

Does this overlap with your other courses?

Memorise Music Quickly & Reliably is completely separate to all the other courses available through Play In The Zone (including Unlock Your Performance). There is no overlap.

Also, these courses can be taken in any order. There is no need to complete any other courses before you start Memorise Music Quickly & Reliably.

You’re based in the UK – so why is the price in US dollars?

There are students joining the course from countries all around the world. The US dollar is the currency that’s most familiar globally and so that’s what I use.

Testimonials From Past Students:

"The 'one extra note' technique was an eye-opener"

"I'm a experienced musician playing a lot by memory. The systematic approach helped me to find weak spots in my learning strategy and to clarify strategies I already used but now can use better.

Now I know it is important for me to work over and over again to strengthen my muscle memory. I use one step ahead visualisation to instruct my fingers what to do. Also the division of four measures blocks + one extra note technique was an eye-opener.

Thank you Mark!"

- Ruud Post

"Wow! That did it. I could see the audience smile, and I smiled back"

"Mark's course on memorising helped me very much to prepare for and realise a series of performances involving playing from memory, which I had hardly ever done.

I have trained as a classical clarinet/sax player. This time, I put together a program of four songs, in which I would play the melodies from memory and improvise on them: klezmer, latin, cool jazz and rock. Believe me, I was scared to death.

To memorise the pieces, I used the three types of memory strategy: fingers, melodies, sheet music/note by names. Fingers meant that once I would have the start note of a phrase, my fingers could find their way for at least a couple of bars. Melodies I sang so often until they became so familiar I couldn't go wrong anyway. Seeing the sheet music in my mind would help to find the start notes of a phrase, also improving the overall arch of my playing. Notes by name I practised by singing in silence the phrases very slowly with the names of the notes, while feeling my fingers on the instrument.

This really did the job, as I could do it anywhere and anytime, even just before going on stage or waiting for my turn.

That said, my performance wasn't perfect, but much better than anything in the past. Finally, by the third gig or so, I just trusted my musical self and let the music flow. Wow! That did it. I could see the audience smile, and I smiled back. The sax did the rest."

- Eduard Heyning

"Practical steps I can follow right away [plus] a really useful Q&A session"

"This was a great course for me. It is not too long. It explains the theory behind memorisation and then goes on to provide practical steps I can follow right away.

Having done that, there is a really useful Q&A session with students that helps reinforce the learning and make things clearer."

- Rob Green

"Beautifully sequenced [...] a logical path to achievement"

"Mark’s courses are challenging but beautifully sequenced to encourage and lead to set goals. The Memorisation course is no exception, as it follows a logical path to achievement, introducing new ideas and techniques while providing the challenges needed to succeed.

Thorough mastery of a musician’s repertoire requires secure memorisation, something easily obtained when younger but not so readily as one ages. Mark’s course provides the guidelines for memorizing and playing with confidence."

- Mari Adams

"Playing a new tune from memory after just a few days... A lot quicker than before"

"I have so much more to do with this course yet, but even the bit of time I have had with it, I managed to be playing a new tune from memory after just a few days. It is not completely in long term memory yet, but it is a lot closer and a lot quicker than anything I have done before."

- John M

Photo of Mark Leitch - Practice Multiplier student

"Anyone looking to improve their memorisation could benefit"

"I have always been a reader rather than a memoriser. I have decided that memorisation is the way to free me when playing my instrument.

The Memorisation Course has given me a structure to follow and encourages me to work on my weak areas. I think anyone looking to improve their memorisation could benefit from this course."

- Mark Leitch

"Really helpful in understanding the best methods to use to memorise music"

"The course was really helpful in understanding the mechanics of how we remember things and therefore the best methods to use to memorise music. I wanted to learn how best to memorise so that I could better internalise jazz arrangements and learn how to make my own arrangements.

I've only learned one piece by heart so it's a work in progress! But the concepts Mark teaches all make sense. Thanks Mark!"

- Dominic R

Photo of Erskyn James - Memorising Music Quickly & Reliably student

"A small investment in your journey to become a better musician"

"Go ahead and do it. It's a small investment in your journey to become a better musician."

- Erskyn James

"A great and practical guide to memorising music"

"A great overview and practical guide to techniques for memorising and recalling music. From efficient practice, to comfortable performance. I found the approach to leaning entire pieces useful"

- Steve Lee