Memorization freeing your playing

twocats · 2026-05-17T16:28:06+00:00

I've been told this by a friend (a very good pianist) and he said memorization helps you access your playing in a different way, which I understand but I still didn't want to do it. But now I'm really experiencing this and feeling frustrated, because memorizing is plain scary for me! I love having the security of the page. Last week I ran my pieces for a different friend and it turns out that the two pieces that I've played for 30 years were on autopilot and I got emotionally disconnected from them and was just going through the motions, which was audible. I've been working on reconnecting with them, and these were pieces I had played for exams back then and had memorized, but I'm now playing with sheet music. It turns out I do play slightly differently when I'm focused down on my hands rather than up at the score! It's 9 days until I leave for the Boston Amateur and there's no way I'm going to play anything fully by memory by then but I'm trying to do a fusion. I'm now starting the pieces looking down at my fingers, and I try to play mostly from memory and just glance up for reference. I know the pieces and the score really well, I should in theory know where I am on the page but I could still get lost. Has anyone else gone through this and is now a memorization convert?

Sophia

twocats I find that if I'm not actively following the score, my mind can drift. And then in that moment it's really hard to look up at the score and to know exactly where I am.

Haha, that happens all the time with my practice (or sometimes when I attempt a recording for a recital). I am playing my piece, and suddenly I realize that I am not reading. And just like a switch, my brain decides "Hey you can't do that anymore, remember?!" and I get an instant blackout. And by then, I also don't know where in the score I got to 😃

ShiroKuro

@rogerch and @Sophia ’s comments are why I think it’s really hard to find that middle ground between memorizing and using the score …

@twocats how many days before you depart? I think this should guide your choices … and perhaps you’ll make bigger changes later?

pianoloverus

ShiroKuro @rogerch and @Sophia ’s comments are why I think it’s really hard to find that middle ground between memorizing and using the score …

This depends on what one means "using the score". I think most professional or reasonably advanced pianists who perform with the score have the music memorized at least to some degree (unless the piece is so easy that they can sight read it at a level suitable for performance). IOW what's being called a middle ground is actually very common for those who choose to play with the score.

I think rogerch's fairly common situation is very different. He says he is not a good reader. So he is forced to memorize. If one is a good reader, one can play with the score and if it is a piece they've practiced a lot they don't have to focus a lot on the score. They will play in the middle ground.

twocats

pianoloverus I was trying to point out why the assumption of greater emotional freedom was not true for many. As you say, you are an example of what I was trying to point out so I would expect you to agree with everything I said instead of being so critical.

I don't need people to point out what I already know. I wanted discussion about a specific thing that I experienced. The problem is this:

twocats You tend to have the discussion you want to have, not the discussion about what was actually asked.

It happens a lot, and it's awfully tiring. Maybe that's why I'm critical, not because you brought up a point that I mostly agree with.

I'm formally asking that if you want to talk about the benefits of using a score, please start your own thread.

ShiroKuro

@twocats you’ll have to report back about whether you try a “middle ground” approach and whether you think it works.

I think this would be a super interesting thing to ask some of the teachers you’ll meet or ask about in the master class, but you probably have other things you want to ask about more…

Maybe I’ll ask my teacher about this as well…

BartK

I'm a natural memorizer so take what I say for what it's worth. Even though these days I play mostly from the score I don't need much effort to commit a piece to memory. It always happens naturally the longer I work on a piece.

I personally feel mentally more free and I can get into the music much more when I have it memorized. For me reading it off the sheet is not the same. It's not my own in the same way a memorized piece is.

As for memory slips, I think memorizing in multiple different ways and not just by finger memory is the key. You may know that I'm a big mental practice advocate. Practicing a piece in your head has a really strong lasting influence on your memory of it. Combine that with knowing the underlying theory and you can have a piece very strongly in memory for a very long time.

twocats

BartK As for memory slips, I think memorizing in multiple different ways and not just by finger memory is the key. You may know that I'm a big mental practice advocate. Practicing a piece in your head has a really strong lasting influence on your memory of it. Combine that with knowing the underlying theory and you can have a piece very strongly in memory for a very long time.

My friends do the "proper way" of memorizing one bar at a time. They don't get to keep going until it's locked in. And I think they start at the end of the piece and work backwards, and use music theory too.

What do you mean by practicing in your head? I do mental practice when working on phrasing but never for memory work (since I don't do memory work...). I don't think I have the patience or interest to do theory analysis.

lilypad That said, my feeling is that the ability to feel more free in playing has more to do with feeling deeply secure in playing the piece.

This is definitely a huge part of it, but I also noticed that I move my body differently when I am focused down instead of up. I think I'm going to try to focus down more, but without losing my place in the score!

