April6

When I was first starting to do a lot of playing from memory (preparing for a big competition in my first year of graduate school), I wanted to have some sort of method that would help me feel certain that I had studied the music enough to know it for sure. I thought that if the process of memorization felt systematic, I could be sure my preparation was thorough, which would translate into more confidence on stage.
I developed the following system at that time, and it has served me well in the years since. I will devote future articles to some of its finer points, and why it works. For today, however, I’ll cover the basic steps, so you can start using this system immediately.
The first thing you need to do is choose a short passage to memorize. The principle of small sections is absolutely crucial to successful memorization – I can’t stress this enough! Please read my previous post on the topic of small sections if you need more information.
Once you’ve chosen your section, here’s what you do:
First stage: Learning the passage mentally
1. Play the passage twice through, reading it from the music, with the metronome on.
2. Now, without looking at the music, think the passage through once at tempo (i.e., keep the metronome on).
3. Play the passage once more while reading the music, noting anything that you forgot or didn’t know when you thought it through.
4. Look away from the music, and think the passage at tempo another two times.
Total: six times, three times playing from the music, three times thinking it through without the music
Second stage: learning the passage physically
1. Play the passage twice through, reading it from the music, with the metronome on.
2. Now, without looking at the music, play the passage once through at tempo (keep the metronome on).
3. Play the passage once more while reading the music, noting anything that you forgot or didn’t know when you thought it through.
4. Look away from the music, and play the passage at tempo another two times.
Total: six times through, three times playing from the music, three times playing from memory
Grand total: twelve times through
For a slow passage, one or two times through this whole process is often enough to get it memorized. Even if this process takes less than 10 minutes, I only do it one time through in a single practice session. I come back to it the next day if I feel the passage needs another cycle through the memorization process.
For a fast passage that is technically challenging, here’s my routine:
- First I do the whole process, all twelve repetitions, at a slow tempo (often a tempo even slower than where I would start if I were merely working on the passage technically)
- Then I work on the passage using Metronome Trick No. 1, and at every tempo level I do the following:
a. One time through mentally, at tempo
b. Two times through playing while reading
c. One time through playing from memory
d. One time through playing while reading
e. Two times through playing from memory
Basically, at each tempo level you go through the passage once mentally, and then go through the entire second stage of memorization.
If you would like a cheat sheet that lists the basic steps of this memorization technique, here it is: memorization-cheat-sheet (click to download as a pdf).
As you try this technique, know that your skill with it will develop slowly, but it will improve over time. If at first you don’t succeed, try again with a shorter section of music. There have been occasions (most notably complicated music like the Ibert Concerto) when I have memorized one beat at a time!
I find that working from memory is like developing any other skill—it gets easier as you get more proficient. Your memory, just like your muscles, can be ‘in shape,’ and when it is, memorization happens faster. And when you’re just starting, you need to start with small units, just as you would start with small weights for your first day at the gym.
NOTE: This is the first in a series of articles about memorization. If there are any particular aspects of working from memory that are of interest to you, or you have questions about the techniques I share, please leave a comment below, and I will endeavor to answer those questions in future posts.
Photo Credit: http://www.flickr.com/photos/derricksphotos/2172690132/