Learn Music 4 Times Faster Using Four Memory Types

[@ZannMusicCom]

This is what i teach my pupils. But nobody learns it. In Germany learning music has to be fun, they all want to play good but don´t want to learn this stuff. When they will realize how stupid that was it will be too late. Thank you Denis for your clear words in this video.

[@mitchnew3037]

Ohh my goodness!! Another superb video 🎉

[@johanvanhuyssteen9217]

Probably the best piano tutorial I've ever heard. Thank you.

[@rachm06]

I started to play piano really late (16 y old), and since I was so bad in reading music, I had to use extensively all these types of memory. I remember when I was bored at school, I used to write the score I was studying on the desk by heart. Now after 20 years, I improved a lot in reading (and sight-reading) but all the other memory types declined totally. Unfortunately now I'm completely unable to memorize simple pieces, but only difficult sections...and this sucks.

[@DenZhdanovPianist]

According to modern science, brain plasticity is available in every age, so you can do it! Just make a habit of memorizing at least 8-16 bars of any new music daily, and repeat what you have learned 2-3 days in a row for training your long-term memory as well!🤞

[@djhetc]

I love all your stuff - both tutorials and solos. I see you talk about some ways to strike the keys in some of your videos. I would love to see a video with all the different ways to strike or touch the keys for different effects and sounds. Keep up the good work!

[@DenZhdanovPianist]

Do you mean smth like this? kzbin.info/www/bejne/eZfWqnmBfL14gtk

[@florisende8015]

that intro was hilarious, so relatable

[@maddalenasodo9566]

What a beautiful and interesting channel! Thanks

[@KC-di1np]

I am so happy I ‘ve found this channel! you are amazing! very useful tips!

[@DenZhdanovPianist]

So glad! Thank you and welcome aboard!

[@subjectline]

As an adult beginner: theory is not only really interesting, but also much easier and faster to learn than the physical skills of playing. And it makes everything else dramatically easier. So why would you not! Funnily enough I have also noticed that extraneous noise sometimes helps things click. I made surprising improvements at a waltz that was confusing me, by practising while mute-camera-off in some extremely tedious meetings that I had to listen to with half an ear in case they needed my intervention.

[@DenZhdanovPianist]

Actually thinking about what you wrote, I may track a certain tendency: most of my children students have learnt through motor memory first of all, but have proven to be quite resistant to the rapid progress in theory, while with adults is often the opposite. I guess it depends on the type of personality though: what's so difficult about playing is that it requires a harmonic development and coordination of many neurological centers that barely never happens to humans😢 we can just try to push our weakest sides to the appropriate lvl while trying to reach an excellence in our strongest ones. Thanks for other observations, quite interesting; and you may now tell people that you have much in common with Glenn Gould lol💪🏻🙏😉

[@subjectline]

@@DenZhdanovPianist It certainly does depend on the personality. But I think theory is harder for children to learn. To understand what's going on, you have to integrate a lot of information that's connected in non-obvious ways, with very confusing terminology - a big jigsaw puzzle with no obvious starting point. As a middle aged professional I have a lot of experience doing this and a lot of confidence in my ability to do it, and more background context, so I don't give up when something doesn't make sense at first. Scales only make sense in terms of harmony, harmony only makes sense in terms of physics, the physics says everything is a compromise, the note names only make sense in terms of history, and even the way we *count*, in music, has no concept of zero, so the way everything works is off-by-one. Very confusing for a clever child also studying basic maths! For children time passes more slowly, so they get lost and anxious, and for the teacher the problem is what to explain first and in what order to proceed.

