Piano World Home Page Forums Our Most Popular Forums Adult Beginners Forum Is memorizing pieces a bad thing?

Strange type of question I know but allow me to try to explain.

I can sight read (although very slowly) but then my brain just kind of takes over. I mean it's not photographic (that I know of) but once I've seen/ looked at things once or twice it kind of just "sinks in".

When learning pieces I find my brain memorizing where I'm supposed to be so I am sight reading less & less. As an example (5.5mths in) I had my recital piece memorized which was a 5.5min song (5 pages) long.

As I go over stuff in my books and lessons I find that with practicing the pieces over and over it then just sinks in and I no longer need to read the notes. I do enjoy sight reading some pieces but for the most part its just going off memory. I don't think there is much I can do to "change" my memory but wanted to see what others with the same type of brain (I know I'm not the only one) do about it..

Obviously, it's good to be able to do sight reading and memorization. Even thought sight reading can help you play a piece the first time through I think it can also be a crutch that is used as well. How many videos have you seen with clumsy page turning?

Of course, it's a two way street. My good memory is used instead of learning to sight read. I guess I'll just have to be happy in the mean time with exercising my memory.

I don't know if it's "good" or not, but you are definitely not the only person who does it. I end up memorizing just about everything I ever play, and if I play it at least once a week it will stay memorized.

The downside is that you can have errors creep in if you're not looking at the music and not realize you're making the errors. To me that is outweighed considerably by the advantage of being able to play something anytime, anywhere, and not being tied to the sheet music.

you know that memorization is a requirement for performing pianists, which is not for no reason.

actually, if you practice something long enough, you would memorize it. also, muscle memory will be in place once you learned the piece, whether or not you're still reading music while playing it. so we need to live with both skills, none of which is bad.

at the beginner stage, once i memorized a piece, i cannot read the score while playing it. but things changed for me now (thanks to my teacher), as i have improved reading skill and can read notes even when i've memorized a piece, like many intermediate and advanced players. along the way, you'd also learn to do both.

I thought it was because Liszt did it.

My current opinion (and please note my opinion changes regularly :rolleyes: ) is that you shouldn't memorize a piece until late in the learning process. Even if you can't help but memorize due to repetition, you should continue reading off the page and minimize looking at your hands until the piece is nearly finished. That way you end up with the option of playing from the page or memory, so if you don't play it for a few weeks or months, you can still read it and get a decent play within a few tries. It takes much longer to re-learn if you only have it memorized and can't read it.

I've also found it's very easy to memorize a piece I can play well off the page, but almost impossible to read while playing a piece learned solely by memorization.

Page turning is an issue, but it can be dealt with thru practice and/or technology (e.g. flat screen monitors and foot switches). Besides, once you can play a piece both ways, you should be able to play from memory in "performance" situations and only read during practice.

I have found that it takes me longer to learn a piece by reading than memorizing, mostly because it takes longer to learn the motions without looking at the keys, but the benefits are worth the additional time.

I have been focusing on my sight reading skills for a while. Since they have improved I am now able to play the pieces (slowly) without *needing* to memorize them, so I don't. The effect is that the pieces are memorized considerably quicker than before and I can throw away the pages if I wish to. I usually keep it in front of me, though, to avoid internalizing mistakes.

I also memorize quickly and automatically without much conscious effort. Unfortunately, I sometimes get a note or a rhythm wrong and find that it's already in memory before my teacher points out the error. Then I have to relearn and rememorize and that is sometimes harder than the first time.

It is also true that, while I memorize the notes and fingering quickly, I don't have the same quick memory of the other things in the score like dynamics and articulation. So, my rule is to ALWAYS practice with the music in front of me and to make myself really LOOK at the music to try to see everything that's there and not just the notes. This doesn't stop me from memorizing quickly but it helps to keep double-checking with the actual score.

I thought I saw a few words floating around that Clara Schumann started this tradition. Maybe somebody knows for sure?

It seems I have the same issue. I'm not trying to memorize, but I think the repetition from practice just puts pieces into memory. I do have a very difficult time reading the piece once it is memorized. For example, I especially find it challenging to "read" several of the Bach 2 part inventions that I've recently learned, but seem to play it smoothly without the music. While I think it is predominantly muscle memory that I am relying upon, I find older pieces are pretty secure in memory and that reading them requires a significant amount of effort.

I will try what Paul suggested about really LOOKING at the music as I play and learn new pieces.

I memorise, otherwise I wouldn't enjoy playing because what you would hear is a stuttered version of the piece.

Pianist Magazine did an article recently. They are pro-memorisation. It talks about Hands-separate as being a valuable tool also.
I can usually do this but tend to forget the HS afterwards as I stop doing it once my HT is working well enough.


Interesting quotes from it.......


"In the process of learning a piece, committing it to memory signifies moving to a higher level in mastering it."

"If you have memorised a piece very well, you should be able to play both hands, separately, from memory. However, if you can't play either, it means you haven't memorised sufficiently"

I think only very advanced pianists sight read cold. I believe most of us sight read warm, ie memorize with the notes as a guide...

I honestly don't think it's possible to NOT memorize a piece after playing it a brazillion times.

As far as improvising goes, once a piece becomes thoroughly memorized, why not add in a little flair and mix it up a bit.

For me, the same exact piece over and over again is torture.

Well, some of us are memory limited. I play a piece a bizillion times, it doesn't sink in. But I can sight read faster than most people think. My companion player at church can memorize easily, but sight reading is a challenge. I would rather have my problem.

Welcome to the forum, alsh.

Most likely people just use what comes easier for them.

Exactly what is meant by the term "muscle memory" - I've seen references to this a number of times but never with an explanation or definition. Can someone elaborate? Thanks.

Regards, JF

Thanks for all the good answers, I figured I wasn't alone. Agreed, I will try to pay more attention to the pieces (even whilst my brain does it's thing).

Devane,
Thanks for the link

I'll take a stab at it:

"Muscle memory" is the ability to play something semi-consciously due to rote repetitions, as opposed to gaining a mental understanding of it. In general, if you can say or write out the notes of a passage you have a mental understanding of it. If you can only remember it by sitting at the piano and playing, then you have muscle memory. The optimum situation for a memorized piece is to have both, so you can be thinking ahead mentally, yet let the hands use muscle memory to play the current passage. Additionally, if one type of memory fails, you can often rely on the other to avoid mistakes.

I think it would be helpful to keep in mind that sight-reading is specialized form of reading music with a specific technique, environment and purpose. It would clarify the discussion and the advice given to maintain the distinction.

Steven

I think memorization becomes a bulk of knowledge. So great I don't need to carry around 50 books to play the piano. Beyond that it forces my brain to understand the music in another manner, a different level so to speak.
This allows me to be creative and improvise.

rada
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