How to memorize a piece of music for piano? - Greg Niemczuk Tutorial - Process of memorization. 

"Forgetting is the part of memorization" .... Thank you, Greg!

Greg. You are a true gem to the piano lovers!!! You are that kind of guy where I feel, he WANTS to help people desperately. There are not so many teachers or pianists in general out there where I feel the same level of helping hands. Truely amazing!!! 😊

Thank you for this insightful video. I have played piano for years, but struggle to play something from memory when asked to do so. I look forward to relearning / memorizing piano pieces with your technique. You are extremely talented - thank you for sharing.

I love this video, it is amazing that you let us into your "actual" practice session. Most piano teachers would NEVER allow this they want to you believe that they have some talent that you do not. So thank you, thank you, thank you. I will re-listen to this video many times.

what a gifted teacher

It was so interesting for me - I've always thought that you should know the piece quite well before you try to memorize it - this video opened my eyes - Thank you! :)

Hello Greg, thank you so much for showing the memorization mechanism inside out! It is the first time someone shows it to me and I feel I can learn to play without score someday!

I think this the best piece of advice I got along my adventure with the piano. Thank you so much!!!!!!!

Excellent. I hate memorising but I used to be able to by just playing the pieces a lot. I will try this sensible method

Thanks a lot for your lesson. It´s very important for self-taught amateur piano players like me. Wish you all the best.

It is fascinating and VERY helpful seeing you doing what I struggle with all the time! Thanks a lot!

Good technique for memorizing by playing each hand separately. I also close my eyes or look away from the keyboard when practicing and memorize the feel of the keyboard.

Thank you for showing your process instead of talking about it. It was great to see!! 🎉

Thank you so much for sharing your experience....I found your vidéo when i was desperate about my practise....i wanted to learn in two weeks four pieces, and I found myself very slow....hahaha ! With your advices, I'm now more confortable with my memory, one week has passed, three days of practise without piano, et voilà !!! ...the phrase you said " even the error is part of the learning process" was an enormeous help..... thank you again !!!

Thanks very much for this valuable lesson.

Thanks for this lesson on a very necessary skill. I have been teaching this same system (with minor variations) for decades now. Like you, I had to figure it out on my own! And I must also thank you for introducing me to the Sibelius sonata.😀

This is so enlightening to see your process on memorizing! Thank you for sharing your methods. A few things I took away from this was, learn hands separately from beginning to end, taking note of chords and intervals, playing with musicality with each phrase, looking away from the music and testing your memory and taking breaks. There was much more, but those are things that stood out to me. It's one thing to make a video just describing what you do, but this is so much more motivating to take us along for the ride as you work through learning the music. Thank you, thank you, thank you! 👍👍👍👍🎹🎹🎹🎹

Dear Greg, I had problems ordering this sonata in F. Major Opus 12 on internet. But I ordered it here at the Library, in Dole. They have received it. I will go on Tuesday to get the partition. I am happy to try to learn it. Thank you for your wonderful teaching. Have a lovely week-end.

Excellent example of persistence paying off!! Well done!! Jan

This video is treasure 🤩🤩 I couldn‘t wait the whole week until I came back from vacation s I could play along the video. Thank you Greg

I stumbled on your lesson on You Tube - and I am very grateful I did. Thank you so much. I'll follow if you have more advice. Always learning. All the best. David

Thank you, Greg! It's so interesting, look, how practice another pianists. You have a really good idea to learn one hand and not two hand together. I always learn two hands together, but it's too much time.

Professor, thanks a lot. You have shown how you analyze a piece of music in order to memorise it.

How fascinating and inspiring

Greg, being nervous has haunted me my whole life! You inspire me! Playing each hand separately of a piece while preparing to perform! Thank you!!!

It was very engaging practice in real time! It would be much easier if you have listened the piece before I assume . It was an eye opening showing. Thanks.

Thank you for showing us your honest process. Nothing can replace the hard work. You really are fabulous 🙂⭐❤🙏🏼

Wow, this is super helpful! Thank you again for sharing your ideas and advice, I have been working with your methods for a few days now and it makes a big difference. Take care! 😊

I play the violin, but got a lot out of your video - thank you for sharing 😊

Your musical brain works fast, enabling you to mentally work with big chunks of music. One thing I think is going on, but you are not explicit about is that you are also building up an understanding of what the composer is trying to express, so the whole has some musical shape and emotional flow.

Thanks so much for this lessons Greg. This is so helpful for us, fellow pianists, musicians or just music lovers, and I admire your iniciative so much. Greetings from Latin America!

