Improving Memory

[EloHiR ElEnDIl]

Hey, I´ve been having a problem. In my piano classes they give me some music sheets and I have to learn them by memory. But I find hard! I´m good on learning and remebering things ( I know the phone numbers of everybody even the ones that I haven´t even called them once! and for the exams I just do a quick read after the exam and ...10 or A )

But I just can´t learn music that fast! any idea?

[Athox]

I have a different problem... I can learn one piece, and then after I'm finished learning the next piece, half of the first one is missing :tongue:

[Viperk88]

Playing with the sheet music repeatedly is what works for me. Slow..picky..practice..it all forms together for me and over time I just start to memorize when and where the notes are played :D

[Elderane]

what i do is to learn the piece in groups of 2 - 4 measures.. depends of the complexity of each measure... for example let's make groups of 4.. i memorize through 1st to 4th measure until its completely solid... then learn from 5th to 8th measure... now join them an play through 1st to 8th.... and so it goes... divide the piece in small groups then join them to form medium groups... big groups... til u have the whole piece!

hope this help you in some way.. try it and let us know how u did it plz!

[bobbykunkle]

i do a lot of the things listed, especially splitting it into different sections, but i also play jazz and i understand very well the different tones in a chord and different chords, so i might recognize that i am playing a melody that starts on the 9th and goes down chromatically to the minor 6th or something and then i play a C7 arpeggio or something like that. i usually understand somewhat of the progression of the piece and it helps me especially if i mess up somewhere in the middle, at least i can stay in the key.

[Elderane]

oh yeah! as bobby said.. if u analyze and understand the piece, u'll memorize it easier.. its always good to know what u r doing!

[Inno]

oh yeah! as bobby said.. if u analyze and understand the piece, u'll memorize it easier.. its always good to know what u r doing!


Understanding the piece is definitely a good way of learning it. Then, if you can't remember where exactly it's going, you can work it out.

[HammondToby]

I use melodies to memorize classical stuff: thinking in the bow, that the melody is written in. This devides the piece into sections of different lengths but the advantage is, that you learn, where the melody and the dramatics within cummulate. Before I work on the expression, I learn to play it by heart, cause it's much easier to work on different aspects in melody, rhythm and dynamic if you don't have to read the notes.

Best regards
HammondToby

[SerFox]

It's really hard for me to explain this, since all I have is my memory which has had 12 years of development.
Best thing to do is to play a four bar area at a time, then try a section, then try two secitons, then try the rest.

One thing to try.. do the solo from octavarium from memory. That stretches your memory out really harshly and after that nothing escapes you really.

[-=AnatomiC=-]

Very important - you have to know what you are playing.

Don't try to play a section with paper, and then to try to play without it - it's useless. At the most important moment, you will probably forget everything.

I think the best option, is to learn visually - just play it slow, try to memorize the keys (and try to understand why do you play them: chords etc) and then play it faster and faster...

But I can't use this method for my classical piano, because sometimes I have to memorize 4 voices at the same time.

It's very effective if you have 1 voice melody (no matter how hard/fast it is) and you improvise chords/bass on your left hand.

[SerFox]

Very important - you have to know what you are playing.

Don't try to play a section with paper, and then to try to play without it - it's useless.

...Thats what I do and it works?

[sanchis]

there are different kind of memory. The auditive memory (you remember the music, the melody), digital memory (you remember the progression or sequence of the fingers), visual memory (you remember zones or parts of the keyboard, and what do the fingers do in those parts).
I use allways the digital memory and visual. Their are more easy to learn when the hands plays different things each one. So the music doesn't confuse u when you are playing.But, some times, there are songs or parts o songs that you remember with the auditive memory.

In the different parts of the song, our brain remember with all different kind of memories. So, you have to learn when and where to use each one, to memorize everything.

[Maximus]

Try Ritalin :biggrin:

[Simian]

I have the exact opposite problem. I can't not remember something I'm practiceing...Then I feel I'm not reading the piece that I'm just remembering it...any one know how to play the piece without commiting it to memory..I asked my teacher if it was bad that I can play a piece a couple times and remember it...even if I can't play it perfectly I still remember the music in my head..He said no, but I'm afraid this will affect my sight reading abilities later on.