HOMEMemorization of a Musical Piece

Memorization of a Musical Piece

By: Tanya Swartzman

Memorizing a musical piece is another challenge that all musicians face. But for children, sometimes it seems that they can never remember it no matter how many times they practice. They don't see that they are making any progress. A good encouragement to a student in support of its effort is to explain how human memory works. One of the stories I use goes like this: Let's imagine that you are filling an hourglass that is opened from the top. You pour some sand in it, and sand drains down to the bottom part, where it is hard to reach. If you keep filling the hourglass with sand, then at some point, the bottom part will be full, and the sand will stay at the upper part where you can easily reach it. Human memory is like this hourglass - when you practice, you gradually fill up long-term memory - the bottom part of an hourglass. And when it is filled, you can easily recall the information you want. So, when at home after a lesson, it looks like you have forgotten everything; remember - you've already put some sand in the bottom part, so keep pouring sand - keep practicing, and every practice brings you closer to memorization of this beautiful piece and ovation at the recital.

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