Thank you. Memorizing are hard for me. This was really helpful.

This video really is helping me not with the piano but with my 10 button single row diatonic melodeon accordion for Cajun French folk music for which there is no sheet music.

Using your approach, i was able to learn chopin nouvelle etude no 2 very fast. I would love to watch your analysis on this kinda "underrated" chopin etude.

Fascinating! Thank you so much for sharing your wisdom!

Hi Greg, another highly instructive and motivational video, thank you. I recognise practicing pssages with your eyes closed, to let the neurologic connections do their thing, rather than constantly using your eyes only, which, as my teacher says, are too slow.

THANK YOU

Yes, following...Nice going! Thank you!

Maestro I just found your website and I am thrilled.

This is so helpful, I hope I can start memorising the piece finally by heart and not my muscle. ❤

Hey Greg, many thanks for this really important video. I'am a piano teacher in Switzerland, learnd memorizing years before as optimal methode for me but forget, to teach momorizng my stundents. So I will do it in the future. Cheers Martin

Hello Greg, thank you so much for this lesson. I tried yesterday then this morning and it works. This is very amazing. It opens the door to some more mastery. Now, I plan to learn Burgmuller opus 100

for me I'm able to sight read with both hands and depending on the score I will sight read at least one page, slower at first and then the next day I sight read the same page and it will be faster until eventually the tempo is correct to the score. Interesting different methods to use, like yours is good for stage performance while mine is good for self entertainment at home

Fine... very interesting... I try to memorize your name!😎

Panie Grzegorzu, dziękuję za ten film! Brakowało mi takich praktycznych porad! Wiele z tych rzeczy o których Pan mówi stosuję, ale jest kilka takich, które zainspirowały mnie do tego, aby zrobić na sobie eksperyment i zobaczyć czy i u mnie sprawdzą się 😊 Za jakiś czas pozwolę sobie napisać. Myślę, że ciekawie byłoby również pokazać zapamiętywanie utworów, które ciężko grać osobno (partie obu rąk przechodzą i łączą się ze sobą). Z serca dziękuję, że dzieli się Pan tak cennym doświadczeniem, do tego jeszcze za darmo…Czuję olbrzymią wdzięczność! ❤️❤️

I am very grateful especially for this subject of this video. You are the only one person in my life who explained how to do it, thus my teachers - I had several ones, they did not even teach me musical theory and never gave me any advice how to play by heart, it is very sad because I could be much further ....So big thank you!

Another amazing video! Thanks for that! The way I memorize is similar to that, but I've come to develop it in an irregular way. Hear about it from a great Pianist as you are, and knowing it's a great way to apply it systematically, helps me a lot, besides being greatly pleasant! Congratulations for the courage to record it in real time! 😃👏

Thanks! I very much appreciate your instruction and demonstration.

You've mentioned in the video that you force yourself to forget already memorized parts while in the process of memorizing? But, you haven't really elaborated that, and I must admit I don't understand at all how can you force yourself to forget something you've memorized? Could you please explain that just a little bit? Thanks!

Thank you!

Thank you 💓💓💓💓💓

Thank you for sharing 👍🎹

what are some exercises for finger independence? it is the thing i struggle with the most and is my biggest roadblock learning piano

Greg, I really wish you were here in the US, Houston. I would have taken piano lessons from you once a week.

Thank you for this very instructive video. Do you have some other videos telling what happends when putting the hands together ? This would be so helpful to me...

Excellent tutorial and I admire your courage for taking on a two-voice right hand like that. I need to watch it several times however....!

Dziękuję bardzo za ten film!

It works 😊

Thank you, this is very helpful.

Mind to explain a bit on pedalling? We should be looking forward to.

that's so good thank you so much Greg... what would you do with pieces that make only sense with two hands ? for example Gliiere Prelude Op 43 n 1 or Solfeggietto by CPW Bach... do you still learn one hand at a time ? thanks

Dear Greg, As a closet composer pianist masterclasses like the one you just gave are of the greatest value to me. It really is allot of work to accurately memorize pieces! I am not ashamed to say this is the part I have the least patience for. What has helped me personally is practice relative solfeggio since it really helps us understand the context of the music. God bless !

Thanks, really interesting... The same process works for an amateur singer. There is melody (or voice score), and behind that is the sound 'scape'. Learning and remembering is very much the same.

Merci!

