When and how to memorize

[bernadette60614]

I've finally gotten my first Beethoven (the first movement of a sonata) to the point that my piano teacher feel that I can start another piece.  She advised me that the way to perfect this first movement is to memorize it so I can play it up to true tempo.

I'm wondering:  Is there a benefit to memorizing a piece as you learn it rather than learning to memorize it when you have it well honed?

Doubtless I've mucked up some thoughts above, but any advice would be appreciated.

Thank you all!

[faulty_damper]

Yes.  You can ingrain note patterns.

Learning is the process of memorizing.
Memory is the result of learning.
Intelligence is the ability that allows for learning and memory to occur.

So yes, exercise your intelligence and memorize as many pieces as you can, especially if you are starting out as a beginner.  Beginners come with all sorts of backgrounds, even ones who've been playing for years.

[hfmadopter]

Really it's what ever way works for you.

[bronnestam]

I've been told that the best moment to memorize is before you have learned the piece, that is, played the piece.

At first I misinterpreted this. I thought I was supposed to memorize it fully and then go to the piano and play it all by heart with no sheet at all, without having ever played the piece before ... This equation did not work for me, that's for sure!

Then I realized that is was a good thing to go through the notes before I played them, analyze them well and overcome every "surprise" in beforehand, before I had "taught" my muscle memory some stupid mistakes. Kind of half-memorizing. To me, this turned out to be extremely effective, I learned the piece much, much faster than I usually do.

[peter_gr]

I play at level 2-3 and memorize all new pieces as I learn them.

The instructions I was following suggested that it was best to start with completely new pieces rather than memorizing already learned pieces.

I have gone back to a very simple piece, that I had learned previously from the score, to memorize it as I liked it. It was a little confusing at first. Knowing it already meant that the music was in the fingers, but the tying of the parts together, the inherent organization, was not there, so there is a bit of disconbobulation at various levels in the brain.

I think its better to start with completely new music while learning the technique, then perhaps going back and memorizing already learned music later, if that is more interesting than spending time learning something new.

For me reading the music means that the reading of the notes triggers the signals to the fingers. However memorizing the music means the whole music is recorded in the brain and replayed triggering the signals to the fingers. The brain will always go for the previously learned fingering, and it takes effort to reset the connections.