Piano World Home Page Forums Our Most Popular Forums Pianist Corner Memorizing

I almost always seem to memorize pieces even before I know them and without working on memorizing them. It just happens by practicing them, and sometimes for a very short time. It's crazy and not always a good thing. For example, I memorized Bach's G major Prelude, WTC book 1, less than a week after I started reading it. It was terrible because I
didn't "know" the piece yet at all. I was just reading it, but I had it memorized. I was able to play it without the music with no memory problems. Is that normal?

How do you memorize music? My memory is quite secure, but I would like to start working on memorizing music the way most people do so that it will be even more secure. I want to actually know the music, if that makes sense.

B flat,
Have you tried analyzing the music? Okay, you have it memorized, now take the music and while reading analyze it, meaning know the key it's in, time signature of course, write down the chord progressions, modulations, etc...
Then play it by memory knowing what you are playing, labeling out loud perhaps the chord changes for example.
Also, you say you have it memorized. Do you have it memorized HS? You can challenge your memory in this way. When you get to the Fugue read each voice separately and memorize each voice separately. Analyze the Fugue, again knowing what you are playing: subject, answer, modulating to such and such key, etc... Keeping each voice memorized separately for Bach I think is essential to really knowing his work.

You are lucky to be able to memorize so easily.
Curious, do you memorize in order to play it well? Or does it just naturally happen while you are reading it?

It just naturally happens from practicing, but I feel like I play better without the music in front of me to "distract" me from playing the music.

Thanks for the advice! I'm going to do it.

I wonder if others share my experience, which is that I used to almost automatically memorize pieces when I was young and I think it was because I was a poor sightreader. Now that I'm, ahem, OLDer (and with a gap of about 25 years of not studying), I find memorization a major challenge--but I've also become a pretty good sightreader, which pleases me. Interestingly, I find that once I memorize a piece (which takes a lot of work), I can't play it while following the music any more, so if I forget something I'm in trouble.

Anne Francis,
Sounds like me. But we need to keep that inner child ability! It is a good one to keep. It is also good that we can sight-read better now. I know what you mean. It is more of a chore to memorize because we have become better at reading the music.
Try doing both. Practicing both skills. They require two different ways of using the brain. And both are very beneficial!

B Flat, you memorize easily because you have perfect pitch. You hear notes, and your brain processes them. Most of us do not know exactly what notes we hear so we have to memorize factually or by looking at the score(for photographic memories only). I don't always have a piece technically down by the time a memorize it because I memorize factually, and it's easy to catch finger patterns and harmonic patterns without being able to put one's fingers on those keys. However, memrizing actually helps me learn the technical aspect of the piece because what I tend to remember is finger patterns aka Kissin.

True. Do you as well?

Out of curiousity, when you practice this way, do you use the fingerings you would use to play the piece with all of the voices, or do you use whatever fingerings you want and THEN change the fingerings when you've gotten all four voices memorized?

I try and use the fingerings for each voice as if I was to put them together. But at times it is difficult to do this technically so if needed I will use a different fingering, being concious that I am.
I think for most of us, including me, reading each voice and practicing each voice is essential, for our ears. I know I suggested to memorize each voice to B flat which can be done and is great if you can manage to do this. I've done this. But if you don't want to memorize each voice (it is rather laborious), but read each voice and then practice memorizing it HT is a very good way to learn it too.

I am wondering if there is any one else on this thread that has perfect pitch besides B-flat?

Not trying to be off-topic, Just curious...

--------------
good luck to you...

B-flat,

When you are memorizing, are you analyzing the music, or are only your fingers remembering the music? If it's your fingers only, then this is known as finger-memory, and this is unstable when it comes to performing because if you make one mistake, your music will fall apart.

As others have said here, you need to learn the structure of the music as well, and practice the music in your mind. The reason for this is if your make a mistake, your brain memory will know the music well enough to recover for you.

John

I do not have perfect pitch, but I can memorize at an extremely rapid rate. Studying a piece and memorizing the notes are two very different things. Memorization helps, not hinders, the learning of a piece. When climbing a mountain with several plateaus, the first plateau is essential to reach the summit, but just because you reach it in one day while others take seven does not mean there aren't other plateaus to reach.

"I do not have perfect pitch, but I can memorize at an extremely rapid rate."

I don't know why, but I never made the connection between memorizing and perfect pitch. Although I can see how it might help. It certainly wouldn't hurt!