[@DenZhdanovPianist]

@@subjectline yeah you're absolutely right. You mentioned a very interesting idea about the time flow for children. I have a very bright memory from my childhood: I sit on the floor at my granny's home, listen to the tik-tok of the wall clock and the distance between those seconds beats is endlessly long! I was literally mesmerized by how long is one second. Now an every-second beat is like a machine gun in comparison lol

[@oversunlight2946]

The best piano tips I ever have listened😮😮😮🎉🎉

[@arlarl7176]

I really hate electric pianos, but I had a quite interesting experience in practising on an e-piano without (!) sound. I practised for some days in this manner and this was just for fun at first, but it is a very good training for memorizing and to my big surprise I improved some passages with a better sound (!). At first this is surprising, but the reason in my opinion is that while pracising without sound forced me to concentrate more on my inner imagination! Of course this can only be an exception and not the regulary practising, but indeed it had some surprising results I never expected.

[@DenZhdanovPianist]

Nice! Yes, silent keyboards might be also used to improve an “inner ear”, not so many people would point on that though, thanks for bringing it up.

[@michaelsmith697]

The great masters would practise in their stage coaches travelling through the countryside on silent keyboards. Most of this would have benefitted the memory process, as they would not have been weighted in the same way as a forte Piano.

[@PabloGambaccini]

I recomend the book from Walter Gieseking if you want to dive deep into "mental study". For me memory comes first, I memorize inmediatelly a section before starting to work technique, and tend to work technique withou the score in order to get used to working by memory, just re-checking the score when nescessary to check for doubts.

[@yourchildhoodfriend7320]

This is exactly what I do! A lot of people ask me how I memorise my pieces, and when i tell them this, they get baffled😅

[@pierrecohenmusic]

Thanks for great private lesson the other day! A great teacher with great knowledge!

[@DenZhdanovPianist]

Thanks for coming, was great to meet you Pierre!

[@key4fun370]

Very valuable tips, thank you very much!

[@MsJwolfe1]

This memory technique was taught to me when I was very young. But I was not learning music, I was learning poems and bible verses. When I began playing piano I used the same technique to memorize my music. Learning music theory enhanced this entire process. If one struggles to learn how to memorize, start to teach your brain the process. Memorize a poem. Memorize lyrics. Memorize anything. Then, memorize your first 2 measures of any score. You can do it. The experience and skill will free your brain to make room for interpretation, the soul of your music.

[@vincenzotabone7167]

Sehr interessant, spannend, inspirierend! Nach längerem Üben wirken bei mir das visuelle und motorische Gedächtnis. Danke!

[@DenZhdanovPianist]

Merci!❤️❤️❤️ später mit der Erfahrung wirst Du noch Das Gehöhr und die Theorie besser entwickeln!

[@cosibuster9738]

Thank you so much! This is the best video on memory I’ve ever watched.

[@ElinaAkselrud]

What a cool study! I have to learn to memorize properly. I never grew out of the kinesthetic way... 😂 (well, not fully, of course, but perhaps kinesthetic/audial)

[@DenZhdanovPianist]

A person with an absolute pitch should not complain!😂

[@jones2786]

I found that if you play/imagine the music in your head already from start to finish. It will help so much in developing motor memory/fingerings as well. I do listen to musics that I play regularly and so much so that in an extreme way it can be called brainwashing, but I enjoy it and it can be done when I am not in front of the piano.

[@RolandHuettmann]

