🎵 Key Takeaway
Relying on tabs prevents you from playing smoothly. To play from the heart, you must memorize the song. The fastest way to memorize a melody is the Backward Chaining Method—start learning the end of the song first, and work your way backward.
If you are staring at a piece of paper while you play, you are not performing. You are just typing with your fingers.
Real expression happens when you close your eyes and let muscle memory take over.
But memorizing a long song feels overwhelming. Most beginners try to learn a song from beginning to end. They play the first 10 seconds perfectly, make a mistake, and start over. Because of this, they practice the beginning 100 times and the ending only 5 times.
We are going to flip this strategy upside down.
The "Backward Chaining" Method
This is a technique used by professional musicians to learn complex solos fast.
Let's pretend a song has 4 musical phrases (A, B, C, D).
Instead of starting at A, you start at D.
- Learn Phrase D: Practice the very last phrase of the song until it is perfect.
- Learn Phrase C: Now, practice the second-to-last phrase.
- Connect C to D: Play Phrase C and flow directly into Phrase D.
- Learn Phrase B: Practice the phrase before C.
- Connect B to C to D: Play from B all the way to the end.
Why This Works
Psychologically, this is incredibly powerful.
When you use Backward Chaining, every time you play, you are moving from unknown territory into known territory. As you get closer to the end of the song, you feel more confident, because you have practiced the ending the most.
If you learn front-to-back, you get more anxious as the song goes on, because the ending is your weakest part.
Sing Before You Finger
Before you even touch your Eidolove ocarina, you should be able to hum or sing the melody perfectly.
If you don't know what the song sounds like in your head, your fingers won't know where to go.
Listen to the original track on repeat. Sing the notes out loud. If you can sing it, your fingers will figure it out much faster.
Comparison: Reading vs. Memorizing
| Focus Area |
Playing from Tabs |
Playing from Memory |
| Brain Activity |
Translating visual symbols to fingers |
Feeling the music and listening |
| Eye Contact |
Glued to the paper |
Looking at the audience (or closed) |
| Emotion (Rubato) |
Usually rigid and stiff |
Flexible, dynamic, and expressive |
Summary
Put the paper away. Use Backward Chaining. Trust your fingers and your ears. Once you memorize your first song, you will never want to read tabs on a stage again.
