After playing a piece for a while you will probably discover there are some chunks you know off by heart. You may also find you now keep losing your place on the page after having looked away for a bit. To overcome this quite frustrating " limbo stage" you can either make sure you keep your eyes on the music throughout the whole piece or systematically memorize it.
Playing by memory is one of those skills that comes naturally to some people, and others have to labor at. It is also a skill that changes with age. As a child learning off by heart comes a lot more easily than at later ages but it is worth making the effort to play by memory at all ages!
Beginner pieces are short and easy to recall after having been played a few times. The pieces usually have clear patterns and the harmony is basic.
As the pieces get longer and more complex you will find they become harder to remember. But pieces that are more advanced have patterns too- detecting and understanding them help the memorization process. The more familiar you are with the form and structure of the piece, the more success you will have in keeping up with it inwardly.
There are three basic memorization anchors: the visual, the aural and the motor. To memorize a piece you need all of these, but each person has a different way of balancing the three.
Using the visual memory you will be remembering what the music looks like on the page in your mind's eye and will be making internal notes of how the fingers look on the keys ,recalling patterns and shapes. Strictly speaking, this sort of memory actually distracts you from the music itself and could fail you in a performance situation.
The so called muscle memory is the one that gives you the feeling your fingers know exactly what to do without you having to think about it at all. They seem to move independently to the right place. This autopilot mode is problematic because when you are self conscious for some reason, your fingers are at a loss and the flow is blocked . You then discover you have relied on a very unreliable sort of memory.
The musically strongest memory is the audio memory. Here you remember the actual sound, and use your aural skills to produce it. If you are serious about developing your audio memory, you may want to try playing the piece in different keys, so there is no way you would be relying on your muscle or visual memories. Few people would go for that option though, since it is natural to use a blend of all the three sorts of memory.
The more you invest in learning your pieces off by heart, the easier it will become. You will be developing your musical inner ear and will be able to listen to your own playing in a way you couldn't with your eyes on the music.
- The Secret of slow Practice
- How Much Practice Should a Piano Student be Doing?
- Ways to Memorize a Piano Piece
- Interview with Blind Pianist Yair Zoran
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