Here you will learn How to develop, train and use your memory
Page 17 of
22.
CHAPTER XV.
HOW TO REMEMBER MUSIC.
Like all of the other faculties of the mind, that of music or tune is manifested
in varying degrees by different individuals. To some music seems to be almost
instinctively grasped, while to others it is acquired only by great effort and
much labor. To some harmony is natural, and in harmony a matter of repulsion,
while others fail to recognize the difference between the two except in extreme
cases. Some seem to be the very soul of music, while others have no conception
of what the soul of music may be. Then there is manifested the different phases
of the knowledge of music. Some play correctly by ear, but are clumsy and
inefficient when it comes to playing by note. Others play very correctly in a
mechanical manner, but fail to retain the memory of music which they have heard.
It is indeed a good musician who combines within himself, or herself, both of
the two last mentioned facultiesthe ear perception of music and the ability to
execute correctly from notes.
There are many cases of record in which extraordinary powers of memory of music
have been manifested. Fuller relates the following instances of this particular
phase of memory: Carolan, the greatest of Irish bards, once met a noted musician
and challenged him to a test of their respective musical abilities. The defi
was accepted and Carolan's rival played on his violin one of Vivaldi's most
difficult concertos. On the conclusion of the performance, Carolan, who had
never heard the piece before, took his harp and played the concerto through from
beginning to end without making a single error. His rival thereupon yielded the
palm, thoroughly satisfied of Carolan's superiority, as well he might be.
Beethoven could retain in his memory any musical composition, however complex,
that he had listened to, and could reproduce most of it. He could play from
memory every one of the compositions in Bach's 'Well Tempered Clavichord,' there
being forty-eight preludes and the same number of fugues which in intricacy of
movement and difficulty of execution are almost unexampled, as each of these
compositions is written in the most abstruse style of counterpoint.
"Mozart, at four years of age, could remember note for note, elaborate solos in
concertos which he had heard; he could learn a minuet in half an hour, and even
composed short pieces at that early age. At six he was able to compose without
the aid of an instrument, and continued to advance rapidly in musical memory and
knowledge. When fourteen years old he went to Rome in Holy Week. At the Sistine
Chapel was performed each day, Allegri's 'Miserere,' the score of which Mozart
wished to obtain, but he learned that no copies were allowed to be made. He
listened attentively to the performance, at the conclusion of which he wrote the
whole score from memory without an error. Another time, Mozart was engaged to
contribute an original composition to be performed by a noted violinist and
himself at Vienna before the Emperor Joseph. On arriving at) the appointed place
Mozart discovered that he had forgotten to bring his part. Nothing dismayed,
he placed a blank sheet of paper before him, and played his part through from
memory without a mistake. When the opera of 'Don Giovanni' was first performed
there was no time to copy the score for the harpsichord, but Mozart was equal to
the occasion; he conducted the entire opera and played the harpsichord
accompaniment to the songs and choruses without a note before him. There are
many well-attested instances of Mendelssohn's remarkable musical memory. He once
gave a grand concert in London, at which his Overture to 'Midsummer Night's
Dream' was produced. There was only one copy of the full score, which was taken
charge of by the organist of St. Paul's Cathedral, who unfortunately left it in
a hackney coachwhereupon Mendelssohn wrote out another score from memory,
without an error. At another time, when about to direct a public performance of
Bach's 'Passion Music,' he found on mounting the conductor's platform that
instead of the score of the work to be performed, that of another composition
had been brought by mistake. Without hesitation Mendelssohn successfully
conducted this complicated work from memory, automatically turning over leaf
after leaf of the score before him as the performance progressed, so that no
feeling of uneasiness might enter the minds of the orchestra and singers.
Gotts-chalk, it is said, could play from memory several thousand compositions,
including many of the works of Bach. The noted conductor, Vianesi, rarely has
the score before him in conducting an opera, knowing every note of many operas
from memory."
It will be seen that two phases of memory must enter into the "memory of music"
the memory of tune and the memory of the notes. The memory of tune of course
falls into the class of ear-impressions, and what has been said regarding them
is also applicable to this case. The memory of notes falls into the
classification of eye-impressions, and the rules of this class of memory applies
in this case. As to the cultivation of the memory of tune, the principle advice
to be given is that the student takes an active interest in all that pertains
to the sound of music, and also takes every opportunity for listening to good
music, and endeavoring to reproduce it in the imagination or memory. Endeavor to
enter into the spirit of the music until it becomes a part of yourself. Rest
not content with merely hearing it, but lend yourself to a feeling of its
meaning. The more the music "means to you," the more easily will you remember
it. The plan followed by many students, particularly those of vocal music, is to
have a few bars of a piece played over to them several times, until they are
able to hum it correctly; then a few more are added; and then a few more and so
on. Each addition must be reviewed in connection with that which was learned
before, so that the chain of association may be kept unbroken. The principle is
the same as the child learning his A-B-Che remembers "B" because it follows "A."
By this constant addition of "just a little bit more," accompanied by frequent
reviews, long and difficult pieces may be memorized.
The memory of notes may be developed by the method above namedthe method of
learning a few bars well, and then adding a few more, and frequently reviewing
as far as you have learned, forging the links of association as you go along, by
frequent practice. The method being entirely that of eye-impression and subject
to its rules, you must observe the idea of visualizationthat is learning each
bar until you can see it "in your mind's eye" as you proceed. But in this, as in
many other eye-impressions, you will find that you will be greatly aided by
your memory of the sound of the notes, in addition to their appearance. Try to
associate the two as much as possible, so that when you see a note, you will
hear the sound of it, and when you hear a note sounded, you will see it as it
appears on the score. This combining of the impressions of both sight and sound
will give you the benefit of the double sense impression, which results in
doubling your memory efficiency. In addition to visualizing the notes
themselves, the student should add the appearance of the various symbols
denoting the key, the time, the movement, expression, etc., so that he may hum
the air from the visualized notes, with expression and with correct
interpretation. Changes of key, time or movement should be carefully noted in
the memorization of the notes. And above everything else, memorize the feeling
of that particular portion of the score, that you may not only see and hear,
but also feel that which you are recalling.
We would advise the student to practice memorizing simple songs at first, for
various reasons. One of these reasons is that these songs lend themselves
readily to memorizing, and the chain of easy association is usually maintained
throughout.
In this phase of memory, as in all others, we add the advice to: Take interest;
bestow Attention; and Practice and Exercise as often as possible. You may have
tired of these wordsbut they constitute the main principles of the development
of a retentive memory. Things must be impressed upon the memory, before they may
be recalled. This should be remembered in every consideration of the subject.
Our
featured links related to How to develop, train and use your memory
