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I memorize in these ways:
- single handed practice using the correct fingering
- patterns on the keyboard (am I progressing in 3rds,4ths, 5th, etc)
- interval recognition in the score (again3rds,4ths, 5th, etc)
- repetition
- reading score away from the piano
- test yourself often with your score closed so you can not look up and see the score
- keeping positive attitude about memorization from the start of the piece
I sorely lack key signature consciousness and need to add that to my practice routine.
PS: I started these methods 3 years ago, I had been playing with poor memorization methods, and poor results for nearly 70 years. These methods have really helped me memorize even larger works.
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My process is hard to explain because I started to memorize fairly complex classical material as a little kid and it evolved organically without much conscious thought. The first thing I evaluate is whether memorizing a piece will really help me play it better... if not, I don't waste the effort unless it will be performed. Typically I try to engrain an understanding of the overall structural layout as I'm working on the muscle memory and playing through the piece early on... then I will start to attempt playing sections from memory - not in any specific order - going back and forth between using the score and memory, until that segment is memorized. There is no way of knowing when is a good time to start this, you just have to follow your instincts. There is a huge sense of accomplishment the first time you are able to play an entire piece without looking at the music... like solving a puzzle or any other mental challenge. But, this milestone does not in any way signify that the process is done.... notes/chords/passages will drop out from memory and there is a continuing need to refer to the music over many more iterations before it is truly locked in.
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First, I play through the whole piece a several times and set up my fingering solidly. I study the piece to see where sections are the same, where is the most difficult section, and determine the form of the piece. Then I start to break the piece into my sections or what I call “jump points.” Should I forget something, I will be able to “jump to the next point.” I number them and memorize them in order. I work from the beginning of the piece to the end, but work specially on difficult sections. After I have them somewhat organized in my head, I play a game with them to see how well I can start from any jump point and play to the end of my piece or even play them backwards. If what I am memorizing seems to be overwhelming me, I photocopy the score and cut it into my jump points and memorize only that part. It works for me as it seems much less to worry about psychologically`. I even scan my jump points from my cut up photo copy and enlarged into ForScore on my ipad. This helps when the music can appear really dense to me. This method gives me great satisfaction by chipping away at a score and having it really memorized.
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Lyn Hoeft I also want to say, that once small jump points are well learned, they can be grouped together into a large chunk. You will feel when you are comfortable between jump points and where they sort of flow one into another. I try not to have more than 10-12 jump points at the end. Here is an idea I learned long ago and it served me really well in college. “In the first place.” I was told this quote gos back to the time of the Roman orators, who had to memorize tons. What they would do, is mentally put themselves into their homes and associate a room of their house with a section of what they had to memorize, “ In the First Place.” And then they would go through their home room by room with the parts they associated with that particular room. With my “jump points”, I might give each number along with a funny rememberable name and chain them together. The more ridiculous, the better.. Or I might give a jump point an assigned part of a really silly sketch and draw it out reciting my jump points. For example, think of a Christmas tree growing out of an airplane, with a star on top. You would associate a jump point with the star, and another for the tree and another for the plane etc. This is how this memory trick works. This is just some food for thought and I do hope it will help those who have to memorize. Best Wishes.
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Hi,
I think its important to understand how the brain remembers anything and there is a good book called The Talent Code by Daniel Coyle which explains that. I've attached a useful and quick overview too.
There are also techniques like spaced repetition and interleaving which can also help.
BTW, understanding how the brain learns explains why we need to go so slowly when we first learn … anything, the brain has to physically grow connections which operate slowly at first, and through repetition speed up (factor of 200) through further growth. That takes time.
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Channing Walton thank you so much for sharing this amazing article! For me this is quite revelatory, if I can put this in to practice I’m sure it will help me progress along my musical journey more efficiently and with more self-compassion. Thank you again!
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I'm convinced that becoming a skilled sightreader has made it more difficult for me to memorize music, at least memorizing the "natural" way I used to do fairly quickly when younger. I've read that some people believe this is mostly a perception problem or even a myth, but it seems real to me. Somewhere I saw a neuroscientist comment that sightreading facility allows one to bypass certain brain areas that might otherwise facilitate long-term memory, but I'm not sure if there's any proof to that conjecture. So, I'll read thru Dominic's tips and other suggestions and start working on memorization more systematically (might involve tightening up my audio memory as well).
