Handy 🕘 Timestamps 0:00 Intro 1:36 How do pianists learn their pieces? 1:52 Method 1 2:16 Method 2 4:30 Method 3 5:45 Three Tips on How to Learn & Never Forget 5:50 Tip Number 1 6:36 Tip Number 2 7:05 Tip Number 3
This was such an excellent video!! I have this problem all the time... I generally program my brain to memorise pieces from learning the sheet music, or watching a tutorial video and memorising the chord shapes. I don't sight read, I just use the sheet music to tell my fingers what to play. I generally use a combination of muscle memory and auditory information to memorise a piece, and then chuck the sheet music away. I have found that the quicker I memorise a piece, the quicker I'm able to forget it afterwards. It can be frustrating losing the ability to play pieces that we may have worked on for months, only to forget them again months later. I dare say, if I got out the sheet music again, and refreshed my memory how they go, I could pick them up again fairly quickly. I've found if I spend some time analysing the structure of a piece, it really helps to cement it in my brain better, and I can pick up pieces more easily from the various sections. I will definitely give your tips a go, to help memorise pieces better!!
You’re an excellent teacher. You pinpointed the problem which I have for years - forgetting the pieces I once played very well. Thank you for breaking it down to three different types of learning. The suggestion of starting the practice from different places of the piece should really work for me.
I think you missed at least one other aspect of memory, that I feel could be important, and I know I use it a lot: visual memory. Not only of the keys, positions of my hands and fingerings, but also of the sheet music. The 3 aspects you mentioned are of course super important. Good video.
This is exactly the type of advice I've been looking for, I've forgotten pieces in the past. I will definitely apply this to my practise sessions. Thank you Jazer!
great systematic work. Thank you. Wonderful to hear you talk about the process taking 2-3 years. So many parents expect the teacher to weave some kind of magic and get the child from zero to Grade 8 in no time
Your overview was really insightful. I’m in my second year of lessons (I’m 72 years old). Learning pieces by memory is daunting. Your lesson will help me as I develop.
Thank you Jazer. Even tho’ I started studying piano at 8 years old for 12 years and have played most all of my life. I am getting back to it after carpal tunnel surgery, both hands. The O.Therapist says piano playing is the best exercise. My biggest problem is memorizing and I would love more lessons on that. I have started the Bach prelude C minor, 2 bars at a time. Very slow going. I am also working to get back my octaves and 9ths in the Moonlight Son. I’m hanging off the front of the keys when I can . I play the Solfigetto by memory from my lessons and I can start anywhere in it. It’s a great warmup. I love your videos and find them inspiring and the challenges are fun, easy for me. I am using them for the one student I am working with. I think your teaching is the best I’ve found on RU-vid. Thanks again. FYI, I also studied harmony and music copying (the old calligraphy way) and I won the Best Keyboard Student prize at my college!
Great video! Those ideas are important. I would only add that while it's not necessary to practice every piece every few days or so, I find it's useful to pull them out at least every few months and practice them for a few days. If you let them go for several years, the process of relearning will be longer even if you understand the music theory because the muscle memory part will have many more holes in it (sometimes completely gone). I'm going through that now after not playing for several years. On the good side, it does force you to go back to the sheet music!
Thanks for the video. As a much much older student of the piano, I would say a fourth aspect is to stay young. An aging mind tends to be a forgetful mind, right, easier said than done. However it does seem like the pieces that do stay with me are those I've explored from several points of view. Feels like you've given really good advice.
Very engaging! If we view practising as a process of 're-learning' music, as opposed to straightforward repetition, it becomes constructive as well as productive - and consequently rewarding!
Once again Jazer -- brilliant advice! After a long hiatus I am now trying to play pieces that I had previously memorised (muscle memory), and after the first few bars the rest has disappeared. So I will now go back and look closely at the music and try your tips to help bring them back. Thanks again.
It seems I'm using all three methods. Aurally works very well for me, esp for pop pieces, which I typically learn by ear anyway. Another trick that works well for classical music is recognizing repeating patterns in it and how these connect together (and how they repeat) to form the entire piece.