Denis, this is another really great lesson. I am so glad to hear you and your down-to-earth explanation. I love your lessons, and especially this subject of memorizing is going around in my head for a long time. For me as an amateur player, I struggle all the time how to memorize best. But I also feel that even after 30 minutes practicing the piano, my brain becomes more alert and more fluid. I think, this should also be mentioned that serious piano playing develops the brain, healthy when in higher age, and that it the piano could be seen as a tool to improve the brain functions. Regarding memory, I know that it would be good to be able to mentally play a piece, not touching the keyboard, but closing eyes and following an inner flow of what...? Pictures of notes? The sound? Hand positions? They keyboard? ... . Sometimes I can see myself playing in a dream with the score present. Willfully, I can do this only partially, but then after some minutes, my brain starts to desert me. Maybe it needs more structure in practice as you also mentioned. I must think about how to do it. What I can remember are cords. Simple cords and their inversions are not difficult to understand when learning some theory. But what it means to remember how these cords are applied in a specific piece of music (if it is not "atonal" music) requires a bit more. Maybe it is right to combine this in learning hand positions as well and in remembering finger positions or even use memory techniques that associate numbers with picture (candle = 1, swan = 2, etc.). Maybe this is also what you describe about Glenn Gould with the vacuum cleaner. Some other pictures or sounds are associated with a small part of a piece of music. And it is easier to remember the sound of the vacuum cleaner and then find the path to the actual piece of music in memory. Other people may remember the locations in a landscape or their home, and the associate such locational memories with parts of music. Meditation to me is not a foreign word. Certainly, one should find the right type of meditation. To me, meditation is not focusing or contemplating about something, but the ability (through a specific technique) to let go all thoughts and transcend them to be in a state of wakefulness that is ultimately devoid of all thoughts even though conscious. So, in a sense, meditation is the process of forgetting. But we cannot "think" to not think and forget because that is a thought in itself... Returning from a deep and inner wakeful meditation is not only relaxing for the body, but it gives huge energy to the mind. It is like pulling back the arrow on the bow that then is released to let the arrow fly wider. The morning hours are better for memorizing precisely for this reason: We are already relaxed. Meditation is the technique to relax even deeper than the night's sleep can provide. This is proven through EEG studies of the brain and other physiological parameters.

[@DenZhdanovPianist]

Thanks for your precious comments! You may try to visualize both the score and/or your hands. At the early stages, as I explained, you just watch your hands playing just one bar and then stop, close your eyes and immediately "repeat" it mentally. Do you actually meditate before an intensive mental work and how it works? Very curious!

[@RolandHuettmann]

Denis, I hope that my reply is not off-topic -- but let me take the risk and dig a bit deeper for anybody interested to read. Well, I used meditation before piano playing. I did this a couple of times, and I felt very relaxed. But I will study the process more as I did it not do this with the idea of memorizing my playing. I will report of my findings. Most people, including myself, tend to be full of thoughts and we feel pressed doing this or that. The mind is shaky, wandering around. For this reason, I found it best to first give some rest to the body doing some physical exercises, especially Yoga Asanas, but also some muscle training and a modest workout at home. Then the body feels better already. Good food also plays an important role, but nothing fanatically. The next step is a simple breathing exercise. I close my right nostril with the thumb, inhale slowly through the left nostril, close my left nostril with the third and forth fingers, exhale through the right, then I keep the left nostril closed and inhale through the right completing the first iteration. I imagine the air (or some subtle energy) flowing through my head and down through the body, and up again. It is very relaxing to the mind and body. Five minutes should be enough. To "count" iterations, I use my left fore finger to touch segments of my left-hand fingers one after the other and stop the breathing technique after having touched all finger segments. This technique can be used at almost any time. But applying it regularly in the morning and evening -- everybody will report positive effects. Then I do my mediation using a special technique. Best is to not eat before, and, of course, not using anything intoxicating. It would destroy the meditation. And yes, during meditation I accept thoughts coming, but I let them go turning back to my technique when becoming aware of them. With the time, the mind enters a state of quietness, the body settles down, and after the meditation time passed, coming out very slowly, it is as if the battery of life has been recharged. Sometimes, during meditation, the mind even expands as if embracing the whole cosmos. And I do not mean the thought of it, or a fantasy. These are extremely fulfilling experiences. So actually, entering activity after meditation is based on an inner silent awareness while at the same time being able to more fully engage with the subject of attention -- be it playing the piano or studying the scores, or whatever else. So, being able to focus or concentrate is the fruit of inner silence and not vice-versa. Nevertheless, also playing piano or any instrument with focus for quite some time can awaken such inner flow. In such a state, we become an inner silent witness of the playing as if someone else is playing using our hands and body. Because with lots of focus, at some point, we suddenly relax inside -- and then inner miracles start happening. So again, it is not the focus as such, it is the inner "let go" that is creating a special awareness and an effect. But for me and for most people it can not be produced with will. It is more like a boon given rather than will. As I find playing the piano to be very delicate (I should have started much earlier to take it seriously), also meditation is delicate, and we will awaken to the truth that life is precious, delicate and should be handled with a deep sense of care. To also mention this: Some people are born with a natural ability to deeply relax. Others accumulated lots of stress and need a bit more time. The art of meditation, well applied, reduces stress. We start at the point where we are. But we should always start a path no matter when and what -- as it enriches our life. and it creates meaning.

