 The Clarinet BBoard
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Author: Rynn
Date: 2003-01-28 03:39
Hi everyone,
What do you all do when you try to memorize a piece? I have to memorize a solo for a recital. I really like this solo but I'm afraid that I'll end up overkilling it... Any advice?
Thanks
Rynn
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Author: Allen Cole
Date: 2003-01-28 06:19
It' just like programming a calculator. You play the piece over and over until it's in your fingers and in your ears. I suggest starting with a fairly brief passage, and then adding on additional segments from there.
It's equally as important to hear it correctly in your head, as to have the notes in your fingers.
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Author: Rynn
Date: 2003-01-28 17:11
Thomas,
What I meant was by playing the piece over and over and over again to the point where you just don't want to play the piece anymore. It happened to a friend of mine when she had to memorize a piece for a contest. I just hope it doesn't happen to me.
Rynn
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Author: Eileen
Date: 2003-01-28 17:32
If you can find a recording of the piece, buy it and play it often. I've found it's far easier to memorize when I can add the aural memory to the visual (sheet music) and the physical (the fingering).
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Author: Brenda Siewert
Date: 2003-01-28 18:48
Memorize in sections-a little at a time until you can play the whole piece. Try thinking about it when you're away from the music and visualize it written out. Memory is a muscle. It has to be exercised. The more you do it the easier it becomes.
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Author: Bredsky
Date: 2003-01-28 20:24
This is my way:
From day one of practicing a certain (new) piece, work as much as possible without the score. (Which might not be very much!!) Then, after practicing, your brain will do lots of work for you - fragments come and go, some of them wont leave you alone even if you really want to.
Every other day you practice, start practicing without the score, and try to recall as much as you can. You will notice that you have certain 'blind spots' in your memory. Do not check with the score at once, try to imagine what it should be in that particular spot. Then when you check with the score, you will see the solution and it will stick better in your memory just because you were thinking creatively about it before.
This might seem a difficult way, but as soon as you get used to it it actually saves you a lot of time because memorization becomes totally integrated with the practicing.
In the final stage of preparation you can now and then perform the piece silently in your head, without your clarinet. This takes a lot of concentration but I find it very stimulating and most rewarding. If you can do this, you really KNOW the piece, and you will not have to rely only on finger memory. Treat the blank spots in the same way as described above: Try to reconstruct what it should be, then check.
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Author: Morrigan
Date: 2003-01-29 01:15
My mind keeps a 'sound picture' of the piece. Physical (finger) memory and Visual (the music) memory play very little part - it's all shapes, colours, textures to me, in a kinda of sequence. Hard to explain how I memorise this way, but I can get a piece down quite quickly.
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Author: Mark Charette
Date: 2003-01-29 03:02
You know, I was going to write an essay on how I learned to memorize (since I played in any number of "cover bands" you <b>had</b> to memorize everything) ... but Morrigan has a much more elegant phrase - the "sound picture". It works for most music - I don't think I could memorize 12-tone music very well (nor would I want to in most cases) - because most music "makes sense" if you listen to it critically.
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Author: Ken Rasmussen
Date: 2003-01-29 06:46
The last two posts are more in the direction of playing by ear, which I think is the point of playing without written music. There is a tendency to play from the right brain, instead of the left, which is emotional, instead of analytical. People who have deeply ingrained left brain habits will not find this easy, or even possible at first. Whichever half of the brain has more confidence is the half which will dominate, and seize control. Singing is a good key to unlock the right brain. Hear a pitch and sing it, and then find it on the horn. Sing through your horn. You can feel the tone forming in your throat, and match the pitch you produce to the pitch you feel in your throat. Practicing scales in all keys helps too, because then the fingers tend to fall into place more readily when you're hunting for the correct pitch. After awhile it becomes natural. Then you can play from the sound and feel of the music, and be free to add emotion and interpretation to it. Most of the preceding posts have good clues, but it is important to distinguish between activities which are left brain (i.e. sight reading) versus right brain (such as singing). The brain is not so sophisticated as to automatically go into the correct mode, and efforts to perform from the wrong half of the brain are doomed. The most versatile musicians can shunt readily between right and left brain, but most of us will favor one side or the other. Taking the trouble to cultivate the weak side not only helps in music, it helps in many aspects of life. Whenever something doesn't work consider whether the approach is correct. If the approach is incorrect, more effort won't help.
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Author: William
Date: 2003-01-29 17:01
All I have to add is that the memorization process becomes much slower with age. In college, I used to be able to memorize solos--such as the first movt of the Brahms Sonata #1--in just two hours before presenting to the clarinet jury. I did this by sound and by "feel"--one phrase or sequence of notes providing the memory cue for what followed. Now, as I am past retirement age, I find it a challenge to memorize my daughter's new phone number and address, much less the Shaw Clarinet Concerto which I have played a zillion times in performance and practice, but find it impossible to get through without the score in front of my eyes. But I still rememeber that Brahms...........
(what was this thread about?????)
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