{"id":38212,"date":"2024-01-18T15:41:42","date_gmt":"2024-01-18T14:41:42","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/f02817f9-f6b9-4519-91bf-7c94280b9050"},"modified":"2024-01-18T16:41:22","modified_gmt":"2024-01-18T15:41:22","slug":"memorising-music-top-tips-for-learning-music-by-heart","status":"publish","type":"rss_feed","link":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/bbcmusicmagazine\/rss_feed\/memorising-music-top-tips-for-learning-music-by-heart\/","title":{"rendered":"Memorising music: top tips for learning music by heart"},"content":{"rendered":"

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By John Evans\n <\/p>

Published: Thursday, 18 January 2024 at 14:41 PM<\/p>

\n\n

Ever since it became fashionable to play without music, a number of well-proven memory techniques have evolved that have served musicians pretty well<\/a>.<\/strong> We asked some of the top soloists working today to find out how they learn music from memory to play without a score.<\/strong><\/p>

Top tips for memorising music<\/h2>
Learn the piece as a whole<\/h3>
Pianist Susan Tomes experimented with learning longer pieces of music off by heart, and found that seeing the full narrative of a piece of music helped her develop an instinctive memory. ‘I found intellectual memory techniques \u2013 understanding the music\u2019s shape and structure, location of bridge passages and so on \u2013 helpful, especially when photographic and muscle memory, an instinctive memory that is acquired over hours of practice, failed me.\u2019<\/p>
Try visualisation techniques and practise away from your instrument<\/h3>
Pianist Alexandra Dariescu relies on what she calls \u2018visual memory’ for memorising music. \u2018It\u2019s what I use the most,\u2019 she says. \u2018I can \u201csee\u201d where I am on the page but it only comes with huge amounts of concentration and after hours of \u201cmental practice\u201d away from the score. I can\u2019t overstate how useful mental practice is. When I go for a walk or watch TV, my mind drifts and if I can shut out any noise and concentrate on that particular passage, I know I\u2019ve got it.\u2019<\/p>
Play the music using just the chords<\/h3>
Alexandra Dariescu also employs intellectual memory to lock down the notes. She\u2019ll look for clues to the music\u2019s shape and how it unfolds. She\u2019ll reduce a passage to its harmonic essence, playing it as a sequence of chords. <\/p>
Study the score before you play it<\/h3>
\u2018The pianist Dinu Lipatti always analysed the score for a long time before even starting to sight read it, and I have adopted his technique for memorising music,\u2019 says Alexandra Dariescu. \u2018Of course, some musicians are born with a gift for memorising. I once asked pianist Andr\u00e1s Schiff about his skill at memorising. His answer was simple: \u201cIt\u2019s a blessing\u201d. But his kind of extraordinary memory can be achieved through lots of hard work and super-strong will power.\u2019<\/p>
<\/div><\/figure><h3 id=\"h-look-for-patterns-in-the-music\">Look for patterns in the music<\/h3><p><strong><a href=\"https:\/\/www.classical-music.com\/articles\/stephen-hough-the-best-recordings-by-the-british-pianist\">Pianist Stephen Hough<\/a><\/strong> uses intellectual techniques to memorise music: \u2018I will map out patterns, black and white notes, repetitive shapes and so on.\u2019 <\/p><h3 id=\"h-try-word-association\">Try word association<\/h3><p>Singers face a different set of challenges in memorising, as soprano Lynne Dawson explains: \u2018The verse nature of recital song can make it hard to memorise. You just have to find what works for you: mnemonics or straightforward repetition until it\u2019s ingrained. Abstract subjects can be hard to memorise. Association helps \u2013 singing one verse in the hall, another on the stairs, and so on. Or creating a picture for each verse. It needn\u2019t be literal; just something to prompt recall. In an opera, it helps that you are told where to stand and can associate a position with a word or phrase.\u2019<\/p><h3 id=\"h-develop-a-multi-layered-approach-there-s-no-quick-fix\">Develop a ‘multi-layered’ approach: there’s no quick fix!