Aren't they 2 different things? (a memory for tones, and the ability to memorize quickly)

I memorize piano repertoire very quickly. I have perfect pitch. But I also play gigs, where I am singing ALOT. I have some 200 songs, and I have all the WORDS memorized. I never use cheat sheets for the words. hmmmm....I have always thought of that as memorizing TEXT.

I guess I have always thought that memorizing and tonal memory are 2 different things, like using different parts of the brain...although, that's just an assumption on my part, because I am really bad at science! and come to think of it, math scares me too!

just my 2 cents
------------------
good luck to you...

If you have perfect pitch, you know the next note is an "A". If you have relative pitch, you know the next note is an "A" because the note you just played was a "G". If you don't have either of these, you're "in the ballpark." So, if you have the first, and you know the music, memorization is as easy as the music. If you have the second, memorization is as easy as the music plus the chords. If you have neither, you'll have to memorize every note.

I only memorized the piece when i sight-read, play and listen to it. I don't usually analyse the piece maybe because i haven't get to Grade 6,7,8 Theory yet. And understanding of analysing scores is not a part of me yet.
Therefore, i only used to memorized a piece by playing or practicing it many times in order to master that piece. It will just come in through a lot of practice.
So, when Bflat said he memorized then play the music. It shocked me. Wow!!! I haven't try that yet. Maybe i should try it! Awesome.
I can rate myself as a moderate sight reader but my teacher once said i'm a fast reader and i began to wonder am i that good???
But i still think there are more ways to tackle a piece. Sight-reading is very important for me especially when i play pop songs. I don't memorise pop songs all these while i'm with the piano...unless i am determined and tell myself ok!..i'm memorising this one. I think that's odd O.o?? and even i have played many songs at home...when friends asked me can you play a song for me then i began to confused and oh no! what should i play??? I got confused with all the songs..

So, why does this happen to me?? Can anyone solve my queries?? =(

I too memorize pieces very fast, meaning after reading one or two times, my head already knows what notes to play ( fingers catching up with the head is another story ). Sometimes i fell it´s a bad thing cause i look at page but get distracted by hearing the music in my head wich means i am not realy folowing the page.

Now, like Juliejam i dont wanna stray to the perfect pitch topic, but i feel there is conection to whats being discussed here and so i would like your views (perfect and relative pitch folks) about my ear status.

I wonder if i have perfect pitch, i´m 23 and i´ve benn studying music formaly and piano for about 6 months, early on my teacher said i migh had perfect pitch, but that it had been hindered by not studying music as a child.

Like i said i memorize music very easy, and altough i cannot ear a note and just say it´s name, i can remember music, sometimes music that i dont listen for a long time, play it in my head first and then check the real thing and find i virtualy always imagine the music in it´s right key.

It´s kind of a contradiction to me and bugs me alot, what do you all make of it?

Memorizing piano music comes VERY easy for me. I also play the clarinet, and I NEVER memorize music for that... or very rarely. In fact, I don't even have to tell myself to memorize a piano song and it naturally happens.

The reason is as follows. All of your fingers and thumbs constantly play different keys on the piano... but in my case, on the clarinet, each individual finger and thumb has an assigned key to cover... and that's really all that finger ever does. Therefore, with the clarinet, there is no need to look at your fingers to play and you can completely focus on the sheet music. Piano on the other hand, you need to watch the movement of your fingers and thumbs because they're going everywhere. And this naturally leads to a need and ease to memorize.

I memorize before learning a piece, which is, I think, a much more secure method of memorizing.

I use a few types of memory:
-Visible memory (Seeing the score while playing, without score).
-Audible memory (although I don't have very perfect pitch).
-Muscle memory.
-Theoratical memory (sp?) (I memorize a C scale as a C scale, not as C-D-E-F-G-A-B-C seperately).

And maybe a few other ways.

Gheez you guys are good. This is hardly a place for amateurs like me! I can play most pieces forever and still not memorize in the truest sense. I mean there's a lot of movements and sounds that are memorized, but I still have to have the music up there (except for a few blocks here and there). I will say that I seem to be much better memorizing fast parts - like the middle page or two of Chopin's op. 27, no1. Or even the Revolutionary - I seem to be memorizing that whether I like it or not!

Rick, you'll catch on. You sound like me a couple years ago. You have to factually remember finger poistions and harmonic patterns. Certain notes tend to go together.
No, b flat, I do not have perfect pitch at all! I am far from that!