[@DenZhdanovPianist]

@@RolandHuettmann wow that's impressive. I can sometimes reach till some degree these let-go moments when playing piano (and actually only then) that you have described, but mostly in certain conditions. I prefer to believe one may develop it)))

[@subjectline]

I've also noticed that kinesthetic memory builds automatically, but can be more confusing than helpful. But if I KNOW what I'm trying to do, I can recover from minor hiccups.

[@homamellersh8446]

Brilliant tricks, thank you so much .

[@rafab.8299]

Thank you so much! 🙏👌👌👌

[@DenZhdanovPianist]

You're warmly welcome!🙏

[@liliiamitronina4989]

Cool video! I’m writing my thesis exactly on this topic😊 Have you read a book by L. MacKinnon “Playing by heart”?

[@DenZhdanovPianist]

Thanks for a nice feedback! No I haven't heard about it! What do you find most interesting/helpful there?

[@AntoineVideoLibrary]

Extremely helpful, thank you.

[@Adult-Intermediate-Pianist]

Great Information's thank you.

[@bzeliotis]

Very useful tips. Thanks!

[@ddsoco1]

Ha! I saw the Ligeti there at the beginning. Nice.

[@woah6958]

Thankyou, I've really enjoyed this video. Have you made any videos on practical music theory? Do you have any recommendations for useful resources? I've had a lot of difficulty finding anybody who explains it in a way that demonstrates theory in a practical way so that it can be applied to real pieces of music. I'd love to be able to see familiar patterns in the pieces I play.

[@DenZhdanovPianist]

On the lessons yes I do explain theory; on the channel no, not my thing. There are many channels specifically for theory, and of course tons of books. As soon as you learn chords and typical chord progressions, you will recognize them in every piece you play.

[@nadiatishkova6134]

"save location" 🤣🤣 Дякую, як завжди - дуже змістовно, корисно і лаконічно! Отже, піаністам якраз і необхідно займатися в крилі із духовиками і народниками 😁😆

[@DenZhdanovPianist]

Рояля - це майже цимбали в труні. Чим не народний iнструмент😅

[@luvkayakn]

I’m curious how piano students experience memorizing today compared to pre-smart devices students. I took 10 years of piano lessons in the 1970s-80s. We grew up memorizing everything from telephone numbers to, addresses, mapping our city, and school work. I don’t really remember how I memorized recital pieces beyond the repetitive practice over several months. I’ve returned to piano after several decades and working very easy pieces, pieces I can sight read immediately and play at tempo in a week or less, but oddly struggling to memorize them. I’m just guessing my memorization “muscles” are under developed due to over reliance on technology. I’ve started working the little pieces slower and focusing on somewhat challenging measures longer since they don’t really demand the type of attention and months of repetition like my recital pieces did. Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated.

[@camilogonzalez2335]

The subtitles are wierd in English. Also, great job man, You are an inspiration

[@billligon4005]

I wish you could come up with a way for piano hobbyists to memorize music with very basic theory. Can you apply the theoretical to the practical with examples. Show me a cord progression, give me it's name, and show me how it makes memorizing possible??