What an amazing professor. I am jealous of your students

Bien le bonjour à mes ami(e)s polonais(e)s ! Djiendobré, Cher professeur Niemczuk, Witam ! 'Djenkouié' ! Merci pour ce tutoriel sur comment mémoriser un morceau de musique. La chose pour moi la plus importante, c'est la lecture à vue (j'avais un professeur extraordinaire pour cela à l'IJD). On l'oublie bien souvent, mais c'est LE cours fondamental à maîtriser avant tout autre. Il faut savoir déchiffrer à deux mains, même si c'est très difficile à faire. Une fois, que la lecture à vue est assimilée aux deux mains s'entame alors en effet ce travail détaillé d'apprentissage par coeur que vous proposez. Bravo à vous ! Personnellement, pour pratiquer mon apprentissage des notes, bien que je ne suis pas un exemple à suivre, et souvent je manque de temps, je fais ce même travail d'apprentissage directement avec mes deux mains, en me concentrant sur l'une, puis une fois que j'ai obtenu ce que je veux à l'une, je passe alors à l'autre. Je ne joue jamais mains séparées et c'est un tort. Cela me prend beaucoup plus de temps, mais développe d'autres réflexes essentiels. Il faut durant des heures et des heures de répétitions et de pratiques, travailler sa mémoire. Ce qui nécessite d'avoir un piano. Comme pour la composition. Apprendre par coeur les deux mains séparément, comme vous le proposez, permet de gagner beaucoup plus de temps, surtout pour les débutants, mais cela reste valable aussi pour les pros. Car il faut bannir la fausse note par tous les moyens ! Et je m'en excuse bien souvent. Encore une fois, bravo pour votre enthousiasme, et vive la Pologne, un pays que j'adore, et que j'ai visité en 1995. Selon un voyage historique, que je n'oublierai jamais :) Dziękuję ! Et Bien à vous (...) Titi p.s.: la vidéo est un tout petit peu longue, mais je la recommande très volontiers. Merci...

Hello and thank you for the video! Do you have any special advice memorizing fugues better? Or do you use the same method?

Panie Grzegorzu, jest Pan nie tylko genialnym Pianistą, ale również genialnym Nauczycielem! Bezcenny film! Deklasuje wszystkie tutoriale, które do tej pory widziałem (również te płatne). Baaardzo Panu dziękuję! 🙏👏👏👏

So glad to find this tutorial. I am a self-taught piano player. No problem with reading sheet music. But enormous problem in memorizing. In fact, I don't think I can memorize any piece in its entirety. Thanks for the advice. I will try to follow to see whether it works for me. You are amazing.

Thank you for the demonstration. Seeing you struggling through the piece one phrase at a time is motivating. I've heard these recommendations from my teacher but it's hard to switch habits and apply new approaches. Now I will have a visual memory of how it's done and it would be easier to actually do it.

Thanks!

This reminds me of how I learnt pieces as a child, before I was "taught" (compelled) to learn them by repeated playing from the score, instead. This sonata looks actually so easy that it might respond to being read through several times in detail, away from the piano, before working with the hands! And it is easier to understand both hands together than separately, for instance in the passage at the bottom of the first page, where the harmony makes more sense with the left hand included from the start. (I haven't tried to play a note of it yet, so this may not be right, but what I hear in my head works like that). On the other hand, I will try to apply your method to more difficult pieces where I can't play either hand in my head, let alone both (say Chopin Op10 No4).

A piano professor..that's great too! Your lectures are very good👍🏻

@greg wonderful tutorial! it has ironed out some things i couldnt really put together, thank you very much! I have one question: I usually am capable of memorizing passages up to a full tempo (which is 110% of my performance tempo) in a way you described (ive been using the method you provided here) with both hands separately. but when i try and memorize putting them together, im only really capable of reaching (and memorizing) full tempo with playing all forte, as much relaxed as possible - generally ommiting dynamics, legatos (if they dont coincide with my naturall hand shape). I only figure out correct dynamics and legatos after i have this rough version of piece which i can play flawlessly (but musically devoid). Would you advice me to adjust this in a way that i pracice legato and correct handshapes before learning the "full tempo feel"? Thank you very much for your videos! true gem of piano community on youtube! pozdravujem zo slovenska :)

Great instructional video. Thank you Greg. This method requires a deep knowledge of music theory, chords, and chord progression. To all my friends on this channel, an investment in a good comprehensive book on music theory will help us all in analyzing pieces and following Greg’s method. Also, breaking up each piece into phrases and learning it phrase by phrase, each hand alone, will lead to successes in learning. My teacher used to tell me that she had to transpose some pieces that she played into different keys, when she was a student at the conservatory. Transposing a piece forces the performer to learn the chords and their progression. Thanks again Greg. I always enjoy your videos.

