Memorizing Music for performances

[athomeontheprairie]

Let me preface this by saying I know next to nothing about music.

 

My daughter performed for the first time last night (violin). There were 15 or so kids with various instruments: guitar, flute, sax, bass clarinet, several violins. Every child used sheet music, except one.

 

Should child be memorizing performance pieces? I really don't know. If you (or your children's teacher) requires your kids to do this, why? If not, why not?

 

I would love to hear the various views on this.

 

 

[bluemongoose]

My child's teacher does require them to memorize the piece. Some children play an additional piece as a duet, and they are not required to memorize the second piece. The reasoning behind memorizing the piece is that you have to know the piece forward and backward to be able to play it from memory. It is the next level of "knowing" a piece.

[Junie]

Two of my dds play in a concert band/orchestra.  There are at least a hundred children involved.  All of them (as far as I know) use music.  The chorus classes at the co-op usually memorize their music so that they can make eye contact with the director and audience.

[wintermom]

At our Suzuki school where my dc do violin and classical guitar, everyone memorizes their songs for performances. Two of my dc play violin in RCM (Royal Conservator of Music) and they are expected to memorize their recital songs. 

 

Three of my children (and myself, back in the day) did RCM piano and almost always used music for recitals.

 

For the violin there is a real advantage in memorizing music so that the student can focus their eyes on their bow to make sure it is parallel to the bridge, stays on the contact point, the correct part of the bow is in contact with the strings, bow division is being done correctly, etc. It's very hard for younger students to do this when they have to look at their music. Because of this, my dc's violin teacher encourages them memorizing their songs asap. Also, when the student knows the music really well, they can focus on proper dynamics and phrasing.

 

In my dc's violin ensembles and group classes, they are expected to memorize most songs so that they can be watching their section leaders to ensure they are playing together.

 

My guitar playing boys also have an advantage of looking at their hands to ensure proper technique when they've memorized their songs.

[basketcase]

Memorizing music is a learned skill. I require my students to start memorizing young, but only for recitals. (They're piano students, but the principle is the same.) It's a pain to have to start learning memorizing techniques when you're playing longer, more advanced pieces. That said, sight reading is also important, and something that can be lost when teachers expect early memorization of all pieces.

 

Professional classical violinists virtually always play solo pieces from memory (the only exception I can think of is a special request close to performance date.) It allows less barrier between performer and audience and better performance quality. They never play orchestral pieces from memory. Chamber music can go either way.

 

So most solo teachers ask for memorization at recital, in part just because it's preparation for later. Some teachers who don't require it are trying to lower the stress level of beginning performers. I'm definitely on the pro side.

[MrsWeasley]

I have one kid playing piano and one playing violin. Both kids memorize pieces for performances, though my piano player might bring her sheet music anyway. My violinist is only five and plays exclusively by ear. His teacher doesn't introduce note reading until a child is reading novels fluently. However, even kids who can read music are expected to memorize their pieces. According to my teacher, she dislikes children looking at music rather than their violins, especially when very young, because it encourages sloppy posture.

[Ethel Mertz]

When DS is singing - either in a chorus or as a soloist - he memorizes his pieces. He also memorizes his drum pieces. Memorizing comes remarkably easy to him and I imagine he would find it next to impossible NOT to memorize.

[athomeontheprairie]

Thanks everyone for your comments! We are with a teacher that is from here, but just recently moved back. She retired from the Austin Symphony. She required that the pieces be memorized, and I was a little surprised that she was the only one with this requirement. I know nothing about music, only that my daughter enjoys the teacher, the teacher charges a reasonable rate and can teach during "normal" school hours (which is a huge plus for us), and that she is doing really well by my (uneducated) standard.

 

For the violin there is a real advantage in memorizing music so that the student can focus their eyes on their bow to make sure it is parallel to the bridge, stays on the contact point, the correct part of the bow is in contact with the strings, bow division is being done correctly, etc. It's very hard for younger students to do this when they have to look at their music. Because of this, my dc's violin teacher encourages them memorizing their songs asap. Also, when the student knows the music really well, they can focus on proper dynamics and phrasing.