<\/h3><p>For soprano Daniella Sicari, the challenges of memorising music are all too real. She relies on an approach she calls \u2018multi- layering\u2019. \u2018Memorising a work begins with the text,\u2019 she says. \u2018That\u2019s harder when it\u2019s a foreign language so if it\u2019s not one I\u2019m familiar with, I\u2019ll first do a poetic translation of it, which will help colour my interpretation, before a word-for-word, literal one. <\/p><p>‘Next, I go to the piano to learn the music before combining it with the libretto. I\u2019ll exaggerate the music\u2019s colours and sense to embed it in my mind, at the same time conducting myself. I create an inner monologue, too, that helps me navigate the music and the text. If it\u2019s opera, I take the same approach to a lesser degree with the other characters I appear with, so I understand how to react when not singing and to be aware of my cues.\u2019 Her approach applies equally well to a recital such as lieder, she says, the role of other characters being taken by the accompaniment.<\/p><ul><li><strong><a class=\"standard-card-newarticle-title\" href=\"https:\/\/www.classical-music.com\/features\/articles\/the-best-score-reading-apps-for-classical-musicians\/\">The best score-reading apps for classical musicians<\/a><\/strong><\/li><li><strong><a class=\"standard-card-newarticle-title\" href=\"https:\/\/www.classical-music.com\/features\/articles\/will-we-run-out-of-new-music\/\">Will we run out of new music?<\/a><\/strong><\/li><li><strong><a class=\"standard-card-new__article-title\" href=\"https:\/\/www.classical-music.com\/features\/articles\/which-came-first-music-or-language\/\">Which came first, music or language?<\/a><\/strong><\/li><\/ul> <\/body><\/html>\n<hr class=\"no-tts wp-block-separator\"\/>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>By John Evans Published: Thursday, 18 January 2024 at 14:41 PM Ever since it became fashionable to play without music, a number of well-proven memory techniques have evolved that have served musicians pretty well. We asked some of the top soloists working today to find out how they learn music from memory to play without […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":24,"featured_media":38213,"template":"","categories":[1],"acf":{"readingTimeMinutes":"4"},"uagb_featured_image_src":{"full":["https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/uploads\/sites\/37\/2024\/01\/memorising-music-top-tips-for-learning-music-by-heart-scaled.jpg",2560,1707,false],"thumbnail":["https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/uploads\/sites\/37\/2024\/01\/memorising-music-top-tips-for-learning-music-by-heart-150x150.jpg",150,150,true],"medium":["https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/uploads\/sites\/37\/2024\/01\/memorising-music-top-tips-for-learning-music-by-heart-300x200.jpg",300,200,true],"medium_large":["https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/uploads\/sites\/37\/2024\/01\/memorising-music-top-tips-for-learning-music-by-heart-768x512.jpg",768,512,true],"large":["https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/uploads\/sites\/37\/2024\/01\/memorising-music-top-tips-for-learning-music-by-heart-1024x683.jpg",800,534,true],"1536x1536":["https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/uploads\/sites\/37\/2024\/01\/memorising-music-top-tips-for-learning-music-by-heart-1536x1024.jpg",1536,1024,true],"2048x2048":["https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/uploads\/sites\/37\/2024\/01\/memorising-music-top-tips-for-learning-music-by-heart-2048x1365.jpg",2048,1365,true]},"uagb_author_info":{"display_name":"importmanagerhub@sprylab.com","author_link":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/bbcmusicmagazine\/author\/importmanagerhubsprylab-com\/"},"uagb_comment_info":0,"uagb_excerpt":"By John Evans Published: Thursday, 18 January 2024 at 14:41 PM Ever since it became fashionable to play without music, a number of well-proven memory techniques have evolved that have served musicians pretty well. 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Play the music using just the chords<\/h3>Alexandra Dariescu also employs intellectual memory to lock down the notes. She\u2019ll look for clues to the music\u2019s shape and how it unfolds. She\u2019ll reduce a passage to its harmonic essence, playing it as a sequence of chords. <\/p>

Play the music using just the chords<\/h3>
Alexandra Dariescu also employs intellectual memory to lock down the notes. She\u2019ll look for clues to the music\u2019s shape and how it unfolds. She\u2019ll reduce a passage to its harmonic essence, playing it as a sequence of chords. <\/p>