memorisation techniques the memory game - · pdf file12/22/2014 · the memory game...

Hungarian virtuoso Franz Liszt (1811-1886) developed the concept of thesolo piano recital and, as a result,the Romantic era became the

golden age for the piano.Liszt not only masterminded the solo recital

but he devised how the piano was to bepositioned on stage too; with the instrumentside-on so that a pianist's profile could beadmired with the lid up facing the audience toensure full volume. Crucially, he was also thefirst pianist to play from memory in public.

This potent combination guaranteed totaldevotion from his fans and, more importantly,set the stage for all future piano recitals. Lisztapparently often commented on theimportance of playing without the score:

'Look up and away from the keys, and youwill play with greater inspiration. Neglect ofthis is the cause of much of the crippledplaying one hears’ (Living With Liszt: From the

Diary of Carl Lachmund, ed. by Alan Walker)

He benefitted tremendously fromperforming in this way and successfullyconveyed a charismatic romantic image; onewhich he had worked hard to cultivate.However, for subsequent generations ofpianists, who have since made the concertplatform their home, playing from memoryhas indeed been the cause of much misery.There are, of course, pianists who findmemorisation a fairly straight forward processand would indeed never want to play with thescore but, for most, playing from memory cancause grief and terror.

Today’s concert pianist is expected to playtheir entire repertoire from memory with theexception of complex Twentieth Centuryworks and chamber music. Successfulmemorisation often eludes students and theyrely on learning a work digitally, praying theirhands and fingers will remember where to goduring performances. This approach doesn’tbode well because stress will often interveneand cause the dreaded memory lapse.

Those taking amateur music exams are notrequired to play from memory but if you arepreparing for a concert or music festival it's a

good idea to be brave and perform without themusic as it shows you really 'know' your piece.There are many unexpected advantages tomemorisation and perhaps one of the mostimportant is a regular brain ‘workout.’ There isno doubt that once the human brain learns toretain and process information this generallybecomes a habit and one which can be veryuseful in many different life situations.

Memorisation does put extra pressure onpublic performance. A pianist needs todevelop a different kind of mind set entirely inorder to perform large concert programmeswithout the score and accurately. If you knowyou are going to play a piece from memorybefore learning begins, the best approach isto learn in a very focused way from theoutset, making a conscious effort to memoriseevery bar, nuance and phrase as you aregoing along. A lot of memorisation takes placein the early learning stages as you becomemore familiar with a work, therefore it savesmuch time and energy if you are able tocapitalize on this, rather than to study a pieceby repeated reading and focus on memorisingit at a later date.

Memorisation can be a daunting prospect,particularly if you have never done it before.However, this should not deter you because itis entirely possible to develop this skill at anypoint in your piano playing career, and yourconfidence will soar when you becomeaccustomed to playing without the score.Many find memorisation ultimately affordsgreater freedom.

There are so many ways to enhance yourmemorisation technique and, if youimplement many of the following suggestions,you will be well on the way to developing areliable memory.

Here are four popular methods;

VISUAL MEMORYTry to remember what the music looks like onthe page. At first, you might recall certainpatterns of notes, key signatures or whereparticular passages occur in the score. This isphotographic memory. It helps to keep going

through the work in your mind, first of all withthe score in front of you and then without themusic away from the piano. The latter is a skillthat is really worth developing as it allows formental practice which can be a very useful tool.

It’s best not to rely too much on looking at yourhands, as this type of memory can causeproblems or memory slips during a performance ifnot backed up with other types of memorisation.

It might be a good idea to remember orrecall the physical gestures involved in playinga piece; certain movements and finger patternscan act as a guide, for example. Perhaps,memorise difficult passages first then practisethem as a technical exercise every day.

AUDITORY OR AURAL MEMORYListen to everything you play meticulously.This might seem an obvious instruction butmany do not consciously ‘hear’ what they areplaying or learning.

Most humans have the ability to remembera tune and this is really about nurturing thatskill to a highly sophisticated level. As withmany skills, it takes a while for the mind toassimilate all the nuances that occur in a pianopiece; but, eventually, you will learn to ‘hear’everything you play from start to finish.

KINESTHETIC OR MUSCULAR MEMORYThe ability to remember or recall all the actualphysical sensations and movements;remembering the finger patterns and shapesas well as arm, hand or wrist motions,pedalling, note repetitions and repetitivepatterns. Fingerings also really helpmemorisation which is one of the manyreasons why fingering is such an importantelement in piano playing.

Play through the piece, each handseparately, without the score; this is especiallyhelpful for the bass or left hand. Practising andconcentrating on the left hand really is acrucial part of developing piano technique, soit may be beneficial always to practise the lefthand first and commit it to memory securely atthe same time.

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The memory gameby Melanie Spanswick

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You could trust your instincts and try to playa work through in the dark; can you feel yourway around the instrument and playeverything precisely? This is a challenge butgood fun too; it’s quite difficult just to find thecorrect place to start your piece.

INTELLECTUAL MEMORYUndoubtedly, the most important element inyour memory armour; it involves total‘immersion’ in the score. You must know yourpiece backwards.

Look out for typical signs in the music thatwill 'jog' your memory; key changes, chordprogressions, scale passages, large leaps,dynamics etc. All these elements will supportsuccessful memorisation.

Thoroughly study the structure of a workand assess the style; the way it has beenconstructed, particularly harmonic structure,as this helps with the sound as well. To dothis, you need to have studied music theory

so that you are familiar with four partharmony, chord progressions, cadences, keychanges and counterpoint etc. It can help tobreak down complex florid or rapidpassagework into chords or make a skeletonof the harmonic pattern in a movement orwork, so that harmonic progressions arerealised and assimilated.

