Why can't I memorize a piece of music?!
Question: Why can't I memorize a piece of music!?
I am a classical guitarist!. I have recently been playing Barrios' Choros de Saudade, VIlla Lobos Chorros no!.1, Weiss Passacaille, etc!. I have friends that just play their pieces over and over and over and they just memorize the piece that way!. I do the same and all I can remember is the opening of these pieces!. Should I be paying attention to my fingers more instead of just reading off the sheet music!? Is my muscle memory ust crap or what!? What are some good tips for memorizing sheet music!?Www@Enter-QA@Com
Answers:
One of the reasons why you are not memorizing is because your concept of memory is wrong!. Many students tend to learn a piece first then memorize it!. Others attempt to memorize by playing a piece over and over again in hopes that they will develop muscle memory!.
That is the problem!.!.!. you need to rethink the idea of memory!. If you learn a piece then memorize, you are doing the same work twice! You learn it the first time to figure out the notes, fingerings, articulations, phrasing, dynamics!.!.!. and then you do it all over again when you memorize!.
Well Memory is Learning! The moment you start practicing a piece is the moment you start memorizing it!. You see, memory means - the absolute knowledge of a piece!. Why do things twice!? Why learn then memorize when its the exact same thing!?
So when you are practicing think of these tips!. If you practice like this then your memory will be secure and you will learn faster and play the piece better!.
Conscious Practice!.!.!.
Always tell yourself what you are doing when you practice!. If you are learning a new fingering, say the finger out loud to yourself!. If you recognize a cadence, tell yourself the cadence!. If you play a sequence, identify the sequence and how the melody is used!. The reason why it takes many a long time to learn music is because they just play through it! They don't actively tell themselves what is going on!. If you just play through it over and over again, you are not practicing!. You are not reminding yourself about what is going on!. You have to be active! Your mind must be involved!. Count out loud, sing the musical lines, work small sections, tell yourself the harmonic progressions!.!.!. even something as simple as reminding yourself about how the theme repeats will help you memorize and understand the piece!. When you are playing a crescendo, tell yourself! This way you associate the dynamic with the musical line and the fingering!. This is what professional musicians do to learn music!.
For professionals, the concept of memory begins he moment we begin to learn the piece!. Memory is not something we do at the end after we learn the piece!. For us, memory is learning!. Our goal is to memorize something every day! You should do the same!. And this is where conscious practice comes into play!. Other ways to do conscious practice are
- transposing difficult technical sections
- practice with different rhythmic variations in for hard technical sections
- memorizing fingerings
- sing the melody line while playing the bass
All these things work to improve a piece!. Take your time with the challenging sections but with the mentality of conscious practice!. The more you stimulate your mind when practicing, the faster and stronger the memory will be!. Memorizing anything involves focus and concentration!. Muscle memory is only good to train the fingers where to go but you cannot rely on that when you are stage! What happens if you shake and your L!.H!. can't remember where to go on the fretboard!? Well, thats where being conscious is important! By reminding yourself what you do, telling yourself, verbalizing what you practice will improve your time at the your instrument!. The verbalization reinforces what you are doing physically by activating your brain!. Music is 90% mental, 10% physical!.
Memorize every day! Even if you can only memorize 4 bars, at least your memorized something!. If you do not tell yourself to memorize something every day then it will take forever!. You can't say " I'll start with the first page and memorize it, once its memorized I'll start the memory for the 2nd page"!.!.!. Well what if it takes 10 weeks to memorize the first page!? Then you're in trouble!. Give yourself small goals!.!.!. 4 bars a day maybe, 8!? Whatever works for you, but you have to have small goals and something to work for!.
I have pieces I learned 10 years ago that take me one or two days to get back in my fingers because of the way I learned them!.!.!.!. I can interchange the word Memory for Learned!.!.!.!.
Remember : Memory = LearningWww@Enter-QA@Com
That is the problem!.!.!. you need to rethink the idea of memory!. If you learn a piece then memorize, you are doing the same work twice! You learn it the first time to figure out the notes, fingerings, articulations, phrasing, dynamics!.!.!. and then you do it all over again when you memorize!.
Well Memory is Learning! The moment you start practicing a piece is the moment you start memorizing it!. You see, memory means - the absolute knowledge of a piece!. Why do things twice!? Why learn then memorize when its the exact same thing!?
So when you are practicing think of these tips!. If you practice like this then your memory will be secure and you will learn faster and play the piece better!.
Conscious Practice!.!.!.
Always tell yourself what you are doing when you practice!. If you are learning a new fingering, say the finger out loud to yourself!. If you recognize a cadence, tell yourself the cadence!. If you play a sequence, identify the sequence and how the melody is used!. The reason why it takes many a long time to learn music is because they just play through it! They don't actively tell themselves what is going on!. If you just play through it over and over again, you are not practicing!. You are not reminding yourself about what is going on!. You have to be active! Your mind must be involved!. Count out loud, sing the musical lines, work small sections, tell yourself the harmonic progressions!.!.!. even something as simple as reminding yourself about how the theme repeats will help you memorize and understand the piece!. When you are playing a crescendo, tell yourself! This way you associate the dynamic with the musical line and the fingering!. This is what professional musicians do to learn music!.
For professionals, the concept of memory begins he moment we begin to learn the piece!. Memory is not something we do at the end after we learn the piece!. For us, memory is learning!. Our goal is to memorize something every day! You should do the same!. And this is where conscious practice comes into play!. Other ways to do conscious practice are
- transposing difficult technical sections
- practice with different rhythmic variations in for hard technical sections
- memorizing fingerings
- sing the melody line while playing the bass
All these things work to improve a piece!. Take your time with the challenging sections but with the mentality of conscious practice!. The more you stimulate your mind when practicing, the faster and stronger the memory will be!. Memorizing anything involves focus and concentration!. Muscle memory is only good to train the fingers where to go but you cannot rely on that when you are stage! What happens if you shake and your L!.H!. can't remember where to go on the fretboard!? Well, thats where being conscious is important! By reminding yourself what you do, telling yourself, verbalizing what you practice will improve your time at the your instrument!. The verbalization reinforces what you are doing physically by activating your brain!. Music is 90% mental, 10% physical!.
Memorize every day! Even if you can only memorize 4 bars, at least your memorized something!. If you do not tell yourself to memorize something every day then it will take forever!. You can't say " I'll start with the first page and memorize it, once its memorized I'll start the memory for the 2nd page"!.!.!. Well what if it takes 10 weeks to memorize the first page!? Then you're in trouble!. Give yourself small goals!.!.!. 4 bars a day maybe, 8!? Whatever works for you, but you have to have small goals and something to work for!.
I have pieces I learned 10 years ago that take me one or two days to get back in my fingers because of the way I learned them!.!.!.!. I can interchange the word Memory for Learned!.!.!.!.
Remember : Memory = LearningWww@Enter-QA@Com
I play violin, and I just do it little by little!. I memorize the first part, and then memo the second part and then put it together and the proceed!. Maybe this will help!?Www@Enter-QA@Com
Everything Chinese Cowboy said plus finding the key moments in pieces!. Once you get these down, learn the parts that link them together!.Www@Enter-QA@Com