September 1999: Reader Questions

Many of you have asked interesting questions via the "Ask Stephanie" function of the SCP website. So I thought it might be good to create some of the Lessons using those questions. Here is the first one.

Dear Stephanie,
I have a practice question. How does one maintain one's repertoire? It
seems that a piece I learned six months ago is like brand new music when I
try to play it again. (Granted, I've only been playing a year, but this is
frustrating!) Do you have some method of retaining (and keeping proficient)
that which you have worked on?

I can't tell you how many times my students ask this question. Everyone assumes that once learned the music will stay with them forever. Not true! I suppose that for those who perform the same music over and over, it does stay a great deal longer but on the average music fades as does most other material in our brains. The difference is that with a little practice, a good portion of it will return rather quickly, and second time around it will actually be better learned than it was originally.

I often use the analogy of older computers. Years ago we had to rebuild the hard drives and while doing it the computer displayed a box containing lines and lines of little black cubes randomly interspersed with spaces. As it rearranged itself, the spaces disappeared and the black cubes became ordered like little soldiers in uninterrupted lines. Our brains seem to function similarly. Information we have assimilated is all there but over time becomes mixed up with other stuff and needs to be sorted out.

Additionally, as we progress in music our ability to comprehend and retain forms, patterns, melodic lines, harmonic progressions and finger usages continues to develop. Thus materials tend to be more thoroughly learned and better retained.

So---- if you want to maintain a repertoire the best way is to practice a different piece each day at the end of your practice session. Let's say you have a group of 6 pieces. Do one a day during the week and all will be with you when you need them. The only problem is, that you will have to eliminate older pieces as you add new ones or your practice session will become an interminable event.

One piece of advice regarding relearning a forgotten piece - do not try to do it from memory! Go back to the music, read carefully and reconstruct with great concern for accuracy. Working from memory is nothing more than guessing and it will further deteriorate the product you are trying to recreate.

See you next month with some more of your questions.

Stephanie

Would you like to ask Stephanie a question? Look for the "Ask Stephanie" link below...

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