Memory Fading?

A couple of comments about memory fading, so that you have some peace of mind…

Firstly: you are still at least 20-25 years away from having any form of memory loss, and the majority of studies show that habitual memory training (such as music memorization) helps in delaying the onset of memory loss of that particular type of memory…

Secondly: Memory loss is usually event arbitrary and category stable, ie, you tend to forget the same kind of things (either names, or familiar objects, unfamiliar objects, locations, musical memories vs word memories…), but within a particular category the forgotten items are random. You say that you have consistent problems with one particular portion of one particular piece. That is a sign of poor memory formation not memory loss.

Third: forgot the third… I am over fifty after all…

Bottomline: relax because the problem lies in the piece not in you.

There is only one proven solution: sleep. And then sleep some more. If it does not cause you excessive stress, you may want to briefly practice that section just before going to bed.

Finally, you may want to set a deadline for commiting to that piece. By that deadline you either decide that it is a go because you are confortable, or scrap it because you are afraid of having a blank during the recital. There is too much at stake on this recital, as you acknowledge, and you may want to play it safe (no pun intended).

There is little I can add here that had not been said already, and I particularly agree with comments from David Bello, HZPiano and Vagfilm. I've experienced all of those things myself, either directly or with friends.

It has been already said, but I will stress it: the typical "memory loss" happens for memories which are well formed (say, you forget the name of your friends or of everyday's objects), whereas you are struggling with memory (trans)formation transforming a temporary memory which you remember "now, for few minutes" into the "permanent" status. This happens during sleep. If you are sleeping less than 7 hours a day, you are hurting yourself. If you are sleeping less than 6 hours a day, you are severely hurting yourself. If you are learning many things you need to sleep at the very least 8 hours per day and probably longer. Two anecdotes:

• I have a younger friend, professor at famous university. Earlier in his life (probably he was in his 30s) he "decided" that he had no time to do all his grants, research and other professory things, so I decided to sleep at most 6 hours a day. He acted, believed and claimed to be "just fine" but he could not remember anything new. I told him the very same things over and over, in person, every day (we were in the same town at the time) and he will always forget it as it never happened. On one hand it was funny, like Groundhog's Day movie if you know that. On the other it was very scary. He did not have any clue this was happening to him, and the problem totally disappeared when he went on regular sleeping schedule
• My doctor told me to set an alarm at night, when I am supposed to go to bed, and follow it strictly, rather than putting it in the morning when I need to wake up. If I need to wake up earlier, just set the night alarm earlier (since I have troubles getting asleep, I need to do that several days in advance, otherwise it's a moot point). I found that I memorize and remember things much easier that way, and that if I study a new thing (either for fun or for work), I automatically sleep more in the morning, compared to days when I just "perform tasks" instead. To avoid this automatic change to disrupt my daily life (e.g. time I need to be at work), I set up my schedule such as that if I wake up an hour or two later, I still am just fine (like it happened today, I woke up an hour "late"…. i.e. it's 7am here now, and if it were business days I was ready to go to work)

The "tricks" of knowing what you are doing of course can also help, for example knowing the structure of the piece, the "big picture" of the directions of the repeats, the harmonic progressions etc. And also, for this particular piece you are talking about, do you need a perfect note-for-note accuracy? If not (and perhaps even if so, depending on how you study) you can start with a "sloppy" version in which you just do arpeggios with the appropriate pattern/rhythm on the main harmonies for the offending part, and add a sketch of a melody later, and auxiliary notes at the end. Sort of like if you were memorizing a speech…. not sure if you have ever done that, but you never memorize it word-for-word upfront, you just make a plan for the main points you want to make and how they related to each other, and how you transition from one to another and so on…. (well unless you are one of those politicians who just babble randomly like if they were having a bad dream, but I digress 🤣 )

Hope this helps!

HZPiano Thanks, HZ Piano! Exactly what I've been thinking over the past few hours as I, well, slept. You know, the easy way out is to select a piece well within my repertoire (about half an hour long) and do a lecture recital from there, which I might take and play it safe because of time. But I want to probably talk with my professor about this before carrying out this option. Meanwhile there's a concerto competition I'm playing next month, gotta practice for that.

