Memorization - how and how much?

[TimR]

I've been reading the thread on ensemble practice with great interest.

Several of you have mentioned memorization.

Is that common for ringers? For directors? (I attended a festival
where the clinician had memorized the scores and directed without them
- I always wondered how he did it.)

And how do you approach it?

[Nancy Tipton]

I personally think that medium and advanced solo and ensemble music should be performed from memory. Until it's memorized, you don't really "own" it. 

I also enjoy seeing a full handbell choir playing from memory, although this is a lot harder to achieve. I've had situations where the entire handbell choir except one or two ringers had memorized the piece, but it would look really strange for just one or two ringers to have their music, so we're stuck with using music. On occasion I have had my high school group play a couple pieces out of an hour long concert from memory, and those are always the best pieces on the concert. I would love to do an entire concert from memory, and I'll keep striving towards that goal, but I don't think it's going to happen. The teen group Ring of Fire, out of Oregon (I believe), used to do their entire concert from memory, and watching them do that was sheer pleasure for me. However, I think they "recycled" a few pieces from year to year, so that was a little easier to do--but still a monumental feat! I normally choose entirely new repertoire every semester, so I've had to temper my memorization goals to having just one or two pieces memorized. We definitely memorize the music before and after nearly every page turn, and we always memorize the first line and the ending of a piece--often the entire last page.

When I ring with a community group, I normally memorize my part, just so I can enjoy performing more. As a conductor, I always have my music memorized--it would make me nervous to need my music on a concert. 

Regarding HOW to memorize, that's a little more complicated. I personally look for patterns in the music, and I use my ear a lot. I think that some of what I think I have memorized, I'm actually playing by ear? Not sure . . . And kinesthetic memory is important for me--I think I'm memorizing how it feels to play as much as I'm mentally memorizing notes. 

At Pinnacle in 2010, I took Jason Wells' track, and we polished and performed two pieces from memory in a very short amount of time. (He's the former director of Ring of Fire.) I specifically took his track, because I wanted to see how he taught memorization. Basically, I think I came away with three ideas: 1) the conductor has to insist on it--Jason was passionate about this; 2) the ringers have to want to do it--if they're resistant, it will never happen; and 3) rehearse by phrases and sections--memorize a 4-measure phrase, then the next 4-measure phrase, then go back and play all 8 measures from memory, etc.

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[Nancy Kirkner]

Hi, Tim, I wrote an article on solobells.com about memorization
techniques you may find helpful. There are other techniques, I'm
sure, but I wrote about the ones that help me as a soloist, many of
which I learned from others. I don't ring in choirs any more, but I
believe it's much harder to memorize a choir part when an individual
ringer doesn't have a musical line like a soloist has. Being able to
sing my part (aloud while learning and in my head while performing) is
a big part of the method I use.

I would imagine a conductor could use many of the same techniques a
pianist uses to memorize a whole score. We talked about this last
week in a piano group I attend, and it was interesting to hear the
various viewpoints. (Someone played a modern piece that seemed like
it would be impossible to memorize, so I ask her how she did it.)
Some of the pianists talked about memorizing around tonal centers,
some by harmonic progressions, some by working on very small sections
multiple times each day.

Will be interested in hearing the perspective of those with more
conducting experience (or piano, for that matter).

Best -

Nancy Kirkner
Seattle
www.solobells.com

[Leila Norris]

I am thrilled if ringers memorize measures/groups as needed to facilitate page turns, execute more challenging passages, watch the director closely for critical passages, etc.

For many ringers who were not 'musicians' before bells, and did not learn to memorize earlier in their lives, it can add a major stress level. I personally know of people in massed ringing who simply did not play on pieces which were required to be memorized out of fear of erring.

The last few rehearsals before concert time, I see most looking up throughout the pieces - referencing their scores as opposed to being married to them. Kudos to all who work hard to really learn their parts.

While memorization certainly is a wonderful goal and generally does make for an excellent performance, it is not necessary if all really know their music well. What seems important is that the music is internalized so the score is a tool not the focus.
Leila Norris

Sent from my Verizon Wireless 4G LTE DROID

Nancy Tipton <bellst...@gmail.com> wrote:

I personally think that medium and advanced solo and ensemble music should be performed from memory. Until it's memorized, you don't really "own" it. 

I also enjoy seeing a full handbell choir playing from memory, although this is a lot harder to achieve. I've had situations where the entire handbell choir except one or two ringers had memorized the piece, but it would look really strange for just one or two ringers to have their music, so we're stuck with using music. On occasion I have had my high school group play a couple pieces out of an hour long concert from memory, and those are always the best pieces on the concert. I would love to do an entire concert from memory, and I'll keep striving towards that goal, but I don't think it's going to happen. The teen group Ring of Fire, out of Oregon (I believe), used to do their entire concert from memory, and watching them do that was sheer pleasure for me. However, I think they "recycled" a few pieces from year to year, so that was a little easier to do--but still a monumental feat! I normally choose entirely new repertoire every semester, so I've had to temper my memorization goals to having just one or two pieces memorized. We definitely memorize the music before and after nearly every page turn, and we always memorize the first line and the ending of a piece--often the entire last page.

When I ring with a community group, I normally memorize my part, just so I can enjoy performing more. As a conductor, I always have my music memorized--it would make me nervous to need my music on a concert. 

Regarding HOW to memorize, that's a little more complicated. I personally look for patterns in the music, and I use my ear a lot. I think that some of what I think I have memorized, I'm actually playing by ear? Not sure . . . And kinesthetic memory is important for me--I think I'm memorizing how it feels to play as much as I'm mentally memorizing notes. 

At Pinnacle in 2010, I took Jason Wells' track, and we polished and performed two pieces from memory in a very short amount of time. (He's the former director of Ring of Fire.) I specifically took his track, because I wanted to see how he taught memorization. Basically, I think I came away with three ideas: 1) the conductor has to insist on it--Jason was passionate about this; 2) the ringers have to want to do it--if they're resistant, it will never happen; and 3) rehearse by phrases and sections--memorize a 4-measure phrase, then the next 4-measure phrase, then go back and play all 8 measures from memory, etc.

On Wed, May 23, 2012 at 8:51 AM, TimR <timot...@aol.com> wrote:

I've been reading the thread on ensemble practice with great interest.

Several of you have mentioned memorization.

Is that common for ringers?  For directors?  (I attended a festival
where the clinician had memorized the scores and directed without them
- I always wondered how he did it.)

And how do you approach it?

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[Rima Greer]

I couldn't agree more!  Memorization is the key to great performance.

OTOH, there are many groups for whom this simply isn't practical, which makes me sad.   If you rehearse a piece for 3 hours before you perform it once, memorization just isn't gonna happen.  ;-((((

All the stress of performing goes away when you KNOW your stuff, deep in your muscle memory.   Yes, EVERYONE who is performing (other than forced rehearsed sight readings) should not just memorize, but KNOW their music.  It's more for for the audience, and WAY more fun for the musician.

There are tons of ways to accomplish this.  But I would submit that most of you have done it to some extent already.   Just try playing your fave piece (the one your group loves to play, and trots out whenever possible) three times in a row, and then shut your books.  You already KNOW 80% of it...

I've done this exercise with tons of groups, and they always surprise themselves.  They have the A section nailed.   They fall apart going into the B section, but if they can hold it together through the transition back to A, they can make it all the way home! ;-D

Rima

[TimR]

On May 23, 11:47 am, Nancy Kirkner <bell.cl...@gmail.com> wrote:
> Hi, Tim, I wrote an article on solobells.com about memorization
> techniques you may find helpful.

I hadn't seen that before. That was very helpful, thanks.