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Jon Nakamoto I can agree with this Jon as when sightreading I don't think only read...when memorizing I have to learn to understand.
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rada neal The other day I was looking through one of those collections of short pieces one was given as a child. In the middle of one of these classic pieces (ultimately learnt fully, as I remember playing it in a concert without the score) I saw that my teacher had written "look at the music". This embodies so many misconceptions! First, that one should be playing from the music in real time; then that this real-time transcription is the performance that one is trying to build; third that one should be looking at the music rather than at one's hands (or playing with the eyes shut, for that matter). It struck me that with such teaching it was remarkable I memorised the piece well enough to get on the platform and play it. And unremarkable that for many years since (having been urged further down this dead end by later teaching) I have found myself trapped in a cycle of sight reading. It is very important to escape, or at least try to escape from this, as we all know that it is only when freed from visual fixation on the score that improvement can begin. How best to memorise is another matter.
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Jon Nakamoto I can relate to this. I remember being able to memorize music easily as a child before i could sightread. As I got better at sightreading I didn't have to rely on memorizing as much and as a result it got harder and harder. I would also then avoid playing without sheet music and not develop that skill. However, perhaps memorizing was also easier for me as a child because the pieces I played were pretty simple. Nowadays I'm pretty good at sightreading but playing from memory is a huge challenge especially as the repertoire gets more complicated.
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maijahildur
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Kaja I can relate to this. I restarted Piano 2 years ago after over 60 years not Playing. A long term project now is to play Fur Elise, in its entirety, no not from memory. However I have found that the first part, just came to me and I was soon playing it from memory. Ok it’s the easier well known part but I think it’s because I must have learnt it as a child and somehow the brain remembers? Now even the simplest of pieces are a mystery without the dots and dashes in front of me.
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I remember through 3 modalities. 1. Muscle memory is one term pianists use. It is really memory based upon kinesthetic and proprioceptic feedback 2. Memory of the melody so u can anticipate the next note and 3. Visualization of the written score.
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Thanks for this, Dominic! I am a Nashville based professional, multi-genre pianist of 40 years, performing, touring and recording in a variety of genres, including Americana, Brazilian and world music, jazz, soul and R&B, singer-songwriter stuff (including my own), musical theatre and, yes , country (the classic stuff, not the new ). I had some classical background (lessons age 10-17, some study in college), and have always played and studied some pieces. But 6 or 7 years ago, I really got the classical piano repertoire bug, and it has become nearly an obsession. I am working on adapting classic works in various ways-Ravel's Pavane makes a wonderful bossa nova, Satie's Gnossiene works great with a Cuban rhythm, Bach's C minor prelude has grerat chord changes for improvisation, etc. I am trying to expand my repertoire, but finding that even when I play a piece over and over again (i.e. the gorgeous Chopin Nocturne, Op. 48 in F#m), it takes a long time to learn, and if I leave it for awhile, much is forgotten. I am trying to become more methodical, and your tips should help with the process. I am also considering your comment that there is only so much space in one's brain for musical info, especially info as detailed as the classical repertoire. I know thousands of popular songs, but that's a far different degree of pure info. It seems like memory capacity is something that has a lot of individual variation. Oh, to have Martha (my fav) Argerich's memory! I look forward to learning more about your discourse on memory and applying these concepts. The right brain and left brain (often neglected in my case) can work together! Eureka! Musically yours, with gratitude,
Will Barrow, pianist, singer-songwriter, composer, educator, Sec-Treas of AFM Local 257
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Thanks a lot. Dominic
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I find that memorization comes naturally to me. I do need to put effort into tricky bits, or bits that are repeated in a piece but in a slightly different pattern. In that case, I'll focus on these sections and make up some rules about what goes where.
An interesting exercise that my teacher recommended: print another copy of the music and cut it up by line. Play each line in random order. This not only helps memorization, but helps you learn how to restart in random spots so you don't have to go all the way back to where you're comfortable starting if you make a mistake.
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Randi Re:cutting it up line by line. That's a very interesting method!! I'll have to try it out and report back.
