Nevertheless, some good stuff here. I’ve always used (to some extent) what I call geographical memory. Basically, in my head, each note is like a vertex, then I connect the vertexes and make a shape with them. Runs I see as lines like on a plot graph, and the altitude and rise/run of them will give me a general direction of which notes to play. For chords, more geometrical shapes come to mind, like a major chord’s first inversion with the repeated octave looks like a rectangle. Minor chords have spikes or irregularities. Small repeated motifs are more rounded, I guess to signify everything coming back around and doing it again. Also, I rely on the actual shape of the hand, like if all my fingers are splayed to one side, while my thumb opposes their actions. Sometimes these shapes are based on the score, like the way certain composers have a sort of visual way of composing (just before ending of chopin’s scherzo 3 comes to mind, when the left hand arpeggios come up and down, reminds me of bridges) Btw, I don’t think about all of this, this is just the way my brain handles this naturally. Someone once asked me how I play, what I see, what I think about. That question jogged my memory into remembering all these things that take place while I play a piece.
And randomly, Darkangel, have you had any success with the olfactory memory aides?
The idea with a scent while practising is interesting. Could you elaborate more on that. Where did you read about that?
Also the food-diet will will. I’ve read that phosphorus aids the memorizing procedures of the brain. If it is true then we need foods that contain a lot of phosphorus.
But still the most impotant part is focus/attention/practice/hard work.
I read about the sense of smell and memory in actually quite a few neuroscience books and podcasts, but unfortunately I can’t remember names whatsoever.
If you google it you will probably find some interesting findings.
I started using scents recently, and I can’t tell if my memory has just become solidified over the last year, but I am definitely memorizing more quickly.
That being said, I have a terrible sense of smell and am a smoker (which impairs smell) so… no idea.
But it definitely isn’t hurting!
Ideally, having a new scent for each piece would be ideal, but it sounds like a pain in the ass and kind of odd.
It’s strange enough already that I practice with a timer, metranome, and air freshner to begin with.
