Memorizing music is a tricky questions for many teachers and students. How does one teach memorization? Is it an important or valuable skill? Why do some instruments need to memorize their music while others don’t? Read on for a my experiences and opinions!
Imagine with me for a moment. It’s your junior year of college and you’re about to walk on stage for your recital. You’ve spent countless hours in the practice room preparing, and you know all of your pieces by heart. You step out on the stage, sit down at the piano bench, lift your fingers to the keys….how does that nocturne start again? Your pulse starts thundering, your brain is whirring, and you feel panic beginning. If only you had your music!
So, this happened to me. I’ve always dealt with considerable performance anxiety, and college was a bit of a crucible when it came to confronting that issue. I gave my junior recital entirely from memory, and learned my lesson—I used music for some pieces in my senior recital. I remember sharing my first recital with a vocalist who also memorized all of her music. My senior recital was shared with a cellist who got to use her scores, which made me rather jealous. Why do solo pianists have to memorize their music and other instrumentalists don’t?
The answer is a long one, so I won’t spend a great deal of time on it. However, historically, the famous pianists Franz Liszt decided to start playing all of his music from memory. So many other pianists thought this was an impressive and excellent thing to do that it became the standard. Now, if you visit the symphony to hear a concerto (a soloist playing any instrument with the orchestra) the majority of the featured performers will not be using their music no matter their instrument. Convention has also been shifting somewhat as trends change and technology becomes available. However, I will be approaching this question of whether or not to memorize music as a performer and a teacher.
I don’t memorize my music anymore. I simply do not have the time! I’m a full time accompanist and the sheer amount of music I have to learn means that I can’t memorize it. I also do a lot of collaborative playing, and I find it extremely helpful to be able to see what the other musicians are doing. Oftentimes, it’s the accompanist’s job to catch the soloist if they get lost—not having the music in front of me would be problematic. Finally, I just don’t find the extreme anxiety that I personally experience worth it. I play from an iPad so I’m able to turn the pages myself and it’s just easier and far less stressful for me to perform with the music in front of me. Of course, I don’t begrudge people who do choose to memorize their pieces—there are definitely some aspects that can be helpful!
There is a case that can be made for memorizing music. In order to memorize, the music must be fully internalized. The performer has to truly know the piece inside and out. Additionally, the performer is significantly freer to move and express themselves without being tied to sheets of paper. Many choirs and vocalists memorize all of their music so that they can focus on emoting while they sing. I’ve had students with audition requirements specifying that music must be memorized—I think this was the case with ISSMA state piano competition at some point. Once again, neglecting to teach a student how to memorize music should that skill be required is a disservice to that student.
My personal philosophy is to let the student direct whether or not their music is memorized. If they find it helpful or useful to play without sheet music, I’m happy to help them with techniques for that. I know sometimes when a piece has been worked on for a long time, memorization is that next logical step. However since it is not a skill I rely on myself as a professional performer, it’s not something baked into my teaching. What are your thoughts? Thank you for reading!
—Charissa Garrigus, Instructor at Vibe Music Academy