Like you, memorization comes to me easily. But when I get a slip, I often don't leave myself enough "landmark" to restart. And often have to restart at beginning of the page, or a whole section. I'm looking forward to try this new tips you shared.
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Randi Cutting up a copy and playing the lines in random order sounds really interesting! Thank you for sharing that tip, I think I'll try it. It definitely sounds like someting that could help in a tough spot in case one blacks out completely during a performance.
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Very helpful document and summary of your session on the topic. Thank you.
I’m happy to share the specific steps I follow to memorize. Like many here, I was a professional pianist, but took a four-decade hiatus, and when I returned to piano about five years ago in earnest, memorization was no longer effortless like it used to be. Here’s what I find most helpful.
Firstly, consistent fingering is an absolute must to aid in memorization, especially in Bach.
Secondly, rudimentary tonal and chordal analyses is also a must. Writing down what key you’re in and how you’re transitioning into another key is the minimum needed.Analyzing the piece and breaking it down into sections, noticing what repeats where and why is the third step.
After that, it’s section-by-section and sometimes just a few bars at a time repetition with great attention to key and chord changes.
Hope this is helpful for someone out there. -
Wow, that‘s really an interesting discussion. I had always trouble with memorizing. I don’t memorize many pieces, but if I want to I do it without the piano. After I have set up the fingerings and can play the piece, I take the score, look at the first bars of right hand. Than I close my eyes, imagine the keyboard and which finger has to play which key. So I go through the piece. Left hand too. If I know a part, I practice it on the piano. Needs some time, but works for me.
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I usually start learning and memorising a few bars from the end and work backwards. I will replay every bars that I have learned until I am able to play it very slowly and correctly before I work on the speed.
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Lots of interesting points. I like the breakdown of the 4 modes of memorization. For me, definitely the auditory part is the most important, especially initially, and longer term (say a year after I last performed it).
The downside of relying on auditory memory is that I can't play if the piano is out of tuned (or tuned differently than mine). I get rather disoriented from what I hear I kept doubting myself if I even got the right notes or not.
I'm curious if this happens to anyone else who tends to play from memory.
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Lc I totally get distracted although my ear recognition is nit very good. like I can't really play by ear, but when my trained body movements don't fit what I expect to hear, I get completely confused and very likely forget everything.
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I analyze it first. What chord progression, diatonic or not, any special functions like double dominants, secondary dominants, modulation points.
I search for pattens, repetitions, anything that is repetitive or has a structure. Sequences, a rhythmic pattern etc And if left hand notes are forming a broken chord or a circle of fifth progression or repetitive pattern like "fifth down, step up, fifth down, step up", something like that.
When something is breaking out of that structure I pay extra attention.
Then I go by a mixture of ear, visual, body feel. So my ear has usually the melody remembered, but isn't good enough to really nail all intervals down, so my mind is more like: "now the big one up, scale down, same again on 5th degree but with melodic minor, thirds alternating, the weird thumb crisscrossthingy, and then the black key part with the wide body movements, all starting on the right edge black keys."
Left hand usually thinks in chords and "the first inverted, then the powerchords twice, then B7 first narrow then wide..."
And I think I also register some left hand notes, especially the first ones in a bar or the ones that go directly with the left hand chord as chord notes. Like I have that as a memory anchor, when notes are doubled or supplement the chord... sometimes...not always.
Very weird system, now that I read it
But it works far too well. So well, that I really am far behind with sightreading, because I can play my pieces memorized far too quickly and don't look at the sheet anymore. 
Plus I realize how important a harmonic structure is for me, because I am way worse at memorizing counterpoint. I have to rely a lot more on muscle memory and ear then, and as I don't memorize so quickly I need to play from sheet a lot more, which makes me kearn these pieces a lot slower and with lots of diffuiculty bringing them up tempo - being restricted not physically but because I can't read fadt enough to fit the physical tempo I could already manage.
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Kaja said:
but after 4-5 years life got in the way and the Sax was put in its boxI detest how "life gets in the way" in so many ways. For me, as a musician, I find it equally annoying because when life gets in the way it prevents me from growing as a perons, because music informs my life more than anything else.
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