Memorizing pieces--tips?

[deidre]

When I was a teenager, I played in a recital...I was considered my teacher's 'star pupil,' so to speak. She was a well known local concert pianist at that time, very accomplished and brilliantly talented pianist and teacher. Well, she was obsessed with memorization. I get it, I understand the reasoning behind it, but at that recital...for some reason, I froze. I stopped playing and she had to bring me the music. Damn, that day feels like yesterday. I mainly play for myself, friends, etc...but, I want to get over this fright of memorization.   

So, my question is...how to learn to memorize? Have any of you struggled in this area, and how did you overcome it?

[chopinfrederic]

For me, I don't actually memorize it. My brain memorizes automatically because I practice frequently and feel the song. I'm sure if you practice frequently you'll get better results. Don't be afraid about memorization, just relax. Good luck!

[bronnestam]

I have found this sooooo difficult. I still do, actually, but I've learned some very useful "tricks".

I used to think that "play it until you know it" was the best way. Wrong. Wrrrrong, it's the worst. You get a muscle memory and unfortunately it is totally unreliable. In a nervous situation, for instance a recital when things are not quite as they use to be, you might end up with a total blackout, just as the one you described.

I also one day discovered that I tried memorizing note by note ...

The best thing is to analyze the piece musically and try to find the structures. If you learn that this bar consists of a G Major chord, followed by a D Major chord and then you play 1½ G Major scale down and end on D (ok, you got that), then you will not lose it that easily, even if the chords are a bit reversed. You can even try to simplify the notes in order to find a structure or a pattern. Can you, for instance, easily answer questions like "which note do you start the coda section with? What is the value of that note?"
 
Also divide the piece in small chunks. If you get lost in chunk 23, you will still be able to be back on track in chunk 24, and so on.
I find it terribly difficult to memorize HT, and whenever I do that, I'm back in muscle memory mode. So, I memorize HS nowadays, and I find that much, much easier. I also find it easier to learn as much memorization as possible BEFORE I actually try to learn how to play it. You must be able to play it mentally before you go to the piano, at least HS. Of course this does not mean you must learn to play HT without even having the score in front of you.

I am known to have an excellent memory in other contexts, but this piano thing ... I could not believe how stupid I was, as I just COULD NOT learn anything by heart. But finally I had to understand that I used wrong algorithms. Analyzing the structure is a rather tedious job, but it sure pays off.

[falala]

Analyzing the structure is a rather tedious job, but it sure pays off.

I'm sure we're all different in this respect. Ever since I started learning piano it was analysis and composition that I was really interested in. It's making my fingers play the right notes that I find a "tedious job".

But I fully agree. Everything we know about cognitive psychology, neuroscience and memory tells us that memory is a function of understanding, a result of making many and deep associations between things. To sit down and try to memorise something as an end in itself is getting the whole thing backwards.

Along with analysing structure, I'd suggest playing around and improvising on various aspects of the piece - the scales, chord progressions etc. Try transposing the entire piece into a few different keys and see what happens - see whether some part of it then reminds you of something else, and follow that up. See whether some of the chord progressions or bass parts are the same as well known pop or jazz ones. Whatever...

I find it hard to describe all this because it's just what I've always done. And I've never had any problems memorising. Once I know a piece and can play it, I can play it from memory. (Plenty of problems with other things though!)

[gvans]

This topic has been reviewed before; you might want to review some past threads. There are three types of memory, and it's helpful to use all three.

Analytic is the best, as discussed above. Understand the piece, figure out the structure, the harmonic progressions, and the melodies. If the piece is in sonata allegro form, know where the themes are and the modulating bridges in the exposition , the development, the recap, and the coda. If it's ABA, as is much of Chopin, break each section into chunks, also as stated above. The more you understand the intricacies of what the composer is doing, the easier to memorize.

Visual memory is useful. Spend time with the score and study it without playing. The importance of this cannot be overemphasized.

