How I Retain and Bring Back Repertoire
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- เผยแพร่เมื่อ 7 ก.พ. 2025
- Music in the intro and outro is Earl Wild’s Etude no. 1 after George Gershwin’s “Liza”
I make my videos using Kawai's VPC1 in tandem with Synthongy's Ivory II American Concert D. I do my video editing with Adobe Premiere Pro and Audition.
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Some of my most striking memories from music school were the times where I was with my teacher in her studio when she would get a call from her manager asking if she could replace a concerto soloist in the coming days and often at venues that required long travel time. I was astounded that she always accepted the engagements to play concertos that she hadn't touched for an extended period and would need to perform on such short notice. I could never imagine myself being capable of achieving that.
This always amazes me too - eg the famous Maria Joao Pires episode when the orchestra started a different Mozart concerto to the one she expected and she dug it out note perfect from a year prior)
Some people just have special abilities in extreme ways !
Von Bulow is said to have been able to memorise from score reading only and then play straight away
@ Yes, although worth remembering how many hundreds of times she probably had performed that concerto before... still impressive though!
My personal experience is that once I memorise a piece, it never truly goes away from memory when I leave it. I don't have exactly to relearn it, but to remember it.
Care to share more details of your method?
It is not a method, only a realisation and I think this applies to more things than just music 🙂
So I’ve worked on recalling the Granados Goyesca no 4 for about 10 days now, no more than 1/2 hr per day
It’s coming back well. The brain melting crossed hands melody moving section is probably still the least secure - it’s mainly brain work as technically it’s not that hard
What I’m finding is the physicality of it is returning well. All those little things we have to do, the subtle things to let us get around the piece, are recementing themselves
The last page is quite tricky too but I’m finding I’m relearning that better than the first time
My gosh , this 14 min video really touched my heart ! Every point you’ve shared here makes total sense! I’ve always wondered about how many repertoires does one learn during 4 year music conservatories or universities?? And what else do you achieve in masters programs and to doctorates ??…. Thanks ❤
Generally pianists present two full solo recitals in an undergrad (not counting chamber music performances etc), although students are performing all the time in lessons, studio classes, competitions and joint recitals for the whole department. In most doctorates and master's programs you do more performing-in my doctorate their were 4 full solo programs and a concerto performance, along with a lecture and a chamber music program.
I played a small home concert for family last spring and I didn't touch any of the pieces after the concert until this past week. First run through it was like I had never played them before, fully sightreading each note. But after the second methodical playthrough it came back to about 75%. Also notable, but not surprising, was that the pieces requiring the least hand coordination (Brahms op 188/2, Scriabin op 32/1) are taking much longer to relearn, compared to the ones which required much more deliberate fingering/blocking/memorizing (Rach 32/12, 23/4).
Thanks for the insightful video!
Further to this point I was also just thinking how Scriabin Nocturne for LH, which I also learned last year, seemingly never leaves my memory, and almost every note of that piece required deliberate blocking/fingering/voicing.
What you describe is called spaced repetition and it works as long as you repeat the material before you forget it completely.
I've used a digital flashcard program called Anki (free download) for years to memorize things, including music. It takes some time to learn, but once it is set up, it presents the material right before forgetting. All I need to do is have the discipline to review the cards regularly.
The pieces I’ve been learning recently, Rach dflat moment musicaux, Rach dmaj prelude, Chopin nocturne in b. Op 62 no 1, I’ve been deliberately trying to keep alive by playing regularly
This works quite well but I find the parts that were hardest for me to learn are the hardest to keep robust. I suppose that makes sense as those bits are outside of my intrinsic can just do with ease
However I’m still very dependent on the music so I’m always reading - so the technically hard bits that I really have to memorise to play are gone first
Thanks Cole - there is some reliable neuroscience research that demonstrates regular short learning sessions are more effective than few long sessions. It seems that our neurons can continue to form connections (form memories) after we have finished active learning. I’ll try and dig out the reference some time
So I believe this is the basis of these kinds of techniques
Illuminating and very interesting observations, Cole - many thanks for sharing your thoughts and experiences!
As a 'pretend' composer, I have been interested to discover that as I notate and refine my improvisations into compositions, I can play them from memory for several days . . . but then they gradually fade away so that after just a week or so, I need the score to play them (or at least, refresh my memory). In a somewhat weird way, after many months - and years - I can look at a score I wrote and marvel that I even created it because I have to learn it as 'new' music and can't imagine where it came from!
And that made me wonder . . .
