Memorization : Internalization

by Joshua Roman

I write this post as I head towards a concert in an unusual situation. I might actually use the sheet music.

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This is very rare for me. I was brought up to not use music – in fact, it was not allowed in lessons at all. Memorization was not another step, it was simply part of “learning the piece”, and if you had learned the piece, you wouldn’t be using the music. It seemed simple enough, so that’s what I did for the first ten years of my musical life – never having the sheet music in front of me at a lesson, unless my teacher wanted to show me a rhythm or note I’d misread.

I do believe that as an approach, when coupled with the right techniques for internalizing music, this is the most effective method. It makes memorization a natural part of the process instead of something to be feared. Also, many of my friends growing up would save memorization for last, and in my experience, the thing saved for last is always the one that carries the most anxiety. This is as much to do with the placement in the order of things as it is to do with the actual task itself.

In order to make memorization part of the learning process, I like to start getting away from the music as early as possible. Even after the first reading, one should play through what you remember. Don’t worry if it’s not much at all. Over time, you’ll begin to remember more. Draw upon whatever senses help you. Visualizing the page, hearing when the theme returns, or similar (or unusual) sounds occur, the feeling in your hands in passagework, the emotional effect of the structure, etc., these are all useful. The main thing is to get an overview. Then, go back and use the music again, or even just look to see what you missed.

This is a very effective way of internalizing the piece, which goes beyond memorization. It’s not just about overview, though. As you continue your practicing beyond the initial reading of a new piece, continue avoiding looking at the music whenever possible, while playing. In fact, I like to study the music before touching the cello – hear it in my head, mark things down, make a plan – and then practice. Even if the plan gets tossed out the window, the practicing is almost always more effective.

You can come up with your own analogy of what the notes, dynamics, and other markings on the page are, but in the end they are just the beginning, the road map. One must follow them to the letter, but the map is there to send you on a journey, to take you off of the page into a 3D world full of valleys and mountain ranges, oceans and rivers. It’s a shame when I hear a performance stuck on the page because someone is afraid to let go. For me, switching the mentality from memorization to internalization is very helpful.

Another exercise: As you have a passage you need to practice, run it in your head while looking at the music. Be careful to note all of the expressive markings and dynamics, and to have a strong sense of the phrasing and character. Then, close your eyes and play. Go as deep into the character as possible, and don’t worry if you miss a few notes. Rinse and repeat. If you are truly immersing yourself in the musical aspects and not just the technical (caveat: you must have a good technical foundation, and be going slow enough that the technique of the passage is not an issue), you’ll find it etched deep into your performative brain and easy to recall later.

People ask me a lot if I have a photographic memory. I don’t- I just like to use as many kinds of memory as possible. At any given moment, it’s nice to have backups. But really, a well rounded memory bank of a piece is the natural result of a curious exploration of the work from all angles. As you study the score, you develop the visual memory. As you are aware of your body while you play, the motor memory kicks in. With the characters and emotional content come the structure of the piece, and as you listen in your head or sing out loud, the purely aural memory strengthens as well. Sometimes, stories, colors, shapes or other imaginative ideas become a part of the mashup. With all of these at play, it’s hard to forget something you learned well even years ago.

Our descent is about to start, and I’m going to review the Pärt as we go down. I stepped in on last minute notice for this recital, and while we’ve made plenty of time to rehearse, I haven’t had as much time on my own to practice. I’ve been feeling under the weather lately and the doctor gave me some wild medication which made me pretty useless yesterday, but today is better. I’m happy I even made it to the end of this post, and have gone through it several times to make sure sentence order is not reversed. Conversations have been full of backwards syllables, so I’m not sure Fratres is the best piece to internalize in this state…

(Joshua and Andrius Zlabys performing at Town Hall in April, 2014)

71iGqKjzYALIf you want to know more about memory outside of music, my pianist Andrius Zlabys recommends reading Moonwalking with Albert Einstein. I’ve been seeing the effects of the process as his lovely daughter puts it into practice and it’s quite impressive.

Last note: performance practice has changed in the last century, and it is more common now for music to be used. I’m not suggesting this is a bad thing, although I prefer not to use it myself. I find that if I’m able to internalize the music and remove the physical stand and sheet music from the stage, it’s one less barrier between the emotions in the music and the audience.

