Musical Memorizing Techniques

Memorizing Techniques

Some people are visual learners, some are better with their tactile/touching senses and some are strong auditory learners. A combination of as many of your senses as possible is a stronger way of learning and memorizing music.
I have compiled a selection of techniques which you may wish to t ry when you are learning to play a piece from memory:

Analysis

Understanding the structure of the piece is very useful when memorizing it e.g. recognizing what keys different themes are in and how they compare and contrast. Understanding how the transition is made from one theme to another. Are the themes used in fragmented fashion at all during the piece? Recognizing different sections of the piece, e.g. is there an exposition, transition, development, recap, coda?

Repeats

Are there any repeats in the music? The repeats may be written out, i.e. there may not be any repeat signs. If there are repeats, this will mean there is less material to memorize!

Harmony

Be aware of harmony especially when memorizing unaccompanied music e.g. the solo partitas and sonatas for violin by J.S Bach. What are the chords? Is the harmonic movement towards the key of the dominant, subdominant, relative major/minor or something unexpected?

Accompaniment

If the piece is accompanied, it is very useful to know the accompaniment part very well. This can help you to memorize your part e.g. you may answer or mimic the accompanying part so it can act as a memory trigger. It is also important to know the accompaniment part well so you are able to enter in the correct places when performing.

Writing the music out

Write out the music from memory with as many details as possible e.g. dynamics, phrasing.

Recordings

Recording yourself playing the piece and listening back to it and/or listening to recordings of the piece played by someone else. You will become so familiar with the piece as a whole and you be able to hear the piece in your head when performing it from memory.

Singing the piece through

Sing the whole piece through (as much as is possible. When double stops or chords are written, choose one of the notes to sing).

Focal Points

Find focal points in the piece so that if a lapse occurs you can pick the piece up again.

Memorize While Learning

Often people will memorize music without even realizing they are doing so. If you are keen to learn a lot of repertoire from memory, you may wish to simply memorize as you learn the piece, rather than memorizing after the notes are mastered.

See how far you can get without the music when you are practising. The chances are you will really surprise yourself and you will know a lot more from memory than you thought you did. If you stumble on a bit, go back to the music and see what you forgot, then try again. You can also take a small section that you are learning and try and play it without the music.

Often people find this method works because they aren’t consciously trying to memorize the whole piece in one go and probably haven’t been asked by their teacher to memorize it either. So it is a way of memorizing in a non-pressured, natural way. Make sure you are learning the piece very accurately with this method, otherwise you will have to go back and correct the mistakes which you have committed to memory. It can be difficult to correct these mistakes.

Memorize From the End Backwards

Divide the piece into many little segments. Each segment receives a number, with the last segment being 1. Then memory work begins, starting with 1 and giving attention to how 2 leads to 1.

As soon as 2 is learned, sections 1 and 2 are played together.

This system has the added benefit of making the conclusion of the piece especially secure.

Armchair Memorizing

Some students are able to memorize away from the instrument by looking at the score. This requires an above-average familiarity with the notes and an excellent visual memory.

Some students use a variant of the armchair technique as a memory check by "playing" the piece away from the instrument and away from the score. They hear each note as it sounds and recall each finger, hand, and arm movement necessary to produce it. When memory becomes fuzzy, the student knows that is a place that will need his/her attention again.

Slow Performance

This is another memory check. Play the entire piece at half speed.

This slow speed disrupts all the "finger memories" and any other quasi-memory techniques because the hands do not move as they are trained to and the ear does not hear what it is anxious to hear. The brain has to do all the work!