Natural language is an interesting analogy. Then again most speakers don’t know a squat of the syntactical or semantical rules but speak a language fluently. That’s also interesting. They just ramble on and on and on :)
Thats all nice and good for easier pieces. I can play für elise and turkish march quite well after half an hour. But more complicated fugues are doomed if you dont play them for longer
Absolutely love your video's, you've taught me so much! Do you have a video somewhere on the outro you do at the close of each video? Swear ive watched it before but cant seem to find it anymore 😢
That's actually such a good advice to actively know the chords that are played! I always found it so much harder to remember a piano piece one on guitar. But thinking about it, it's because on guitar, the chords that are played are always mentioned. Dang I feel kinda stupid now I've been trying to teach myself how to play piano for some time now but never felt like I made any process and forgot everything. I feel kind of stupid now because at the end this is a simple answer to just know the chords :D
I've had three permanent instructors in 11 months. The first was to best. I could stick with him for years, but I think he specializes in beginners, he sticks strictly to the book and progress is slow. Also, with one, I'd be limited by his style and what he can teach me. The second I had to leave because he challenged me to go from crawling to running. I became inconsistent and thought about quitting every week. Maybe I can circle back to him in a year. My third instructor is probably technically the best for an intermediate students, but it's becoming more business than pleasure. I'm enjoying learning despite my lessons. Maybe that's how it is after leaving a beloved teacher and transitioning up a level. Do you refer students to other instructors even though they second guess everything and won't enjoy it as much if it's for the best? I mean, at the end of the day isn't practice work and don't you do it even when you don't feel like it? Any student can suffer from Big Shoes [to fill] syndrome, but is there a time when we should carry on solo? There are a lot of RU-vid videos after all.
Great video, Jazer. And I agree totally about learning music theory. This week I've started to learn Rule of the Octave. And I'm trying to get more comfortable with figured bass. I've seen it, I can do it, but it isn't deeply rooted as a reflex. You might want to do a video on the Italian Partimento, and their practice of teaching music to orphans to become music maestri. Bach was deeply knowledgable about it's principles and it became the basis for all the teachings of the Paris Conservatory. I wish I was as smart as a 7 year old Italian child.
Thanks for the valuable advice. I always have problem memorizing music, relying soling on what you called "muscle memory". Plus a little bit of aural memory. I agree that music theory help. And I need to develop that skill. This is brilliant.
This is an excellent video with great tips for everyone who plays. I learn so much with every one of your videos. Thank you for sharing your knowledge! Maybe something for a future video. I have small hands for an adult, and in some pieces, like Moonlight Sonata, I struggle reaching two keys at once, greater than an octave apart. Any advice? I played from small age, stopped in teen years and began again in mid adulthood so I know I’ve got some ability to overcome this, just uncertain how…
Lower your wrist and place your hand away from the keyboard ("outside" of the keyboard) instead of above it, to reach an octave plus one key even with small hands. Also practice will improve it. With time the fingers sort of "spread" and are able to reach wider.
Great Video J! I'm currently learning with Adult piano adventures book 2. I like what you mention about how understanding music theory can help you to secure pieces. I'm in the section of major and minor triads, the books says I should memorize them, and the professor in the video for that section says that triads are like the vocabulary for western music, could you elaborate on that and any tips on how to memorize M and m triads? Thank you and keep up the good work! Salute from 🇲🇽
this is literally the most important video ive ever needed in playing, my biggest problem more than anything is i have a memory of 2 seconds, musically and not
I am only a few months into my journey, and rely 💯 on muscle memory. Glad to hear this is quite normal. Any recommendations for a good chord book would be welcome. Thanks
It would be so helpful if you can make a video on explaining different genres style playing. No one can do it better than you that's for sure❤️❤️. Please🙏❤️
Thanks for the video. Very very useful. Can you advise how to learn theory? I have a good understand of scales but not of chords. Thanks for any advise. Take care
Thank you so much for your videos. I’m with you since starting playing piano last year. What book do you recommend for theory that helps beginners/ intermediate players? What about The Complete book of scales, chords, arpeggios and cadences by Palmer? And Improve Your Sight-reading by Harris?
