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Technique: Memory and mental practice from violinist William Herzog

2022-08-24T09:27:00

Herzog

Techniques to help you learn music off by heart and protect against memory slips. From December 2020

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Memorisation can be a bit like old Christmas lights on a series circuit: if one bulb goes, all the lights go out. When you always do memory work with the instrument in your hands, you train yourself to need very specific audio and sensory clues to get from phrase to phrase. This means that an unexpected note or distraction in phrase A can destroy a cue for phrase B, resulting in a memory slip. Using audiation and kinaesthetic representation to reproduce musical sounds and feelings in your mind, in different ways and in varied settings, will make your memory more secure, no matter what happens on stage…

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