Fast Difficult Pieces: Memorization, Reading Music, Looking Ahead & Brain Speed

[mrcreosote]

My belief since I was 50 (I'm 63 now) is that I cannot play something correctly if it is NOT memorized.

However, there may be issues when it comes to speed with complex music (Beethoven is NOT complex).

This is my process:

1) Memorize
2) Work out technique to get to Tempo
3) Familiarization - increase "looking ahead" distance

But a problem that I have is step 3 - getting my brain to look ahead once I have steps 1 & 2.

I am beginning to believe that my mind is not fast enough.  (For example, I cannot speed talk.)

And when I watch Buniatishvili play the Precipitato, it boggles my mind that she can operate at that high frequency.

Which leads me full circle to the sheet music.

I saw aged Marth Argerich perform somewhere with music (it was a tube with her backstage fretting that she really didn't feel like playing), and I'm wondering if the music might be a method to help looking ahead.  However, so far, I've found the music to be a distraction.  (I even saw Yuja Wang do a concert with music and she was turning her own pages - Martha had her daughter I believe turn for her.)

Horowitz in his 70's said he was too old to learn any new pieces.  Perhaps there are elements of this issue in that remark.

Obviously mental decline from old age will be an issue.

[quantum]

Reading speed when dealing with a combination of quick tempi and complex music is not solely about reading ahead.  When we need our reading to keep up with the pace of the music, we also need to change the way we read.  

For example: say you had a figure that repeats a lot, like in opera accompaniment where something could repeat for 16 bars, 24 bars or longer.  Do you attempt to read each one of those 16 bars to get ahead?  No, you don't have to re-read something that does not change.  Read the first bar, count the repetitions, then move on to reading what comes next while your hands play on.  

Another thing to do is read using abstraction layers.  You don't need to start playing with 100% resolution.  You can approximate the music, and every time you make another pass you add detail to the stuff you already know about the passage.  This way you are able to get the essential elements of the music in your hands and ears quickly, then over time add detail to that basic structure.  You end up with usable music much sooner, rather than a whole bunch of parts which you know very well yet still need assembly.  

I can  relate to your situation, as memorization came very easily to me but I needed to study how to read effectively.  For a process workflow I would use something like:

1) Memorize:
1.1 - sight reading
1.2 - analysis
1.3 - fingering / technical problems
1.4 - musical problems
1.5 - interpretive considerations
1.6 - critical listening

2) Listen, be attentive and revise.  Refer to step 1.

Memorization is not a separate section of the learning workflow, but rather the workflow is designed for memorization efficiency.  One memorizes as one works.  By the time one has done the bulk of the work, the music is for the most part memorized.  

[pjjslp]

I am only 44, but I have found that while my ability to spot patterns, repeated themes, etc. has improved with age, my ability to memorize has greatly declined. I think I relied a lot on muscle memory in my early years to "memorize" and it's hard for my muscles to form new memories, apparently.

I will say that, although I am dependent on having the score present, I am not really "reading" a piece once I have the notes down. Rather, I think it serves as an ongoing visual cue for me. I can see what's coming next, which takes some of the burden off my poor brain to remember everything. The major downside, other than the distracting page turns, is that I do think my dependence on the score makes it harder for me to get past the mental hurdles that form quickly when I reach a difficult bar or two. I see it coming and start to get tense, leading to the likelihood of errors and then more stress and tension. Ugly self-perpetuating cycle, which I think would likely improve if I could memorize better.

As an aside, I find it fascinating that I've read several posts here from people who are great at memorizing but have difficulty with sight reading. I'm an excellent sight reader but can't memorize well. I wonder if this is habit, different basic areas of strength, or what? Not meaning to hijack your post, though!

[mrcreosote]

I have no problems with patterns in Beethoven.  It gets worse with Rach, much worse with slow Prokofiev and nearly impossible with Ligeti.

But the more I think about it, "brain speed" may be a major factor.  Obviously if you have slow brain speed, you can't do anything fast. 

I think recall is a serial process:  what comes next?  If the memory groups are single notes, you need incredible brain/memory speed.  If the groups are large, you don't - but, you have to "assemble" them more ahead of time.

One piece I play is Hopak by Mussorgsky and there are a sequence of scale that is ripped about as fast as you can fingers 1 thru 5.  At speed, I cannot hear the distinct notes - they're too fast.  I can't tell if I'm playing them evenly or if they are "clumping up."  I have a better time evaluating them by "feeling" them, if they are "even."  But by ear, not possible.   This limitation could contribute to my lack of "natural" speed.

I just haven't come across any discussion of metal speed.

[mrcreosote]

I had the unexpected pleasure to play two "strange pianos" yesterday.

And the best way to explain my playback system is that it's like buffering pauses on a slow internet connection.

I believe the "brain loads the play buffer" while the "fingers are emptying the play buffer" and if the buffer empties, the playback stops.

Interestingly, buffers are used when demand exceeds speed and the bigger they are, the faster a device can operate.