I am probably the last person to tell you how to memorize music. I rarely ever memorize because I sight read. I have a voracious appetite to hear how those black notes (which we call “bean sprouts” in Chinese) sound. So why am I writing about how to memorize? Why would I want to memorize music?
I have always been fascinated by musicians who perform from memory. They seem completely “into” their music. I wonder how they do it. How long does it take? How long does it stay? Is it worth the time and effort?
From Memory to Sight Reading
I don’t remember how I managed to memorize the pieces I performed in the student recitals on Okinawa and the programme of French impressionist music in my senior recital at Duke University. I knew I had to memorize. For soloists, performing from the score was unheard of.
On the other hand, playing from the sheet music is perfectly acceptable for church organists, choir accompanists, and chamber musicians. My piano teachers at Utrecht Conservatory did not require that I memorize, for I was a composition student. Reading from the score was also expected when playing a new composition.
Without a requirement or a need to memorize, I simply did not practice memorizing. This freed me to sight read as many pieces as quickly as possible. I collected and sightread music at every opportunity. The more I sight read, the more confident I became at sight reading, and the less I practiced.
In my thesis for piano teaching diploma, I observed that sight readers are usually poor at memorizing, and vice versa. It takes a fine musician to be equally good at sight reading and memorizing. People who are good at memorizing are usually good at playing by ear.
Necessity is the Mother of Invention
In the 100 Days of Ukulele Project I joined in mid-February, I discovered that recording myself and posting my videos in the Facebook Group for #100DaysUke2022 was akin to performing on stage in front of an anonymous audience. Any one of the 1,100 members can see and comment on the posts.
Which is harder? To play in front of anonymous audience or a known one? A small audience or a large one? An audience of musicians or nonmusicians? A one-off performance with no recording or a recorded one that anyone can find, rewind, watch, and share?
With all these expectations, I could see why the project gave members a choice of sharing one’s progress in the form of a short textual post, audio or video recording of work in progress, all the way to a polished performance.
I chose the arduous task of posting a different piece for each of the 100 days. Practically speaking, recording every single day was interruptive to my teaching schedule. It was easier to practice seven pieces every day and then spend one day recording seven pieces for the week. Batch processing was the solution.
I noticed that I could not easily sight read instrumental pieces arranged for the ukulele. Even when I felt I had enough practice, I was far from ready to perform it for recording. I’d replay the videos and detect rough spots. With each recording, my eyes and ears became sensitized to the lack of perfection. If I’m not ready to make my YouTube videos PUBLIC, what is the point of recording? To document my progress? To compare the different stages of readiness?
It suddenly dawned on me that I needed to memorize to be ready to perform. I had to be completely sure about every detail of the music, so as not to be swayed, distracted, or lost when recording myself.
Decide and Commit
How does one practice memorizing? I have a million questions to ask those musicians who are good at memorizing. For now, let me focus this first blog post on memorizing instrumental music.
I decided I had to and want to memorize a short piece I liked. This decision is important. It sets an intention — a commitment. I announced to myself, “I will do whatever it takes to memorize one short piece I like.”
I may become obsessed by the piece. I may even hate that it digs into my system like an ear worm, unwilling to leave my existence until I’m spent. I am at its mercy until another piece of music squirms into me and takes over.
So be it. That’s what it’s like to compose. I’ve been there before. I get a musical idea. I cannot get rid of it until I’ve written down the notes.
The next step is to memorize just a little bit, to get a taste of how it feels.
A Taste of Honey
In hindsight, I tasted how it felt to play from memory before I had decided to memorize. Unknowingly I had memorized the first four measures of an arrangement of Handel’s Prelude (in F for low G ukulele). Surprisingly, it felt good to not have to look at the music but focus on producing a good tone instead.
I looked at my fingers on the fret board up close. I loved the way it felt to slide my left hand fingers from one position to another. I tried different fingerings. I could see how I could improve on the sound.
That’s when I decided I wanted to memorize. I had to. I felt the need to get this piece into my head. I wanted to free my eyes from staring at the sheet music.
