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I am sure most people here realize the importance of trying to mentally practice or “think” a score away from the piano to aid memory, understanding, interpretation, etc. And I am sure people have read about many great pianists recommending this tactic. But I have not read any books on how precisely to do this. Obviously, I should try and mentally hear the piece as best as possible, but surely there is more to it than that. Should I be trying to recall the details of the printed score itself, or should I be visualizing my hands actually playing the piece?
I read that Glenn Gould would memorize the entire score before ever playing it (others such as Heinrich Neuhaus have recommended the same thing), but in reference to doing this I also read a quote by Glenn Gould in which he said something to the effect that when he memorizes a score he sort of (I am paraphrasing because I don’t recall his specific words) sees his hands playing each note(s).
I have combed my University’s library and found no good books on the subject. I think perhaps the problem may be that I am confounding mental practice with strict memorization. But it would seem, anecdotally at least, that mental practice leads to solid memorization.
The only book I have heard about that even touches on the subject is “Music in your head: Mental practice, how to memorize piano music,” but none of the libraries in my area carry this book. I have ordered it online but it will not arrive for some time.

Does anyone have any thoughts on this subject?

P.S. Sorry for the long-winded nature of this post.

-Jeff

You're right, mental memorizing is the best form. My favourite advantage if you can visualize an entire performance of a piece is that you can 'mull' it over. Also, when it comes to performance anxiety, I'm hypothesizing the mental memory is in a place adrenaline can't get at. It's the hardest type to get under your belt and needs a lot of concentration. Whether you visualize the score or hand movements is a personal choice. I visualize the hands. Interestingly, because in reality you only see about one octave of the keyboard at a time, I find you can only visualize your hands on that much keyboard. When visualizing both hands they sometimes intermingal. Also, once you've learned it away from the keyboard it sounds some much fresher when you do play it. Make sure you do the fingering first.

And welcome to PW!

Welcome to PW Jeff,

Memorizing works for me in the following way: I get completely hooked by the pieces I'm playing, and hum them on the road, sing them, tap them on the table, etc. So I 'know' deep down what to expect while I'm performing. This helps me cause if I know what's coming next, I'll just... go that way. It seems that this is coming rather natural to me, even now that I don't practice almost at all anymore.

Some people advocate memorizing the printed score and say that after you've done it, you should actually write out the score, from memory. This will prove to yourself that you really know it and will help solidify the memorization. And it also will reveal any spots that aren't thoroughly memorized.

Has anyone here actually tried it (the writing out part)? I have been thinking about trying it especially in some pieces where I am experiencing recurrent mistakes, but it sounds kind of daunting.

Kind of? It sounds extremely daunting and this is coming from someone who normally enjoyes writing scores and notating music!

I did that only once, when I was fifteen. I wrote out the invention and sinfonia that I was preparing for a Bach competition. IIRC, I even came up with that preparation method on my own.

The invention/sinfonia were not long pieces, but the process was slow and painful. It did help me discover multiple places of memory lapses though (i.e., I had to pantomime with my hands to figure out the notes).

Was it helpful? Hard to say. Of the five years that I was made to participate in the Bach competition, that was the only year that I advanced to regional. It's hard to say how much can be attributed to the score writing exercise though -- it didn't stop me from blanking out during the next stage (but arguably, I started the score memorization process too late).

Now, I think I would just rather work more on improving other aspects before taking this draconian route for memory reinforcement (but then, my piano aspirations are rather modest).

I don't usually attempt memorization, but just now I thought I would try this out on Bach's 8th invention, which I can sometimes play by memory. Luckily, I had some score paper handy (or I could have done it in Finale).

Only made it to the third measure, before uncertainty about one note stopped me and I had to go to the piano for reinforcement. But even this short little experiment was interesting (and amusing). I really started to think much more carefully about how the music was put together, and that is worth it in itself. I think I will try to get this whole invention learned to the point where I can write it out, just to see what the process has to teach me.

Actually, complete memorization of every note is the method I use, except on easy pieces and let me tell you: It is extremely daunting (I can only assume/hope it will get easier with practice) and not to mention time-consuming. In fact, this is what actually got me contemplating the use of mental practice in the first place.

-Jeff

I really like keyboardklutz's post - I love the idea of mental memory being "in a place adrenaline can't get at" - brilliant! I am going to think this the next time I have to perform.

Mental practice helps me so much. I use it all the time for memorization. Say I am memorizing four bars at a time - I play the four bars and then, while sitting very still, I feel and hear the music of those bars exactly the way I want to. It makes memorization much speedier for me.

I also sit away from the piano (again, very still) and look at the score, reading ahead, and I hear and feel the music the way I want to. Then I do this without the score as well.

I have tried to use mental practice as a means of improving my playing. However, it is really difficult to concentrate on each note. It is easy for me to hear the music in my head - I have no problem replaying an entire piece in my head - but trying to visualise my motor movements is more difficult. I have been trying this recently with Bach's fugue in F minor book two. It is only three pages long, and I can play all of the first page mentally from memory and by that, I mean I can imagine the notes, the fingering, the dynamics and the arm movements.... but I start to lose it once I get to page two.

I think I need to try and break it down into smaller sections away from the piano to get it into memory. I can also sit with the score and read through the music and hear and imagine what I will be doing at the keyboard.

M

That's one of my favorite fugues from the WTC (I love the prelude too).

It does take supreme concentration. Listen to the UK radio show Just a Minute and you'll get the idea.

I have music going through my head every waking minute. I don't have a lot of time to practice with my full-time job and other obligations, but I have a lot of waking hours to mentally rehearse. Fortunately, it never gets on my nerves, I don't feel haunted, I just always have this soundtrack going. Right now it's one of the more awkward passages of the Beethoven Op. 101 fugue on repeat.

Unless you can play perfectly by ear that's no use. You need to perfectly visualize either the score or the keys.

I know how you feel... the worst part is thinking on variations of the pieces you listen to, and doesn't have enough time and technique to perform them.

BWV 847, it is one of those pieces that plays in my mind almost driving me crazy, strange enough I'm far away to be able to play it.

It seems to work well for me, so I imagine it's some sort of combination of playing by ear, visualizing the score and feeling the keys. All I know is that I can play a piece through a few times, leave it alone for a week, and then play it by memory the next time I sit down. I'm not saying it's always perfect, but after testing my memory I go back to the score, practice it slow and fill in the blanks.

If it's as simple as that for you when playing in front of others then you're lucky indeed.

It depends on the complexity of the piece. Something on the level of a Grieg Lyric Piece could be ready to perform in a week using this method. Ginastera's First Sonata has required almost 2 years of work and I'm not satisfied yet with my memory or command of the piece..