[@ericastier1646]

Great discussion on memory. Is there a risk to memorize too fast before finding the optimal fingering (sometimes there is only one good fingering and it's not written on the score) and wrist/elbow position ? Eventually everything will get memorized even our breathing and posture for the piece. I once met one of those people who can name up to 5 random notes from any heard random chord on the piano by ear. I was on the piano and tested him out. It was a sobering experience, i felt inadequate after that, and still do, that i do not have perfect pitch. i can see how high solfege skill can help memorize a new piece but i use all the other methods as efficiently as i can ( not very efficiently ;p) I like the part where you said after successful memorization by internal visualizing immediately move to the next bars because visualizing is hard work for the brain and better use that high concentration well before it fades off until the next practice session.

[@DenZhdanovPianist]

If it would comfort you, I don’t possess an absolute pitch. Neither according to hearsay did Ravel, Bernstein, and many other brilliant musicians. There are also many issues actually with having one in some situations. Yes, learning a wrong fingering is bad, that’s why I assign, write down, and learn a proper fingering from day one, at least for tricky spots.

[@ericastier1646]

@@DenZhdanovPianist Yes, i does, thank you Denis :) Searching this topic, Vladimir Horowitz , Martha Argerich and Sergei Rachmaninov do not have perfect pitch either. The vacuum cleaner experience of GG is interesting (i haven't read it). I practice in the university practice rooms and notice my concentration is negatively affected by instrumentalists practicing in nearby rooms (especially wood winds, but voice or strings seem fine :). i found out it gets me ear fatigued even bored to practice without a silent background (except voice and strings) I use my pencil and eraser and pencil sharpener every time i practice. I am having difficulties to memorize in the key of Gb Major, Chopin's Op 25 n 9. i thought i was going to finish that piece very soon, years later i still have not memorized it but do not think it should be a difficult study. Is there a way to memorize more easily in that key ? I want to replace those double flats in the score with the corresponding white key without accidentals. >_< It's almost like the score is throwing off my memory building.

[@fortissimoX]

Hmm... playing mentally seems almost as a superhuman ability to me. I've never tried it. Well, I'll give it a shot. Thanks for the video!

[@theanswer_19]

One problem I faced with auditive memory is that it becomes and obstacle when playing a public piano that is out of tune. Learning the cord progression is something I have to work on, seems like longer lasting.

[@michaelsmith697]

You must always rely mostly on the VISUAL memory. The Aural and tactual memories are unreliable

[@BenSadounJeremie]

Hi. Would you make a video on how to memorize a piece for a lifetime ? There are certain pieces that I learned when I was young that my brain never forgot. This is weird, I can’t really explain this phenomenon. Maybe the more you like a piece, the more likely you are are to memorize for a long time. Or is it only due to the youngness of the brain…

[@DenZhdanovPianist]

Yes, you are absolutely right, and also the age in which you have learned a piece, as well as how many sessions of learning and forgetting you had..

[@BenSadounJeremie]

@@DenZhdanovPianist 👍

[@benedictdsilva3954]

I was never very good with memorization and for that matter reading music because I improvise I play pop ja,zz and I can transpose... I think God gives us one of the two gifts. ..the other has to be worked on...

[@JayCee-hw4zc]

I wonder if that's how Beethoven continued after he was deaf!?!?!??

[@DenZhdanovPianist]

He had a fantastic ear ability, presumably possessing absolute pitch of a very high caliber. For individuals with remarkable absolute pitch and extensive composition experience, composing away from the instrument is a common practice. Some reports suggest he used a stick held with his teeth, touching the piano with the other end, allowing him to perceive something through direct vibration. However, I'm uncertain about the historical verification of this information.

[@PianoforPleasure]

Your videos are super interesting, thanks for all your advice! I still remember having a memory freeze at a piano recital at my musical school😅 That wasn’t a fun experience at all!

[@DenZhdanovPianist]

Yeah that's awkward. But I also find that we performers overestimate the importance of such things. Most of public members don't care that much; many will not even understand it if you don't demonstrate it openly. I believe that we have to remember that people come to enjoy music, but not to count our mistakes..

[@globalc3849]

Play the piece with your eyes closed.