Memory and the Performing Musician November, 2007

Jennifer Mishra researches in the area of music cognition, specifically

focusing on performance memory. Her articles have appeared in Psychology of
Music, Psychomusicology, Bulletin of the Council for Research in Music Education,
Update: Applications of Research in Music Education, Contributions to Music
Education, Research Perspectives in Music Education, and the Journal of String
Research. She has also presented at conferences hosted by the Society for  Musicians want to know:
Research in Psychology of Music and Music Education, and at the International
Conference of Music Perception and Cognition, Desert Skies: Symposium on Research  How to memorize a piece – in the most efficient way
in Music Education, and MayDay Group Colloquium XI. She is on the editorial possible
board for the Journal of String Research.
 How to avoid memory lapses in performance – memory
stability
 Memory – both encoding and retrieval

 Performance (i.e., “memorization”) – not perception

Prokof'ev, Piano Sonata No. 7

Mov III Martha Argerich
www.mishramusicresearch.com http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PYcILrMN_cw
jmishra@uh.edu Jennifer Mishra University of Houston November, 2007

 Performing without notation…

 …is the rule rather than the exception in most
world cultures (no notation)
 Oral traditions: folk & popular musicians
 Western phenomenon - specifically western
classical tradition
 Music introduced via notation
 Music performed without notation (rote)

 Franz Liszt and Clara Schumann commonly credited

with popularizing musical memorization, especially with
pianists
 The Romantic thirst for extra-ordinary musical feats
 Vocalists performing without music for centuries
Jennifer Mishra University of Houston November, 2007 Jennifer Mishra University of Houston November, 2007

Notation fixes the music  Notation is a fixed standard  Multi-layered

and provides a correct
standard to which per-
formance are compared.
Writing fixes material
and creates “right” (or
“write”) answer and
allows for comparisons.
Like collect-ing a
butterfly.
 Allows for comparisons - creates Memorizing music is a  Pitch  rhythm, chord, form, articulation,
pressure to replicate exactly multi-layered, serial- dynamic….
position task in which  Each pitch is unique web of information
 Notation is only a memory cue thousands of pitches, each
 Focus on exact pitches & rhythms  C is different from next C which is
bound to rhythmic,
 Dynamics – relationships not exact expressive, stylistic, and
different from next C…
standard other implied musical as
 Articulation – relationships not exact well as lyrical and
standard production information
must be recalled in a
 Notation does not capture full specified sequence with the
musical experience final product coalescing
 Memorize many elements even when into a new and
reading notation understandable entity.

Jennifer Mishra University of Houston November, 2007

Jennifer Mishra | jmishra@uh.edu 1

Memory and the Performing Musician November, 2007

 Multi-layered  Serial-position task

Memorizing music is a  Hierarchical  Bits of information recalled in a specific order
multi-layered, serial-pos- ▪ Pitches form chords, chords form  Serial position tasks extensively studied by
ition task in which progressions… psychologists
thousands of pitches, each ▪ Pitches form bars, bars form phrases….
 Verbal information (lists)
Memorize these numbers in order
bound to rhythmic, expres-  Pitch meaning from relationship with other
sive, stylistic, and other pitches 12 1 20 6 9 26 49 19 14 25
implied musical as well as ▪ Played simultaneously 8 35
lyrical and production ▪ Played both before and after delay (minutes or Recall as many numbers as possible – in order
information must be re- hours)
called in a specified  Context &
sequence with the final relationships
product coalescing into a  Primacy & Recency effects
new and understandable
 More remembered from beginning & end of list
entity.
 Memory limited to 7 + 2
Jennifer Mishra University of Houston November, 2007 Jennifer Mishra University of Houston November, 2007

 Strategies to extend memory capacity  Must remember thousands of notes

 Group isolated information into meaningful units (exceeds 7 + 2 limit)
 Group (chunk) notes
Memorize these numbers in order  Scales
12/1/2006 9:26 $49.19 1425 8th #  Bars/meter
35  Beaming
Recall as many numbers as possible – in order  In music, one piece of information
 one note
 one measure
 Instead of 12 different numbers, there are only 4units to  one phrase
remember (plus extra symbols)  one section
 one movement
 Memorizing strict order not usually necessary in  Memorizing a piece of 1000 notes may only be 3 bits of
everyday life information
Jennifer Mishra University of Houston November, 2007 Jennifer Mishra University of Houston November, 2007

 Procedural Memory – Knowing How

 Stimulus-Response (S-R)
 Non-verbal
 Movement (S) triggers
 Can know how to do something without
next movement (R)
being able to describe what is done
 R becomes S for third
 Introspection
movement Same, though different motions
 Translating procedural memory into
 Chain of motions
declarative
 In music, stimuli  Important for teachers, not necessarily
aren’t isolated, but for performers
form relationships  Developing procedural memory
 Cognition = requires attention – a lot of attention
understanding  Automate movements over time
≠ mindless S-R  Requires a lot of time

Jennifer Mishra University of Houston November, 2007

Jennifer Mishra | jmishra@uh.edu 2

Memory and the Performing Musician
 Debate: Does learning = memory?
To Memorize
 Music only learned when
memorized
 notation distracts from the
music
 Notation distracts from
communication with the
audience
 Ready to perform at any time
 Learns the music more
thoroughly
 Avoid page turns
 Awkward or difficult passages
 Tradition
Jennifer Mishra University of Houston
Jennifer Mishra University of Houston
Jennifer Mishra | jmishra@uh.edu
November, 2007
 Researcher video taped performances
 Memorized w/ & w/o music stand
Not to Memorize  Not memorized w/ & w/o (off-camera)
 Memorization creates
music stand
excessive anxiety
 Performances rated by audience
 Memorization requires huge
 performing from memory was superior
amounts of time
 Fear of forgetting
 visibility of the performer favorably
influenced ratings
 Unnecessary as notation
available  extra time spent preparing for the
memorized performances was beneficial
 musicians seemed biased in favor of
performances without a music stand
November, 2007
Williamon, A. (1999). The value of performing from memory. Psychology of Music, 27(1), 84-95.
Part 2
November, 2007
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