Memorization in Classical Guitar Performance

I believe that I am neutral about memorization.  It depends on the circumstances one is in whether one should memorize or not.  For myself, my "performances" are very limited so I have no issue with having the score in front of me when I perform.  In fact, I think it saves me time as I am not spending the time needed to memorize an entire piece.

I also believe that to a certain extent, memorization happens just because of the number of repetitions I go through just to learn a piece.  Once I have a piece up to tempo, there is no way that I can read each and every single note.  Accordingly, I must have it memorized to a certain extent and am using the score as a cue as to what to play next.

Whether or not a piece is memorized should not be a consideration but there certainly is an attitude in the classical guitar community that everything MUST be memorized. The real issue is the musical quality of the performance. With a confident, well thought out and well executed playing, whether the piece is memorized should be irrelevant. It is also a matter of context-a heavily contrapuntal work or one with many specific performance directions will (or should) be more comfortably performed from the score, on the other hand I would be more likely to perform Villa Lobos Prelude 1 or Tango en Skai from memory as the musical gestures are easier to assimilate and one can 'keep an eye' on the rapid left hand movement. A bigger issue is when the over focus on memorization in the earlier learning stages leads to poor reading skill, difficulty playing chamber music and having a vastly limited repertoire.  

I think it's interesting that, if you go to almost ANY other classical music concert (for example a symphony orchestra), they are all reading from sheet music. One of my favorite solo vocal performances from Handel's Messiah on YouTube is a sung by a guy holding sheet music! 

What's so ironic about this "need" for guitarists to have pieces memorized is that the guitar is often considered an inferior instrument compared with the other classical music instruments. It seems that guitarists are held to a different standard. 

"The times they are a-changin'" to quote Bob Dylan. I recently heard a very prominent legendary classical guitarist (who had been trained by Segovia) give a speech. In it he mentioned some practices that "must be adhered to". I think that way of thinking is on the way out. We are progressing as guitarists. The world is progressing. 

Personally, I have seen people perform using sheet music and it didn't taint my experience at all. On the contrary, my thought was, "Huh! Now why didn't I think of that?! You can do that??? Wow! This whole live performance thing just got interesting!" 

Naturally, I think it's more enjoyable to see someone perform who isn't tethered to their score. I think the musician is apt to give a better performance if they have internalized the piece - owned it so to speak - to the extent that they no longer need "the script". Would you rather listen to someone tell a story/give a speech/deliver a sermon if they have it memorized and are not reading it to you? Of course! It's more believable. 

I think that's the thing to remember - when we're performing we're telling a story. How well do you know they story? Do you need the book to tell it better and move your audience more? Then, so be it. If not, let it go. 

I really think I should improve on our ability to sight -read. It always amazes me that my teacher who is a great sight reader, can just take any music I give him and play it after looking at it for a couple of seconds. 

Even if you don’t want to play from score in future it is still a good skill to pick up for variety of reasons. But that said,  I  put my music stand on my right because I have my other work stuffs on my left and my laptop in front of me so after a while I realized it feels really weird to look at music from my left and finger board at same time.  Need to change that. 

Hi Rick,
Great to see you here!

I have struggled with memorizing, but I certainly aspire to it. La Paloma is one of the first pieces that I’ve memorized and that was just lately. I think it’s terrific to know a piece by heart. And I like what you said about focusing on the musicality.

Cheers

For me, memorization is essential, and is necessary for the multi step process I use when learning a new piece. That is a large topic in itself, so I won’t go too much into it, other than to say part of the process involves score study and identification of the hardest parts, then starting there, which could be a single measure or figure. Memorizing these allows full (visual) attention to be given to problem solving around every movement of both hands, fingers, and arms. The process continues and I chain together these figures as I am able to play them.  As a result, memorization of the entire piece just happens as a consequence.  That being said, I always use the score for performance.  I see no issue with that.  Some folks have expressed concern about memorization possibly detracting from sight reading skill development, but I would respectfully suggest that dedicated time be spent every day practicing sight reading, which does require having access to a ton of sheet music because you should not repeat sight reading on the same set of notes more than once.

The first time I saw Andres Segovia, he was in his early 70's and he suffered numerous memory lapses, even in the middle of Duarte's  'English Suite', which had been a wedding present for him! Now that I am in my 70's, I too am experiencing some memory lapses. Another issue is that when I was young, there were no iPads, and without someone to turn pages, memorizing was essential. Now that I have every score on my iPad, and 'turn pages' with my foot, I don't need to memorize. Also, my eyesight is not as good, so looking at my fingers is not as much of an aid. Playing from the score has a lot going for it now.

My experience on live performance are very short. Memorization for me comes when I have played a piece several times.

David Russell many times uses sheets in his performances. I saw him on YouTube video explain why he do it. Dynamic marks, important passages, emphasis, etc..

I think in music school, recitals and jury's come up so fast and powering through repertoire is typical. I think some pieces are easy to memorize and others require a bit of work. Memorization is just another skill that needs to be developed and nurtured. Part of music school is to set up students for success and to focus on the overall performance. Sheet music should be allowed when the musician needs it but also be encouraged to memorize pieces and to play some from memory. 

Having a music stand on stage does not take away from the performance for me and I'd rather have the musician be certain of their part rather than risking a memory slip. For me I'd prefer to have the sheet music for the first few performances of a piece and eventually I'll feel comfortable enough to not need it. Personally, I'm not reading the music by the time of a performance but rather using it as an overall guide and reminders for maybe a tricky fingering in a section, what I want to bring out in a specific phrase, and occasionally dynamics and phrasing differences on repeats, etc.  

What about iPads with bluetooth page turners? When I was using paper sheet music, I was more dependent on memory partly because I could not turn pages while playing. After several years of having all my scores on my iPad, and not exercising my memory skills, it seems that my ability to memorize has really gone downhill. Has anyone else noticed this for them selves?