 
PLAYLIST:
Concerto Grosso No. 1 – Schnittke (Gidon Kremer et al.)
The Rise and Fall of Ziggy Stardust and the Spiders from Mars – David Bowie
David Bowie Narrates Peter and the Wolf – Prokofiev

CONCERT SPOTLIGHT: May 7-11

by Maggie Molloy 

Add some color to your May with a jaunt down “Abbey Road,” a trip to a microtonal music instrumentarium, and many more multihued music events!

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Machinations Musical, Divers & Sundry

Music and machine unite this week at a diverse and sundry performance featuring the electroacoustic works of students and graduates from the University of Washington.

“Machinations Musical, Divers & Sundry” will feature original works by composers who are currently studying (or have previously studied) at UW’s School of Music or Center for Digital Arts and Experimental Media (DXARTS). The wide-ranging program has everything from 19-tone equal temperament electric guitars to violin-horn duos to computer-realized surround sound to kinetic sculpture—all performed by the composers themselves.

The performance is this Thursday, May 7 at 8 p.m. at the Chapel Performance Space at the Good Shepherd Center in Wallingford.

Seattle Composers’ Salon

owcharuk-38-600x400Jazz up your Friday night with a trip to the Seattle Composers’ Salon, featuring a selection of Seattle’s smoothest, snazziest jazz cats.

The bi-monthly Salon presents new music in a casual setting, offering composers, performers, and audience members a space to experiment and discuss contemporary works. This evening’s performance features composer, jazz pianist, and accordionist Michael Owcharuk, jazz drummer Matthew James Briggs, and composers Jessi Harvey and Ian McKnight.

The performance is this Friday, May 8 at 8 p.m. at the Chapel Performance Space at the Good Shepherd Center in Wallingford.

Prism: Pärt and MacMillan

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“I could compare my music to white light which contains all colors,” said Estonian composer Arvo Pärt. “Only a prism can divide the colors and make them appear; this prism could be the spirit of the listener.”

In honor of Pärt’s 80th birthday, Seattle Pro Musica is performing a concert full of the influential composer’s colorful choral works. Known for his sacred and classical music, Pärt is inspired by elements of minimalism as well as his own mystical experiences with chant music.

The concert will also feature the melodic, modern works of James MacMillan, the multihued harmonies of Brian Edward Galante, and a world premiere of a new commission by John Muehleisen.

Performances are this Friday, May 8 and Saturday, May 9 at 8 p.m. at St. James Cathedral in Seattle.

Seattle Rock Orchestra Performs the Beatles’ “Let It Be” & “Abbey Road”

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This weekend, Seattle Rock Orchestra is taking fans down a “Long and Winding Road” through the Beatles’ discography. The performance is the fourth entry in their chronological exploration of the band’s catalogue of classics, arriving at their final studio recordings: “Let it Be” and “Abbey Road.”

“Come Together” for this beautiful evening of beloved Beatles tunes which will take you “Across the Universe,” to an “Octopus’s Garden,” all the way along “Abbey Road’s” famous 16-minute medley, and through countless other rock ‘n’ roll classics. The performance will feature guest vocalists Zach Davidson (of Vendetta Red), Tamara Power-Drutis, Matt and Mike Gervais (of Mikey & Matty), and Miranda Zickler (of Wild Rabbit).

Performances are this Saturday, May 9 at 8 p.m. and Sunday, May 10 at 2 p.m. at the Moore Theatre.

Music of Today: Harry Partch Instruments Presentation

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Harry Partch was a composer, music theorist, and instrument maker interested in much more than just your typical 12 intervals to the octave. He was one of the first 20th century composers in the West to work with microtonal scales, building his own custom-made instruments in different tunings in order to perform his compositions.

And now, you can see (and hear) these instruments in all their microtonal magnificence at the University of Washington. Next week Charles Corey, director of the Harry Partch Institute at UW, will be giving a public demonstration of instruments from the collection. The Harry Partch Instrumentarium is currently in residence at the UW School of Music.

The presentation is this Monday, May 11 at 7:30 p.m. at UW’s Meany Hall.