Memorizing - what does it really do?

[etude_3]

Memorizing more music is one of my pianistic goals this year but wanted to ask three fundamental questions- in what ways does it make you a better pianist, does it in fact make some pieces easier to play and what is the best way of approaching memorization?  In the past I have relied on just hand memory.

[spencervirt]

What do you mean by hand memory? When I memorize I memorize bar by bar and don't go back. It taught me to memorize better. I don't even sight read anymore. I memorize and move on.

[venik]

What do you mean by hand memory? When I memorize I memorize bar by bar and don't go back. It taught me to memorize better. I don't even sight read anymore. I memorize and move on.

What do you mean by "bar by bar"?

[nanabush]

1-once you've got the notes down and you don't need to sight read them anymore, then you can shape it any way you want.  This is where you can make a really personal interpretation of a piece (not having your eyes glued to the music not knowing what's coming up next).

2-yes it can make some pieces easier to play.  If you can memorize a really technical passage in a piece, there are chances that something similar to this passage can come up in another piece.  You will be familiar with this kind of writing (it's in your memory!) so you now have an advantage starting this new section.  An example would be in any piece that uses octaves... if you get used to playing octaves in a piece, and you can memorize an octave passage, then in a new piece that has an octave passage, you will probably tell yourself "oh these are octaves... I remember having to play them in such and such piece" and you will read them easier.  This same principal can go for pedalling, dynamics, arpeggios, whatever.  If you can memorize a piece, then you are allowing yourself to memorize a huge variety of techniques (and can use them later on other pieces)... I'm going in circles saying this, but if you can't remember a day later anything that comes up in a piece, any piece that uses similar material will seem like a brand new assortment of difficulties.

3-A good way, I'd suggest, is not to do bar by bar right from the beginning.  Take the Bach Prelude in C major from WTK1, and take the first 8 bars.  See if you can name the chords as you are outlining them (arpeggiated chords in this one).  If you understand some basis of what you are playing, it'll be easier to memorize it.  If you see a piece as a random array of notes, it will be like memorizing a random sequence of numbers.  For another example, try to draw parallels throughout a piece.  If you find that one part on page X has the same fingering (but different notes perhaps) as a part on page Y, try to keep that idea down.  When you come across those areas, you will have the advantage that you've memorized the fingering.  You will be able to anticipate the notes a bit better.

for questions 2 and 3, there is no 'one' answer to them, and I just gave a few examples.  But my main point is that memorizing can add a lot to your music.  Think back to when you were in Grade 3 or whatever, and had to do class speeches.  The kids who memorized the speeches ALWAYS had more charismatic presentations than the kids who had their eyes glued to the cue cards stumbling every four words... (I was the kid with the cue cards haha)

[gerryjay]

Dear etude,
a search in the forum will show up several threads about memorization. Take a look.

1. I can contribute with something that must help: our brain does not work with long strings of information. When you memorize a piece, you actually memorize several smaller pieces that are linked. So, it's a waste of time wondering how to memorize sections longer than a few seconds. You just can't do that. It's neurologically impossible.

2. So, fraction your works down to the minimum parts with a complete meaning. This is also very important. Bar by bar is only occasionally helpful, because if your bar does not have a complete meaning, you will end up with nothing. Examples where bar by bar is perfect are the c major and the c minor preludes from WTC book I.

3. We have several types of memory. Hand memory is just one of them, and it is fundamental, but unreliable to anything longer than a gesture. For instance, a fast scale with - let's say - 20 notes. If you try to work it with anything but hand memory, your result won't be good. It's the kind of moment where other memories pull the trigger ("play the scale"), and your hand do it, a single output. If you have worked properly, btw, you never get it wrong.

4. Finally, we can't focus for more than 20-30 minutes on the same thing. Our brain needs breaks and it demands them in a harsh way: it simply stop working properly. It reminds me that you must drink lots of water while studying, because without it the brain will also shut down for anything but the essential.

Best regards,
Jay.

[nyiregyhazi]

An example would be in any piece that uses octaves... if you get used to playing octaves in a piece, and you can memorize an octave passage, then in a new piece that has an octave passage, you will probably tell yourself "oh these are octaves... I remember having to play them in such and such piece" and you will read them easier.  This same principal can go for pedalling, dynamics, arpeggios, whatever.  If you can memorize a piece, then you are allowing yourself to memorize a huge variety of techniques (and can use them later on other pieces)... I'm going in circles saying this, but if you can't remember a day later anything that comes up in a piece, any piece that uses similar material will seem like a brand new assortment of difficulties.

I don't think that really follows to be honest. The memorising is little to do with it. It's having learned to do the technique properly that carries over. Whether you have necessarily memorised a particular passage has little to do with whether the experience carries. It's whether you've mastered the technique properly that matters. Whether I can remember specific passages or not has nothing to do with whether I'll cope with some new ones. While they are sort of related I think you're confusing memory and the more general nature of experience. There are pieces I play reliably from memory but where I don't feel I truly mastered the technique to my satisfaction. However, there are many others where I have no technical problems when working with the score but which I couldn't say I have memorised.

[lostinidlewonder]

One might try to answer what type of memory is there associated with playing music.