This video really help me to learn how to memorize a piece with confidence. So far I memorize by hands memory but always forgot when I play in front of others. I will try to follow your guideline and will practice. Thank you!

Thank you so much Greg, I just discovered all your videos and they are so excellent , especially on Chopin, to let us go deeper into the pieces . Please keep making these videos . Greetings from the UK!

Super 🙏🙏🙏

like sharing

こんにちは。日本で、いまはひとりでピアノの練習をしています。昔から音が聞こえ、そのモデルに沿って勉強をしていました。 今動画を見ると、ルービンシュタインや、こないだの発見ではリヒテルのバッハやベートーヴェンピアノソナタなどがモデルにあったようで、ほかにも、ショパンのバラードやポロネーズやワルツなどあらゆる曲でモデルが弾く音が聞かれ、ときに、ナレーションが入り、ショパンが弾いた曲の原曲だとか、これをショパンの書きたかったようにひかせてあげるから弾いて世に出して、とかいわれ、自分は大した地位でもないので、いちど彼の母国のかたにお聞きしてもらいたいなと思っていました。せめてこんなエピソードだけでも。まだ、いろいろと練習中なので、あとあまりにモデルが激しくなるので、自分の弾きたいようにひきたいと言ったらそうしてもらえていま、楽譜をきちんと暗記して引くプロセスにちょうどいるところです。ありがとうございます。古川絵梨　　Ellie Furukawa wrote today 27/7/2023

Bardzo się cieszę, że zrobił Pan taki wartościowy film, dzięki któremu wielu szczególnie młodych pianistów, będzie wiedziało jak lepiej zapamiętywać utwory, bo nie jest to takie oczywiste jakby się mogło wydawać, sam mam bardzo podobny sposób zapamiętywania, jednak bardzo przyjemnie oglądało mi się ten materiał, pozdrawiam serdecznie :) PS: Fajnie, że wziął Pan utwór Sibeliusa, uwielbiam tego kompozytora i grałem mnóstwo jego utworów :D

Greg, gracias por tu interesante vídeo. En mi estudio diario aplico tus enseñanzas. Por ello, te hago una petición: ¿podrías hacer un vídeo sobre dinámicas? Quizás ya lo hayas realizado, pero no lo encuentro. Muchísimas gracias.

Good tutorial, thank you!

I’ve only learned pieces via muscle memory and by heart. I never was able to read sheet music (since I never tried) but used a program to help me learn pieces quicker than if you were to try and break them down by yourself (as an amateur, it’s a godsend for learning repertoire I adore - that’s out of my reach otherwise.)

I like so much greg s Chanel bécause,lot of thing ...extra great playing..live and vidéo s personnal,and teaching for piano s player and beyond that ) l am guitarist ..gréât source of inspiring !

Thanks a lot Master Greg Niemczuk for showing me ^°°^ The ®memorizing way ~ ``La voie 🎹🕴️💃🇨🇵 á suivre..`` J'y vais de ce pas pratiquer •√ Consolation N°3 de Liszt ✓°🙏Merci beaucoup 🙏🍂🙏🍃🇱🇦💖

Thank you very much! One question just out of curiosity. When you are preparing for a recital, beside practicing pieces, are you also listening them for instance when driving car, having dinner etc? Or do you focus on them just when practicing on the instrument? Thanks again and I wish you all the best!

Thank you very much 💗

Thanks

Thank you Greg, I also think of how I remember and this is memorizing the notes but also how my fingers feel the keys that correspond the notes and the overall feeling of playing a group of notes that make it easier for me to memorize what you think?

Could you please elaborate on what you're doing when you play mentally? I've read this practice advice from many sources before but I always struggle with this step. I can't visualize myself playing every note in detail at the keyboard. At best I can just see a hazy image of a few fingers playing a few notes. I also struggle to hear the piece in my head (my ear training and sight singing abilities are non-existent).

Dear Greg, would you please give me the title of this piece of music from Sibelius. I would very much like to learn it. 😂

Thank you for showing your process. Ron Fernandez

This approach remembers me the Karl Leimer's one. Good video. Thank you!

When do you work on fingering?

Thanks a lot for this video Greg. Memorizing was definitely an issue for me since i didn't want to depend solely on muscle memory, so this video is incredibly helpful for me

But do you play the score with both hands sight-reading the first time and then move on to memorizing with separate hands or do you start immediately with separate hands?

Bravo! Excellent tutorial. I’m guessing you bring it up to speed after you’ve put the hands together? Thanks!

Thank you so much! I see, that is very useful. I was always in trouble to practice. I'll try it immediately!

thanks a lot!