Comments on: Monday Mailbag – Memorizing Incentive

By: Laura

Laura — Tue, 02 Mar 2010 11:27:43 +0000

These are great ideas! Interestingly enough, I have the opposite problem as the poster of the original question. I do offer my students extra “music bucks” if they memorize a piece, but in one case, this created a monster! One of my young students now memorizes every single piece he plays, and comes back with the notes memorized before he has mastered the dynamics, articulation, phrasing, etc. so that he can get the extra bucks! He’s very proud to show off that he can play it without the book, but he’s not playing it well! I’ve had to require him to learn a piece to excellence before I’ll consider awarding anything for memory. I should have set up my incentive that way from the start!

By: Mikaela

Mikaela — Tue, 02 Mar 2010 06:45:17 +0000

Wow! Great ideas! I especially love the ‘traveling music’ game–that’s brilliant, Anya!
The only thing I have to contribute, is that I try to emphasize purposeful memorization rather than accidental memorization or memorization based purely on feel. Purposeful memory (knowing exactly what notes you’re playing at what time) tends to be much more successful when you’re flush with nervousness and second-guessing yourself.

By: Anya

Anya — Mon, 01 Mar 2010 16:02:49 +0000

I have my students play a fun memorization game called “Traveling Music”. In this game you are allowed to look at your music as much as you’d like — the deal is that the book moves to a different location every practice session! For example:
day 1: music is on top of the piano
day 2: music is under the piano bench
day 3: music is in the kitchen
day 4: etc.
If the student forgets a note, they are more than welcome to study the music (wherever it is in the house that day), but they may not bring the music back to the piano.

Granted, the student must know the music well before beginning this game… I usually use it to help get reluctant students ‘off the page’. The kids love it, though, which makes them want to practice/memorize.

By: Heidi N

Heidi N — Mon, 01 Mar 2010 15:32:25 +0000

I like to have my students find repeating melodic or rhythmic sections in their music beginning in the primer level and label them with colored pencils. For example, in the song Hot Cross Buns I would draw the following colored lines above each phrase:
Hot Cross Buns (Yellow-A)
Hot Cross Buns (Yellow-A)
One a Penny Two a Penny (Red-B)
Hot Cross Buns (Yellow-A)
After I’ve demonstrated with a couple of songs, I turn the pencils over to them.
This not only helps them learn the music more quickly, it also helps them “chunk” their songs for easier memorization.
Usually the colors we pick are random, but if a song has a “minor” section or an “exciting” section I have the student choose a color that they think reflects the mood of that part of the song.
For pieces with repeating themes with variations they label each section A, A1, A2, etc. and “squiggle” the colored lines at the point where the music starts to vary from the first theme presented.
Often if the song doesn’t have a repeating melody, there are repeating rhythmic motifs that I have them find and color in a similar way.
Another strategy is to have the student make a “memory map.” On a blank piece of paper using their music as a guide have them “draw out” their music in a simplified form using colored lines to represent the basic melodic contour of each phrase, rectangles for chords, dots for staccato notes, simple pictures of what a certain part of the song makes them think of, etc. This is especially helpful for visual learners.