1. A well known piece of advice is to play your music immediately before going to sleep. This should be the absolute last activity you do for the night if possible. Brushing your teeth, reading a book, even counting sheep (ideally), should be done prior to your last several repetitions of your newly learned piano music. Your brain will retain the information with much greater ease and clarity when it is the last thing processed before powering down.
2. Not such common advice is to play your music immediately after waking up.
Refresh your conscious mind with the information that has been marinating on the back burner for the last several hours by doing a few repetitions of your music in the morning. This will dramatically ease all subsequent efforts of recollecting the notes later in the day.
3. Fast playing is done to improve technique. Slow playing is done to improve cognizance. When you are performing the new piece during your piano lessons, you are probably making the extra effort of playing faster than you are comfortable with for your teacher's sake. When you do so, you're making it more difficult for your mind to grasp the new material. It is recommended that your memorization practice is done extremely slowly, often to the tune of only one note per second, so as to address each note with intension and clarity and to give the brain sufficient time to place the information in its memory center.
4. Do not play the music you are memorizing without taking frequent rests. In establishing permanent memory, it is much more effective to memorize in repeated short sessions than to memorize in one continuous session. Play the music that you've just learned several times so that you've developed somewhat a comfortable memory of it. Then walk away from the piano and give your mind time to unwind from the exercise; this resting period should last 10 minutes or more. When you return to the piano and try to play the music again, you should feel more challenged than you did before taking the break. The mental effort you make in restoring the notes at this time will greatly reinforce your memory. Do this repeatedly during your practice sessions.
5. Memorize hands separately. It is considerably easier to memorize each hand alternatively than to memorize both hands together, even though the number of notes is the same. This is because the issue of two-hand coordination requires an additional mental thread, which you will eliminate thereby simplifying the activity. Putting the two hands back together will then need some additional effort. But after doing so, your grasp of each hand, alone, simpler, and clearer, will make the task of retaining the overall information less confusing.
6. If you have initially begun learning the music hands together, then it may be very difficult to play either hand by itself without rememorizing from scratch. A simple and effective way to separate your hands is to play the notes with one hand, while only performing the motions of the other hand without touching the piano keys with it. You may need the aid of an occasional key touch with the hand you are trying to eliminate; this is ok. Eventually, you will be able to remove the unwanted hand completely and play the desired hand with entire independence. Then do the inverse when practicing with the other hand. The entire process should not take more than an hour or so for a short segment.
7. When you forget a note, do not try to repeat the attempt at the same note immediately afterwards. Doing so will tend to cause a mental blank spot of the general area. Rather, play through the mistake and then replay the entire segment with moderate concentration, predominantly withdrawing to your muscle memory. Within several attempts, your finger should lead you to the correct note, and only when it does, use your full concentration to note the correction so that it doesn't happen again. Repeat the segment several times to be sure you've resolved the problematic area.
8. There are also things you can do to improve your memory in general. Regular exercise is the most effective way of keeping your memory shipshape. This will maximize oxygen flow to the brain and stimulate beneficial brain chemicals that aid in memory -- typically the most active people have the fastest thought processes. Mental relaxation also plays an important part in memorization so try to maintain as best a stress-free mind as possible. Happiness is beneficial to memory as well. This doesn't mean you have to be Robin Williams. Simply put yourself in a good mood with a little TV or some kind of a leisure activity prior to your piano lessons. Generally everything that promotes overall well-being will effect a better memory and mind. Music is indeed a good friend.
2. Not such common advice is to play your music immediately after waking up.
Refresh your conscious mind with the information that has been marinating on the back burner for the last several hours by doing a few repetitions of your music in the morning. This will dramatically ease all subsequent efforts of recollecting the notes later in the day.
3. Fast playing is done to improve technique. Slow playing is done to improve cognizance. When you are performing the new piece during your piano lessons, you are probably making the extra effort of playing faster than you are comfortable with for your teacher's sake. When you do so, you're making it more difficult for your mind to grasp the new material. It is recommended that your memorization practice is done extremely slowly, often to the tune of only one note per second, so as to address each note with intension and clarity and to give the brain sufficient time to place the information in its memory center.
4. Do not play the music you are memorizing without taking frequent rests. In establishing permanent memory, it is much more effective to memorize in repeated short sessions than to memorize in one continuous session. Play the music that you've just learned several times so that you've developed somewhat a comfortable memory of it. Then walk away from the piano and give your mind time to unwind from the exercise; this resting period should last 10 minutes or more. When you return to the piano and try to play the music again, you should feel more challenged than you did before taking the break. The mental effort you make in restoring the notes at this time will greatly reinforce your memory. Do this repeatedly during your practice sessions.
5. Memorize hands separately. It is considerably easier to memorize each hand alternatively than to memorize both hands together, even though the number of notes is the same. This is because the issue of two-hand coordination requires an additional mental thread, which you will eliminate thereby simplifying the activity. Putting the two hands back together will then need some additional effort. But after doing so, your grasp of each hand, alone, simpler, and clearer, will make the task of retaining the overall information less confusing.
6. If you have initially begun learning the music hands together, then it may be very difficult to play either hand by itself without rememorizing from scratch. A simple and effective way to separate your hands is to play the notes with one hand, while only performing the motions of the other hand without touching the piano keys with it. You may need the aid of an occasional key touch with the hand you are trying to eliminate; this is ok. Eventually, you will be able to remove the unwanted hand completely and play the desired hand with entire independence. Then do the inverse when practicing with the other hand. The entire process should not take more than an hour or so for a short segment.
7. When you forget a note, do not try to repeat the attempt at the same note immediately afterwards. Doing so will tend to cause a mental blank spot of the general area. Rather, play through the mistake and then replay the entire segment with moderate concentration, predominantly withdrawing to your muscle memory. Within several attempts, your finger should lead you to the correct note, and only when it does, use your full concentration to note the correction so that it doesn't happen again. Repeat the segment several times to be sure you've resolved the problematic area.
8. There are also things you can do to improve your memory in general. Regular exercise is the most effective way of keeping your memory shipshape. This will maximize oxygen flow to the brain and stimulate beneficial brain chemicals that aid in memory -- typically the most active people have the fastest thought processes. Mental relaxation also plays an important part in memorization so try to maintain as best a stress-free mind as possible. Happiness is beneficial to memory as well. This doesn't mean you have to be Robin Williams. Simply put yourself in a good mood with a little TV or some kind of a leisure activity prior to your piano lessons. Generally everything that promotes overall well-being will effect a better memory and mind. Music is indeed a good friend.
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