Do you think Mozart would have been able to play any of his compositions from memory if he had not revisited a score for several years? And what about Bach - would he have had perfect total recall of everything he ever composed. And did Rachmaninoff need to work on his scores before playing a concerto or prelude after a long break from a performance? I wonder if Shakespeare would have had recall of all the soliloquies of his tragic heroes; or if Michelangelo would have been able to replicate the Sistine Chapel ceiling if it had been whitewashed in error?
Some wonderful research possibilities here for those interested in neuroscience!
This is a really fascinating question! I wonder how much it would also vary between composers and pieces, depending on how much time they spent on it? I know some of my piano pieces came more out of improvisation, which I tend to not remember as well, but there are some pieces that I spent a really long time fleshing out and revising that have really stayed with me. I also wonder if there would be a difference in pieces that were largely written at the piano vs with pen and paper, or audiation? That could be a helpful to consider in the neuroscience possibilities you mentioned, to potentially disentangle conceptual memory from muscle memory.
Indeed, a fascinating question! My instinct says that they all would probably have largely forgotten their earlier works in point of details if they had had no cause to look at them or prepare them for performance. Certainly Rachmaninoff always practiced his programs assiduously, and there are stories of Schubert not recognizing his own songs after only a few weeks.
Now on the large scale, no doubt the overall shape would still be there-so if Michelangelo recreated the Sistine Chapel we would likely get the same overall impression with many different details of minutiae.
@ Reminds me of the Scriabin story: Sabanayev was visiting him in his Moscow flat and played his Fantasy op. 28, Scriabin called out from the next room: "what is that? It sounds familiar." "Your Fantasie" was the reply. Scriabin said, "What Fantasie?"
@@grahamtwist I have something similar. When I’m composing, before I write it down, I remember it. Once I write it down, my brain flips to its comfort zone and I don’t remember it anymore and have to rely on the music
Interesting points. I find bypassing the conscious brain and allowing oneself to play from muscle memory the best method. Challenging to do!
Also quite dangerous in performance (at least for me). But if it works for you, go for it!
Building on top of that topic. How would one go about improving in the downtime to master the piece. For example I've learned the op. 10 no 4 etude 2 years ago, but nowhere near the intended speed as my fingers were not able to handle the load back then. But now it's way better but im still struggling to achieve the tempo. My hand still feels like it is not able to perform the necessary movements. How would one go to even achieve the technique required and how long can a person expect for the process to take place? My teacher for example said to me that this is the kind of piece that I will probably mess up alot of times performing before i can handle it as intended
The best way to improve in the downtime would be to work on other pieces, preferably pieces that will cement technical basics that will assist with the Chopin. No one likes to hear this, but...Czerny! (a few of the harder ones perhaps?)
My final thought for now is about the duality of memory and sheet music
If I try to largely memorise, but retain the music, and just use it as needed on demand, I get very confused
This is because I don’t really know, at any time, what I’m relying on. I might play a passage from memory and then need the music, but I have no idea where to look to find it on the page
This reinforces for me, that I need to remain largely looking at the music, but further develop the ability to play without looking at the keyboard
Exactly the same for me. I need to have a plan for which passages require me to be memorized, so I don't confuse myself!
I commented that I’m very dependent on the music but there are passages where looking at what you are doing helps (so memorise). But is this really true ? Most concert pianists look at the keyboard when playing by memory.
Now, I’ve just finished reading Carl Lachmund’s Living with Liszt (ed walker) diaries. One very clear Liszt method is that he strongly discouraged his students from looking at their hands. Now Liszt had a phenomenal memory, even in his last few years, and his physical ability to play precisely without looking was likely extremely developed
So I’m trying to learn to play hard bits still looking at the music also as it will help develop this tactile spatial awareness.
As an aside, I have always had uprights. The music stand is just above the keyboard. My ability to flick my eyes between keyboard and music is highly developed after 60 years. Now when I go to my teacher for an occasional lesson, he has a grand. The music is about 12cm higher. Now I have to move my head up and down to move between keyboard and music. It actually knocks my proficiency down quite significantly because the pattern is so ingrained in me
So learning to play without looking at the keyboard better (I’m pretty good at it anyway as I mainly look at the music) is beneficial to me!
Yes, fabulous topic-look at Arthur Rubinstein and Kempff play (hardly ever looking at their hands). One advantage of playing with the score for me is that it takes me away from staring at my hands-I'm thinking about the music rather than my physical apparatus. I'll bet Liszt still occasionally looked at the keyboard though...