Animisha I wonder if it is aural ability rather than visual ability that is very important for some memorisers
Oh absolutely.
But what I meant was, the kind of memory I described is (IMO) truly visual, because it’s tied to visual memory of where things are in space (i.e., on the page). I do this with books I read as well, I did this as a college student, it’s a memory I find myself using at work as well So for me this type of memory isn’t necessarily specific to music. But I think perhaps I tend toward this kind of memory (as in, it’s a personal preference or something that comes naturally to me) and then probably I’ve honed it or maximized it with/through my piano studies.
I’m reminded of the frequently made observation that some piano learners seem to “naturally” memorize early on, and as they develop at piano, they tend to lean toward memorizing and/or playing by ear. Other piano learners seem to take more “naturally” to reading musical notation, and as they develop at piano, they tend to lean more toward reading and sightreading.
So perhaps these different kinds of memory styles and personal preferences are not necessarily uncommon (e.g., the visual/spatial memory I described) but maybe there are two major types, and which one a pianist tends to be will impact whether they become a reader or a memorizer.
I know these things have been discussed a lot on the forums (esp. the readers vs memorizers phenomenon) but I don’t know that I’ve seen other people mention the visual/spatial type of score-memory that both I and @pianoloverus have.
