Piano World Home Page Forums Our Most Popular Forums Pianist Corner Help memorizing

I have just returned from a concert where I played fantasie impromptu. This was the first concert in which I have played from memory and it went terrible. Eveyone said that I played well but I know I kept forgetting sections.

The thing is that I can play fantasie impromptu perfectly from memory with all the right notes on my own or with a small audience of people i feel comfortable with. i hae also played it very well in a concert with the music.

I have a diploma coming up soon and I need to perform from memory. What can I do? I know I can play it from memory but it just fails when I'm in front of an audience playing in concert.

Well if it is down to nerves there's nothing you can do besides perform in public as much as you can I suppose.

i totally understand what you're saying...owing to a variety of reasons, iwas unable to play in front of an audience very much in the last couple of years...so last month when I had to play a Bach French Suite by memory for a competition...|I was excited and scared out of my wits..
like u said...i knew the work inside-out and played it perfectly by memory butwhen I played at the competition I had a memory lapse at the start of the very last movement..I started it again, and once I was absorbed in the music, the notes just happened...

The experience has made me realize...that like everything else you need to practice not just the notes and the piece, but also practice performing in front of absolutely anyone......over time i suppose you get so involved in the music that you care more about THAT than who's watching, who's listening....and actually begin to communicate freely..

Good luck, and Im sure you will value the experience..

Don't worry about the diploma...play for absolutely anyone..do a mock exam for someone or a couple of people where you run through the entire program, and you should be fine! And trust the work you've put in... Good Luck

Womble:

There are a few techniques you can use to cement even more solidly your memory of a piece; sometimes what we think is memorized is only partly so.

• can you play the "Fantasie Impromptu" from memory at about a quarter of the normal tempo? If you cannot, then it's mainly impetus that gets you through it, not solid memory.
• can you pick up the piece at any bar - even in the middle of the phrase - and then continue playing from memory to the end? If not, then the piece is not solidly memorized.
• can you play through the entire piece in your mind, away from the piano, and imagine - precisely - every note, every chord, every passage, both hands separately and hands together? If not, then you don't really know the piece.

These are only three techniques to apply to pieces that you believe are already memorized; if you can master them, then you should pretty well have the piece down cold under almost - I said almost- any circumstances.

Regards,

P.S. Never underestimate the value to technique and to memorization of slow - I mean s l o w - practice. One reads of people who are surprised when they overhear famous pianists doing last-minute, pre-performance practice of pieces they've played for years, and hearing them practice at half or even quarter speed.

When you memorize, are you memorizing chord progressions, individual keys by sight, the feel of the piece or the sound of the piece?

I have great difficulty with memorization. No matter how hard I try, I can never completely memorize a piece for start to finish. I was just wondering how others accomplish this.

I have trouble memorizing and it has taken some time to memorize fantasie impromptu. People say that you are supposed to play better from memory becuase yiou arent thinking about reading the music but I always play better with music.

I might try to see if I can use music for my diploma. Does anyone famous use music for performances? or is this unheard of. The syllabus says to be aware of performance conventions and piano recital although memorization is not required.

When I play from memory all i think about is what note comes next and I am unable to put as much feeling into the piece. I know little sections that involve jumps or are tricky but I like the security of having the music

Is is so wrong to use music in recitals?

Just a suggestion: Nervousness (from worrying about getting the notes right or from performing in public leads to rushing which leads to errors. Try working on more on rhythm. Once you FEEL the "groove" you suddenly find you have plenty of time to find the notes, anxiety diminishes, and it all falls into place. BruceD is right on with the slow practice. I wish I'd learned to do this years ago

AlCar, I feel secure in my knowledge and memorization of a piece only after I have succesfully broken it down into major sections and phrases within thosed section.


In the piece I'm working on now, for instance, the first phrase starts (in the key of C) on C, drops by 3rds to A, F, D then a 5th to G followed by the second phrase starting on the G, up a 3rd to E then going through the circle of 5ths to A, D, G , to C (the home key). The finale phrase (of the first section) jumps up briefly to the 5th (G) then to A, D, G, A, D G. This last section has changed its "tonal center" from C to G, and the chord progression is the standard 2, 5, 1, 2, 5, 1 progression. (I've left out the 7ths and Major/minor from the description.)

I won't spell out the second section, except to say that it starts in G and 6 phrases later has worked its way back to C.

I can let the "feel and sound" of the piece come through with more confidence when I know that that big "D" I'm getting ready to hit in the bass is the root of the V7 chord in G .... or that that F down there "is an FSHARP for Pete's sake because its a DMAJOR chord you slub" (I occasionally jot notes to myself on the score )

I have pretty good "muscle memory", but adding the chord sequence to a "mental memory" makes it a lot more secure for me. That may be what is happening when people play at highly recuced speeed, i.e. they are forcing the "logic" of the piece to be exercised.

Bob

If you can play the piece well alone or in front of small groups then your problem is with relaxation and subsequent loss of concentration (a better word would probably be focus). It is difficult to relax in front of large groups. Music is such a transitory art where it occurs and thereafter is gone. Sometimes obsession with this transitory nature can give us a "now or never" attitude that elevates anxiety. I sometimes think that making a mistake early on is relaxing enough (loss of pressure) to make the rest so much better. Unfortunately, we cannot deliberately make mistakes with predictable outcomes. Really, I think, the key is to try to not take it too seriously. Whatever it takes to just relax and play the damn music no matter how it comes out is better than what results from anxiety over even the tiniest mistake. Windy, maybe unhelpful, but my .02.

Topeka Bob,

Excellent post.

Benedict

Womble.......

As RKVS1 says - HARMONIC ANALYSIS. Write in the chords and modulations. Then step back and digest the overall architecture and logic.

Another thing I remember from a teacher long ago was the advice to break up the piece into sections and start learning them in reverse order - I guess so that you end up knowing the end (the climax) as well, if not better, than the run-up. This might boost your confidence level as you prepare to strike the 1st notes on stage.