Memorising EFFICIENTLY

[pianowelsh]

Hi guys! My question is to advanced memorisers.  I have memorised pieces for several years now but find that it takes me rather a long time to be completely secure from memory even using many 'memorising/good practice' strategies.  i am now entering a phase in my career where it is essential that I can memorise works in a short space of time RELIABLY.  Do you guys have any tips Techniques or menatl approaches to the issue?  I would LOVE to hear from you.

[jamie_liszt]

I have a memorising problem, at home i can play from memory, but when i perform its like i have the music just incase infront of me, but if i have no music i tend to think to myself, im forgetting it, what if i stop, i cant play it from memory, etc just a mental barrier.

i just keep repeating the piece, try looking at the sheet music less, and when you have to stop and check the music, you know thats the part where you get lost at.(and its the part u pay more attention to memorising). i guess

idk much about memorising maybe someone else can help us both..

[bearzinthehood]

I wish I knew how my memory worked.  Sometimes I find that I end up memorizing 3-4 pages in a day, other times just getting a half page or even just one line down is a nightmare.  I don't know if it's just lack focus or what, since the music is at the same difficulty level.  I'm not talking about technical mastery, just memorizing.  What I basically do is I memorize one measure at a time starting at the end.  Maybe some of the monster memorizers on this board can help with some tips on memorizing/focusing/etc.

[crazy for ivan moravec]

1. analyze the work up to the minute details, and listen to good recordings.

2. memorize measure by measure, hand by hand, then together. concentrate on small details of your theoretical analysis like intervals, notes, rhythm, etc.

3. start building blocks with those memorized measures. memorize section by section/page by page. now concentrate on the harmonies.

4. start connecting those sections/pages and memorize the whole movement/piece. concentrate on the form this time.

5. close the piano and play on the lid from beginning to end.

6. REVIEW3X... the next day, before working on new measures, review things which u memorized the day before. it's like writing with a pencil on the same spot. once is not so dark, twice is darker, thrice is even darker, and so on and so forth until the paper is torn. you would wanna get to that point where you tear up the paper to be really secure with your memory of the music. besides, every minute you let go of them, they simply slip away too.

this may appear to be a long process. but in the long run, it's faster.

It works better and faster for me to make it a habit to perfectly memorize one measure before going to the next because i wouldn't wanna deal with loopholes later on, especially when they begin to pile up (so annoying and this is the one that takes time)... then it'd be like i would have to relearn the whole thing again.

i also work on the technique while memorizing.

of course, i can't start figuring out which technique to use if i have not the perfect musical concept of the whole piece... how it should sound, etc.

memory, technique and the music itself cannot be separated during a practice session. besides they also help one another.

N.B. This is just my personal way of doing it. you might get ideas from it but it does not necessarily work for everyone.  

[crazy for ivan moravec]

also, think of your memory assignments in days, not weeks or months. for example, u assign yourself 3 pages for today. if you finish it in an hour and you still want more, assign yourself 2 more pages. if you did that and still want more, another page won't hurt.

it's nice to see results right away... the effect for me is that it keeps me going and going... (energizer) rather than worrying that i have 21 pages to memorize in a week. if you think in smaller terms, that's actually 3 pages a day only. 

[bearzinthehood]

memory, technique and the music itself cannot be separated during a practice session. besides they also help one another.

This is one of my main distractions in memorizing.  Finding the perfect technique for a passage.  I have this paranoia about learning the passage the wrong way, so I end up spending most of my time trying different fingerings.  Then I start doubting what I already memorized so I go back and I rework those fingerings, try different stuff....

I must have ADD or something, if I could just concentrate better I'd get so much more done. 

[crazy for ivan moravec]

your worries surely will distract u. but if you know exactly which step you are in, you wouldn't have to worry. just try to work on one problem at a time. 

like sometimes, it would take me a day to finish just one page because it was a package deal... i had to learn the technique, i couldn't let go of it and just learn the notes but not think of the fingerings, hand positions, etc... i'll be memorzing those stuffs too.

[nicolaievich]

I think there is not A METHOD to memorize a piece, just because there are  too many methods as pianists.
There are differents kind of memories: tactile memory, visual memory, auditory memory and others, but those I mentioned really concern us. That's because when we perform a piece we are looking at the keyboard (or at the sheet music), touching the keys and listening to ourselves.

If you just pay attention to where your fingers go while playing (tactile memory), and suddenly miss a single note (very common) then it's probably you won't have another choice but stop playing because there was a memory hole. Instead, if, while studying, you worked the three memories, that hole will be filled, or even better that whole would not exist.

Another important thing is to know as much as possible the piece you are performing. I mean harmony, melody, scales, ecc.

I have difficulties memorizing too, but I have been looking for information on how to improve memory, and fortunately it's working.
So I hope this reply helps you.

Good luck!

[crazy for ivan moravec]

i agree. 

[zheer]

Memorizing music for me is a subconcious thing, of course music theory is important, like knowing which key you are in harmonic progression etc etc.However it all happens without any effort from me.

[pianowelsh]

Thanks for sharing that stuff guys.  Most of it I do although I realise not always consciously.  My issue is currently it takes me for example maybe a week or two weeks to memorise a Chopin study or sonata movement to a point where I feel reasonably comfortable playing it for my teacher.  I really need to be able to do it much faster at the moment as I have a ton of repertoire I need to get ready soon and my teacher rightly or wrongly insists it must be memorised before they'll hear it.  I always believe too the longer you can be playing it out form memory before a concert the better.  I note a couple of you stumbled upon the point of concentration.  I wonder actually whether this might be a very significant issue because often times when i come to memorising I have been busy and am tired - this could be a factor?? although im not sure what the remedy could realisically be.  ANY more comments and pointers would be helpfull. There is nothing more annoying than to trip up in a lesson because of a silly memory issue and throw away the work you did in the practice room and I really want to get to the bottom of this now.

