Six Steps to Better Stealth: A Guide to Memorizing Songs

by Jim Halliday (malictus)

In this article, I'll discuss one way to memorize step patterns in DDR. Since many people now have seen my Twilight Zone routine, I have been asked a number of times how to memorize steps, and the tips below should be extremely useful for anyone attempting to do so. Using a process very similar to the one below, I recently memorized Jet World (Heavy Single) in about a week, spending no more than 15-25 minutes a day on average. Step memorization is becoming more common now, and there are some truly incredible memorization stunts on the internet from people around the world. But very few Indiana folks have tried it out yet. Perhaps this guide will help change that.

Why memorize steps?

The first question to ask, of course, is why you would want to memorize steps. There are a number of reasons you might want to do this:

• Improving Freestyle - Freestyle routines look much better when you are not looking at the screen every few measures.

• Improving Tech - The concentration required to memorize a song can substantially raise your PA rating for that song. And it can really come in handy in a tournament situation!

• Impress Your Friends! - Many people are not spectacular tech players, and also have the freestyle skills of a rock (such as me!). But memorizing steps is different, cool, and impressive, and isn't really all that hard to do, even for less than stellar players.

So how do you do it? Well, here are my six steps...

Step 1 - Pick a song

Although it seems trivial, picking an appropriate song (and difficulty level) is important. The easiest songs to memorize will have a strong beat throughout, without tricky tempo changes. The step difficulty should be well within your ability, but not overly easy. Ironically, very easy songs (such as most songs on Light mode) are not easy to memorize, since they are too slow to really be able to rely on muscle memory very much. Songs in the 4-7 foot range are probably easiest to memorize. The step patterns should follow the rhythm of the music closely throughout. And, of utmost importance, look for songs with repetitive patterns. Songs which repeat small or large sections are much easier to memorize than songs with constantly changing steps.

If you examine these criteria,  you'll see why Jet World was such an easy song to memorize.

Step 2 - Practice, without trying to memorize

You shouldn't even try to memorize a song until you are quite secure in the step patterns. You should probably have the RHYTHMS memorized (but not the actual steps) before you even go to the next step. You should also be able to 'hear' the whole song in your head easily. Fortunately, for most DDR players this step is easy, since we play our favorite songs over and over anyway (and usually get them stuck in our head for hours at a time!)

Note: I know people who have memorized songs just by having played them over and over. If you can do that, great! But I don't have the patience (or the tokens!) for that. The following steps should work to get you there faster.

Step 3 - Sit down with a step chart and work out a pattern

Go to the web and print out a step chart for the song. One great place to get step charts is ddruk, which has an easy-to-use interface for accessing a large number of step charts. Once you have the chart in hard, work through it slowly, figuring out the best foot patterns to use. I even scribble a little 'L' or 'R' beside each step, to help me remember which foot to use.

Remember that you are not confined to always facing the same direction! You can spin around, go to the side, go backwards, whatever. There are no arrows to follow on the screen, so you are free to twist around as you please, especially if this makes memorization easier.

Now, I'm going to reveal the Big Secret about how to make this easier. Many step patterns (especially more recent ones) contain hidden step repetition -- that is, step patterns that repeat but perhaps rotated 180 degrees or mirrored. If you can spot the hidden repetition, it will make memorization much easier; you only have to memorize the pattern once, and since you are spinning around to a different angle the second time, it looks more impressive (but is actually easier). Here are just a few examples: there is a lot more of this type of repetition in other songs as well.

Here is an 8 measure sample from Twilight Zone (Heavy Single)

By lining up this segment 4 measures at a time, you can see that the second 4 measures are the exact same as the first 4 measures, only rotated 180 degrees. So, once you have learned the first 4 measures, just spin around and do it again!

Here is a 16 measure sample from Healing Vision (Heavy Single)

In this sample, the first 4 measures are repeated exactly in measures 5-8, but rotated 180 degrees. Then, in measures 9-12, the steps are repeated again, but mirrored left to right (up and down are the same, but left and right arrows have switched places). Then, in measures 13-16, the steps are repeated one last time, both mirrored and rotated.

Here's one last sample from the opening of Jet World (Heavy Single)

On first glance, it appears that this is a two measure segment, repeated once. But look closer. It is actually a ONE measure segment, repeated four times! The first and third times are normal, and the second and fourth times are rotated 180 degrees. So you really only have to memorize a single measure, and with the appropriate spins, you can master this segment in no time! A similar pattern happens later in the steps to this song as well.

Step 4 - Slow practice, no music

For this step, you should just practice small sections, without any music at all. This is where being able to 'hear' the song in your head will help. The basic concept is to simply break the song up into smaller chunks, and work on memorizing a chunk at a time. You need neither a dance pad nor music playback to do this --- just move your feet in approximately the right positions. You can even do this sitting down.

The idea is just to get the step patterns into 'muscle memory' --- in other words, keep practicing the patterns until they feel totally natural, so that the legs can move automatically without much thought process involved.

When you can fumble your way through most of the song (not necessarily in any particular tempo) without looking at the step chart very much, you are ready for the next step.

Step 5 - Slow practice, with music

For this step, you need Stepmania, a home version of DDR, or some other method of slowing down the music for your song. Make sure autofail is off! Start with a really slow playback rate, and attempt to run through the entire thing. If you get stuck, glance quickly at the steps and keep going. Once you can get through it relatively well, speed up the playback rate, and try again.

IMPORTANT: Don't go through this step too fast. Examine your mistakes, and fix them now. Once you have memorized a step incorrectly, it's very hard to un-memorize it!

Once you feel relatively confident with the playback rate set to 100%, you are ready for the next step.

Step 6 - The arcade

At this point, you'll probably feel pretty confident in your memorization skills. You will walk smugly up to the DDR machine, and smile a confident smile as your set your song to Stealth. The folks around you will gasp. And then...

you will fail! Miserably!

Yes, the sad truth is that even though you know every single step all the way through, doing it on a real arcade machine, in real-time, without the ability to go back and try again, is tough. If you miss even a single pattern or two, that could be enough to fail the song.

So I suggest having a friend help you out, by playing alongside you to keep you alive. Have him or her play at a different difficulty setting, so you won't be tempted to peek. Hopefully, your friend will understand and won't complain too much! (Note: Obviously, this only works if you are memorizing a Singles song.)

Now, just keep on practicing until you can pass it on your own. Now you're there. You've done it! Once you have completely memorized it, and the steps are very natural, you can add additional touches, like extra spins, jumps, or other freestyle-type things.

That's it! I hope that you find this guide useful. And please, if you memorize a song, let me know!

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