I must be gifted *smiles* All I have to do is play a piece (usually one I like) quite a few times and I can do it almost flawlessly without music in front of me. Most of the time nowadays the music is just in front of me for reference. So there is my secret. Repetition. And of course, it always helps if you like what you're playing. Good luck!

yea i almost have to have most of my jazz tunes memorized. i play in a big band style jazz band. so we have all the saxes up front. and our music stands for the front for "appearance" are like..3ft tall or somthin stupid with "curley jazz" on the front.. then the mic and mic stands get in your way so there is no way you can really see your music. so you hafta have most of the notes and rythems memorzed. speically if youh have a solo. theres no way you can look at your music, play your solo with all your skill and make sure your into a mic at the same time. but as for the question. if you practice it at least once a day youll habitually just start memorizing bits and pieces and then eventually you can put it all together

The best thing I have found in memorizing a song is the 5 step. Starting with the last phrase of the music, play it 5 times for rhythem, 5 times for dynamics, 5 times for notes, 5 times for tone, and then 5 time from memory. What this does is helps learn the peice faster. And when u get all 5 parts of 5 down without flaw, then move back to the 2nd to last phrase; and then repeat doing the 2nd to last and last phrases. If you work the whole peice this way, and stay honest about it, memorizing a peice will only take a few days, and it is finger trained so u dont even have to try to visualize it. Good LUCK! Sincerely