Muscle memory is the most likely to fail and the most commonly relied upon. Rote muscle memory will let you down.

Also...stay young. Getting older wrecks havoc with the brain.

[deidre]

First, thank you so much for this advice everyone!

I'm on my phone right now but will reply to your specific answers as they deserve for taking the time to reply to me, when I'm on my PC later or tomorrow.

But I want to say, analyzing the piece and not playing it. Examining it. I haven't done that very often. Not in recent years anyway. When I was a kid taking lessons, my teacher had strict methods of memorizing and perhaps I'm just fearful now.

This might sound dumb, but as much as I adore playing piano, I have a lot of fear and hang ups from taking lessons as a kid from a very harsh teacher. Incredibly talented woman, but hard to please.

Debussy is what I've been mainly playing, over the past few months and he is hard to memorize.
That said, I want to get past this. It's stupid.

A question for you all: why must we memorize? When I played in recitals and competitions, it was expected to have the pieces memorized. What's the big damn deal about having music in front of us?
Does that diminish my worth as a pianist if I can't memorize?

It just seems like an unwritten "rule."

[deidre]

I have found this sooooo difficult. I still do, actually, but I've learned some very useful "tricks".

I used to think that "play it until you know it" was the best way. Wrong. Wrrrrong, it's the worst. You get a muscle memory and unfortunately it is totally unreliable. In a nervous situation, for instance a recital when things are not quite as they use to be, you might end up with a total blackout, just as the one you described.

I also one day discovered that I tried memorizing note by note ...

The best thing is to analyze the piece musically and try to find the structures. If you learn that this bar consists of a G Major chord, followed by a D Major chord and then you play 1½ G Major scale down and end on D (ok, you got that), then you will not lose it that easily, even if the chords are a bit reversed. You can even try to simplify the notes in order to find a structure or a pattern. Can you, for instance, easily answer questions like "which note do you start the coda section with? What is the value of that note?"
 
Also divide the piece in small chunks. If you get lost in chunk 23, you will still be able to be back on track in chunk 24, and so on.
I find it terribly difficult to memorize HT, and whenever I do that, I'm back in muscle memory mode. So, I memorize HS nowadays, and I find that much, much easier. I also find it easier to learn as much memorization as possible BEFORE I actually try to learn how to play it. You must be able to play it mentally before you go to the piano, at least HS. Of course this does not mean you must learn to play HT without even having the score in front of you.

I am known to have an excellent memory in other contexts, but this piano thing ... I could not believe how stupid I was, as I just COULD NOT learn anything by heart. But finally I had to understand that I used wrong algorithms. Analyzing the structure is a rather tedious job, but it sure pays off.

Aw! You're not stupid. But I hear you, I don't feel stupid I just feel inept. Lol
A good friend of mine can memorize very complex works in short order and I'm like huh?
When will it be my turn? haha

Like anything, perhaps it requires much practice.

[deidre]

I'm sure we're all different in this respect. Ever since I started learning piano it was analysis and composition that I was really interested in. It's making my fingers play the right notes that I find a "tedious job".

But I fully agree. Everything we know about cognitive psychology, neuroscience and memory tells us that memory is a function of understanding, a result of making many and deep associations between things. To sit down and try to memorise something as an end in itself is getting the whole thing backwards.

Along with analysing structure, I'd suggest playing around and improvising on various aspects of the piece - the scales, chord progressions etc. Try transposing the entire piece into a few different keys and see what happens - see whether some part of it then reminds you of something else, and follow that up. See whether some of the chord progressions or bass parts are the same as well known pop or jazz ones. Whatever...

I find it hard to describe all this because it's just what I've always done. And I've never had any problems memorising. Once I know a piece and can play it, I can play it from memory. (Plenty of problems with other things though!)

