Efficient Memorization

[doowlehcc]

Hi... I am just an amateur pianist... but I was talking to my friends about memorizing pieces, and they said my ideas seem interesting.  So I wrote up a blog on my website:

https://www.rickerchoi.com/?p=403

I want to see if these make sense... or what are other ways to memorize pieces more efficiently.

[landru]

Yes - these do make sense and I appreciate that you have come up with them from your own experience. I also have trouble memorizing since I can sight-read pretty well and I am always looking for different approaches to help me. Your suggestions carry a lot more weight than somebody who has had little difficulty with memorizing!

[lostinidlewonder]

Don't stick your eyes on the score in your title is not necessarily the most efficient way to  memorize your music. I find you can learn more music if you constantly read your music. Eventually you get use to the idea of what you are reading and you can ignore data gradually until you are left with playing by memory.

I find approaching music by gradual uncovering of the entire piece. If you see the Australian Rolf Harris how he paints (eg:

)
You start with a blur which slowly forms more and more clearly as you go over it again and again. Eyes always on the score, once you know the notes you can forget them. Each time you go over it you are layering a new understanding of the entire piece, you don't know the entire piece perfectly but you are starting to see what the end product will build around. That is the most efficient way for me, however some people like to draw the end product straight away, I like to do a more macroscopic approach.

[ptyrrell]

 

Read CC Chang on efficient memorization.  I believe that you never really fully know a peice until you can play it without the score.  Unfortunately I am one of those that think if you are using a score in performance you don't know it well enough.

Chang covers the areas of mental play in which you rehearse the music in your mind.  Recently I have been studying the inventions and some WTC because I find bach the most difficult to memorize because of the contrapuntal lines in both hands so I do it to challenge myself.

When I can play hands seperately in my mind I try to peice it together really slowly without the score, almost like putting together a jigsaw puzzle.  I find I get the best results this way
Cheers

[mad_max2024]

Your blog was just added into my bookmarks... 

That really looks helpful, thanks.

[lostinidlewonder]

I believe that you never really fully know a peice until you can play it without the score.  Unfortunately I am one of those that think if you are using a score in performance you don't know it well enough.

The end product should be an ability to play the entire piece without the score. But this is the end product. The problem I find is that people try to get this end product immediately, that is they cannot move on until they have memorized a passage and no longer require the sheets. To me this seems inefficient.

There is a problem with this at the more advanced levels of study the piano. We tend to find that we automatically memorize a lot of music simply by sight reading the piece over and over again. So after say 1 week of sight reading a piece we have memorized the great majority of it and then go back and focus our memory on trouble parts.

[j.s. bach the 534th]

The problem I find is that people try to get this end product immediately, that is they cannot move on until they have memorized a passage and no longer require the sheets. To me this seems inefficient.

this is a problem that I have as well; I don't move on until I have memorized a passage; however, since I am not amazingly good at playing by reading the sheets, I tend to have memorized a passage by the time I can play it at all.......

[birba]

BrAVO !  I think you really covered all the aspects of complete memorization.  I, personally, only could think of five.  But you've developed them even more.  You said tecnique has nothing to do with memorization.  But memorization has a lot to do with a clean finger technique. I discovered years ago, that if a passage of fast finger work doesn't come clean or perfect every time, it means my mind hasn't completely learned the passage.  For example, the scherzo in the chopin bflat minor sonata.  I was never really pleased with the result so I sat down without the music and began to solfeggiare the right hand.  g-aflat-anatural-c-bflat, etc. etc. I couldn't get through it.  I had to look at the music to be sure.  In short, I had only memorized the physical feel of the hand as it tore through the scherzo.  Sure enough, when I was able to recite the notes, seeing my fingers touching each individual note in my mind, then playing  VERY slowly ONLY the r.h. I had no problems after that.  It was really a cinch.