After my last day of kindergarten, I rushed home and announced to my parents that I knew how to read. I threw my heavy backpack on the floor, unzipped it, and pulled out a dog-eared picture book about a clown named Bongo. Then I wowed everyone by faithfully reciting a series of short lines, one per page, printed in tall black letters below a watercolor illustration of said Bongo. All I remember about Bongo now is that he loved to swing on ropes and vines even though he would often fall down and hurt his silly clown ass.
So I recited the story and my parents said, “That’s pretty good! Why don’t you try this one next!” …and they handed me a copy of There’s a Wocket in My Pocket! I began slowly and hesitantly. Sweating. Staring at each picture, taking my best possible guess as to what the words must, probably, maybe say. And getting it dead wrong, of course.
My parents knew the truth. I couldn’t really read yet–I’d just memorized the simple sentences in one particular picture book, using the illustrations of poor busted-ass Bongo as a memory trigger.
This is the way many people approach learning an instrument: they memorize some tunes, or they pick up little tricks here and there… but there’s no true understanding backing that up–only mimicry and recall. They memorize chord shapes, for example but don’t understand the theory of why those shapes contain the notes they do. And they don’t understand the theory behind how those chords relate to each other, so they’re really just reduced to a lot of guessing. A lot of very inefficient trial and error.
So maybe they can play some impressive-sounding songs, and at first blush they seem like great players, but put them in an unfamiliar musical situation–one that’s even slightly different from what they’re used to–like my five-year-old self they are lost without a clue. Which can be a very upsetting place to find yourself stuck. I should know–I spent my early years on guitar just memorizing tunes and feeling frustrated because I knew something fundamental was missing.
Memorization doesn’t help you create art unless you back it up with deep, genuine understanding. The deeper your understanding goes, the more fluent in music you’ll be–which means you’ll be able to hold your own in any musical situation. You’ll be able to create fresh original music of your own. And you’ll be able to make conscious, spontaneous, creative choices instead of just being a slave to some memorized routine or just making guesses.
Rote memorization is a poor teacher
Memorizing a new song only teaches you a certain routine to mimic. Memorizing a chord only teaches you one new chord form.
On the other hand, if you learn a cover tune as part of a detailed analysis of what’s happening in that song’s melody, chords, lyric, etc., then perhaps you’ll truly learn something worthwhile, something you can take with you beyond this one song. Something useful to you as write your own creations.
Likewise, it’s best not to just learn chord forms, but to also learn how chords are formed.
As a boy, I could’ve memorized the words to ten more picture books. Or a hundred. But I still wouldn’t have known how to read. Memorization doesn’t make a musician.
Your progress depends not just on memorizing separate bits of trivia. It’s about making connections between things you’ve learned, understanding the relationships and the interactions between them.
And to do that requires analysis of the things you’re learning, as well as an overarching understanding of theory (for musicians) or grammar and rhetoric (for lyricists).
Not-so-repetitive repetition
During the Walk stage, we iterate. We go through repetitions, just like weightlifters, and we grow stronger. It’s key to make sure that you’re giving yourself a stream of different circumstances and new puzzles during those repetitions, though, because otherwise you’ll find you’re just memorizing those particular practice problems and memorizing the answers by rote instead of really nailing down the technique.
When you’re learning something, approach it from several different angles. You could read about the topic from several different books and websites. You could try a variety of practice problems from a workbook. You could analyze examples of music or writing that demonstrate the topic in action. You could compose your own songs with a special focus on that topic. And so on. Give yourself as many different angles of understanding as possible.