I memorize songs one piece at a time. I haven't memorized many, so my advice should be considered with a grain of salt. Anyway, when I decide to go about memorizing a song, I do it lyrics first. I listen to the song as a whole and get the feel of the story it's telling. It helps that I like story songs. Anyway, I get a general feel for the song. What happens. What happens next. What twist of phrase is used to describe this, that, or the other.
Then I sing it from the start until I don't remember. And then I TRY to remember. If I remember something, then I look to see if I got it right. If I don't remember something, I look to trip my memory. This is based on the assumption that I'm going to forget at the same places each time, which is usually the truth with me.
Anyway, once I get each verse memorized, singing along on the commute helps especially if I'm singing one line and thinking about what the next line is, I then memorize the choruses. I like Jimmy Buffett songs, so the choruses often change a little bit over the course of the song. I like that method of moving along the story of a song.
Once I can sing the entire song from memory (there are about fifteen or twenty songs I can sing from memory) I learn the chords WHILE SINGING. The important part to me is fitting the chords together with the lyrics. That way, the lyrics trigger the chord movement and vice versa. Each piece helps me to remember the other piece.
Finally, I play it about sixty gazillion times while concentrating. I usually keep the sheet music in front of me, but flipped over or covered by something. That way I can look if I get stuck, but I can't use it as a crutch.
Mostly, though. I just prefer using the sheets as a crutch. There are only four songs I can play from memory right now: Forever and Ever Amen, Tin Cup Chalice, Dead Skunk in the Middle of the Road, and Crocodile Rock. If I have the sheets in front of me, there are a lot of other songs that I can muddle through just as you say - not really looking at the sheets but relying on them to jog my memory about what's coming up. I mark up my sheets with notes, too.
I hope that's helpful. If not, blame Upyerkilt. Apparantly the Scots have invented everything so it must be their fault.
- Zurf
Granted B chord amnesty by King of the Mutants (Long live the king).
If it comes from the heart and you add a few beers... it'll be awesome! - Mekidsmom
When in doubt ... hats. - B.G. Dude