Klarinet Archive - Posting 000081.txt from 2002/04

From: Glen Shannon <gshannon@-----.com>
Subj: Re: [kl] memorization
Date: Tue, 2 Apr 2002 17:39:23 -0500

Hi Amy,

I'm not a professional but I perform music from memory frequently in
concerts. I memorize music in small chunks and then string them
together like beads and memorize their sequence. It's like learning a
monologue or stand-up comedy routine. Once I have the skeleton
memorized, I internalize it through repetition- if I can whistle it
[usually in the shower] from start to finish without stopping to
think about what comes next, I know it pretty well (or sing it or
whatever, but do something without the clarinet around to get the
tune in your head), and I can begin to see the music's larger shapes.
Once this is accomplished, it's time to tackle any fingering
problems. Since I already know how I want the music to sound, I am
free to work on getting my fingers into any new strange habits they
might have to acquire. I play recorder and baroque flute too (i.e.
there are no keys at all to help get me out of jams), and the forked
fingerings can sometimes be a real challenge to work out!

Glen

>Hello list,
>
>I am interested to hear about everyone's methods of memorizing
>music. When the day comes that I will perform in recital, I would
>like to do so without music in front of me as much as possible.
>
>Your ideas and suggestions, please?
>
>Best,
>
>Amy Greenan
>
>p.s. I very much agree with whomever asked that all this discussion
>about swear words and filters end... it's tedious to scroll through!
>And it's definitely not clarinet-related!

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