Tips for Pianists no. 8: How to memorise

On my last post I looked at some of the benefits of memorising music and so today I thought I'd talk about how to memorise music. Different techniques tend to work for different people. Some people simply find that after they've played a piece enough times it will be learnt from memory. Others find they need to remember key things about the structure of the piece to enable them to memorise the music. Still others find it very difficult to memorise and may spend hours reading over the music, playing it, even writing it out. The key thing is to try to find the technique that works for you by trying them all and then try to keep learning music from memory so that you develop that skill.

Let me give you a few ideas that may help with memorising music:
1. Look at the structure of a piece. For example if a piece is in ternary form (ABA) then knowing this means that you are aware that the opening tune will return near the end.
2. Memorise short sections at a time. Don't tackle the whole piece in one go but memorise the first few bars and then add a bit more to this the next time you practise.
3. Try playing a piece through with the music on the stand but keeping your eyes shut as much as possible. This way you'll be playing quite a lot of the music from memory and you'll be aware of the areas you still need to memorise as it will be these points where you will need to look at the music.
4. Try listening to lots of different recordings of the piece while following the score. In fact if you have the facilities record yourself and listen to it while following the score.
5. Try writing out the music. Some people find it useful to write out the music as this helps them picture the music as they are playing it.

Above all try to work at the skill of memorising music, even if initially you can only remember a short phrase. Also, if you choose to perform from music always make sure you can keep going (even if you have to make it up!) if you get a memory slip.

Tips for Pianists no. 7: Should I memorise?

I've just been preparing a programme for a concert I have on 13th October as part of Landulph Festival and part of that preparation has involved learning the pieces from memory. As I was doing this I began thinking about why pianists perform from memory. What are the advantages? Is it really necessary to learn a whole recital programme from memory?

When it comes to performing a piece for an exam, festival or concert you should know it from memory even if you still choose to have the music in front of you. The piece should be so well known by the time you come to perform it that you could play it through without music if you needed to. However, you may still choose to use music as a prompt or just for added security. If you do choose to perform from memory it is important that you are able to keep going even if you have a memory slip.

There are, however, some advantages to not having the music in front of you. Having music means you either need to worry about page turns or else get a page turner to assist you. However, having someone constantly popping up to turn pages can be a distraction to the audience and also to the performer. Being able to play from memory does mean that you're able to focus so much more on the music. It also looks more professional. When a pianist plays from memory the audience know that the performer knows the music thoroughly and therefore can give a confident performance. In a sense it can help the audience feel more relaxed and enjoy the performance more.

So, it is good practise to play from memory if you are able to. If you don't have the confidence to do this in front of an audience yet at least try it at home. However, if you choose to play from memory always make sure you can keep going should you have a memory slip. If you feel safer using music then do so but work out in advance how you can manage the page turns.

Tips for Pianists no. 6: Setting targets to work toward

Well its now the start of a new term and as you'll have noticed I've had a bit of a break from updating this blog over the Summer holidays. As I'm starting back teaching I was thinking about how useful it is to have targets to work toward in our music studies. I certainly think that having a sense of direction and a goal to aim for can help to make us more targeted in our practise and therefore help us to achieve more. For many the next exam might be a good target to aim toward or perhaps they will need to aim toward a performance as part of their GCSE or A-level music studies. However, not everyone will necessarily want to work toward exams, so what else might we have as a target? Perhaps for some it will be aiming toward performing a piece in a Music Festival or concert. For others it might be to learn a piece up to performance standard and then play to some family members or friends or even make a recording of a few pieces on CD as a Christmas present for friends and family. Whatever your goal is I think its good to sit down at the start of a new term and work out where you are heading with your studies. Work out what you want to achieve over this year and when you'd like to achieve it by. Its always useful to discuss this with a teacher in order to make sure your goal is realistic yet sufficiently challenging at the same time.

Let me know any thoughts you have and enjoy your practising!