How to memorise music for performance

With the right concepts and skills, any musician can successfully learn music by
heart, as Gerald Klickstein explains
Wednesday, 16 April 2014

Is memorising worth the effort? For most musicians, it probably is. Not only do
performers report feeling greater artistic freedom when playing from memory, but
audiences also prefer memorised solos to those played from scores. Still, we
need inclusive preparation if were to perform confidently without notation in front
of us.
Secure memorisation rests on a foundation of deep learning. Adept memorisers
absorb the musical and technical ingredients of a piece from the outset of
practice, and they remain aware of those elements throughout the mastering
process. Conversely, when a musicians practice isnt thorough say, when
phrasing is unclear the confusion undermines any attempt at memorisation.
Although deep learning is essential, there isnt any ideal memorisation method.
We should be flexible about when in the course of learning a piece we start to
memorise. Depending on the composition, some performers begin memorising at
the outset of learning; others practise for weeks before they break away from the
page. Nonetheless, Ive observed that many students do best when they
memorise a solo as soon as they can play it at a slow tempo. In that way, they
promptly establish habits of playing without a score.
Memorisation is fundamentally a matter of storage and recall. Its helpful,
however, to conceive of storage in stages perception, ingraining and
maintenance with recall functioning as the fourth and culminating stage of
memorisation. That is, when we memorise a piece, we first perceive its
expressive and technical features. Next, we deliberately ingrain it in our minds.
After that, to keep the music vivid, we review. The more skilfully we carry out
each aspect of storage, the more fail-safe our recall will be.
The strategies described here are organised under these four stages. To try
these strategies out for yourself, prepare a short, unfamiliar piece to the point
where you can comfortably play it from the score, then apply the strategies to
your selection step by step.
PERCEPTION
Rich perception makes for vibrant memory. When our understanding of a piece is
multi-layered, our playing resonates with meaning, and recall can seem
effortless. Here are strategies that boost perception:
Clarify the compositional structure
Grasp the style and form of a composition. Locate the boundaries of phrases and
sections. Look for melodic, harmonic and rhythmic patterns.
Renew your interpretive plan
Reflect on where phrases peak and repose, and write in expressive cues such as
articulation and dynamic marks. Also connect with the emotional substance of
the music sing melodies and cultivate images or storylines.
Re-examine your technical map
Be sure that your fingerings and bowings are definite. Pencil in any necessary
reminders.
INGRAINING
Ingraining is the methodical process through which we etch tracks in our
memory. Deep ingraining equips us to perform expertly because it instils potent
mental records that we can recall even if we feel jittery. In contrast, shallow
memorisation commonly rooted in mindless repetition and finger
memory readily splinters under pressure. Employ these strategies to ingrain a
robust memory:
Plan your practice
Schedule regular, concise memorisation sessions that forestall fatigue; maybe
work in 25-minute instalments with ample breaks in between. You might begin
your memorising with the initial bars of a piece, or you could start elsewhere.
Either way, divide the music into segments that you can ingrain as units.
Learn deeply and efficiently
As a general process, ingrain a segment as follows. Without looking at the music,
and at a slow tempo, mentally image the act of playing a segment two or three
times; then, execute the segment two or three times on your instrument. While
doing this, sing note names or counting syllables and make small-scale playing
gestures. If you cant conjure up a segment from memory, image it using the
score, and then image and play it without the music. Be not only accurate but
also creative as you repeat playfully shape the dynamics, mould the articulation
and so forth.
Link segments
If a piece comprises 32 segments, for instance, after you ingrain segments A and
B individually, play AB once. Ingrain C then D, execute CD, and then play A
BCD (if your memory falters, separately re-ingrain the problematic segment,
and then repeat ABCD). Master the next four segments, then play the eight-
segment chunk two or three times. Memorise the subsequent eight segments,
then play the 16-segment span. Tackle the second half of the piece, unite the
halves, and then steadily increase the tempo as appropriate. Alternatively, you
could start memorising with the last segment of a piece or section, and then add
on segments in the reverse order of the previous example.
Limit the amount of music that you memorise in one sitting. If you overreach,
much of what you ingrain could become muddled. Get plenty of sleep as well
during sleep our brains consolidate what weve learnt.
Incorporate different types of memory
To foster aural memory, as you play one musical gesture, mentally hear the
following one (discern both your part and any accompaniment); if you dont
perceive a passage plainly, stop playing and sing it. Augment tactile and
movement awareness by imaging and executing each hand individually. To
enhance conceptual memory, as you image, vocalise melodies using solfge
syllables or scale degree numbers; then, while playing, sense where you are in
the musical structure. Support visual memory by picturing how phrases appear
on the score or notating some excerpts.
MAINTENANCE
Ingraining carves tracks in our memory, but if we dont maintain those tracks, the
mental pathways that we construct will gradually disintegrate. Whats more, our
recall of a piece is most lucid when we enliven our playing with interpretive and
technical improvements. Maintenance, therefore, isnt merely a process of
upkeep but one of ongoing innovation. Here are some strategies to reinforce
memory and invigorate artistry.
Rehearse mentally
In your mind, run through a whole piece or selected phrases; choose tempos that
range from slow to performance speed. Sing expressively as you rehearse, and
mime the playing motions. If any passages seem vague, re-ingrain them.
Practise performing
With an audio or video recorder as your audience, play a piece from memory.
Then evaluate your performance and rework any unclear phrases.
Go over the details
Scrutinise the score to retrace a compositions structure and inspire new
interpretive ideas. In tandem, practise challenging excerpts both with and without
the score. Also explore the components of a piece: you might play hands
separately or singly execute the voices from a multi-voice passage.
RECALL
Effective maintenance procedures revitalise stored music and test recall. The
strategies here bolster recall in performance settings:
Ready yourself
Your recall is most stable when youre focused and poised, so warm up
thoroughly backstage, jettison irrelevant thoughts, and fuel your enthusiasm for
presenting your programme.
Image ahead
As you perform, conceive of each passage before you execute it. If your memory
misfires, improvise in the character of the music until you can regain the musical
thread (to rehearse dealing with slips, simulate them in practice, then ad lib for a
bar or two).
Be positive
While on stage, transmit confident body language, trust in your preparation, and
play your heart out.
Performing from memory can bring abundant rewards. When we memorise
deeply, we can enjoy unfettered music making as well as an unobstructed
connection with our audiences. Even so, facility doesnt arise overnight. With
intelligent practice, though, all of us can acquire the knack to step on stage, free
of the printed score, and share music from our souls.