ShiroKuro

pianoloverus I think most professional or reasonably advanced pianists who perform with the score have the music memorized at least to some degree (unless the piece is so easy that they can sight read it at a level suitable for performance). IOW what's being called a middle ground is actually very common for those who choose to play with the score.

I absolutely do that kind of "incidental memorization," in other words, memorize the piece to some degree. What I'm trying to get it is a more intentional kind of memorization, but that still has the pianist playing from the score.

I've written about "read-play" elsewhere so I won't clutter @twocats 's thread with that here, but I do not mean sightread of course.

Sophia

pianoloverus I think most professional or reasonably advanced pianists who perform with the score have the music memorized at least to some degree

That goes for everyone, really. You are usually quick to make a distinction between professional/advanced pianists and amateurs/novices, but in reality, there isn't some mythical divide between the classes. We all travel a similar path - some of us just on a lower level. We all share the same observations and insights - since we're human beings each with a measure of intelligence - or at least that can be assumed in a forum like this 😋

That said, I experience the same as what you described above. After practicing, muscle memory starts kicking in. And the more I practice, the more gets memorized even without trying. But I still get lost more easily without the score - which might be a case of "matter over mind", but it's there all the same 🙁

Sorry for the thread derail once more, twocats. I just wanted to point out that all this "advanced vs novice" talk isn't always necessary to have a meaningful discussion.

lilypad

Unless I'm doing my daily sightreading or quick study for more reading practice, I memorize pretty much everything.

That said, my feeling is that the ability to feel more free in playing has more to do with feeling deeply secure in playing the piece. Secure enough that you can focus a higher percentage of your consciousness on the sound you want to make in the moment or even the changes in the sound for what's coming up.

I don't get this level of security in pieces that are merely memorized. I've gotten it from just a few that I've relearned several times, sometimes with long gaps between relearning.

So my current opinion is that whether you read or memorize, it comes down to being deeply secure enough that your hands can do what's needed while you focus on the sound you want to make.

ShiroKuro

twocats My friends do the "proper way" of memorizing one bar at a time. They don't get to keep going until it's locked in. And I think they start at the end of the piece and work backwards, and use music theory too.

I wonder if this, specifically memorizing one bar at a time and not allowing oneself to add a bar until the first one is locked in, is only appropriate for someone who is not also learning technique as they are learning new music. Because I bet I could do that with one of the easy pieces I just added to my repertoire, something I can learn and polish on my own without input or guidance from a teacher. But I'm sure I couldn't have done this with my jury piece, which I couldn't learn on my own.

twocats

ShiroKuro I wonder if this, specifically memorizing one bar at a time and not allowing oneself to add a bar until the first one is locked in, is only appropriate for someone who is not also learning technique as they are learning new music.

Oh it's probably different! They are learning the piece and memorizing at the same time.

But also one of my fears of doing it this way is memorizing the piece wrong! Just this past week I noticed that I had been playing the wrong note value at a place in the Bach that totally changes how that lower voice goes.

I think at some point in my preparation I should look at my hands a lot more (the first time from always looking up to looking at the hands can be very shocking-- that's what my hands look like?!), and really inhabit the music playing by memory, even if I ultimately use the score. But I should learn how my body feels when I can be free at home, when it's just me.

rogerch

twocats But also one of my fears of doing it this way is memorizing the piece wrong! Just this past week I noticed that I had been playing the wrong note value at a place in the Bach that totally changes how that lower voice goes.

This happens to me! I memorize a piece, then let it go. I decide I want it back and play with the score and realize to my horror that I’ve memorized something that’s not right! It takes some work to undo that, even with a piece that is no longer memorized.

ShiroKuro

Sophia "advanced vs novice" talk isn't always necessary to have a meaningful discussion.

excellent point!!

twocats

Sophia Sorry for the thread derail once more, twocats. I just wanted to point out that all this "advanced vs novice" talk isn't always necessary to have a meaningful discussion.

I very much appreciate that you are sharing your personal experience rather than seeming to speak for all "professionals and concert pianists"!

And yes, we are all humans subject to how our brains work, no matter what level we're at!

pianoloverus

Sophia I think most professional or reasonably advanced pianists who perform with the score have the music memorized at least to some degree

That goes for everyone, really. You are usually quick to make a distinction between professional/advanced pianists and amateurs/novices, but in reality, there isn't some mythical divide between the classes.

I think relative beginners/intermediates and more advanced/professional pianists may approach some things differently. The example in this thread is that some posters think that pianists are either are memorizers or score readers and that some middle ground is not common. I don't think many pianists, once they've reached a certain level would think that way, (which doesn't mean no advanced pianist would think that way). Some professional pianists might consider themselves either better than average or worse than average memorizers, but but I can't imagine virtually any of them saying that they have to memorize music because playing with the score is so difficult.

