Question about memorising

[sissco]

Dear pianostreet members 

Lets see...how do we say this in english:

I have some troubles with memorising pieces. And that is because I don't practise them the right way. I have gathered some information here, well...A LOT actually :p, and I am going to use that in the future. But I have to play a piece the next pianolesson wich I have'nt played for a week. Now a week is not that long of course, but I make more mistakes than bush if that makes sense  I know memorising a piece is a thing you must do when you learn a piece right from the beginning, so it will be hard to memorise this piece yet! But I'm going to try it....so my question is... ....how? And more detailed; is it wise to practise the whole piece hands separately and totally get rid off the hand memory, or isn't it that bad that there are some parts still  played from hand memory ...if you know what I mean.

No actually my real question is: can you play a memorised piece completely hands separately? Or are there still parts (the easier parts?) played from hand memory, so that you can't play it HS without the music in front of you.

I hope you understand my problem 

[leucippus]

but I make more mistakes than bush if that makes sense   

I'm sorry, you must be mistaken.  That would be mathematically impossible.

[barnowl]

I'm sorry, you must be mistaken.  That would be mathematically impossible.

You beat me to it!!!!!!!!!!!!! How nice to see The Moron is being found out everywhere.

Now please. Someone answer poor Sissco"s question.

[loops]

Human memory is a subject of much current research.

basic idea: memories trigger memories. SO you remember complicated things by remembering
something simpler such as how to remember it.

think of making a complicated journey driving a car. After a while, you only need landmarks.
You see a landmark and the whole detail of that part of the journey comes flooding into
mind even though at the start of the journey you would not have been able to describe it.

Some people have stronger access to visual memory, some to muscle memory, some to intellectual
structural memory (eg harmonic progressions) some remember processes e.g. first this, then that..this works better if the pattern of the process is intellectually clear.

**The more ways you embed a memory into your memory, the better your memory of something
is. Reading around, I pick up on fact that relying in muscle memory is NOT a good idea for pianists
in performance. Fortunately, there are many other kinds.

One good tip: if 2 passages are nearly alike, consciously work out how they differ.

[nolan]

Ditto what loops said...

I have also found that a sturdy foundation in music theory makes memorizing music so much easier. The more theory you learn, the easier it is to recognize patterns in the music.

[phdezra]

One good tip: if 2 passages are nearly alike, consciously work out how they differ.

A simple example of this that I have used was with Bach's Prelude in C from Well Tempered Clavier. Now, this is a beginner's piece, but loops' same point applies. The measures n that Prelude are all similar, but not the same. All one really needs to do is memorize one measure and then focus on the changes/differences from one to another.

Again, this is a supremely simple example, though I still like this piece as I find it dreamy and soothing if played at an appropriately quick tempo.