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In This Issue La Scena Musicale - Vol. 9, No. 3

November 2003
Vol. 9, No.3

Pianists' Four Kinds of

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by Francis Dubé / November 5, 2003

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It is considered traditional for

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*Hilary Hahn - The Lady pianists to memorize their solo
Ascending Opening Day
repertoire. However, this was not Listings: Friday,
*Walter Boudreau : Sax, always the case; for a long time June 20 @ TD
Drums & Co. Canada Trust
reading from the score Toronto Jazz
*A Short History of Orchestral
Percussion overshadowed memorization. It Festival
Un vent de
was Franz Liszt, the 19th century découvertes
*The XXIst Century - Pulsing
Times for Percussion composer and virtuoso pianist, Eclectik 08
vendredi et samedi!
*Pianists' Four Kinds of who was the first performer to Cayouche est allé
Memory present an entire recital by en tournage à Paris
memory. One hundred and fifty !
*Notes "Old Growth" at the
*Les sentiers du jazz - Jazz years later his initiative endures. Toronto Fringe
Tracks Festival, July 4-12
2008
*À venir / Previews Few pianists dare question this legacy these days, and yet the Today's Birthdays
*Petites annonces / Classified
memorization of a musical score remains a difficult exercise for most. in Music: June 18
(Marton, Pleyel)
Ads It is a complex and daunting task. To be successful, a performer Canadian Pianist
*Revus et colligés / Reviews must call on several senses (hearing, sight, touch) and mentally Anton Kuerti
Triumphs in The
& Previews manipulate a lot of data to avoid a memory lapse during a public Netherlands
performance. The Fat Lady
Makes Fringe
Festival Debut!
Though pianists have been memorizing for a long time, not much is Previews Begin
This Weekend at
known about the process. However, recent scientific research has Cavendish's
provided us with some of its basic elements. Montgomery
Theatre!
John Pizzarelli &
The act of memorization calls on several distinct types of memory, of Peter Appleyard
which a pianist uses four to memorize a work in his/her repertoire: Added to Toronto
Jazz Festival
auditory, visual, kinesthetic and conceptual. Each fulfills a specific Lineup
role in the process, but it is their mutual interaction that allows a 08|09 Virtuoso
Performances -
pianist to remember. All kinds of memory must work together to be Single Ticket
truly efficient. Onsale
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Auditory memory of Italy's Marche
Auditory memory
region
Lorraine and the
Auditory memory is what is activated when people belt out their gentlemen's clubs
favourite tune in the shower. Since music is essentially an Berlin cover-up
Escapades
assortment of sounds, auditory memory plays a dominant role in a montréalaises avec
pianist's memorization. A performer uses it to accomplish two specific I Musici
tasks: to know if he/she is playing the right notes, and to anticipate
what he/she will play in the next few seconds. Without this, the
pianist would inadvertently play the wrong notes and the sequence
of movements would be laborious and insecure.

Visual memory

Visual memory allows humans to record large amounts of

information, from faces and colours to everyday objects. This
cognitive ability is used abundantly by a pianist in the memorization
of a score. First, it enables a pianist to internally visualize the score Current Issue
during a performance. Second, it is used to recall the physical June 2008
gestures involved in playing, much in the same way a dancer recalls
his/her movements. Vol. 13, No.9

Kinesthetic memory

Kinesthetic sense allows people to feel internally the movements of

their muscles, joints and tendons. Thus, all physical activity, such
activities as walking or bicycling, draws on kinesthetic memory to
automate movement. As playing the piano requires many automatic
physical actions, kinesthetic memory is essential for the
memorization of a score, i.e., all the movements, gestures and
physical sensations needed to play a musical work.
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Conceptual memory
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Some kinds of memory are recorded in the brain by repetition
without special effort on the part of the individual. Auditory, visual, Subscribe
and kinesthetic memories, although they can be reinforced by various
exercises, fall into this category. Although they are essential to the Today's Classical
pianist in his/her mnemonic work, none of these types of memory Music News
provide for retention of the musical text. Only conceptual memory,
used intentionally, allows a pianist to integrate this knowledge. To be Send Musical Greeting
Cards
more precise, a pianist must be totally aware of what is being
memorized to really absorb and retain the score. Conceptual memory
provides total assimilation of the musical text, including harmony,
nuances, phrasing, reference points, and notes. In short, conceptual
memory is acquired by exceptional effort while the three preceding
types are recorded automatically while practicing. Finally, this
memory provides for the synthesis of information into a single brain Memorization
concept. For example, instead of separately memorizing the major Memorize anything
notes (seven different elements), the pianist has to retain only the using these natural
basic scale of C major (a single concept). memorization
techniques
Looking to the future... www-memorize.com

In the past few years science has made great progress in

understanding human memory, notably by such state-of-the-art
technologies as magnetic resonance imaging (MRI). However, many Complete Memory
questions remain unanswered, and this inevitably affects our Training
understanding of the pianist's memorization process. The problem Memory expert
stems from the predominance of scientific studies that focus mainly reveals secrets
on short-term rather than long-term musical memory, as memorizing known to only
a score depends on the latter system. A major consequence of this handful of experts!
www.ronwhitetraining.com
situation is that pianists must continue to build and develop their
own system, for better or for worse.
Improve Your
 Improve Your
Microanalysis, an element of conceptual memory, can be defined as a Memory
learning activity in which a pianist verbalizes in his/her own words 500% Increase In
various observations or reference points necessary for him/her to Memory
play by memory. These might be, for example, the identification of Improvement Using
common notes in consecutive chords, or the parallel or contrary Tools For The
motion in a specific passage. Despite our awareness that Brain
microanalysis is a common practice in the work of a pianist's www.BrainTools.MightyMemory.com
memorization, this segment of conceptual memory has never been
the subject of a systematic study. My research aims to inventory the
Memory
different types of microanalysis used by pianists of varying levels Improvement
(pre-university, university, and professional). Games
Improve memory
To sum up, as our understanding of long-term musical memory with scientifically
improves, the process of the memorization of a piano score will designed games.
become clearer. As more scientists dedicate research to this cognitive Free trial
problem, more piano teachers will be effective in establishing, www.lumosity.com
through the years, a true pedagogy in the art of memorization.

[Translated by Susan Spier]

The author has been a piano instructor in the Faculty of Music at

Laval University since 1998. His students have won prestigious
awards such as the prix d'Europe 1998, first prize in the MSO
competition in 2000, and first prize in the competition of the
Fédération des professeurs de musique du Canada in 2001 and 2003.
He is currently pursuing a doctorate in music education at Laval
University under Marie-Michèle Boulet.

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