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The way, we practice, repeating on our knees every day, working line by line or phrase by phrase, makes it easy for us to start anywhere in the score. I sit at one piano, my professor sits at another one with the score, and after he plays a passage to show me how it should be done, I have no problems—without the score—resuming from there. But, for better assurance, in the case of memory lapse, it is better to “drill”
a lot of starting places ahead of where you are in the score. You play, then, say your wife tells you that she filed for divorce. You stop, then resume a little bit ahead in the score. Some pianists are real masters at that. One day, when I was watching a piano competition, there was a very nice Scarlatti piece; but when I talked to the pianist about it, he only talked about the memory lapse, which I was totally unaware of! In order to “master this art,” just write down numbers at some strategic parts of the piece. Practice by starting at those different numbers. Also by playing, stopping and then resuming at the next number. Of course, it is very
important to do so in the form of mental practice repetition. Say, you are sitting on your couch, close your eyes and start playing on your knees from those different numbers.
Do you really take advantage of this wonderful tool which is mental practice? It is as easy to hear and see
piano keys in your head as it is to think for example, how ugly your neighbor’s garden gnome is!
Let’s try: Say you are standing up, running on a treadmill or seating on a chair across someone who doesn’t stop talking and you find this conversation/monologue a little bit boring. Now with your eyes open, see your fingers of your left hand playing slowly each key, of the first two measures of say; Jardins Sous La Pluie while hearing each pitch. You see it works. Now do the same with the right hand. It works too! Let’s try hands together, very slowly: Bingo! You see it is easy and you start to realize the tremendous
advantage you have over other pianists, being able like this to rehearse your music in your head during any dead moment of the day! Nothing is a valuable as meaningful repetition!
During a performance, a lot of nuisances can take a toll on your concentration, like coughs in the audience, ringing cell phones, or a fly which finds your nose very pretty and stubbornly thinks it’s the best place to be during your
performance. To better prepare for them, before an important performance, it is good to play in front of friends or—even better—at a friend’s house on a different piano—or try anything that can make you nervous. For example, have a friend sneak behind you and suddenly make a loud noise, filming or recording yourself. They now have very nice digital pianos on which it is easy to record yourself. You may realize while doing this that some spots need more attention with your memorization (maybe those fifth or above jumps again!). You may not like what you hear at first, but, if you listen to the recordings
while following the score and, as a master at a master class, mark with your pencil the passages which you dislike, you will very quickly get results which please you. Even a tape recorder and a microphone will do. Successful people, always use every resource available to help themselves. Recording oneself was recommended by a famous international virtuoso during a master class at TCU.
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Also, digital pianos have several different instruments; and it is always interesting to play a Bach fugue on the organ or piano and choir, hear it sung by human voices, or Debussy on an exotic instrument since he was so fond of them! It’s also like a little memory challenge because your ears are not used to hearing such sounds, so you get distracted. Other than new and awkward hand spacing, that is the reason why playing a piece on different registers of the piano is also a very good memory check. When we play at some friend’s house, it helps that we play on a different piano because it pressures you to only think about and listen to your music, not at the cake you are going to have for desert, while experiencing the acoustics of that different instrument.
Again, all these well-known “memory checks” which are going to sound familiar, like playing the entire piece on a table or our knees, while pretending it’s the piano, playing the entire piece first with
your left hand then right hand or playing it very slowly or being able to sing or hum the entire piece. The problem is that this is the normal way we work! Our basic routine is what is supposed to be the most challenging. We only use conscious intelligent work through mental practice, so of course we can do all that! If we can’t, it means we’re not ready yet!
Many student pianists practice by aimlessly repeating and repeating the score on the piano, with no
thought or direction—maybe trying to memorize! Does it sound familiar? This student is not you anymore because now you know how to memorize. Your new way to practice is like Hélène Grimaud, Andras Schiff and many others—these “piano magicians”; maybe, like them, you close your eyes, play while listening to
yourself, and make every note beautiful. Your new assignment: Ask yourself while playing each note “Am I happy with how this note sounds? Are my intonations in this phrase correct? Does it sound like the ideal version I have in my head?”
In relation to what we just said and to fight nervousness during a performance, you must realize that your audience has only one goal and focus: to be moved by your music. Please do a nice job and only concentrate your attention on your music, maybe closing your eyes and making every note beautiful. As for every other activity, the more we do anything, the better. The more proficient and the easier it becomes. Therefore, why not commit ourselves like Yo-Yo Ma at memorizing every day two or four measures? You will before you know it become a superior musician, an expert memorizer and end-up with a great repertoire!
Last but not least, remember that your inner voice is the fuel of your music memory. With no more voice, the memory will stop. Don’t let that singing stop!
All of this seems like a lot of work, but, don’t forget that we do just a little bit every day, conquering our mountain one step at a time. The joys of really owning a masterpiece more than compensate for it. Happy music! I sincerely hope that I contributed to giving you the wings that will fly you through a wonderful musical journey.
Contact Information: François Richard
P.O. Box 470441 Fort Worth, Texas 76147 [email protected]