Resources or methodologies for memorizing difficult pieces faster?

kapustinsane · 2026-08-05T08:23:45+00:00

I am learning Kapustin's Concert Etudes Op. 40, as well as Variations, Op. 41. I am good sightreader, and with each of these songs, after a week of listening ON REPEAT, I was able to sit down and slowly knock each one out, ensuring I got most notes correct, but of course playing at a VERY slow speed. Now after 9 months of practicing (most of them—I skipped Raillery, as I honestly don't love it—I can play a few of them quite well at a decent speed with good accuracy. The problem is MEMORIZING them. I am finding it very, very difficult to memorize these pieces. Perhaps they are more difficult to memorize than the much more systematic music of Beethoven or Mozart... Does anyone have any resources for memorization methodologies that might be able to help me with this?

kapustinsane

twocats Boris Giltburg uses sheet music ever since he had a memory glitch during a competition. He's very discreet about it and keeps an iPad on the stand inside the piano (it's barely noticeable) and it's clear that the pieces are also memorized but he has it there for security.

Ok, well, then I guess I feel better about using it now that I know that Boris Giltburg (not familiar with him, but I am checking him out!) and other professionals sometimes do.

kapustinsane

rsl12 The fingering requires tactical planning that makes no musical sense--the kind of tedious detail that I would absolutely fail at memorizing.

You are probably right in a sense. There is a passage in Kapustin's 24th Jazz Prelude (measures 79-85) that is devilishly difficult to finger, and it feels like he put it in there simply to eek out the most difficult fingering work he possible could out of a performer. In fact, that entire prelude feels like Kapustin intentionally being as mischievous as he can, as it's the final prelude in the set... it's full of musical jokes and hilarious musical decisions, and he lists the Presto tempo as half note = 138-144, which is just absolutely, insanely fast. I can barely play the last page of the piece at 128, which even so, is quite fast. Anyway, I had to spend 30 minutes just figuring out the fingering for those 6 measures, and it requires a rotation between the thumb and pinky finger that is practically straight from hell 😃. It felt very "tactical" indeed. I certainly don't have those measures anywhere near 128 yet.

That said, the 8 Concert Etudes, Op. 40, and the Variations, Op. 41, even though they are quite difficult and fast, often have quite straightforward, natural fingerings. I think Kapustin was really writing the pieces to fit a pianist's natural hand shape. I have encountered some Bach and Chopin that had more difficult fingerings.

kapustinsane

pianoloverus

I never knew that, fascinating! I will listen to Richter play it.

EDIT: Wow. How beautiful... thank you for turning me on to his performance.

kapustinsane

lautreamont

Very insightful notes on modern and contemporary music, and in particular on Kapustin. I, too, think "ah, here is a bit of Scriabin / Rachmaninoff / Gershwin / (or even Bach) DNA" once in a while with his music—and that helps with readjusting my approach to that particular section.

Perhaps one day I will look at playing some of Kapustin's Preludes + Fugues (not the 24 Jazz Preludes). They are really magical, but strike me as far more "structural" in their design, less approachable, and less natural to play or listen to. As @ranjit mentioned earlier, such works may be more difficult to listen to, but that isn't necessary to cast shade on their musical value.

ShiroKuro

@kapustinsane I’ve often thought it would be nice to have two iPads, but I can’t quite justify the expense. Also, I like the portability of the iPad, and having to carry two would make it quite heavy, so that’s my excuse for sticking with one! 😅

kapustinsane I spent a lot of time gathering the "most-requested" piano pieces, so for playing public pianos, I can often take requests, because it's very likely I have the sheet music in my library already.

That’s great! I don’t sightread well enough to do something like that, but it would be fun!

Speaking of public pianos in Japan, I haven’t been to Fukuoka in a long time, looking for that piano would be a good excuse to visit again! Have you heard of the piano at the Tokyo Metro Government office building? It’s a Yamaha that’s been painted by artist Kusama Yayoi:

I love her artwork, so I’ve wanted to play this piano ever since I first heard about it. But I don’t really like Tokyo and never stay there for more than a day if I can avoid it, so I’ve yet to be able to make the trip to play it. Usually I’m headed for somewhere in western Japan so it’s hard to justify extending my stay in Tokyo just to visit this piano, but maybe some day! 🙂

Sorry for the threaddrift! 😃

TC3

kapustinsane I have been wanting to get a pedal like this... can you recommend any model?

I'm not whom you asked, but I recently bought this one and it works quite well:

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B00ILVHBKC

ShiroKuro

TC3 @kapustinsane also not who was asked, but that's the pedal I have and I have zero problems with it. I bought my current PageFlip in 2024. Highly recommended.

I used to have an AirTurn PED and it was super buggy. I think maybe AirTurn doesn't even make them anymore, and I believe there are a lot of folks on here that have a different model of AirTurn that they like, so I'm sure those newer models are fine.

TulipAcid

ShiroKuro

I’ve had 2 airturns. Got my first in 2014. It’s an expensive item and, as @ShiroKuro says, buggy.

I have the Donner and it’s been problem free, sleeps if not used, so, unless it’s been a long snooze, usually wakes raring to go! https://www.amazon.com/dp/B01NC38KG0

Not as sleek as @TC3’s, but sturdy and reliable.

MRC

The two most well-known names in Bluetooth keyboard pedals are Airturn and Pageflip. They're both reliable enough for concerts. I started out with Pageflip Firefly, but now I use Airturn Duo. I appreciate the fact that it's rechargeable, and I did have other reasons for changing, but I can't remember what they were now!

pianoloverus

lautreamont I think this detailed reply shows that understanding the harmony and style of a contemporary composer is very important to the playing and memorizing of their works. Most pianists who do not specialize in contemporary music have little experience with this so they naturally find learning and memorizing contemporary music more difficult.

pseudonym58

I see that this post has morphed a bit, but I wanted to add (in case it hasn't been mentioned already) that by having a piece memorized (or almost memorized), I feel more free to steal a glance at my hands, especially when I have to jump around with my left hand.

TheBoringPianist

hmm I've only learned the 2nd of his Concert Etudes (Reverie)... if I try to think back to how I memorize any piece... part melodic/harmonic/rhythmic analysis, part structural analysis/pattern recognition, part "just brute force it" for the passages that don't fit any pattern I know of.

pianoloverus

TheBoringPianist yes, I don't think there are any special methods other than the basic ones many of which you mentioned to memorize pieces except for being familiar with the particular composer's harmonies and compositional methods.

kapustinsane

ShiroKuro

Thanks for reminding me about this piano, next time I'm in Tokyo I'll be sure to pay it a visit. I think I have actually seen it in photos before. I usually stay in Kyoto (since it feels like home to me for some reason) or Fukuoka since that's where my friends are. Maybe western Japan some day!

kapustinsane

TC3

ShiroKuro

TulipAcid

Thanks all for the recommendations for page-turning pedals, I have a lot of good info to go on now and will be ordering one soon 👍

ShiroKuro

kapustinsane How often do you travel to Japan? Sorry, I know this is off-topic! But I lived in Japan for many years (that's where I first took piano lessons btw) and my husband is Japanese so we travel there regularly to see his family.

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