Monday, November 16, 2020 | Practice Assistance

A student texted me this question:  “Do you have any tips on memorizing music?”

Here are some suggestions:

The best way to memorize is the same way you would go about eating an entire elephant: One bite at a time! So work in small sections, whether that is by measures, phrases, form sections, etc.

Use small Post-it Notes to cover up just a beat or two, then play the section (2-8 measures or so), including the tiny part that’s covered. If you are successful, cover another small part, not adjacent to the previous Post-It. Keep covering up parts until (nearly) the whole section is covered. Then close the score (the written music) and try playing that same small section completely by memory.

Upper level students could also look at The Piano Student’s Guide to Practicing and see the Index for “Memorization” and try some of those tips.

Caution: Be sure, when you are actually attempting to play from memory that the score is closed, or truly out of your vision. If you leave it open and just *try not to look* at it, some part of your brain says, “Well, I could peek if I had to.” But of course, that doesn’t happen when you’re performing for a judge. ;-)