Memorization and audition pieces for college.

[j3r3my777]

Hey everyone, well first I want to talk about my audition pieces.
Baroque period: Bachs e minor prelude and fugue
Classical: Beethovens eb major sonata.
Romantic: I'm thinking on doing Chopins scretzando, but I'm really into more of the German composers such as Rach and Grieg etc..but I hear that those pieces are not really good for additions.
Well let me know what you guys think on those choices.

Now for memorization
I've always done the most to memorize but it takes me a while. The things I do
-analyze chords and patterns in piece
-I also use a lot a lot of muscle memory which is kinda scary when I accidently practice Incorrect passages. Because then when I want to get the correct passage down it takes a while.
-I also try to use ear memorization, which I hear is the best type of memorization, it's just hard for me due to the fact that my ear training is not so strong. I'm able to tell the difference between major, minor dim, and aug, but when it comes to naming the chords and in their progression I am screwed.
I just need a fast way to learn and memorize my pieces. So if any of you have any pointers or maybe books that can help me out please comment or send me a message.
Thanks

[pbryld]

Romantic: I'm thinking on doing Chopins scretzando, but I'm really into more of the German composers such as Rach and Grieg.

Umm, Grieg is from Norway and Rach is from Russia...

[senanserat]

I don't know if it helps but my teacher insist I memorize as follows:

1. Play right hand naming the notes, i.e Re, Sol,La,Si etc
2. Play left hand naming the notes, sea above
3. Play right hand naming left hand notes.
4. Play left naming right hand.
5. Hands together counting slow 1 and 2 and...
6. Speed up and remove the and.

I am guilty of not following this with all my pieces but the ones I have do so yielded amazing results, the reason is because you don't get only muscle memory and thus prone to make a mistake if nervous or getting a dreaded memory fart.

Hope it helps.

[quantum]

Be attentive when you are practicing.  Don't just go on autopilot and watch the clock, hoping everything will turn out fine just because you are spending time at the piano.  Practice with focus, and have goals.  A lot of memory work can be achieved while working on other elements of pieces, as long as one is attentive about what one is doing.

When you come across passages that are difficult to memorize, isolate and focus on them.  Do this as opposed playing through entire pieces, or parts of pieces you already know.  Don't always practice pieces in chronologically.  Break them up, play them backwards, play random measures, play random phrases, etc.

Don't rely solely on muscle memory.  You need to use other forms of memory to support muscle memory.

Practice memory recall.  Start playing parts of a piece from some random measure. 

Practice recovery from memory slips.  Intentionally make a slip and work on making a fluid recovery while maintain the performance of a piece.  Also practice getting yourself out of wrong note slips. 


Something I tell my students: You can't memorize something you don't know.
It sounds ridiculously obvious, but can be overlooked.  In order for you to memorize something you need to be attentive to it.  There is no use practicing memory recall when you were unaware of that object or event in the first place.