My dad, especially, wants me to have a plan for my future, what I'm going to do in the next few years. That's not how I like doing things, because thinking of what's to come would make me more anxious. I prefer to take things one at a time and focuse on the issue at hand.

HZPiano PPS I applaud you for starting this thread, which I presume took some courage in itself?

In a way, yes. But I like talking things out in one way or another. I like this forum, and the people on it. You've also heard me play, both acoustic and acoustic simulators, so you know my playing, so it feels comfortable to share with you.

QuasiUnaFantasia I find that when I "know" a piece of music, I couldn't possibly get lost in it, because the whole work exists as a perfectly simple structure in some abstract part of my mind. But until a piece of music does exist there, I will easily get lost.

That's exactly me right now!!! I'm glad I'm not having a fading memory yet, what a comfort.

vagfilm Finally, you may want to set a deadline for commiting to that piece. By that deadline you either decide that it is a go because you are confortable, or scrap it because you are afraid of having a blank during the recital. There is too much at stake on this recital, as you acknowledge, and you may want to play it safe (no pun intended).

Thanks for your reply. Yeah, I think it's just stress caused mostly by my parents, and the effect their words have on me. I also find that a brand new piece of German / Austrian music speaks to me more than other genres / national characteristics of music (think Schumann, Brahms, Bach, ETC), but I guess it's a me thing. I need to break that.

RIP Thanks for your 2 anecdotes, very useful and interesting. Maybe I should start doing this, too. I always set an alarm in the morning, and end up waking up feeling, well, not wanting to get up sometimes, LOL.

But I always try to sleep at least 8 hours a day, and not napping during the middle of the day, unlike most Chinese I know, who do.

Hi, David,
You might find it interesting to read some sections of Molly Gebrian's book "Learn Faster, Perform Better: A Musician's Guide to the Neuroscience of Practicing" https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0D8JLD27J

The research on the effect of sleep seems quite interesting, as is the stuff about "interference" between passages that are slightly different from one another. And I've been experimenting with a few of the practice strategies she describes.
But then, I'm 77 and need all the help I can get 😕

Jane Thanks for the book recommendation, Jane! It may be just what I'm looking for. I'll try searching it in the library for a digital copy.

David Lai

Hi David.

First, what a fortune to be able to work on "Pictures at an exhibition", It's such a masterpiece. I was lucky enough to see it live last autumn with the Ukrainian pianist Anna Fedorova, it was a marvelous experience.

I don't know if I can contribute with anything meaningful here but as others have mentioned, the difficulties to memorize this music has most certainly to do with the music itself. There is these repeated themes, specifically the "promenade" theme that repeats itself constantly in new shape and forms which is seemingly very easy to get mixed up. And the structure of the music is also quite "loose" as program music like this often is which, at least for me, makes it harder to remember. When I'm working with a memorization process I find it helpful to work with the music in multiple ways. In this case I think it would be helpful for me to make a structural and harmonic analysis of the music both at, but also without the piano in writing. Maybe in this case I also would find it useful to listen to Ravels orchestra version, perhaps the different instrument colors could benefit the memorization process and be something to refer to. I hope you don't mind me asking but why do you think your professor wouldn't understand? To me this is one of the most normal challenges that are presented to a music student. Anyway this is only my two cents and I'm pretty sure you will sort it out.

johanibraaten I hope you don't mind me asking but why do you think your professor wouldn't understand? To me this is one of the most normal challenges that are presented to a music student.

I've shared with him things that have been going on in my life before that I consider challenging, and he always brushes them off with some kind of compliment or positive encouragement, and I don't need to hear that. For example, when I shared with him regarding my concerns I might not be able to figure out a doctoral project using my own musical experiences, he would say "but you've overcome so much in your life, I think your experiences will be a great resource, especially for us."

Anyway, hope this illustrates some things here. 🙂

Thanks for sharing your thoughts on Pictures. I'll take that into consideration. It's not the various promenades that's tripping me, but I feel it's the internal repetitions within the other movements that can stop me.

Jane Hi Jane!

Your suggestion was a god-send for me!!! I just started my journey through the book, and it's exactly the kind of thing I'm looking for -- how to improve practice habits and memorization so they stick. It also shows me how far it is between a true academic and a student (in other words, I guess I'm still far away from actual research)… 🙂

Anyway, thank you very much for this. I'll keep discovering as I read.