Sophia

pianoloverus can't imagine virtually any of them saying that they have to memorize music because playing with the score is so difficult.

My point is, that once again you are singling out advanced players/professionals as being "different". The above sentence can just as easily be applied to novices/amateurs. Again, within their relative levels. So I don't see why you feel this need to differentiate between the two groups (it is clear in which category you consider yourself) 😃 Anyway, I said enough about it now. I usually enjoy your insights and as I said once before, I often find myself in agreement with what you're saying, but I don't agree that there are necessarily differences in how the brains of those two groups function. Or that any of this will suddenly change significantly once one hops over an imaginary threshold from "beginners/intermediate" to "advanced".

twocats

rogerch realize to my horror that I’ve memorized something that’s not right! It takes some work to undo that, even with a piece that is no longer memorized.

Yes, it's about having learned it wrong, not memorized it wrong! One of my biggest fears 😬

Jane

twocats Yes, it's about having learned it wrong,

"Practice make permanent!"

pianoloverus

Sophia pianoloverus can't imagine virtually any of them saying that they have to memorize music because playing with the score is so difficult.

My point is, that once again you are singling out advanced players/professionals as being "different". The above sentence can just as easily be applied to novices/amateurs.

There have been very many posts on PianoWorld and on this forum(and even on this thread) where the poster has said they have to memorize music because their reading is so poor that playing with the score is far more difficult. None of these posts have been from from advanced players. IOW when you say this sentence can be just as easily applied to novices/amateurs, I'm afraid that's not the case.

There are countless differences between pianists of different skill levels but the fact that these differences exist is not an insult. As another example, many students who have only studied for a few years will learn many of their pieces hands separately before putting the hands together. Once pianists reach a more advanced level they don't normally do this. They might practice only the most difficult passages hands separately. I have recently been learning some song transcriptions by Stephen Hough. Although I would consider myself quite advanced for an amateur, I know I will never be able to play these nearly as well as he can(and many of his song transcriptions are beyond my ability to learn at all), and he may well have just played them through a couple of times before recording them whereas I have been spending many weeks on them.

Differences in skill, thinking, learning, approach, etc. are there whether the activity is playing the piano, tennis, chess, math or any other activity. There is no imaginary threshold between beginner, intermediate, advanced, etc. The level of skill in any activity is a continuum.

Sophia

Ok, I'll reply one last time, pianoloverus and then I think we should agree to disagree. Because the last thing I want is hard feelings flying back and forth 🙂

At no point did I talk about skill level. It goes without saying that a skilled musician has more, well, skills and that they know a lot more about their field than a mere beginner does. As you said, that goes for anything in life, be it profession, sport, math or even general life experience.

Of course they know more about technique, more about best practices, more about anything musical. That wasn't the point I was trying to make at all, quite the opposite. Don't forget: I spent my life among musicians. Not just my parents, but as you can imagine our house was almost always filled with other professionals - both orchestra musicians and music school teachers - which made me listen to (and hear talking about) classical music a lot. I am well aware of the gruelling practicing that is needed to become (and stay) that skilled. The fact that I wasn't ever seriously interested in learning to play doesn't mean I didn't observe and learn in other ways. Even in my own music I can easily point out several ways in which I still sound terrible - and I shudder to think of all the ways I need to improve on that I'm not even aware of.

What I was trying to point out was that you sound like you are trying to say that what comes out of the mouth of professionals or advanced learners is always profound and "the way". And that is where I vehemently disagree. You may remember from those same discussions in PW that even advanced players could get in quite the p-sin' contest over those things, which means one of two things. One, (as you said recently) that both viewpoints cannot be right - which means advanced players do NOT always get it correctly. Or, two (and that is my take), that there might be more than one angle to look at something.

What I'm seeing in this thread is a great example of that - some say toh-may-toe, others say toh-mah-toe. I could nuance what I said earlier that of course my dad could (and did) read music. Of course my mother didn't have a sieve for a brain and could (and did) look away from the sheet every now and then. Things aren't all that black and white. I thought that should be obvious. I am absolutely convinced that those "non advanced" players in this thread that talked about their memorizing vs reading abilities meant their words with more nuance that you give them credit for.

Again, I actually agree with the things you said in this topic. As for your many posts, I can also say that I agree with the vast majority of them. And the posts I don't agree with, I usually still respect as food for thought. But that is not because I'm thinking of you as an advanced player or semi professional. It just means that your thoughts align with mine, mostly.

I hope I managed to say all this without ruffling feathers for anyone 🙂 And this long post got looooong. So I'll stop here and consider it a truce (and quits) 🙂

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