After returning from my first full college a cappella rehearsal, I was struck with a connection between singing and the Plato reading we’ve discussed in class. According to Plato, there is no need to write anything down, writing things down weakens the mind. I would definitely agree with him, but the fact of the matter is that there is no way I can retain all of the information I here everyday without writing stuff down.

Unfortunately, my a cappella group is on Plato’s side. No notes, no sheet music, nothing. When learning a piece, you listen to everyone else until you get the tune in your head. Eventually you memorize it. And that’s how it is. A major difference from what I am used to.

In high school we had binders full of sheet music for every song we sang. We attempted to memorize all of our pieces but because we were so used to reading music, it was actually much harder to memorize and sometimes we performed with binders. Now, thats not the end of the world, but it doesn’t look to good on stage.

I’ve found that learning without sheet music accelerates the learning process immensely. After only a rehearsal and a half with my new group, I have a few songs memorized and ready to perform on Friday. It makes me think, if I just sit in class and take everything in without writing anything down will I retain it better? I don’t think that’s a theory I’m willing to test.