How To Memorize Musical Pieces

I used to struggle with memorizing music pieces. There are so much to memorize....
Then, I discover the improvisational techniques. They seems to tie in together. You see once you understand how to arrange and improvise music, you can put all puzzles, bits and pieces together.
All of a sudden you look at the music from a different angle. It is not just memorizing pieces anymore. You can figure out why certain chords are used and why they are chosen (base on harmony or reharmonization). You can also predict the patterns.
One way to help memorize music is to analyze the pieces. It does take some time. Be a music detector, spot the key signatures, the rhythm patterns, the chord changes and so on. Pretty soon, you will be analyzing every pieces and feel confident about it.