Thanks everybody - love the jokes and humor! I am south of Atlanta in Georgia USA - send me a message if you are passing through.

The next task is to play the recital hearing - the Beethoven is less than half the recital. The hearing is where 3 faculty members decide if I am good enough to actually play the recital. No pressure...

Sam

Sam, you are amazing. Inspiring too. Did you video the performance?

Good job!

That third movement is extremely fun to play.

I didn’t know that sonata (admittedly I’m not much into his keyboard works but I know every single note of every symphony!). Just listened to it. Such an achievement, that’s really great job 👍🏻 And it’s the first time I see Ab minor used in a work. I’ve never played it, 7 flats seems pretty awkward. Would be much readable as G# minor with 5 sharps 🤪

Woot!

The performance hasn't happened yet. My teacher says I should do a "run-through" of the entire recital program every other day to prepare. That hasn't really happened yet, and is a lot to tackle. I mean, it takes an hour to do a run-through. So I am not ready. Every time I do a run-through, my memory fails in a different spot, which I then have to spend time refreshing. Right now my problem is the Bach that precedes the Beethoven on the recital. I suppose that is the point of doing the run-thoughs.

This is the one and only time I will ever do a recital like this. If I weren't trying to satisfy the degree requirements I would never play an hour-long public recital - who would come? Why would I put myself through the stress? It is a unique opportunity, and I want to do the best I can.

If you are wondering what the heck I am talking about, read the Back to School at 62 thread.

Sam

Let me also take this time to remind everyone that the ABF is hosting a themed recital next April to commemorate the 250th birthday of Beethoven. Dust off that old Beethoven Sonata movement and join in!

Sam

When is the recital, Sam?

Sometime next semester. First I have to play the recital hearing, when 3 faculty will decide if I can schedule the recital. It has to be within a month of the hearing. I'll share the date as soon as I know...

Sam

If I were in Georgia and not DC, I would definitely come.

Sam, this is wonderful! And what a great way to celebrate the beginnings of the Beethoven 250th anniversary year! I'm doing my part by crawling through the slow movement of the Pathetique. That's pronounced same as Pathetic at my house, but the practice is helping my finger independence, and the sound is getting slowly better. I did manage to play all the notes of the first movement of the Moonlight sonata the other day -- slow, but a first! -- so there's further hope, and your wonderful accomplishment enlarges those hopes! I have really enjoyed reading about your journey. Now I am listening to Alfred Brendel recording of No. 12.... beautiful. Enjoy your "moments" and may there be many more!

I think he means if it weren’t a school requirement he’d never learn this much bc no one would attend. But you’re right, I’d go also. We should make a road trip to support Sam in his final recital.

I'm up for a support roadtrip! (the sort that involves air roads LOL)

This is a quite an accomplishment! I'm working on being able to play a full Haydn sonata for my piano club in near future, and it's quite a challenge to keep all 3 movements relatively polished. And I'm not even trying to memorize it plus Haydn should be easier than most Beethoven. Congrats!

Congratulations indeed. I could not imagine doing this (as yet).

That is a wonderful achievement Sam, and you have made me realise that I can say the same thing!
Admittedly the sonata I can play (imperfectly, with plenty of errors) is a much easier one, and it has only 2 movements, But nonetheless, I learned a full Beethoven Sonata this year and I'm delighted with that. I'll be submitting it to our Beethovan recital (hopefully with many of its current issues ironed out)

Oh wow, this is wonderful Sam!

I have gotten out of the habit of memorizing pieces — partly because using an iPad and foot pedal and the resultant ease of page turns is a disincentive, and also just because by using the score I’m able to maintain a larger repertoire of polished pieces. But when I was piano shopping, I decided I needed at least one memorized piece, so I still have that in my fingers and in my brain.

But when I worked on memorizing that (short and simple) piece, I was thing a lot about the challenges of memorization and the various techniques you need to be using if you’re gong to memorize something complex etc. etc.

So Sam, if you were to give general pointers for memorizing complex pieces, what pointers would you give?

OK, general pointers:

- you have to have a multi-pronged approach to memorizing.
- the physical feel of playing (what people call muscle memory) is very important, but not reliable by itself.
- Analyze the piece. It's not enough to say sonata form or rondo - you need to know the keys, the themes, the episodes (transitions), the coda. How each section starts, how the sections are different, and so forth. Anything that might be helpful to you should be identified. The simplest form of this is knowing which note(s) to start a section on.
- Name the sections and problem areas. It doesn't have to be "recapitulation", it could be "blue theme" - whatever works for you. As you are coming up to that spot, think "blue" and you will remember what to do.
- Be able to start almost anywhere. Walk up to the piano, think "blue theme", and sit down and play from there.
- Stop looking at the score early in the process. Do whatever it takes to learn a section, then don't look at the score again unless you need to. Of course, it helps to go back to the score periodically to make sure you aren't making something up.
- Be able to play it back in your head, in tempo (no skipping ahead), away from the piano.

I didn't start playing from memory until I had to for school. In 3 1/2 years I have gotten better, but I still make lots of errors. When I am done with school, I will go back to the score. That doesn't mean that large chunks of a piece won't be memorized - they will, but I will have the score in front of me...

Sam

Only rarely am I able to do this. I need to work harder at it, I guess.

It seems to me that being able to do that is the result of having memorized the piece, not a step in the process. Do you find that to be the case? Certainly being able to start anywhere is a good back-up strategy for memory slips.

Yes, it's all part of the process. For instance, the last mvt of the Beethoven is a rondo. Before I memorized anything I had played through it and decided it was a rondo and the A section came back three times. They each started slightly differently (or had a different lead-in), but I didn't bother with that until I was well into the process. No two pieces are the same either. I have learned some things quickly, others have taken much longer.

Sam