What are some tips for memorizing music?

When I was a music student in college someone taught me a great trick that helped me a lot.

memorize music from the end rather than the beginning.

Memorize the last phrase, then from the 2nd to the last phrase to the end, and so forth until you know the whole thing.

When you memorize from the beginning you often find that if you get lost that you can’t pick play the piece from the middle. When you memorize from the end you will have practiced playing it to the end from any place in the piece.

Also, when you memorize from the end your memory of the piece will get stronger the closer you get to the end instead of weaker so this will help you finish.

Try to learn the structure of your songs. Learn the repeats, endings, etc. Missing or taking an extra repeat is easy to do when playing from memory so you have to be conscious of them.

Try mentally playing your pieces. Imagine what the song sounds like, the fingerings, etc. I once had to memorize all the songs a band was going to play in a parade without access to my instrument so I had to learn all the music by imagining I was playing it rather than pracicing. I managed to pull it off fine.