Thank you for this! So it's possible in other words to be capable of playing a piece without understanding it. Like reading a book, the words, without comprehension as to the plot and storyline. Without analyzing the "why" of the structure of the piece, you are suggesting that could be why I'm "failing" (for lack of a better word) at memorization.

This clicked!

[falala]

That and maybe the fact of trying too hard.

I think a lot of people approach memory (both in music and other things) too much as a specific thing to focus on, and not enough as what it actually is: one byproduct of having spent a lot of time investigating something with passion, interest, focus, imagination and play.

If you think of most of the stuff children remember as they grow up - like what they learn of their own native language - it doesn't come from sitting in a classroom solemnly chanting times tables and the like. It comes from investigating and playing with things, and being motivated to know more about them. And even with things like times tables, historical dates etc, the focused memorisation of facts works best when it is a crystalisation of that more general investigation. Someone who has done a really interesting project about the Norman invasion of Britain may still have to consciously memorise the fact that it happened in 1066, but they'll be much more likely to be able to recall that fact and USE it, because it will be embedded in context within their memory.

Similarly, to memorise a piece of Debussy you could start by exploring all the scales and chord progressions used. This is particularly interesting in Debussy's case because they overlap so much the romantic period of chromatic but fundamentally functional harmony and major/minor system, and the modern period of modes, parallel harmony and the like. You could work out where he's in a normal major or minor key, and where he strays into modal territory. Try and work out why. Listen to other music in that mode. Improvise on it.

You may still have to make a conscious, focused effort to memorise the piece, but it will be more likely to work because you'll have "chunked" it more before doing so. Instead of looking at a page of demiseiquavers and trying to think one note after another, you'll be able to think of it as an arpeggio of an added-note chord (say) with an interesting modal twist at a particular point. And enjoy it.

Having said all that, I also agree with you about the stupidity of the memorising "rule" in the first place. Who cares if people play from memory? Pianists generally don't when they're playing chamber music, or an orchestral part. Does that suddenly make the music sound worse? It's just silly - the only thing that matters is what the result sounds like.

[deidre]

That and maybe the fact of trying too hard.

I think a lot of people approach memory (both in music and other things) too much as a specific thing to focus on, and not enough as what it actually is: one byproduct of having spent a lot of time investigating something with passion, interest, focus, imagination and play.

This is so simple, yet so true. I agree. Perhaps, if I just let go, a natural byproduct as you say of my time studying, practicing, and understanding a piece, will be memorization of it. In the back of my mind, I'm too worried about it, and my mind wanders off, and then...I lose my focus. This piece of advice of yours is worth a lot, to be honest, because I think people (like me) believe memorizaton is another thing to 'figure out,' instead of it just coming naturally from putting the time in studying a piece.

Similarly, to memorise a piece of Debussy you could start by exploring all the scales and chord progressions used. This is particularly interesting in Debussy's case because they overlap so much the romantic period of chromatic but fundamentally functional harmony and major/minor system, and the modern period of modes, parallel harmony and the like. You could work out where he's in a normal major or minor key, and where he strays into modal territory. Try and work out why. Listen to other music in that mode. Improvise on it.

I'm not good with improvizaton. But, I will try your suggestion here with the piece I'm currently working on, Clair De Lune. I've played this piece before for recitals as a teenager and in college, but just picked it up after years of not really looking at it. What I enjoy about Debussy, is his music tells a story, an understandable story...of how we get from a to b, despite his changing from major to minor often, and schematic themes. I'm excited to use your suggestion here, thank you.

You may still have to make a conscious, focused effort to memorise the piece

After reading through this thread, and the replies...I'm realizing the problem lies within me. My own fear of when I froze as a kid, and the discipline I received from my teacher after that. She is gone. I'm an adult. I made a mistake back then, and it's time perhaps to bury that fear, and move forward. I think much of my angst with memorization comes from fear.