[Types of memory]
Conscious:   Visual and logical observations of the sheet music and keyboard that aid sight       reading and encourage Muscular memory.

Muscular:   Producing a group of notes with a relaxed movement of our hands.

Sound:   How the sound in our minds eye effects muscular and conscious memory.

[Observing pattern] Conscious, Muscular and Sound Memory
See, hear and use pattern observation in music to improve sight reading, memory and performance of a score. How to one drill a passage of music mindfully instead of brute force repetitions. How to mark/highlight/color and section sheet music to highlight observations.

[Using building blocks of music] Conscious, Muscular and Sound Memory
Knowledge of the building blocks of music including; scales, chords and arpeggios and how to observe their pattern, shape,form and sound. How observing pattern allows us to learn more of the piece simultaneously.

[Listening to ourself and others] Conscious, Muscular and Sound Memory
Observations made when listening to how ourselves and others express music. How to listen, assess, take note of and make changes to what we are producing while playing.

[Hand movement and rest] Conscious and Muscular memory
Understanding when the hand has to move and when it should remain about a single position. We will term these as “Movement Groups”. Manipulations of controlled pausing in between movement groups to practice “difficult” sections. Coordination issues such as syncopation (x notes against y), rhythmic accenuation, phrasing etc.

[Reading music] Conscious and Muscular Memory
   How to read sheet music and how to make improvements to speed, accuracy and “difficulty”    of what we can fluently sight read.

[General knowledge of piano] Conscious and Sound Memory
An appreciation of major classical composers for the keyboard (Bach, Beethoven, Chopin, Liszt etc) and various piano styles (Baroque, Classical, Romantic, Jazz, Blues, Ragtime etc). How a piano is built.

[Discipline and organization] Conscious Memory
How to increase your rate of learning, knowing ones technical/musical strengths and limitations, how to set long, medium and short term goals. Estimating the time it takes to memorize a piece and measuring/increasing your memorization rate.

[Physical posture]  Muscular Memory
How one sits at the keyboard and the various positions for our hands. What is an efficient technique and how do we improve our technical efficiency. The logic behind fingering choices.

One could probably add some more but I find these are the main ones which exist at all levels of piano playing.

[nanabush]

I don't think that really follows to be honest. The memorising is little to do with it. It's having learned to do the technique properly that carries over. Whether you have necessarily memorised a particular passage has little to do with whether the experience carries. It's whether you've mastered the technique properly that matters. Whether I can remember specific passages or not has nothing to do with whether I'll cope with some new ones. While they are sort of related I think you're confusing memory and the more general nature of experience. There are pieces I play reliably from memory but where I don't feel I truly mastered the technique to my satisfaction. However, there are many others where I have no technical problems when working with the score but which I couldn't say I have memorised.

Sorry, I think I was using memorizing actual notes and memorizing technique interchangably.  Laaate night post from me, now that I read it it's pretty unclear 

[countrymath]

I didn't read any posts above mine, cause Im almost sleeping above my laptop.

Memorizing is good for...memorization. The brain is very trainable . The more pieces you memorize, the more easier you will be learning new things.


I usually don't try to memorize pieces. I just practice small sections and I automatically memorize them.

[bkaldridge]

I don't have an answer for you really.  I've only memorized 3 pieces in my life.  The first was a piece I loved and my brother and sister hated; so I memorized it to annoy them.  The second was a performance piece my first year in college.  The third is one I memorized this year, 25 years later, just to prove to myself that I could do it. 

My teachers never made me memorize when I was young and when I got to college, I didn't know how.   When I tried to play a performance piece by memory I completely flopped, walked off the stage, out the door and changed my major because of it.

I look at memorization as a necessary part of playing piano (now).  Just wish I had seen it that way sooner.   

[iratior]

I find that some types of music are harder to memorize than others.  I've had no success trying to memorize Japanese koto music, Buxtehude, or Bartok.  It seems so much easier to memorize pieces that are based on diatonic scales.  When memory of such pieces fails, it usually does so in a curious fashion:  if, for example, the right chord would be A-flat major, I will do E-flat major or D-flat major instead.  Of course, being able to memorize almost any piece based on a diatonic scale is a big advantage, when it comes to taking requests.  Even theme songs from television shows in the 1950's -- far before I took music theory courses or even could read music -- are in the memory.  I don't investigate how it works, for fear of spoiling it!

[mike_lang]

It's a shortcut to internalizing a piece, in my view; that is, it is the quickest path to moving from simply "reciting" a piece to eloquently narrating it and becoming able to lead an audience through it.

Mike

[dcstudio]

 I have found that simply using "hand memory" in combination with a visual memory of the score is unreliable at best.  I play jazz as well as classical so I have extensive knowledge of chords, progressions, and forms and I find this to be my most reliable means of remembering what I have to play. Much of the classical piano rep is really quite simple when you break it down and analyze which chords you are actually playing.  (simple to analyze--not simple to play!)   
It is much easier to remember a series of chords than individual notes. If your theory knowledge is really strong you can remember your pieces by their harmonic progression, which reduces all those notes into just a few numbers.

It is impossible to make music when all of your brainpower is being devoted into trying to remember what notes to play next.  When you are free to listen to your own performance you will always play music--if you are thinking about a bunch of notes--that's just what you will play.