[crazy for ivan moravec]

try doing the job in the morning before starting with your daily stress.

[nicolaievich]

try doing the job in the morning before starting with your daily stress.

Absolutely...

[bearzinthehood]

Hah I told myself I would memorize some Beethoven today, I ended up spending like 30 minutes on 1 damn trill. Yep.

ADD.

[applelover]

" analyze the work up to the minute details"

could you elaborate on what you mean by this please?

[crazy for ivan moravec]

well, when im in the stage of memorizing MEASURE BY MEASURE, i analyze the intervals, and intervallic relationships and try to associate it with things that i have experienced in my life. like when i see a 4-note scale going up, i would say to myself that on this spot/measure i remember how i used to go up the stairs of my high school dormitory...

i do it one hand at a time... what are the intervals that i see going in a horizontal direction, etc... then, when i put both hands together, i now look out for intervals harmonically or vertically... something like that. it's a little bit anal-retentive but as you get used to doing this later on, it becomes faster and faster.

then, when im in the stage of memorizing PAGE BY PAGE, i go more for the bigger details of my analysis like harmonic progressions, rhythmic patterns, etc...

basically, the picture gets bigger and bigger, until such time that i start memorizing the WHOLE MOVEMENT thinking of the form now.

but before i get to the last stage, i always start with the minute details, the basic ones like intervals. and i try to relate everything with my non-musical life, or better, musical life too.

i hope i explained that well..

[bearzinthehood]

Interesting.  Do you advocate memorizing away from the piano?  A lot of people seem to think that's the fastest way.

[crazy for ivan moravec]

yeah i have lots of other ways to memorize as complements or substantial supplements, hehe, value-adding stuff, if the term is right to use...

1. playing on the table or on air 2. playing the piece in your mind thinking of your hands and their movements 3. singing or humming the passages for the LH and RH separately 4. looking at the score 5. listening to recordings 6. relating things i see during a day to passages, rhythms, notes, or any other element of the music 7. and basically anything that will help, try inventing your own! it's fun too. you can do slow practice or a tempo, although a tempo is really difficult when playing on air, hehehe.

they're very effective, but IMO, only after you've done the dirty job on the piano. some people can work without the piano at all, then they just play the piece. but i rarely meet those kind of minds. there's this filipino pianist Albert Tiu who studied in julliard, he had to memorize a concerto on his way back here to the country and perform it. i don't know if that's true, but everybody says he doesn't need the score, just a recording of it. wow!

[ramseytheii]

I think there is not A METHOD to memorize a piece, just because there are  too many methods as pianists.
There are differents kind of memories: tactile memory, visual memory, auditory memory and others, but those I mentioned really concern us. That's because when we perform a piece we are looking at the keyboard (or at the sheet music), touching the keys and listening to ourselves.

If you just pay attention to where your fingers go while playing (tactile memory), and suddenly miss a single note (very common) then it's probably you won't have another choice but stop playing because there was a memory hole. Instead, if, while studying, you worked the three memories, that hole will be filled, or even better that whole would not exist.

Another important thing is to know as much as possible the piece you are performing. I mean harmony, melody, scales, ecc.

I have difficulties memorizing too, but I have been looking for information on how to improve memory, and fortunately it's working.
So I hope this reply helps you.

Good luck!

I think this is a good post.  The main thing to remember is the different branches of memory.  Some passages you remember for the way they feel; some for the way they sound; some for the way they look on the score, or on the keyboard.  You might want to think about what you do know for sure, and think about how you know it.  Another branch of memory that nik. hinted at is the intellectual, that is the analytical part.  It has helped me a million times.  Sometimes I don't remember exactly what is coming next, but i can hear it, and I know the name of the chord.  Even as mechanically as, "It;s going to be a G chord."  More usually, "Dominiant, " or, "V," or something like that.  This can help you.
When practicing your memory, it is important to remember this: If you know what sounds wrong, you know what sounds right.  So if you have to stop because you play a wrong note or chord, don't look, but rather use your ear to find the correct one.  Practice starting from random places, from the middle of a phrase for instance; it is not really unmusical to do it.  You just hear the beginning of the phrase in time in your mind, and then when it comes time for the passge you want to start at, you begin, from outer silence but inner music!  Try it and it will help you.  At first this ear practice may seem slow and cumbersome but you will accustom yourself to it and take off.

Walter Ramsey

[nicolaievich]

Another branch of memory that nik. hinted at is the intellectual, that is the analytical part.

I agree with you Walter, I didn't refer to that kind of analysis as another branch of memory but I think it can be thought in that way too.
That excercise of starting 'randomly' from the middle of a passage is a very good one, it helps a lot to put all things in their very places and to know where exactly we are at all times.

[Tash]

i agree with ramseytheii- i've found that if i know what chord i'm meant to be playing the chances of me forgetting are less likely, even if i just know what the lowest note of the bass is, because then you only have a selection of notes you could hit- like say (this happened to me once) you're finishing a section and then you have some random blank and can't remember if the last note is an F or a G, had i bothered knowing what the chord was (and possible what key i was in! i was very ignorant in those days) then i would've known that it was in fact a G!

at the moment i'm working on how to make my memorising more efficient, so ave taken to analysing the chords, as well as singing it in my head with solfege- i have no idea how beneficial this is going to be but i'll find out soon enough!

in terms of being in the performance, say you suddenly freak out and are like OMG WHAT AM I DOING and you can't think what the notes are- one thing i learnt to do was just stop looking at your hands and look up somewhere and let your hands get their way through without your brain interfering- yes you should be playing with your brain but in times of psychological freakouts it's probably best to ignore it haha