February 1999: On Memorizing - Unit 2: Finding Patterns and Structures

Music is not a random set of notes that springs forth from a composer's mind. Rather most music contains:

• recognizable patterns
• definable sections
• a specific structure.

Let's take "Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star" as an example. The letters are note names, the dash stands for an extra beat.

The entire piece divides into patterns of 8 beats containing 3 pairs of notes followed by a single note and one extra beat.

On line 1 there are two different patterns. On line 2 they are the same.

Line 3 consists of the same two patterns as Line 1 so they both are called "section A" . Line 2 is called "section B" because it is a little different. Thus the structure of the piece may be described as A B A form.

The shape of patterns 2,3,4 and 6 form descending "scale lines".

That pretty much covers the patterns and structure. Now all that remains is to find what I like to call "Landmarks":

• On what note does the piece start?
• When it jumps how big are the intervals? (e.g. C-G is a 5th)
• What is the distance from the end of one pattern to the next (e.g. pattern 1 ends on G, pattern 2 starts on the next note down)?
• On what note does section B start?

By analyzing your music as we did above you provide for yourself recognizable, retrievable information which leads to dependable memorization. Try analyzing one of your own easy pieces and see if this does not help you feel more confident when playing by memory?

Remember always to keep listening in addition to your analysis. It is all too easy to "think" and not "hear". Good memory incorporates both faculties - and more to come next month.

See you next month.

Stephanie

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