Having said all that, I also agree with you about the stupidity of the memorising "rule" in the first place. Who cares if people play from memory? Pianists generally don't when they're playing chamber music, or an orchestral part. Does that suddenly make the music sound worse? It's just silly - the only thing that matters is what the result sounds like.

I'm glad I'm not alone in thinking this. lol

Thank you very much for your insights! Very helpful. 

[gvans]

A question for you all: why must we memorize? When I played in recitals and competitions, it was expected to have the pieces memorized. What's the big damn deal about having music in front of us?
Does that diminish my worth as a pianist if I can't memorize?

It just seems like an unwritten "rule."

An interesting historical note: Beethoven did not believe in memorizing; he felt it was impossible to commit to memory not only the notes, but the dynamic markings, accents, phrasing, tempi, and other non-notational information on the score (there's a word for all that I'm forgetting). He was quite upset with one of his pupils for attempting to play one of his sonatas from memory for that reason (j menz would probably know the details)...

It was Franz Liszt, the inventor of the solo piano recital, the first to play the piano at right angles to the audience, who popularized playing from memory.

As a chamber musician, I will say page turning, especially with piano quartets and quintets, is problematic. Because the piano score has the string parts as well, few staves fit on a page and thus, there are multiple, multiple page turns. Inon Barnatan, the Israeli pianist (and a fine player I've heard several times) has solved this by performing all his chamber music from memory. He's young and brilliant, and I just don't have the time to do it. I'm envious, I guess...

[j_menz]

(j menz would probably know the details)...

It may have been Czerny, but my memory is still in weekend mode. You've got the gist of it, though.

It was Franz Liszt, the inventor of the solo piano recital, the first to play the piano at right angles to the audience, who popularized playing from memory.

Clara Schumann was probably the first to do so regularly, and Liszt may have taken  his cue from her on this.

It seems to be a fashion in (small) decline. A number of pianists now buck the trend, especially for long involved works. Historically, Myra Hess regularly performed with a score. I believe it is also now routine for pianists to record with the score. So maybe it's just a matter of time.

Or maybe, being one who does not memorise anything, it's just wishful thinking on my part.

Competitions, being by and large horribly conservative and pretentious operations, mostly require memorisation.

[philb]

Slow, Metronome practice will get the piece stuck in your fingers. Harmonic analysis and creating starting points should take of the rest.

One professor whom I had a lesson with recently suggested creating tiny sections, memorizing each one, and being able to play from every section on a whim. This will certainly work as well.

[outin]

Slow, Metronome practice will get the piece stuck in your fingers.

Is it really so for most people? I have tried that many times but for me it seems to be the opposite: I have really struggled with some pieces that are slow and only "got them into my fingers" after practicing much faster than the actual tempo. It seems my mind don't make the connections properly if the movements are too slow.
This doesn't mean that slow practice isn't important and useful for other reasons.

[deidre]

Thank you kindly everyone for your thoughtful replies! And they are responses I can see experimenting with to find out if maybe, just maybe, I can find a better way to conquer my memorization problem. Lol

Interesting to note, Beethoven's opinion on memorizing. I'm in good company, then.

I was thinking about this today and realized that all through school, college etc ...we are expected to memorize math, science, historical events, timelines, and other such topics for tests, presentations and the like. Why have I not had a problem with memorization in those fields of study but I can't memorize a piece of music in its entirety?

So, the ability is there. Perhaps it is my will (fear that creeps in from my childhood recital) that gets in the way.

Hmmm! Food for thought.

Perhaps there needs to be a similar slogan comparable to the sports world but for musicians who procrastinate the inevitable..."Just do it!"

[awesom_o]

Inon Barnatan, the Israeli pianist (and a fine player I've heard several times) has solved this by performing all his chamber music from memory. He's young and brilliant, and I just don't have the time to do it. I'm envious, I guess...

I'm not... for starters, he must have a relatively small chamber music repertoire, at least compared to someone who reads very well and doesn't mind doing so in performance!

