HOW TO REMEMBER MUSIC.
Like all of the other faculties of the mind, that of music or tune is
manifested in varying degrees by different individuals. To some music
seems to be almost instinctively grasped, while to others it is acquired
only by great effort and much labor. To some harmony is natural, and
inharmony a matter of repulsion, while others fail to recognize the
difference between the two except in extreme cases. Some seem to be the
very soul of music, while others have no conception of what the soul of
music may be. Then there is manifested the different phases of the
knowledge of music. Some play correctly by ear, but are clumsy and
inefficient when it comes to playing by note. Others play very correctly
in a mechanical manner, but fail to retain the memory of music which
they have heard. It is indeed a good musician who combines within
himself, or herself, both of the two last mentioned faculties--the ear
perception of music and the ability to execute correctly from notes.
There are many cases of record in which extraordinary powers of memory
of music have been manifested. Fuller relates the following instances of
this particular phase of memory: Carolan, the greatest of Irish bards,
once met a noted musician and challenged him to a test of their
respective musical abilities. The _defi_ was accepted and Carolan's
rival played on his violin one of Vivaldi's most difficult concertos. On
the conclusion of the performance, Carolan, who had never heard the
piece before, took his harp and played the concerto through from
beginning to end without making a single error. His rival thereupon
yielded the palm, thoroughly satisfied of Carolan's superiority, as well
he might be. Beethoven could retain in his memory any musical
composition, however complex, that he had listened to, and could
reproduce most of it. He could play from memory every one of the
compositions in Bach's 'Well Tempered Clavichord,' there being
forty-eight preludes and the same number of fugues which in intricacy
of movement and difficulty of execution are almost unexampled, as each
of these compositions is written in the most abstruse style of
counterpoint.
"Mozart, at four years of age, could remember note for note, elaborate
solos in concertos which he had heard; he could learn a minuet in half
an hour, and even composed short pieces at that early age. At six he was
able to compose without the aid of an instrument, and continued to
advance rapidly in musical memory and knowledge. When fourteen years old
he went to Rome in Holy Week. At the Sistine Chapel was performed each
day, Allegri's 'Miserere,' the score of which Mozart wished to obtain,
but he learned that no copies were allowed to be made. He listened
attentively to the performance, at the conclusion of which he wrote the
whole score from memory without an error. Another time, Mozart was
engaged to contribute an original composition to be performed by a noted
violinist and himself at Vienna before the Emperor Joseph. On arriving
at the appointed place Mozart discovered that he had forgotten to bring
his part. Nothing dismayed, he placed a blank sheet of paper before
him, and played his part through from memory without a mistake. When the
opera of 'Don Giovanni' was first performed there was no time to copy
the score for the harpsichord, but Mozart was equal to the occasion; he
conducted the entire opera and played the harpsichord accompaniment to
the songs and choruses without a note before him. There are many
well-attested instances of Mendelssohn's remarkable musical memory. He
once gave a grand concert in London, at which his Overture to 'Midsummer
Night's Dream' was produced. There was only one copy of the full score,
which was taken charge of by the organist of St. Paul's Cathedral, who
unfortunately left it in a hackney coach--whereupon Mendelssohn wrote
out another score from memory, without an error. At another time, when
about to direct a public performance of Bach's 'Passion Music,' he found
on mounting the conductor's platform that instead of the score of the
work to be performed, that of another composition had been brought by
mistake. Without hesitation Mendelssohn successfully conducted this
complicated work from memory, automatically turning over leaf after
leaf of the score before him as the performance progressed, so that no
feeling of uneasiness might enter the minds of the orchestra and
singers. Gottschalk, it is said, could play from memory several thousand
compositions, including many of the works of Bach. The noted conductor,
Vianesi, rarely has the score before him in conducting an opera, knowing
every note of many operas from memory."
It will be seen that two phases of memory must enter into the "memory of
music"--the memory of tune and the memory of the notes. The memory of
tune of course falls into the class of ear-impressions, and what has
been said regarding them is also applicable to this case. The memory of
notes falls into the classification of eye-impressions, and the rules of
this class of memory applies in this case. As to the cultivation of the
memory of tune, the principle advice to be given is that the student
take an active interest in all that pertains to the sound of music, and
also takes every opportunity for listening to good music, and
endeavoring to reproduce it in the imagination or memory. Endeavor to
enter into the spirit of the music until it becomes a part of yourself.
Rest not content with merely hearing it, but lend yourself to a
_feeling_ of its meaning. The more the music "means to you," the more
easily will you remember it. The plan followed by many students,
particularly those of vocal music, is to have a few bars of a piece
played over to them several times, until they are able to hum it
correctly; then a few more are added; and then a few more and so on.
Each addition must be reviewed in connection with that which was learned
before, so that the chain of association may be kept unbroken. The
principle is the same as the child learning his A-B-C--he remembers "B"
because it follows "A." By this constant addition of "just a little bit
more," accompanied by frequent reviews, long and difficult pieces may be
memorized.
The memory of notes may be developed by the method above named--the
method of learning a few bars well, and then adding a few more, and
frequently reviewing as far as you have learned, forging the links of
association as you go along, by frequent practice. The method being
entirely that of eye-impression and subject to its rules, you must
observe the idea of visualization--that is learning each bar until you
can _see_ it "in your mind's eye" as you proceed. But in this, as in
many other eye-impressions, you will find that you will be greatly aided
by your memory of the _sound_ of the notes, in addition to their
appearance. Try to associate the two as much as possible, so that when
you _see_ a note, you will _hear_ the sound of it, and when you _hear_ a
note sounded, you will _see_ it as it appears on the score. This
combining of the impressions of both sight and sound will give you the
benefit of the double sense impression, which results in doubling your
memory efficiency. In addition to visualizing the notes themselves, the
student should add the appearance of the various symbols denoting the
key, the time, the movement, expression, etc., so that he may hum the
air from the visualized notes, with expression and with correct
interpretation. Changes of key, time or movement should be carefully
noted in the memorization of the notes. And above everything else,
memorize the _feeling_ of that particular portion of the score, that you
may not only see and hear, but also _feel_ that which you are recalling.
We would advise the student to practice memorizing simple songs at
first, for various reasons. One of these reasons is that these songs
lend themselves readily to memorizing, and the chain of easy association
is usually maintained throughout.
In this phase of memory, as in all others, we add the advice to: Take
interest; bestow Attention; and Practice and Exercise as often as
possible. You may have tired of these words--but they constitute the
main principles of the development of a retentive memory. Things must be
impressed upon the memory, before they may be recalled. This should be
remembered in every consideration of the subject.