Memorization

Memorizing music has never been my strong point. I can do it with lots of effort, but I am never confident enough in my memorization to perform without the score in front of me. I play from memory, but need my security blanket. This is probably why it confuses me so much when students try to memorize a song before they've actually learned it. If you can memorize music easily, that is wonderful. I wish I could. BUT make sure that you memorize what the score says, not what you assumed it would say. As of writing this, I had a student trying to play a song from memory when she had not even played it through looking at the music one time. We had observed the score, but I had to keep stopping her when she was looking at her hands instead of the page and playing what made sense, but wasn't the song. I had to keep asking, "What does the music say? Does it say to play that note twice? Does it say to keep stepping down there?" etc. Yes, memorize my music if that is easier for you, but make sure you memorize the actual song. The students who struggle the most are the ones who insist they can figure it out (therefore don't bother to pay attention to demonstrations) and refuse to look at the music. If you memorize quickly and play more by ear, that's fine. LISTEN to what I do and use the score the verify what you remember. Some people learn better by seeing what the score says and having the memory of what a song sounds like. Others learn better by knowing what it sounds like and just use the score to make sure they have it right. But PLEASE, don't memorize a song until you have actually learned it correctly!