 The Clarinet BBoard
|
Author: Megan
Date: 2000-04-24 17:28
Hello list,
I got a phone call this morning from our local music festival director and she told me that because of how I did in the festival last week that I've been recommended to play in the provincial festival. woohoo, the kicker is, I have to memorize everything I'm playing. I have never had to do this before and I am playing the first and second mvts of the Mozart concerto and the first mvt of the Eb Brahms Sonata. Does anyone have any memorizing tips for me to make my life a bit easier?
Thanks!
|
|
Reply To Message
|
|
Author: Amber
Date: 2000-04-24 17:52
Nope! Just Practice pracice practice! I can remember the first day of band camp, the directer handed us five pages of music and said "memorize this by next week" I tried to stay calm....it was only five pages, but then he said that the second and third movements would be there next week! AHHHHH!!!! I ran around asking the upperclass for tips to help me memorize the pages. They just laughed and said. Play it over and over again. And that is what you need to do. Get a recording of the pieces. That can be a huge help. And constantly try to play without the music. You memorize things faster than you think, don't be dependent on the paper.
I think a wonderful invention would be one that just inserts music into your mind. That would be so cool! No more worries about music blowing away on windy days, lost music, damaged music, and think of the paper that would be conserved! My band directer says if anyone of us finds or makes a machine like this, we get to ditch band camp! So let me know of any updates! :o)
|
|
Reply To Message
|
|
Author: Jake Wallace
Date: 2000-04-25 03:25
Practice. A lot. I played the Rondo from the Mozart Concerto this winter memorized with my HS's band. How I worked my way into it was that during runthroughs, I would try to keep my eyes on the director as much as possible. If I needed the music, I looked back down. Eventually, it got to the point where I no longer needed it. That's what you have to do. Put yourself in a position where you can gradually look away for more and more of the piece, until it's all under your fingers (It probably already is. You just need repetition.).
Jake Wallace
|
|
Reply To Message
|
|
Author: col
Date: 2000-04-25 08:11
Megan,
Obviously you know the notes well as you have already performed it so my suggest would be that from now on play one section say for example 3 - 4 lines with the music then play it straight back from memory. The mozart concerto mvt 1 is not to bad to memorise as there is repetition, also think about the form when memorising ie first and second subject then when it returns in the recap you will have the general idea despite it being in the tonic. For the 2nd movement u really need to figure out where you are going to look in the long piano solo parts. This sounds trivial i know but it is important as it could easily throw u on the day. As for the Brahms good luck its a bit more tougher i think to memorise just because you not only have to remember the notes but also the musical elements with the piano. Start soon and just keeping doing a little bit at a time but don't try and cram it all in at the end if you can.
Goodluck, im sure your performance will be great and playing from memory is so exciting and addrenalin pumping.
Col
|
|
Reply To Message
|
|
Author: Lelia
Date: 2000-04-25 17:28
Good advice above. For the Brahms, see if you can get the person who will play the piano with you to make you a practice tape. Knowing exactly where to come in is the trickiest part of memorizing Brahms, and the second trickiest is for the pianist and clarinetist to balance their dynamics and weave the melody lines together into a flowing dialogue, since the clarinet and the piano are equal partners, not soloist and accompanist. Even if making a tape isn't feasible, be sure to practice with the pianist a lot, from the beginning of the memorization process, so that those entrances feel natural and sound completely secure. I also recommend that you and the pianist shoud each your own complete scores, so that you can look often at each other's parts, not just the cues, when you practice alone. Trying to memorize the entrances separately, after you've already learned the notes, is almost as hard as starting all over. If you understand the piano part well, things will go much easier, because you'll "hear" the shape of the whole piece in your mind when you practice. Congratulations on your success and good luck on the performance!
|
|
Reply To Message
|
|
Author: Lori
Date: 2000-04-26 04:41
When memorizing a piece I usually start at the end and work backwards section by section. I find that way that I become more comfortable with the piece as I go.
Best of luck!
|
|
Reply To Message
|
|
Author: Lelia
Date: 2000-04-26 14:59
Lori wrote:
-------------------------------
When memorizing a piece I usually start at the end and work backwards section by section. I find that way that I become more comfortable with the piece as I go.
------------
My piano teacher also used to advise me to memorize endings first. His reasoning: If I ran out of time and ended up with sections where my memory was insecure, those places wouldn't be at the end where they'd be the last thing the listener would hear, and the most vivid in the listener's mind later. Make sure the beginning and the end sound as good as possible, to make that good first and last impression, and then fill in the middle.
|
|
Reply To Message
|
|
Author: Lelia
Date: 2000-04-27 13:26
One other thing.... Certain passages are harder to learn than others. Most of us will mark those spots for special attention. When working on an isolated passage, IMHO it's wise not to begin and end in exactly the same place every time. The brain can memorize those starting and stopping places, so that playing into them and out of them becomes difficult. The most likely spots for a memory lapse are just before and just after a passage you've really worked on. To avoid those bad transitions, make a point of playing into the difficult passage from different starting places, then playing past the problem spot and leaving off in a different place nearly every time. Practicing that way takes longer, but I also think it produces better concentration, because you're less likely to get into zombie repetitions where you just mechanically whack through the same few notes again and again and again, without the brain engaging. I do zombie repeats now and then when some particular series of notes fouls me up and I need to get the sequence "into my fingers" -- establish kinesthetic memory -- but that kind of practice leads to the point of diminishing returns very fast, IMHO.
|
|
Reply To Message
|
|
Author: bill
Date: 2000-04-28 20:38
yes, i have a tip that helped me. Memorize it in little sections, about 8 measures or so. Other than that, Practice, Practice, Practice!
|
|
Reply To Message
|
|
The Clarinet Pages
|
 |
.jpg){kind=small}
.jpg){kind=small}
.jpg){kind=small}
.jpg){kind=small}
.jpg){kind=small}
.jpg){kind=small}
