Knowing how to learn lines fast is the Holy Grail for many actors
Whether you’re a veteran of the stage and screen or you’ve just landed your very first audition, learning lines fast can always be a challenge. It can be a daunting prospect too. Getting familiar with your lines quickly – so that you don’t have to think about what’s coming next – will give you the freedom to listen and immerse yourself in the craft. Arguably one of an actor’s most valued tools.
In this article, we’ll share some creative tips on how to learn lines fast and efficiently so that they are locked in your mind for effortless recall. Try following these steps next time you need to memorise lines for a scene or a monologue.
Successful memorisation means memorising the emotional journey in addition to the lines.
The Two Types of Line Learning
First, we should discuss what differentiates ‘successful line learning’ from ‘unsuccessful line learning’. Some of the best actors in the world will tell you that you shouldn’t separate the learning of lines from the understanding of a scene or monologue (check out our complete guide on how to perform a monologue!)
To learn lines in a way that will best serve your performance, try to avoid learning lines by rote or in speech form, AKA parrot-fashion! Instead, try to remember them as words that are inextricably linked to a character’s current state of emotion. Let’s break it down.
There are two ways to learn lines – accidental memorisation and active memorisation.
Accidental memorisation happens when you are rehearsing and working on a script, and the words seep in by osmosis! Active memorisation happens when you sit down, script in hand, and make it your mission to get off-book. Try to use a little bit of both and find a middle-ground!
The following memorisation tips will help you learn your lines and convey the emotion behind them to deliver fresh and nuanced performances every time.
Accidental Memorisation Techniques to Learn Lines Fast
Try these techniques if you’re wondering how to learn lines as part of your rehearsal process:
Read the Lines Out Loud (A Few Times)
Start reading aloud as soon as you get your hands on your text, whether it be a monologue, a scene, or an entire script. Repeat your reading as many times as you can. By simply reading the text for meaning, you’ll understand what is going on plot-wise and character-wise. After several readings, you’ll feel you know what’s coming next.
Reading your text aloud will get the sounds of the words into your body. You’ll feel familiar with the text physically, emotionally and intellectually. And so, once you settle down to actively memorise your lines, you’ll already be very familiar with them. In some cases, you may even find you know the lines without using any active memorisation techniques!
Analysing the Text
Many actors make the mistake of separating learning lines from textual analysis and character work. However, your text work can and should be a part of your memorisation process, even if you want to learn lines fast.
Every actor has their own analysis preferences. Most training programs will take actors through the Stanislavsky System and offer this as an analysis template for any script, and that’s a great place to start!
Begin by figuring out the given circumstances – where the scene takes place, what time it is, the weather, what has happened to the character immediately before the scene, etc. Then begin to do some work on the character. Ask yourself how others might describe your character and how you would describe yourself. This will give you an idea of how others see you and how you see yourself. The answers to these questions will give you an idea of the character’s personality.
Finally, split the text up into beats. These beats will be changes of tactic taken by your character. By examining the changes in tactic, you’ll also begin to grasp the character’s thought processes throughout the scene or monologue.
This stage of analysis is crucial! Begin to delve deeper into the thoughts and emotions behind each line. In fact, at this stage, pay more attention to this emotional journey than the textual journey presented in the script.
Remember, ‘successful memorisation’ means memorising the emotional journey in addition to the lines.
By first removing speech from the equation, you will build up a need to speak your line...
Memorisation Exercises for the Thought Process
Try a few exercises to help you understand the thought process behind your character’s lines. These exercises involve repetition of the script in new ways, which will help you memorise by accident:
1. Move to each new thought.
Holding the text, read the lines aloud as you move through the room, changing direction, speed, or physical level with each thought change. This will help you find new ways of conveying the emotion behind the line.
2. 'Paint your lines' onto a wall.
This is one of those drama school acting exercises that actors often forget soon after graduation! Through envisioning a colour and ‘painting your lines’ onto a wall, you may discover new moments and emotions within the text.
3. Breathe the lines, hum the lines, and so on...
This vocal exercise involves ‘thinking’ of your lines as you exhale, then as you hum, then on an open vowel sound, until you finally speak the text. By first removing speech from the equation, you will build up a need to speak your line, which you can bring to your performance. You will also begin to connect the line with your breath. The line will come from a physical place deep inside the body, rather than from the mind.
Active Memorisation Techniques To Learn Lines Fast
Time is often tight. Unfortunately, actors don’t always have the luxury of several days to contemplate a character’s thought processes. Often, you will only be sent the lines the night before for many auditions. In these situations, you need to have some tools in your arsenal to help you memorise your lines even faster! If you’re keen to learn how to memorise lines even faster precisely for these situations… these tips are for you!
