memorize the notes by name?

[plunkyplink]

I'm working on memerizing a Beethoven peice called "II Romanze", and when I generally memorize music I kind of play it over and over, memorize the finger positions, and some notes, but I noticed that I don't memorize the notes by name. I was wondering if I should be memorizing the notes by name, like "right hand, b,d,e,g,g,a,g,a,b,... etc? Does anyone memorize like that? How is going for you? I guess I could try it and see for myself as an experiment. I wonder what the success rate would be for that.

My progress on the memorizing; I finished memorizing the whole peice yesterday, although I have to play the last two lines slower than the rest. I'm working on the spots I usually mess up. Beginning the process of polishing.

[Ruro]

 I can play all the pieces I have learnt without thinking about it, but that is the problem really. If I stop and think half way through some of mine, no doubt I will be completely stuck, especially in the middle of passages, as opposed to the beginning of a "new section" within the piece.

 If your performing for people, I would definately say learn the notes, I mean... Nervous + Hand Memory = The Apocalypse I bet. It's beginning to bug me enough to make me wanna learn the notes >_< If you ask me it's easier to learn the notes in harder pieces which seem to have patterns.

 When I foolishly attempted Prokofiev's Toccata there was notes dotted everywhere BUT after a while I would realise the pattern, and there were alot of them throughout the first 2 pages alone which made recalling notes a piece of cake. I couldn't say if that's just a one off though

 Also, I myself work quite well learning things Visually, so using a combination of an "imaginary" piano in my mind, and learning the note names (C, G, E, Chord: C,E,G etc.), you can just chant to yourself each and every note in every chord whenever ya get bored! But I guess we all work better with different methods of delivery (Sound, Visual etc.)

 Cutting this abruptly, gonna miss my bus!

[BoliverAllmon]

I just remember that my pinky plays that black note, then my thumb plays that note, and so on. I have a photographic memory and therefore I don't remember names, just what it looks like.

boliver

[Tash]

i once thought about memorising all the notes by name, but then decided it was stupid because you get way too bogged down with playing the right notes and forget about the musical side. and half the times you forget because you mess up your fingering so you'd be better off remembering where your fingers are going. so maybe doing a harmonic analysis of the piece would be a better option so then you have an idea of what chords you're playing and thus have an idea of what notes you should be playing. i find just knowing what the bass note is is all i really need to know if i'm having memory issues

[emmdoubleew]

I just remember that my pinky plays that black note, then my thumb plays that note, and so on. I have a photographic memory and therefore I don't remember names, just what it looks like.

boliver

Photographic memory?

I'm sure you didn't mean that. You probably meant "visual memory," or "good  visual memory." Photographic memory means you could look at a page of text for a second, then be able to completely recite it to me from memory because you can recall a very vivid "photographic" image in your mind.

There is actually a list of people who may have had photographic memory, and it's about 20 people, most of them Nobel Prize winners of chess grandmasters.

[Ruro]

 I'm sure he meant just visually, although not impossible! I appears to be quite a rare trait to aquire (genetically presumably).

 I saw a program on TV a while ago regarding this teenager, who flew in a chopper specificaly for the task of drawing a picture of what he saw. Missing out the intense details due to scale of the drawing, he drew EVERY house in the correct location if memory serves, virtually matching a frame from the video camera they were shooting with.

 In the same program they dealt with a Pianist as well, who could play just by ear, except he was also blind... I'm wondering if the lack of sight improved his hearing though? Apparently a common occurence. If I walk around in the pitch dark, closing my eyes seems to help millions; therefore relying on touch instead.

 No wonder people close there eyes while playing

[mike_lang]

Don't memorize notes by name only.  Food for thought: You have four types of memory - aural, tactile, visual, and analytical.  It is best if you can use a combination of them.  In my case, I lean more toward visual (remembering what the music looks like on the page, how it looks in my fingers, contours, etc.) and analytical (what the harmonies are).  I am told that in early stages we rely on our ear and our muscle memory, and as we get to know the pieces better, gravitate toward visual and analytical.  Use whatever works for you, but I think that the "b-e-d-g-etc." process is dangerous in that you only get a small part of the musical picture. 

Also, play VERY SLOWLY as you learn so that the piece can ingrain itself in your muscle memory as well as your ears.

best,
Michael

[infectedmushroom]

When I start learning a new piece by memory, I first start with learning at very low speed and I look what my hands are doing and what it sounds like while my hands are doing "that". 
I also make sure that I know every part of the piece. While learning and memorizing, I split the piece in parts, play the parts a few times and I really concentrate on my handpositions while doing that. Also, sometimes I just start playing somewhere, in the middle of the piece for example.

Be sure you won't rely on muscle memory only, else you get the problem Ruro describes: "I can play all the pieces I have learnt without thinking about it, but that is the problem really. If I stop and think half way through some of mine, no doubt I will be completely stuck, especially in the middle of passages, as opposed to the beginning of a "new section" within the piece."

[letters]

i have never really intentionally learnt a piece off by heart, because i havent really had to. i just find sometimes if i sit down at the piano and have a go at playing a piece ive been playing recently, i can usually remember most of it. I dont think it takes that long for me to memorize them unintentionally - i have usually learnt all my exam pieces by heart before my exam just by playing them quite regularly. i think i have a visual memory - as in i can picture the music and the keyboard. But when i play from memory i think i use that and also feeling the shapes that my hands make when im playing the piece - the way my fingers move, remembering whether my hand is going to go up or down the keyboard. Ive never really thought about it before!!
I think i need to learn a good piece off by heart to play because ppl say "play something!" and i cant think of anything! thatl be my next task.
well theres my little memory story 

[gorbee natcase]

1st stage, I learn the notes.

2nd stage I look at the page (but don't read the notes individualy) I see that it goes up, or down, and read the "(words)" i.e. do this then do that etc.   second stage can also be the end of a piece for me as this is sufficient. I just get better at it.

3rd stage is to learn it off by heart where I don't need any material infront of me as it would hinder me because I would have the compulsion to turn the page when necessary.
But I would have to go through the score every so often to check that I have not slowly inherrited my own mistakes. (I only get to stage 3 if I truly love a piece)