May 1999: On Memorizing - Unit 5: Fingering

Harpists have an added problem in memorization - fingering. We produce many of the subtleties of our music; lines, phrases, accents, muffles, etc., through our use of fingering, not to mention the fact that this is the vehicle that enables us to get from place to place efficiently.

Take, for example, the running lines in the right hand of the Pachelbel Canon with which most of us are familiar. Although there are a few choices of fingering that will enable smooth execution, most of the time an incorrect grouping (3 instead of 4 or vice versa) will prevent you from making the reversals and completing the section successfully. This is true of most running lines of music. The more complicated the line, the more essential the fingering.

In pieces such as those in Grandjany's Petite Suite or Le Bon Petit Roi-- so much of the character of the piece depends on the fingering - both that which is connected and especially that which is not! If one memorizes merely for notes and loses the "set up" of the hand, the music becomes less meaningful. But the fingering is complicated and not necessarily the easiest form of execution so it requires precise and disciplined learning which must carry over into the memorizing.

Good memory depends on consistency. If you learn a piece one way but, while in the process of memorizing, alter the finger usage, you have effectively destroyed your kinetic memory and significantly altered the visual . Fingering is probably the most frustrating element of memorizing on the harp because these type of errors are the most difficult to perceive. Changes do not occur consciously. They wriggle their way into the piece and suddenly you cannot play comfortably and have no idea why.

So what do you do about it? Well, like anything else of value, fingering requires constant vigilance and occasional checking back with your music to see if all the elements of what you are playing are holding. There is no magic bullet here except to say that we can never just play and assume that all will stay consistent. Errors sneak in, memory fades, renewal is always essential.

See you next month.

Stephanie

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