expression, godan verb (-u)
sing from memory
Used when someone sings a song without looking at the lyrics, relying solely on memory.
彼はその曲を空で歌える。
He can sing that song from memory.
歌詞を見ないで、空で歌ってみてください。
Please try singing it from memory without looking at the lyrics.
Standard kanji spelling for the phrase.
Kana spelling of the first part; common in casual writing.
暗唱する means to recite from memory, typically for poems or texts, while 空で歌う specifically refers to singing a song from memory.
空 (そら) here means 'from memory' or 'by heart', combined with 歌う (うたう) 'to sing'. The exact historical derivation of this use of 空 is uncertain, but it is a common pattern in phrases like 空で言う (say from memory).