EFFECTIVE APPROACHES TO MEMORISING AT THE PIANO

Playing from memory is not only often expected of a performer, but in fact has many advantages. It allows greater
freedom of expression and deeper communication with fellow performers. You can play anywhere there is an
instrument. You do not have to worry turning pages. You can spend more time looking at the keyboard for leaps
etc. when necessary. When practising you can pay more attention to posture & hand position. You can play with
your eyes closed/in the dark.

THE FOUR TYPES OF MEMORY

Visual Memory: human beings use this part of their memory function to record large amounts of information, such
as faces and colours and everyday objects. Music is made up of patterns and shapes, and the pianist uses visual
memory to “picture” the score, as well as to recall the physical gestures involved in playing.
Aural/Auditory Memory: this is what enables us to sing in the shower! Music is an assortment of sounds,
arranged in a certain order. The pianist uses aural memory to know he/she is playing the correct notes and to
anticipate what he/she will play in the next few seconds.
Muscular/Kinaesthesic Memory: the ability to recall all the movements, gestures and physical sensations
required to play music. Muscular memory is trained by repetitive practice: just as the tennis player practices his
serve in exactly the same way each time to ensure a perfect delivery, so the pianist must employ repetitive
practice to ensure the fingers land on the right notes every time.
Analytical/Conceptual Memory: the pianist’s ability to fully comprehend, absorb and retain the score through
his/her intimate study and knowledge of it. This involves understanding structure, harmony, dynamics and
nuances, phrasing, reference points, modulations, repetitions etc, as well as the context in which the music was
composed, whether it is Baroque, Classical or Romantic, for example. This “total immersion” in the score should
result in a rich, multi-layered awareness of it.

GOOD HABITS

Memorise all the details from the first moment

Don't learn the piece first and only then begin memorising. From the outset, memorise not only the notes, but the
dynamics, articulation etc. It is more difficult to change/fix these after they have been embedded during the “learn
the notes” phase. Choose good fingering and be consistent with it – constantly changing fingerings will only
confuse.

Practice slowly
Practising up-to-tempo/fast only develops muscle memory, which may be competent, but by itself is not enough for
really secure memory. Practising slowly forces you to strengthen the other apsects (aural, visual, intellectual). To
play expertly from memory, and to ensure that one’s ability to download and deliver music accurately is completely
secure, all four aspects of memory must be trained and maintained.

Starting places
Designate various starting places throughout the piece. These will be places where you can pick it up again if you
have a memory lapse. These also act as structural elements in your analytical/conceptual scheme.
Practice away from the instrument
Hear the music in your mind, visualise the keyboard, visualise the score.
Play through the piece by memory without the instrument. When a mistake is made, look at the music, repeat the passage
Several times while looking at the music and then several times (perfectly in a row) without the music before continuing.

No mindless playing
Analyse the form & harmony. Be conscious of these throughout the work. Then you have a solid framework for
both interpretation and memory. Investigate:
- harmony (keys and key changes, chords and chord progressions)
- melodic elements (themes and voices; turning points; beginning and goal notes)
- rhythmic elements (meter, tempo)

Also, note repeating patterns and variations of, or deviations from, the patterns.

Listen and listen again closely to several versions of the work

This will give you ideas for developing your own interpretation and help create a strong auditory picture of the
work. The drawback of being overly influenced by someone else's interpretation I believe is easily outweighed by
the benefits of having the sound of the piece firmly embedded in your memory. And of course, it will evolve anyway
as you practice and during performance.

Memorise in frequent brief practice sessions.

It has been shown we retain more data at the beginning and end of a session than in the middle. Also don't try to
learn too much in one day. We need time for the new information to be processed after input and it can be
disturbed/erased by trying to learn more before it has had time to “settle”.

OTHER SUGGESTIONS

Learn backwards
Leschitzky advocated learning a piece backwards, i.e. the last bar first. This can be an advantage if the last bars
are the most difficult. Also this way you have the sensation that the piece becomes more and more familiar as you
play through it. Charles Cooke recommended learning the most difficult passages first, so much so that they
become the easiest!

Introduce difficulties

A number of psychological studies of learning indicate that learning in the presence of difficulties, rather than in a
smooth step-by-step approach, results in better long-term retention, although this prolongs the learning process.
e.g. learning several tasks or task portions at once; varying the sequence of practice from one task or task portion
to another unpredictably; doing the same thing in a variety of different ways; varying the conditions under which
the learning takes place.

So, for memorizing a piano piece this might mean playing with different rhythms or phrasing, or possibly
transposing the piece. Or after memorizing each hand separately, try reversing the parts/hands, i.e. playing each
hand's part with the other hand, first separately, and later with the hands together. Another approach is to divide
the piece into blocks of about 10-15 bars in length then play the blocks in random order.