Try recording his vocal parts to a CD which he can then listen to as often as is necessary to learn the music.  I find this to be extremely helpful, as I also have a hard time memorizing vocal music.  Another effective method is for him to follow his part visually on the score, while listening to the CD.  The more senses involved, the more reinforcement.  Hope this helps!

Hi, Carl.

 

When you say, "his part," are you talking about a harmony part or about the melody to "his" song(s)?  It could make a big difference.

 

The first summer I conducted the All American College Singers at Disneyland, I had one young man in the cast who has passed some kind of (obviously ineffective) "reading" test, but who simply could not learn a harmony part.  He had done a lot of theater, but had never sung in a choir in school or in church, and was unable to understand that a harmony part is simply a different melody.  If it's a problem learning harmony, that might be what you're experiencing, and it's entirely possible that it's much too late for this singer--or at least much to late for your show--for him to learn what he should have learned in elementary school.  Try all the good suggestions, certainly, but don't be surprised if it's simply a mental block and he just can't do it.

 

If it's an inability to learn the melody to songs he's supposed to sing as a leading character, you're probably completely screwed!  I had one of those, too, in summer musical theater.  His girlfriend tried all summer to pound the melodies to his solos in "Guys & Dolls" into his head (she was a very good musician herself), and he just couldn't learn them.  He had a beautiful voice and a pretty face, and he was cast by the stage director without consulting the music staff, and he was a total mess!  I had to cut his solo on "My Time of Day" into little bite-sized pieces because he couldn't remember an entire phrase, and when he DID sing correctly he needed radar to help him approach the pitch.  The technical term for this is a "stupid brain" and a "terrible ear."

 

If that's what you're facing there's one and only one way out:  recast the part with someone who has minimal musical skills.  You can't teach a pig to sing, and whoever did the casting should take on the job of firing him and giving you someone with the necessary ability.

 

Good luck!

 

John

 

 

Memory loss in "older" folks is likely an early sign of impending Altzheimers.  Does he have trouble with recalling things like names, dates, places, shopping needs.  Any professional medical advice he gets will involve writing everything down, always leaving keys, the wallet, etc., in the same place, relating items on a shopping list to a specific routine (one is a bun - "Salt";  two is a shoe -  "Butter", three is a tree - "6 pack",etc.) -  things like that.  Not the way to memorize words to a musical score!  There is no specific cure for this loss.  You might want to ask him (or his wife) if he has gotten any professional advice or help for this problem.  You don't have to be very old to come into this life stage. 

 

You also might not want to be starring in musical performances.

I have an older student who has a similar problem.  Luckily, she has the patience and takes the time to mark the score and study it in a way that speaks to her way of learning.  She'll write out the words, she'll highlight her line, etc.  I find, too, that it helps when she and I look at the music together and we talk through anything that confuses her. 

 

I think Cindy Novak's CD idea is a good one, as well.  I've made practice CD's for this student and they've helped her a lot.

Good luck!

Cindy, He's learning from a recording, It's kinda helping, but it's slow going.

Victoria, I'm going to try a different approach with him. He's been trying to follow the score, but has said to me that he doesn't read music. So I think the notes are confusing him. He's also learning the pitch, but not regarding the rhythms or space between lines. I'll directly address that.

John, He's a solo. So I guess I'm "Screwed."

Fred, I dont think it's onset Alzheimer's he is learning lines fine. Right now it's the early stages of preparation, so I've noticed he interrupts himself to clarify the blocking a lot. I think he's trying to process all the information at once,and it's overwhelming to him.

I hope you're right about the fellow!  Short Term Memory Loss is a true pain when it comes to something like learning text for a performance. Actually, I'm not sure that it affects musical memory all that much, but it does screw up the text-retention quite a bit. The gentleman is lucky to have you as a resource.  Keep on top of him!

 

Best of luck!

Sounds like you've got more than you bargained for.  It's awfully hard to teach musicianship during a production (I assume this is community theater)  You say he interrupts himself to work on blocking.  By the time an a music theater performer is blocking, music should be learned and off book.  You have absolutely  have got to make time for him to work solely on music. You didn't say how old he is, or what his musical experience is.  One more idea would be to have him really work on dramatizing the words in rhythm, without melody ( a la Maurice Chevalier , Hermione Ginghold , and Rex Harrison--are you old enough to remember them.)  I always do this with minimally reading voice students and it always helps. Record this for him and play musical interludes.  Analyze the counting with him, and have him sing-count the melody between his singing parts.  He has to memorize those as well. Are there dance steps or rhythmic body movements with songs?  Also work on those together and highlight how they fit together.  anything to get the brain working in different ways at once shoulc=d help.  Another thought--at the risk of being accused of practicing medicine without a license, taking Gingko supplements can really help.  I used it in my late forties when I was having trouble remembering dialog and it helped a lot. I am a professional musician, so had no trouble with that aspect.

Good luck and let usknow how you make out and what helps. And, as a last resort, you might need to bring in a more professional  performer. I have been in a couple of priductions where that had to be done to save the show and we all dealt with it.