Perhaps that’s how wine tasting works. Before you buy a case of wine, you go for a tasting. I am sure wine buyers already expect that they will buy the wine even without the tasting. They are not obliged to buy the wine after the tasting but the willingness is there. Being able to taste the wine makes them more sure of the wines and the quantity they choose to buy. They may buy one bottle instead of a case.
And so I decided to see if I could memorize one piece and if it would dent my busy schedule or open new possibilities.
From Sight Reading to Memorizing
When I teach sight reading, I warn my students against diving in immediately. People think that’s what sight reading is about. A good sight reader can do all of the following tasks without appearing to have done any of it before playing the music. In other words, a good sight reader scans the music beforehand.
First, look at the entire piece of music and analyze it. What do you notice? I go around the room, or in this case, everybody in Zoom gets a chance to say something about the piece.
The time signature tells you how to count. The key signature warns you about accidentals. Every musical marking has a purpose.
Reading music is about pattern recognition. Do you see any repeating patterns? It is rare to study a piece of music that has no repetition.
Can you divide the music into sections?
After everyone has made an observation, I then ask how it feels. The students report that they feel less anxious. They have reduced the uncertainy. They have clarified the unknown. They have a lot more confidence to try playing the piece for the first time.
Could the same steps be applied to memorizing? Analyzing a piece of music helps to manage your expectation. How much time should you commit to learning this piece?
Repetition and Recognition
What do you or should you think about when you are playing? Does repetition eventually lead to memorization?
I start by memorizing the first measure. I learn the notes on the ukulele. I repeat it several times without looking at the sheet music.
I do the same for the second measure, playing the first measure from memory and learning the second. I memorize the first and second measures. Then the first, second, and third. Eventually I have the first four measures memorized.
I do the same from the end of the piece. First I play last measure and repeat it until I’ve memorized it. I add the penultimate measure. I memorize the last two measures. Eventually, I have memorized the first four and last four measures.
The middle bit is harder.
I am conscious that I am constantly trying to keep my mind from wandering.
Pay attention! Look at the notes. Look at your fingers. Eat those notes. Taste them. Digest them. Don’t stop to check your phone.
It’s not a matter of memorizing the notes, the tabs, the fingering, the movement on the fret board. You have to hear the notes and memorize the sound.
As a sight reader, I am conscious and confident that I can translate what I see directly into my fingers. I can hear if I make a mistake (if something sounds off). However, I consider listening to how it sounds as being less important than being able to get through the music without stopping.
In contrast, people who are good at playing by ear constantly listen and adjust what they play to what they hear.
To practice memorizing how it sounds, I try to sing or hum the melody line so I can hear it. [Note: when I was composing music for performers, I’d regularly change the notes. The only ones who complained were the singers. They complained that they had already memorized the notes. In other words, I had to be very sure about the music before giving them to the singers. Instrumentalists were more lenient.]
I vary the tempo. I play slowly and deliberately so that I can hear every single note. I recognize the patterns and commmit them into my memory.
- a descending major scale
- an ascending minor scale
- an arpeggio
- a pattern of thirds
- an octave leap
- a half cadence
- alternating bass
Testing Memory with Variations
To firmly commit a passage to memory, I play it in different ways.
- Sitting on a bar stool
- Sitting in a chair
- Standing up
- Playing on the balcony
- Playing it while walking into another room
- Playing it in a noisy environment
- Playing it very very slowly
- Playing it fast, as in one breath
- Playing it very fast
- Playing it with a swing
- Playing it softly
- Playing it loudly
- Playing it with my eyes closed
- Playing it with my eyes on my fingers
- Playing it while staring outside
Once I’ve memorized the music, I need to play it in different surroundings to test my memory and secure it.
The best way to test my memory is to perform it. That’s when the weak spots become obvious.
Thanks to the positive supportive response to my video post (below), I am even more committed to getting this piece memorized. In the process, I discovered a lot of music I’d like to arrange for ukulele AND easy piano.
During the five days after recording the above video, I was obsessed with getting this short instrumental piece memorized for recording. I was relieved when I finally managed to play the entire piece from memory.
FREE WEBINAR:
Wednesday 11th May 2022 How To Master Performing From Memory