As the pianist in a chamber group, it isn't nearly enough to simply know your part. You have to know all of the other instrumental parts as well, so that you can do your very best to help everything fit beautifully together!

When you have a full score in front of you, you can see all of the other parts!

Why would a pianist sacrifice the tremendous musical advantage of having the score simply to avoid the logistics of page turning?

Additionally, chamber music means many, many things! Right now, my girlfriend and I are playing Tchaikovsky's 5th Symphony arranged for Four Hands at one piano. The score is well over one-hundred pages long, and every single page contains frightening challenges!

There is no amount of financial compensation that would make us willing to memorize that! Life is just too short! And once you can play your very best with the score in front of you, why bother?

[gvans]

Why would a pianist sacrifice the tremendous musical advantage of having the score simply to avoid the logistics of page turning?

Well, the logistics of page turning can be a major problem--there's a pretty funny clip of Martin's (fnork) where the conductor loses the score on the ground. I agree with all the rest of your statements...but finding a reliable page turner can be a problem.

I looked into an electronic solution, but chickened out. Maybe next year. You need to buy a laptop (can't be an Apple because the keyboard won't fold under), get a pedal with a Bluetooth, and scan your score. Apparently the Orion quartet uses something similar. Not sure if any touring chamber pianists have done it. They usually take their chances on whoever the venue supplies as a page turner. There have been some real losers.

And, of course, there is the hilarious skit from the mad Dane, Victor Borge, on the subject...

[jeslevine]

I try to look for patterns in the music when memorizing, and also think of the chord makeup in each measure.  Other than that, at least for me it is repetition, and it eventually seems to happen.

[drazh]

It was Franz Liszt, the inventor of the solo piano recital, the first to play the piano at right angles to the audience, who popularized playing from memory.

I think it was dusseck who played right angle to the audience

[j_menz]

I think it was dusseck who played right angle to the audience

That may be true. The critic Harold Schonberg is generally credited as the source of that observation, though I'm not sure upon what he based it. It may be idle speculation.

It is Liszt, in any case, who made it standard practice.

[awesom_o]

That and maybe the fact of trying too hard.

I think a lot of people approach memory (both in music and other things) too much as a specific thing to focus on, and not enough as what it actually is: one byproduct of having spent a lot of time investigating something with passion, interest, focus, imagination and play.

If you think of most of the stuff children remember as they grow up - like what they learn of their own native language - it doesn't come from sitting in a classroom solemnly chanting times tables and the like. It comes from investigating and playing with things, and being motivated to know more about them. And even with things like times tables, historical dates etc, the focused memorisation of facts works best when it is a crystalisation of that more general investigation. Someone who has done a really interesting project about the Norman invasion of Britain may still have to consciously memorise the fact that it happened in 1066, but they'll be much more likely to be able to recall that fact and USE it, because it will be embedded in context within their memory.

Similarly, to memorise a piece of Debussy you could start by exploring all the scales and chord progressions used. This is particularly interesting in Debussy's case because they overlap so much the romantic period of chromatic but fundamentally functional harmony and major/minor system, and the modern period of modes, parallel harmony and the like. You could work out where he's in a normal major or minor key, and where he strays into modal territory. Try and work out why. Listen to other music in that mode. Improvise on it.

You may still have to make a conscious, focused effort to memorise the piece, but it will be more likely to work because you'll have "chunked" it more before doing so. Instead of looking at a page of demiseiquavers and trying to think one note after another, you'll be able to think of it as an arpeggio of an added-note chord (say) with an interesting modal twist at a particular point. And enjoy it.

Having said all that, I also agree with you about the stupidity of the memorising "rule" in the first place. Who cares if people play from memory? Pianists generally don't when they're playing chamber music, or an orchestral part. Does that suddenly make the music sound worse? It's just silly - the only thing that matters is what the result sounds like.

Fantastic post from beginning to end!