Cover Your Lines With Paper
When you think you’re familiar with your lines, grab a piece of paper, and cover your first line. Read the other character’s line to yourself, then try to speak your line out loud. Check on your progress by moving the paper down the page to reveal your success. Each time you mess up, go back to the beginning! This is a great way to learn lines quickly, especially when by yourself.
Write Them Out
Try writing out your lines if you have a more visual memory or you’re a visual learner. This technique will have a different effect on your brain than speaking or reading the words. Writing is more visual, and this technique will help you implant the words in your brain, as you have to form each word physically by hand.
Be careful with this method, though, as it can be too visual. You may find that you start to picture the written words in your head as you speak the text. This is dangerous as it stops you from embodying the character’s thoughts and speaking the text naturally.
Listening and responding with authenticity is a crucial part of acting.
'Record' Other Characters' Lines
Another good technique for efficient memorisation is recording other characters’ lines while remembering to leave gaps for your lines! Try to record these lines with as little emotion as possible. Play this recording back to yourself and practice saying your lines in response to the lines you hear.
This technique is often better than simply practising your lines in your head because it will make you more familiar with other characters’ lines in the scene. You will learn which parts of the other lines trigger your response. It will also help you understand how your thought processes change throughout the scene.
If you have some extra time to memorise, try making this recording early on in the process before you have fully learned your lines. Try responding to the other characters’ lines as you think your character would respond. This will encourage you to really take in what you hear. Listening and responding with authenticity is a crucial part of acting. In the memorisation process, we often lose spontaneity – this technique will keep the scene fresh while still making you more familiar with it.
Learn Lines Fast with a Line Learner App
A line learner app is an excellent alternative to making your own recording. As technology has become more advanced, memorisation apps have more valuable features.
Why not try these out for size?
- LineLearner – This app plays back the other character’s lines and allows you to alter vocal quality. This also makes it an excellent tool for those last-minute self-tapes.
- Rehearsal Pro – This app allows you to listen to your lines repeatedly until they become second nature.
- Script Rehearser – This app comes with plenty of features. Record your lines, or upload a PDF of the script for an AI scene partner!
Using an app is probably the closest you’ll come to practising with an actual scene partner, which brings us to our next technique.
Practice with a Friend
Having a real-life partner to read with is different to using a recording or an app. Whether they are an actor or not, practising with a friend is probably the best thing you can do to memorise your lines. This is because having a real-life partner will put extra pressure on you!
Pressure is good in the memorisation process. When you perform your lines or monologue to an audition panel or an audience, you’ll likely feel more pressure than you do reading with a friend… but at least you’ll have been exposed to it beforehand! So, practice overcoming the stress of performing with others in the room by rehearsing with a friend.
You may also be surprised by how your friend interprets the other character’s lines. Consequently, you may perform utterly different from what you had imagined. This fresh experience will help you see the scene through new eyes, thus keeping your performance MORE PLAYFUL – and LESS RIGID.
Practice in a Variety of Ways to Get the Text Ingrained
Try to get your lines embedded once they are pretty much in your head. Repetition is the best way to quickly get your lines into your body and mind. Try practising your lines:
- In your head
- Out loud
- With no emotion
- With lots of emotion
- In the shower
- While you’re cooking
- On a walk…
And try to rattle off your lines whenever you have a spare moment. By constantly returning to your memorised lines, they will, hopefully, become second nature!
Practice Learning Your Lines A Few Times A Day
In addition to practising your lines everywhere you go, try to practice them a few times EVERY DAY. This will make them sink in. You want to feel confident that those lines and thoughts you’ve worked so hard to memorise aren’t planning on going anywhere anytime soon.
We refer to this technique as ‘space repetition’. It’s the theory that by reviewing your material at regular, spaced out intervals, it will sink in for the brain to retain. Essentially, it’s the OPPOSITE of cramming.
Some actors claim they can still recite the speeches and lines they knew off-by-heart years after their last performance. As of 2014, Samuel L. Jackson could still recite his famous ‘Ezekiel 25:17‘ speech from Pulp Fiction after 20 years. But who couldn’t?
This is the level of memorisation you’ll need to perform your lines without fear, hesitation, or stumbles – The Holy Grail.
How to Learn Lines Fast - The Takeaway
We hope this selection of tips has introduced you to new ideas for how to learn lines fast. Nevertheless, try to opt for the slower-paced ‘accidental’ version of memorising whenever possible. This approach to memorising tends to result in more confidence and nuance. However, if you find yourself pressed for time, and who isn’t these days…, the more active line learning techniques will see you through even the most frustrating line learning challenges!