MY TIPS AND SUGGESTIONS:Visualisation can be a useful tool or method.This is the ability to form mental pictures ofevents, images or situations. Auralvisualisation is sometimes known as the ‘innerear’ and allows a pianist to hear how themelody, harmony, dynamics and all detailsfound in the music will sound; in other words,‘predicting’ the sound before it actuallyhappens. If the ‘inner ear’ is working well,then the pianist’s fingers know what they mustdo in order to produce the sound. Thistechnique can be especially effective and has

been used by many artists, not only musicians.Sit quietly and imagine playing the wholepiece through from beginning to end; seeevery hand position or movement; in effect,‘watch’ yourself play the piece. You might besurprised at just how much concentration thisinvolves. Some find it helpful to seethemselves actually sitting on the stage orwherever the performance will take place.

The trick to successful memorisation isthorough structural knowledge of a piececombined with a strong awareness of themusical or expressive qualities. Emotionalconnections seem really to aid memory (I havefound this to be the case not only with myown playing but also with that of colleaguesand students too). Hearing the music in yourmind really helps, especially focusing on theway it affects you emotionally. By learning andthinking in this way, you will never forget anydetail in your piano piece. Learn to play fromthe heart; the music needs to be part of your

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soul. Musicianship and interpretation play avital role in memory but they are frequentlyoverlooked. Ostensibly, the concept behindthis is that you will be so focused on theexpressive and interpretive qualities that yourmind won’t be overly concerned with memoryor the detrimental thoughts of a possiblelapse. This last point can be imperative as it’sconnected to many aspects of performing; apositive mind set really does help whenmemorising. An ‘I can’ attitude goes a longway; so try to quell the negative mentalchatter or the ‘inner voice’ that can frequentlyundermine a performance.

Even after methodical analysis and carefulpreparation, it’s still possible to get into amuddle on stage. Nerves can sabotagepractice and preparation, so what do you dowhen a memory slip occurs? Whateverhappens, don't stop playing. Some pianistshave the ability to extemporize or improvisewhen they lose where they are in the scoreuntil they are able to 'find themselves.’

The majority of classical pianists don’timprovise, so an effective strategy is to makesure that you know your piece in sections andare able to 'jump' quite cleanly from onepassage or ‘section’ to another. Try tomemorise in small sections, passages or‘chunks’ (the more sections you break thepiece into the better and you are completelyfree to break the work down as you wish);learn the piece so you know each sectionthoroughly. If a memory slip does occur thenyou won’t be too flummoxed and will be ableto keep playing to the end of the work. It’s notadvisable to 'go back' and play the elusivepassage again as this just encourages anotherslip and may make you even more frustrated.Once it has gone from your mind it doesn'tusually miraculously reappear a few minuteslater, so it’s best to move on and finish thepiece in a convincing way. Also, be able to pickup the piece from anywhere, so that if you dohave a memory lapse you will always be able tokeep going. It might be an idea to try tocompletely eradicate the slip from your mind,too, otherwise you will constantly be thinkingabout it for the rest of the performance.

I use the following strategy in mymemorisation classes and students have foundthis helpful:

1. Listen to the work before you start learningit and observe the score carefully. Be aware of

‘signposts’ you can find the better.4. Sing the melodies in your piece and thenplay them with and without theaccompaniment so that you become evenmore aware of the musical structure. Anothervaluable exercise at this point may includeplaying the accompanying material in a piecefrom memory or playing the accompanimentwith the bass line first (if there is one) andthen with the melody line. It can be helpful todo all this at slow speeds, allowing your mindto digest the musical lines and phrases.

5. Work the passage up to tempo with ametronome but without using the score. It’sreally important to emphasize how repetitionreally does assist memory. As mentionedearlier, it’s a good idea to play the piece or thesections within your piece without the score assoon as possible so that your fingers and brainaccustom themselves to this swiftly.

6. Repeat steps 2 - 5 on other sections of the piece.

7. Practise other pieces before coming back totest your memory during practice sessions.You will probably find that you can’t rememberevery detail at this stage. Memory takes timeand persistence, so just keep working on it.

8. Test your memory on the same passagesthe next day (and on consecutive days) beforeresuming work on other sections in the piece.

Once you have committed your piece tomemory, work at it backwards; i.e. playing andanalysing the last phrase first. Learningbackwards can work really well andprofessionals sometimes employ this method.

Young children will generally memorise farmore easily than adults and we all have highlyindividual ways of remembering music. Thesuccess of memorisation is normally justpersistent practice; and sometimes it’snecessary to have a memory lapse or astumble under pressure whilst playing inpublic because only then do we realise whatwe must do to safeguard our memory for thenext performance. Don’t expect to memorisein one practice session, either: memory takestime and work, so divide your piece into smallsections or passages and you will makeprogress every day. Good luck! ■

www.melaniespanswick.com

Pay specialattention tofingerings as they can be veryuseful as amemorisation aid

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how the work makes you feel and spend timefocusing particularly on interpretation.

2. Take a short passage (perhaps a four barphrase or a line or two of a piece) and startby memorising the left hand on its own, andthen the right hand. Be able to play themthrough accurately without the music, notingall the unusual features (i.e. large leaps, scalepassages etc.). Also, pay special attention tofingerings as they can be very useful as amemorisation aid. When you have done thisyou may find it beneficial to reverse the rolesand play the left hand line with the right handand vice versa. This allows your mind toreally know the shape of the musical linesrather than only relying on digital learningwhich can be dangerous. Practising a line ofmusic with one finger at a time can beadvantageous too.

3. Then play the passage hands together,using the score at first then taking it away assoon as possible. Observe which passages youfind difficult to recall. Work thoroughly onthose areas (by repeating as well as mentallyfinding patterns to remember). Mostpassagework has some unusual feature thatwill help act as a ‘signpost.’ The more

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