Memory slips

[abigailky]

Hi, I am playing a few pieces off by heart in a recital in a few days time. I feel prepared - memorised the pieces well and have gotten past all the technicalities - yet I am worried I will forget the notes during my performance. This is not just a mere worry of mine but a common tendency.. I find it difficult to recall a performance of mine where I did not have a memory slip. But my biggest fear of all is not being able to recover from the slip. Does anyone out there have any advice? I have tried focusing solely on the music, I have practised in many different ways and I have read countless books on performance anxiety, but nothing seems to help.
Would really appreciate if anyone could help me 

~ Abi

[briansaddleback]

This is the hard thing, but having multiple spots where you can start from immediately will help.
I used to have only top of the page of each piece as a starting point, and  I would crash and burn by stopping and returning to the top of the page or advance forward to next.


I still dont have a lot of spots to start from but I am working w discipline to know intimately the starting points of perhaps every other measure or even every measure.

Also know the difficult sections hand separate. As if you can whip them out as a separate mini piece all by your just one hand.

[rachmaninoff_forever]

When it comes to piano, there's like three types of memory.

1.  Muscle memory

2.  Memorizing how it sounds

3.  Memorizing the score

4.  Memorizing the form and harmonies

5.  Memorizing how your hands actually look when you're playing.

I know I said 3 but I was on a roll.

ANYWAYS, when you're nervous, the first thing to go is your muscle memory.  And if that's all you got, well then you're out of luck.  I think that's the most common reason why people have memory slips.  They commit everything to muscle memory.  The second most important thing I think is to have a good theoretical knowledge of the piece.

When you're practicing try saying the harmonies out loud while you're playing.  I swear to god once you KNOW all the harmonies you will feel WAY more confident about your performance. 

Also you should practice being able to start anywhere in the piece.  Mark a few starting points on the score and memorize them.

[outin]

At this stage you should focus on your ability to recover from the memory slips and try not to think about them too much so that you lose the right feel when performing. The more you worry the more probable it is you will get them.

Some people are prone to memory issues no matter how well prepared. Time (and work such as explained in the previous post) only will tell if you are one of them or if it's just a matter of practice and getitng over the nervousness. Pieces you have learned recently are more risky. When you return to something over and over they will become more secure.

[mjames]

I know I said 3 but I was on a roll.

pls post more, I love your sense of humor.

[xdjuicebox]

When it comes to piano, there's like three types of memory.

1.  Muscle memory

2.  Memorizing how it sounds

3.  Memorizing the score

4.  Memorizing the form and harmonies

5.  Memorizing how your hands actually look when you're playing.

I know I said 3 but I was on a roll.

ANYWAYS, when you're nervous, the first thing to go is your muscle memory.  And if that's all you got, well then you're out of luck.  I think that's the most common reason why people have memory slips.  They commit everything to muscle memory.  The second most important thing I think is to have a good theoretical knowledge of the piece.

When you're practicing try saying the harmonies out loud while you're playing.  I swear to god once you KNOW all the harmonies you will feel WAY more confident about your performance. 

Also you should practice being able to start anywhere in the piece.  Mark a few starting points on the score and memorize them.

Yeah those are the five types of memory essentially. Except "what your hands look like," don't forget "what notes you're playing" XD

If you can write the score from memory (get some manuscript paper and practice this) with all of the markings correct and everything, at the fastest speed yo ucan write with no hesitation, then you should be fine. If you can play it in your head front to back without stopping without making a single mistake (and go through it backwards and be able to start anywhere you want), then you're good. Focus on that!

[pianopro181]

pls post more, I love your sense of humor.

Yeah, maybe if you’re talking about a simple Beethoven sonata but if you’re playing a massive concerto like Brahms 1/2, Rach 2/3,Tchaikovsky etc, being able to write it out effortlessly like you describe is rather impractical and very few professionals actually do that.
Knowing what the chords and notes look like on the keys and on the page, what they feel like and sound like and being able to visualize them fairly accurately, alongside the muscle memory/technical work will more than suffice.

[ego0720]

At this stage you should focus on your ability to recover from the memory slips and try not to think about them too much so that you lose the right feel when performing. The more you worry the more probable it is you will get them.

Some people are prone to memory issues no matter how well prepared. Time (and work such as explained in the previous post) only will tell if you are one of them or if it's just a matter of practice and getitng over the nervousness. Pieces you have learned recently are more risky. When you return to something over and over they will become more secure.

A little pressure pushes one to be better. Too much above the breaking point will kick in the autonomic memory blanks - designed to protect us from severe trauma. That might explain the binary outcomes of nervousness on a player. Memory slips occur probably bc of the wrong “dosage” of pressure.

[pianopro181]

A little pressure pushes one to be better. Too much above the breaking point will kick in the autonomic memory blanks - designed to protect us from severe trauma. That might explain the binary outcomes of nervousness on a player. Memory slips occur probably bc of the wrong “dosage” of pressure.

Well that’s assuming the performer has prepared adequately and the memory slips are a direct result of poor performance mentality. But that’s rarely the case at a professional standard and much more common amongst low level amateurs with very little performing experience.

[swilliams002]

I think the advice above is very good, but I would like to ask one question that may seem a bit strange.

Have you considered playing with the score for some or all of the pieces? I don't see any reason not to, unless you're in a position where you have to (e.g., playing for an institution or competition that requires it, can't get a page turner, or are prone to making more mistakes when reading from the score instead of watching your hands). Besides those reasons, it is perfectly acceptable to use the score when performing. Even certain great (and I mean great) concerts pianists will often use the score in performance.

This video is a great example. Irina Mejoueva (a highly acclaimed pianist, although not well known in the USA), who has recorded the Beethoven sonata cycle twice, uses the score in performing the rather simple-to-memorize first movement of the Moonlight sonata. She almost certainly knows all or most of the sonatas by heart, and yet she chose to perform with the score, as she commonly does.