How To Memorize Music - By: Andrew Davies

Being able to memorize music is a skill. Some musicians say that memorizing a piece is the ultimate of learning and accomplishing the piece and without being able to play it from memory you haven’t achieved the performance. However, it should be noted that memorizing music is not an essential part of the performance of a piece and for many is just used to give a better visual performance of the piece.

Why memorize?

Ultimately, if you are able to play from memory it will give you the chance to concentrate better on your performance. Being able to play without looking at music is one less thing to worry about in your performance. Memorizing music will also give you better sight of the audience and other players in the group and allows you to check your technique constantly by looking at the keyboard.

Tips to help memorize music

1. The biggest is to repeat small patterns regularly. The patterns that your hands are making will get memorized subconsciously. Don’t tackle a whole piece but break it down into chunks with the aim of piecing the chunks together once all have been memorized. An idea of chunks can be a group of 10 bars, a motif, or a whole page. Memorizing small will lead to the whole piece being memorized ultimately.

2. Repeat, repeat and repeat. Repeating the chunks will cement them to memory. Don’t expect to be able to play a part only once or twice expecting to then have memorized it. Just like practice, the piece is learned by regular practice and repetition.

3. Once you have at least 1 page split into chunks memorized, you should concentrate on what joins the chunks together. Once you have memorized what comes before and after the joins, the parts will flow from memory better.

4. Visualise the music. Away from your instrument you should try and remember the pages and how the chunks appear on the page. Do this away from your instrument, especially when listening to a recording of the piece. You should aim to know what comes next and play the piece with your fingers against your legs.

5. Read the music. By this I mean to read the music almost like a book away from your instrument without playing the piece. In silence, start from the beginning of the page until the end. Then use a table whilst reading the piece using the table to act as the fingerboard of your instrument. This helps to memorize the music how it looks and helps cements the pattern to memory from another source other than your instrument.

6. Sing to piece. Hum it in the shower thinking about the intervals between the notes. This will help your memory remember what the intervals between the notes sound like.

7. Play the chunks randomly. How about starting at the end of the page, playing the beginning then the middle. If you are able to play the bars in a different order than written, it will strengthen the memory of the chunks.

8. Close your eyes. Try playing the piece or chunks with your eyes closed. If you are able to accomplish this then you have pretty much committed the piece to memory. Your memory will automatically play the piece, will be able to judge distances your hands and fingers have to travel to play notes.

You’ll be surprised at how much you will commit the piece to memory just from regular efficient practice. However, if you are wanting to commit pieces to memory, then the above tips should help.

About the Author

Andrew writes articles about home remedies for head lice and using piano learning software for those interested in learning piano online.

Article Directory Source: http://www.articlerich.com/profile/Andrew-Davies/33737

Additional Articles From - Home | Self improvement | Memory