_How to Memorize_
At the present stage of pianistic development, an artist does not
venture to come before the public and "use his notes." No artist who
values his reputation would attempt it. Everything must be performed
from memory--solos, concertos, even accompaniments. The pianist must
know every note of the music he performs. The star accompanist aspires
to the same mastery when he plays for a famous singer or
instrumentalist. We also have the artist conductor, with opera, symphony
or concerto at his finger-tips. Hans von Buelow, who claimed that a
pianist should have more than two hundred compositions in his
repertoire, was himself equally at home in orchestral music. He always
conducted his Meiningen Orchestra without notes.
Let us say, then, that the present-day pianist ought to have about two
hundred compositions in his repertoire, all of which must be played
without notes. The mere fact of committing to memory such a quantity of
pages is no small item in the pianist's equipment. The problem is to
discover the best means of memorizing music quickly and surely. Here
again we are privileged to inquire of the artist and of the artist
teacher. His knowledge and experience will be practical, for he has
evolved it and proved it over and over again.
It is a well-known fact that Leschetizky advises memorizing away from
the instrument. This method at once shuts the door on all useless and
thoughtless repetition employed by so many piano students, who repeat a
passage endlessly, to avoid thinking it out. Then they wonder why they
cannot commit to memory! The Viennese master suggests that a short
passage of two or four measures be learned with each hand alone, then
tried on the piano. If not yet quite fixed in consciousness the effort
should be repeated, after which it may be possible to go through the
passage without an error. The work then proceeds in the same manner
throughout the composition.
ONE YEAR'S MEMORIZING
A player who gives five or six hours daily to study, and who has learned
how to memorize, should be able to commit one page of music each day.
This course, systematically pursued, would result in the thorough
assimilation of at least fifty compositions in one year. This is really
a conservative estimate, though at first glance it may seem rather
large. If we cut the figure in half, out of consideration for the
accumulative difficulties of the music, there will still remain
twenty-five pieces, enough for two programs and a very respectable
showing for a year's study.
It may be that Leschetizky's principle of memorizing will not appeal to
every one. The player may find another path to the goal, one more
suited to his peculiar temperament. Or, if he has not yet discovered the
right path, let him try different ways till he hits upon one which will
do the work in the shortest and most thorough manner. All masters agree
that analysis and concentration are the prime factors in the process of
committing music to memory.
Michael von Zadora, pianist and teacher, said to me recently: "Suppose
you have a difficult passage to learn by heart. The ordinary method of
committing to memory is to play the passage over and over, till the
fingers grow accustomed to its intervals. That is not my manner of
teaching. The only way to master that passage is to analyze it
thoroughly, know just what the notes are, the sequences of notes, if you
will, their position on the keyboard, the fingering, the positions the
hands must take to play these notes, so that you know just where the
fingers have to go before you put them on the keys. When you thus
thoroughly understand the passage or piece, have thought about it, lived
with it, so that it is in the blood, we might say, the fingers can play
it. There will be no difficulty about it and no need for senseless
repetitions."
PHRASE BY PHRASE
Most of the artists agree that memorizing must be done phrase by phrase,
after the composition has been thoroughly analyzed as to keys, chords,
and construction. This is Katharine Goodson's way, and also Eleanor
Spencer's and Ethel Leginska's, three of Leschetizky's pupils now before
the public. "I really know the composition so thoroughly that I can play
it in another key just as well as the one in which it is written, though
I do not always memorize it each hand alone," says Miss Goodson. "I
first play the composition over a few times to become somewhat familiar
with its form and shape," says Eleanor Spencer, "then I begin to analyze
and study it, committing it by phrases, or ideas, one or two measures at
a time. I do not always take the hands alone, unless the passage is very
intricate, for sometimes it is easier to learn both hands together."
Germaine Schnitzer avers that she keeps at a difficult passage until she
really knows it perfectly, no matter how long it takes. "What is the use
of going on," she says, "until you are absolutely sure of the work in
hand."
It is plain from the opinions already cited and from many I have heard
expressed that the artists waste no time over useless repetitions. They
fully realize that a piece is not assimilated nor learned until it is
memorized. When they have selected the composition they wish to learn,
they begin at once to memorize from the start. The student does not
always bring to his work this definiteness of aim; if he did, much
precious time would be saved. The ability to memorize ideas expressed in
notes grows with use, just as any other aptitude grows with continued
effort.
Instead, then, of playing _with_ a piece, why do you not at once begin
to make it your own? Look at the phrases so intently that they become as
it were, photographed on your mind. Ruskin said: "Get the habit of
looking intently at words." We might say the same of notes. Look at the
phrase with the conviction that it can be remembered after a glance or
two. It is only an indication of indolence and mental inertness to look
continually at the printed page or passage and keep on playing it over
and over, without trying to fix it indelibly in the mind.
In my work as teacher I constantly meet students, and teachers too, who
do little or no memorizing. Some do not even approve of it, though it
is difficult to conceive how any one in his right mind can disapprove
knowing a thing thoroughly. The only way to know it thoroughly is to
know it by heart.
CONSTANT REPAIRS NECESSARY
A repertoire once committed must be constantly kept in repair. The
public player, in his seasons of study, generally has a regular system
of repetition, so that all compositions can be gone over at least once a
week. One artist suggests that the week be started with the classics and
concluded with modern compositions and concerted numbers. Thus each day
will have its allotted task. The pieces are not merely to be played
over, but really overhauled, and all weak places treated to a dose of
slow, careful practise, using the printed pages. Artists on tour, where
consecutive practise is difficult or unattainable, always carry the
printed notes of their repertoire with them, and are ceaselessly
studying, repairing, polishing their phrases, thinking out their
effects.
To those who wish to become pianists, I would say: "Keep your memory
active through constant use. Be always learning by heart; do it
systematically, a little at a time. So it will be daily progress. So
your repertoire is built!"