PLAYING  from  MEMORY

some learning skills to add confidence to your performance.

It is often considered that the written score can distract the performer and not allow him or her to give himself or herself  completely to the interpretation and musical flow of a performance with the knock-on effect of hindering communication with the audience.  

Because of this - piano students – especially those who aspire to a performing career - have to be capable of and comfortable with performing from memory. Most music festival adjudicators expect it and formal piano competitions demand it.

For some – playing from memory comes easily – for some it can be a nightmare!

From my own early experiences, playing from memory was always a daunting prospect  - I learned that is not necessarily that one has a bad memory – but that one has not actually been efficient, thorough or organised in the initial learning of a piece of music.

I’m sure we have all tried to “shut the book” and see how far we can go!  This only makes use of the muscle memory which when questioned by the conscious mind  - forces one to “think about things too much”  and leads us into disastrous straits!

 MEMORY SHOULD BE A NATURAL RESULT OF EFFICIENT LEARNING

For an assured performance by a confident performer–memory should be on several strands so if one strand lets you down – the others will keep you on track.

                                  These memory strands can be defined as follows:

                                 1. Harmony, form, tonality, and modulation

                                 2. Fingering and consistent fingering patterns

                                 3. Aural memory of melody and harmony

                                 4. Visual memory of the page

                                 5. Visual memory of the hand positions on the keyboard

                                 6. Starting points throughout the piece

1. Harmony, form, tonality and modulation:

In order to be very well acquainted with the music – we must not only be aware of the notes but also, the harmony and its journey through whatever modulations are used to create the form and structure of the work. If one is consciously aware of to what key the composer has modulated  – we won’t be surprised in performance when we ask ourselves “where am I now? ” ( as we can when performance nerves take hold !!) Having regular harmonic checkpoints in our minds as we learn and practise – will add constant reinforcement and therefore reassurance and confidence that one is “in control” of the performance and not vice versa!

2. Fingering and consistent fingering patterns:

 Fingering should be one of the first things addressed when learning a new piece. Muscle memory is the first memory to be established so why confuse your finger muscles by sending out conflicting signals when playing the same passage with different fingerings? If one takes the time and patience to establish a sensible fingering right from the start – there will be constant reinforcement in one’s practising and no confusion to cause a memory wobble in performance !

3. Aural memory of melody and harmony:

Many musicians have a great gift to play by ear which is invaluable in playing from memory. For those who are not so gifted at this – one should consciously study the melody line. Remembering that melodic patterns lying under one hand position or in

a scale passage are easier to remember – one should concentrate on any unusual melodic leaps and chord structures that don’t automatically follow a pattern.  A good tip here is to just sing the melody line and play the accompanying hand on its own!

4. Visual memory of the page:

Having a picture of the actual notes on the page in your mind can add to a feeling of security in performance.  It is also helpful to read the music away from the piano. This reinforces the visual memory as well as making you listen to the music, phrasing and dynamics in your head without depending on the fingers’ memory to do it for you!

5. Visual memory of the hand positions on the keyboard:

When you perform from memory  – it is just you, your hands and the keyboard -  so it stands to reason that having consciously reviewed the various hand shapes of chords and fingering patterns can’t do anything but help!

6. Starting places throughout the piece:

Having starting places throughout the piece is one of the best ways to feel “safe” when performing from memory. If you can start “cold” from anyone of these “stations”  - it not only means that you know the piece inside and out but that even if your memory has a wobble – you can always “get back on the horse” and keep going without anyone but the musical intelligentsia knowing – and they will be impressed that you actually kept going!!!  - after all -

This is what performing is all about!!