 

 

This is what I observed at the recital. Not knowing the first thing about music, thanks for articulating what I saw :thumbup1:

 

 

 

 

[Bluegoat]

With my kids, when they were quite small - say, 5 to 7 - they were not required to memorize, but it was encouraged.  I think a lot of the kids did have the songs memorized but they just felt more secure having the books there - some of them were still touch and go as to whether they would get up and perform at all.

 

But since then, they have always memorized and it is expected, though I have seen exceptions for particular circumstances.

[FO4UR]

There are some cases that allow for having sheet music.  An Oratorio, a symphony, a choir...

 

Generally speaking, for a children's recitcal, it's preferable to have the music memorized.  The violin example shows why.  Every instrument, including voice, is best played *with musicality* when played from memory.  Ex.  With voice, concentration should be on vocal placement, diction, expression, and a relationship with the accompaniment during a performance.  Memorizing the piece is the only way to achieve that.  The sheet music becomes a crutch and a distraction, if not a curtain to hide behind in a performance.  Just ditto that sentiment for each and every instrument.

 

 

 

[ScoutTN]

My kids are piano students and both memorize their recital pieces. The teacher does not require it, but encourages it. Both of my kids are good at playing by ear and do not find it difficult (yet?) to memorize their music. Especially recital pieces that they spend lots of time practicing.

[Tsuga]

Yes.

 

It is played much more musically that way.

 

My kids memorized their short pieces at four and five.

[Guest sabangzhi]

The reasoning behind memorizing the piece is that you have to know the piece forward and backward to be able to play it from memory.

[Donna]

My dd's teacher has all her students memorize their pieces for recital (actually all their pieces) from the youngest beginner through the teens headed off to college. There are a few times when using music is appropriate such as orchestra, when performing with an ensemble, or when playing a sonata with piano (for some reason when the pianist is using the music it was preferable for dd to have the music as well though it was for show since she had it memorized anyway). Generally, not always, recital pieces chosen in the studio are "old friends" to allow musicality to show. 

[vonfirmath]

Let me preface this by saying I know next to nothing about music.

 

My daughter performed for the first time last night (violin). There were 15 or so kids with various instruments: guitar, flute, sax, bass clarinet, several violins. Every child used sheet music, except one.

 

Should child be memorizing performance pieces? I really don't know. If you (or your children's teacher) requires your kids to do this, why? If not, why not?

 

I would love to hear the various views on this.

 

The only music we memorized in HS was marching band half time performances.  We did them over and over and by the official performance they wanted us to have the music memorized or to just hold the instrument correctly and NOT play (For kids who could not do both, mostly freshman, my director would preer they march precisely and not play than try to do both not well)

 

[Space station]

My kids memorize many things, but not all. They have to memorize their pieces for auditions and testing, but not usually for recitals, unless there happens to be overlap in the pieces they are playing. I do think some memorization should be required.

[rebcoola]

I don't know that its neccessary but the pieces I memorized were always the ones that got the best reviews.

[PeacefulChaos]

For a solo piece performed at that age, yes, they should be memorized.

 

If this was something done in a group, not a recital where they all played solos, then no, memorization isn't necessary.

 

 

 

 

 

I always had to memorize from 4-10 songs for my piano teacher each year until I moved.  One or two of those was for the recital - the rest were for something else where we were judged and given pins (we did scales and stuff, too).  After I moved, I just memorized a recital piece.

Starting in middle school, the songs were increasingly longer.  My senior year in high school, I played two recital pieces - one was 4 pages and the other was 23.  It's totally possible.

I also had to have the pieces memorized for our district and state school competitions, for piano.

 

For choir it was the same - all songs were memorized.  From 8th grade choir with 5-6 songs to my senior year with that many x4 different choirs, choral music was always memorized.  Again, these were always memorized for state competition - we performed for the judges the songs we had prepared, then went upstairs and did sight-reading.  Same thing with solos and ensembles for state.

 

For band, only marching band music was memorized.  Symphonic band music/solo/ensemble music were all done with the sheets in front of us.  Marching music was memorized for obvious reasons.  :P  But for all our symphonic band music, as well as the various ensembles and solos, we used music.

[Guest]

For DSs piano teacher, a song isn't completely learned until it's memorized, regardless whether it's for fun or recital or competition, 2 pages or 10.

 

I don't know about his violin teacher, but because he is so used to memorizing everything in piano, he is just automatically memorizing for violin too so I suspect that won't be a problem.