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This article is from the Piano Playing from Memory FAQ, by Isako Hoshino rmmpfaq@yahoo.com with numerous contributions by others.

2.2) Benefits (Piano Playing from Memory)

There are a number of benefits to playing from memory:

* Many pianists, amateurs as well as professionals, can give
their best attention to making music only after memorizing
what they play.

* You can play anywhere there is a piano without having to
bring printed music along.

* You do not have to worry about turning pages.

* You can spend more time looking at where your fingers are
on the keyboard, if you need to, and thereby be better
able to land on the right note(s) while executing a leap.

* You can better work on other aspects of playing which may
need visual monitoring or other attention, such as
maintaining proper posture or hand positions.

* You can play with your eyes closed, or even in the dark.

* Since memorizing is often a difficult task, you will
receive a sense of accomplishment from being able to play
from memory.

Memorization may provide the only means by which certain passages
can be played. Passages of very rapid notes, because of their
speed, can only be performed automatically, that is, from memory.
This is because the feedback mechanisms of the brain do not work
fast enough to provide control at a detail level over movements of
great speed. The details of executing very rapid passages must be
worked out in advance, after which, through practice, they must
become "pre-programmed". Playing such rapid passages does not
require memorizing an entire piece, or even memorizing when or on
what notes these passages begin. However, once begun, these
passages are completed from memory. If an entire piece consists
mostly of rapid passages, not memorizing the whole piece may turn
out to be a hinderance.

 

Continue to:

• prev: 2.1) Tradition and today (Piano Playing from Memory)
• Index
• next: 2.3) Drawbacks (Piano Playing from Memory)

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