Internalize, Don’t Memorize
If you’ve ever struggled to memorize fiddle tunes, this shift in mindset might help. Recently I was scrolling through Instagram, and I came across a video that expressed something that I’ve been trying to say to my students for years. It was about the idea of internalizing a speech instead of memorizing it word for word.
Learn in phrases, not notes
When you are memorizing a piece, I always recommend learning full phrases of music instead of focusing on individual notes. When you learn a whole phrase at a time, it gives you more of a feel for the full structure of the tune. Also, if a whole phrase is repeated later on, you can just plug it in, instead of having to learn all of the notes again.
Listen as part of practice
I also highly recommend listening to music that you are trying to memorize. When I’m learning music for Symphony NB, I always spend at least one of my practice sessions listening to a recording with my sheet music in hand. This gives me the bigger picture of how my part fits into the entire structure.
When you’re trying to memorize fiddle tunesWith fiddle tunes, my recommendation is to always listen to the tune, and play the tune, until you can actually hum it. If the tune doesn’t exist in your head and in your ear separate from you playing it, being able to play it from memory is really hard.
The music starts in your head
We often think of music as coming from our fingers and bows, but really the music needs to come from our head and ears first, and then be transferred to our body. We need to be able to hear it first, and then play it.
Like in the speech example, the idea of internalizing means that if you forget a note, or maybe get a bowing wrong, you know the idea of the tune, and can get back on track. If you are just going from note to note, if one note fails, then you are stuck!
Why I prefer ‘internalize’ to ‘memorize’
For me the other thing about this idea of internalizing is that somehow that feels less stressful than the idea of memorizing. Somehow memorizing makes it sound like a task. There is something beautiful and reassuring about the idea of internalizing.
Where to start when you want to memorize fiddle tunes
1. Listen to a lot of music, specifically what you are trying to learn. Listening counts as practice!
2. Hum the music. If you can carry a tune or not, you need to have the music in your head!
3. Try to start from the B part of the tune. Don’t always start from the beginning. Try to play individual phrases. The more you know the tune and can start in various places, the better off you will be if something does go wrong.
So, I hope you find this concept as reassuring as I do! Get out there and start internalizing your music!
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