My Discoveries: Memorization

     My piano teacher and I have been talking about memorization (among a billion other things). Basically, I have
struggled with memorizing piano pieces since I started playing piano because I have always tried to memorize pieces in a tactile manner (through correct repetition). Mrs. Graham told me some new memorization methods. 

1. Aural (ear):
• listen to the melody, be able to sing/ hum the melody line
• observe the shaping, the direction the music is going
• hear chord changes
• pay attention to the overall sound
2. Visual (both of the music and the keyboard):
• study small sections at a time
• know where you are on the page
3. Analytical (analyze the music):
• chords
• intervals
• finger placement
• direction
• key
• cadences
• patterns
• sections
4. Mental Memory:
• hear a perfect performance in your head
• know exactly how you want to sound
• know what the tone should sound like
• know what the balance should be
• visualize your perfect performance in your head
5. Kinetics 
• muscle memory (especially of large leaps)