The touch sense can be unreliable. Though it’s very important. What about the important Visual memory ? That is, knowing exactly which notes to play by KNOWING which notes come next. I believe in reading the music away from the keyboard as well to enhance the memory. The technical muscle memory will prove to boost the ability to support the Visual memory.
hey jazer, i printed a lot of sheet music recently and started to use a pencil to write down fingering numbers next to each note... should i do the same for labeling notes with letters, flats and sharps too? or should i actuall not do it so that i force myself to always re-read which notes are supposed to be played in each bar?
I have a question. How do you learn the first part of Fantasie-Impromptu in C Sharp Minor(Chopin)? (Is it just repeated practice over time? Because the tempo is fast or is it technical? Thank you!
Personally I think I have a general understanding of music theory on paper or when I read a sheet, but I can’t apply it when I play. Do you have any suggestions to blend music theory in my playing?
I keep a short whip by my piano. After learning the piece, I use the whip to help me perfect it. If I make a mistake, I whip myself (lashes start at 1 and increase by 1 with every mistake) and start over. Many have said my method is extreme but none have called it ineffective.
It's a problem I have. If you memorize the way to play the song without understanding the theory behind it, it will be relinquished from memory, similar to memorizing anything else(song lyrics, lines in a play, etc)
Like when Rubenstein forgot a section, he understood the music well enough to fill in! ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-7VCaj7Oqcig.html
I was very excited about the video title but did not learn any new stuff. :-( Spoiler: You'll still forget them when not playing them for years and you don't have sheet music for them. Recovering pieces by sheet music is quite easy. But how to recover them when learned by lead sheet or even by ear only? So I guess you are forced to write them down in any way. But writing down full scores is very cumbersome.
I had to think a little bit more about it: There are more layers than aural, muscle and theory resp. semantics. You also have to memorize the overall song structure, repeating (rythmically) patterns and special features of the song. This is especially true for contemporary music I guess.
It’s always great to pick another musos brains! I’ve done my exams; l’m always finding something new. Also, l was glad to learn jazz ( my forte 😆(!)), b4 l started classical. I started very young ( a musical household); as l find a lot of classical players can’t improvise. ) l think a one on one teacher is needed for your classical education; depending on wot you want to do; & making sure that the teacher is a GOOD ONE! It’s also AWSUM that you are influencing people the ‘right way’! It certainly is a journey; a wonderful non ending one!! And, l LUV your name Jazer! Besides BEETHOVEN ( my hero); there’s OSCAR PETERSON for me in jazz. My gigs are usually rock guitar gigs: l have to pay the rent! 🤣🤣🎹🎸
Thank you Jazer. You know exactly what beginners like me are going through. With this video, you have addressed the issues I was having…I heavily relied on muscle memory that’s why I forgot. I started doing last week of July the tips you mentioned here. You make me feel good and this video affirms that I’m on the right track. You are the best online piano teacher👏👏👏. Thank you so much 😊
Thank you for giving such good advice to all of us at any ability. I’m an adult restarting after 30 years. Your advice is helping me correct old bad habits.
Great video! You've been a great resource for my learning. I'm almost finished learning Moonlight Sonata's First movement after starting my piano journey a few months ago! I will definitely use these tips to reinforce my learning!
Excellent video. Have discussed this with mentors over the years, but never received this wide insight to the problem of coming back to pieces and feeling as though I've never played them before
I started lessons after I retired and I love it. Although you are much younger than I am I find your methods to be excellent. I have viewed your videos for a while now but never subscribe d to the channel. I am no longer taking live lessons so using the internet is my only resource. I plan to resume my lessons at some point in time, but until them I’ll be watching your videos.
After striving to play Chopin’s aeolian harp etude, “ I actually strained my left hand. Do some pieces just have too great a stretch for certain pianists? Thanks for your insight!
Your short lessons are wonderful! A brief reminder of what I've learned so far, but also a brief emphasis on a beginner's sore spots😉. Thank you very much!
