By Enrico Elisi
Effective Memorization Strategies for Pianists — Mental Practice Workshop
This workshop delves into techniques for mental practice to enhance performance. Effective memorization strategies based on mental practice illustrate techniques by which someone intending to practice creates a mental representation of a preconceived idea or action to improve performance. Through increased focus and concentration, pianists will learn how to study portions of a score in their minds without spending considerable time at the piano.
Among the techniques illustrated in this workshop are:
Motor imagery (visualizing the feeling of moving the fingers).
Organizing groupings found in the text (also through formal, melodic, and rhythmic analysis).
Singing and feeling intervallic relationships.
Scene memory (rapid eye movements to identify the next position on the key).
Switches (slight changes of patterns often resulting in memory slips).
These tools are helpful, and while they cannot replace the actual practicing at the keyboard, they are invaluable mental rehearsal devices.
The two-part workshop provides students with handouts offering practical guidance for ongoing experimentation and pointers (glossary) for further study. It features a lecture with a PowerPoint presentation and several examples at the piano. In these interactive sessions, students engage in short, on-the-spot memorization exercises. It includes additional homework assignments for students (several have experimented with this successfully in various schools) who wish to try more extended practice with selected unknown repertoire..
