More on memorizing using only the score

In the previous chapter, you saw how you can learn a work, section by section, away from the keyboard, simply by studying the score in detail, and committing it to memory. Besides the obvious, and already discussed, advantage of “actively memorizing” the piece so that you have a conscious grasp of its elements, and no longer have to rely so much on “finger memory”, this method also has the advantage of allowing you to expand your repertoire even when you do not have access to a keyboard. For instance, if you go to the beach for a week in the summer, and are unable to actually practice your instrument during that time, you might want to spend some of your reading time during that week on memorizing a new piece, which you will then be able to play by heart as soon as you arrive home at the end of your vacation.

Let’s now take a more careful look at the memorization process involved in this method.

As you visualized the score, you may have become aware that during this process, you were in fact memorizing in two ways.

1) By closing your eyes, and imagining yourself playing, on a keyboard, the notes you had just seen in the score, you were in fact training “finger memory” to a certain degree. That is, you were imagining the actual playing of certain keys. True, your fingers were not really playing the notes, but your brain was associating the notes and certain keys on the keyboard with specific motions of the fingers; thus, finger memory was being reinforced.

2) If, on the other hand, you closed your eyes, and simply focused on “seeing” the notes on the printed score, then you were training your ability to actually memorize the printed page.

The second way is preferable to “finger memory”, as previously explained. Nonetheless, it is most beneficial to envision the passage in both ways. By so doing, you are memorizing the notes on the printed page, and also the finger motions that correspond to them.

You may have gotten the impression earlier that I do not approve of “finger memory” at all. This is not true, however; I merely was pointing out that aural memory, or else memorizing the score itself, are better ways of memorizing. Finger memory does have its place, and a not unimportant one. After all, there will be times when you are playing for others, when no matter how well you have memorized the notes in the score, your mind may become distracted, or you may simply forget a section of that score. In such cases, the possibility of being able to rely on finger memory will “automatically” get you through that section.

Thus, and once again: finger memory is not to be totally neglected, but merely relegated to a place of secondary importance when it comes to memorizing a piece of music.

Those fortunate enough to be able to “play by ear” will use that as their main method, supported by memorizing the printed page, with both of those methods in turn being supported by finger memory; those whose cannot play after simply hearing a piece will rely first on memorization of the page, supported by finger memory.

A word about the role of hearing in memorization: up to now, I have spoken as though only some people rely on hearing when memorizing, yet of course, that is not entirely true. I merely wished to point out that some individuals have the ability to learn music only by hearing it, and then playing. In fact, anyone who plays an instrument will depend on their aural skills to a certain extent.

I myself memorize by studying the score, in conjunction with finger memory. Nonetheless, I have found that when I stumble in a section, it is most often because I have forgotten how certain details of that part actually sound; if I then can recall how they should sound, I can usually immediately play that section. This is proof that though I do not “play by hearing”, in general, my memory of how the piece should sound does indeed play a vital role in my being able to remember it.

However, I have often found peculiar evidence of just how well I sometimes “internalize” the printed score.

For example, I may be playing a Bach fugue by memory, and suddenly, somewhere in the middle of the piece, my memory totally fails me. Perhaps I can’t even remember exactly the way a certain voice moves in that measure, or else, my fingers just don’t find the right notes. Frustrated, I then open the score, and find that my eyes go immediately to exactly the part of that measure that is giving me problems. No, I don’t mean that I have to visually scan the page to find that part; rather, my eyes go there at once. This is proof that subconsciously, I must be aware of the exact position of every note on that page! This is quite amazing, when you think about it, although I am sure that many people do this, probably without realizing it. Unfortunately, knowing all the notes, their connections to others, and their positions on the page at a subconscious level does not help much when consciously, you simply have a total memory lapse!

No matter which type of memory you tend to rely upon – hearing and playing, studying the printed score, or finger memory – odds are that in fact, you use all three types when studying a piece (assuming that you can read music, and indeed use a score as part of the study process).

One of these methods might be the main one you use, seemingly perhaps to the exclusivity of the others, but in fact, all three will play some role, unless you cannot read music, in which case, the printed score will not be included in your arsenal of possibilities.

Let’s examine what happens mentally in each case, that is, once you have begun to learn a piece by heart using your method of choice.

1) If you learn by hearing, and cannot read a score, then you probably listen carefully to the piece played by someone else, either live, or in a recording. You then go to your instrument, and begin to put it together yourself, trying to remember what you heard. After a while, you, too, can play it. Of course, the very fact that you have most likely played it through quite a few times before finally memorizing it means that you have also been training your “finger memory” as well. Thus, in the future, when you play that piece, you will not only be reproducing it based on what your inner ear recalls, but also on the motions of your fingers, which have become habituated to playing the sequences of notes that occur in the piece.

2) If you are principally an aural learner, but refer to the score as well, then you will also remember, at least to a certain extent, what is on the printed page; therefore, the score itself will also be aiding you to remember the piece.

3) If you learn mainly using “finger memory”, you will nonetheless have used a score when you first studied the piece; at least some of the elements of the printed page therefore will be in your memory. Most of this knowledge, however, will be sub-, or at best, semi-conscious. That is, you will not be able to recall much of the score at all consciously. Nonetheless, after learning a piece by “finger memory”, you can still go back and study it again, this time memorizing the score, bit by bit, away from the keyboard. This will be of great help in helping you get a firm grasp of the piece, and your ability to play it by memory will be all the better, since you not only will have it “in your fingers”; but will have the score in your conscious mind as well.

4) If you are one of the few who have made it a habit to memorize using only the score (that is, studying the score away from the keyboard, and thus committing it to memory), you will nonetheless have an idea of what the piece will sound like. Perhaps you already know the way it sounds, if you have heard it in a recording, or have the ability to perfectly imagine the sounds represented on the printed page. Thus, the aural dimension will obviously also be present, even though your main focus in learning is the score. Then, once you begin to actually play the piece, your fingers will get used to the patterns it encounters; “finger memory” will then also develop.

At this point, no doubt some of you are thinking that although memorizing away from the instrument (with the score) may have many advantages, it still is not especially appealing. After all, there is a lot of purely mental focus involved, and many of us shy away from such efforts. Also, when you feel like producing music, you usually want to actually play your instrument. These are no doubt the reasons why the Leimer-Gieseking method, fruitful though it is, has not conquered the hearts of most instrumentalists.

It’s a bit like physical exercise: sure, you know it would be good for you if you went jogging at least three times a week, but hey! That’s so much work!

I now confess that, although I find the Leimer-Gieseking method to be most intriguing, and can also testify that it does indeed work, I myself use it only rarely, and then, only with smaller passages.

Why? Because like many of you, I also want to actually play my instrument, instead of just sitting down and studying a score.

Fortunately, there are different roads that lead to Rome. In the following section, I will explain how I myself memorize music. My way is a combination of the Leimer-Gieseking approach, and actual playing, as you will see.