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Performing from Memory

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Subject: Psychology,CognitivePsychology

OnlinePublicationDate: Aug

2015

DOI: 10.1093/oxfordhb/9780198722946.013.34

PerformingfromMemory



RogerChaffin,AlexanderP.Demos,andTopherR.Logan

TheOxfordHandbookofMusicPsychology,SecondEdition(Forthcoming)

EditedbySusanHallam,IanCross,andMichaelThaut

OxfordHandbooksOnline

AbstractandKeywords

Performingreliablyfrommemoryrequirestwodifferenttypesofmemoryorganization:associativechainsand

contentaddresses.Associativechainsdevelopspontaneouslyduringpractice,buthavethedisadvantagethat

whensomethinggoeswrongandthechainbreaks,theperformermuststartoverfromthebeginning.Toavoid

suchembarrassment,experiencedperformersdeveloptheabilitytostartfrommultiplelocationsinapiece.The

hierarchicalorganizationprovidedbythemusicalstructuresuppliesaddresses,makingmemorycontent

addressable;forexample,thinking“secondtheme”bringsthemusictomind.Todevelopcontentaddressable

access,themusicianmustattendtoparticularfeaturesofthemusicrepeatedlyduringpracticeuntiltheybecome

performancecues.Thesearethoughts,like“secondtheme,”“listen,”“excitement,”thathavebeenprepared

duringpracticeandcometomindspontaneouslyandreliablyduringperformance,guidingthemusicianand

providingplaceswhereplayingcanresumeifthingsgowrong.

Keywords:memory,performance,performancecues,memoryorganization,contentaddressableaccess

Introduction

Whatisthedifferencebetween“learning”anewpieceofmusicand“memorizing”it?Bothinvolvememory,butof

differentkinds.Thememoriesthatdevelopspontaneouslywhilelearninganewpiecetaketheformofassociative

chainsinwhicheachpassagecuesthememoryofwhatcomesnext.Associativechainshaveamajorweakness:

toreachanylinkinthechainyouhavetostartatthebeginning.Foramusician,thisbecomesaproblemwhen

somethinggoeswronginperformance.Besidestheembarrassmentofstartingover,thereistheagonyof

wonderingwhethermemorywillfailagaininthesameplace.

Deliberatememorizationtransformsthemotorandauditorychainscreatedwhilelearningthepiecebymakingthem

contentaddressable.Amemoryiscontentaddressableifyoucanaskyourself,forexample,“Howdoesthethird

repetitionofthemainthemego?,”andthemusiccomestomind.Inotherwords,itcanbelocateddirectlyby

thinkingoftherelevantlocationinthepiece.Inamemorizedperformance,contentaddressablememoryprovides

asafetynetthatpermitsrecoveryincasetheassociativechainbreaksandtheperformanceisdisrupted.

Associativechainsandcontentaddressesaretwodifferentwaysofaccessingmemoryandtheyhavedifferent

properties(Farrell,2012).Memoriesaccessedbycontentaddressaremorelikelytobeexplicit(conscious)and

easiertoexpressinwords.Associativechainsaremorelikelytobeimplicit(unconscious)andtoinvolve

procedural(motor-based)knowledgethatcannotbereadilyexpressedinwords.Tomemorizemusicfor

performance,themusicianmustsmoothlyintegratethetwokindsofmemory.

Musiciansdistinguishthetwotypesbyreferringto“learning”and“memorizing,”buttheyalsousetheterm

“memory”torefertoboth.Thereispotentialforconfusionhere.Forexample,somemusicianssaythattheydonot

Performing from Memory

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memorize,thatitis“somethingthatjusthappens”(André-MichelSchub),“asubconsciousprocess”(Harold

Bauer),“likebreathing”(JorgeBolet).Othersbelievethat“everyperformerhastoworkatmemorizing”(John

Browning)andsufferfrom“thatterrorofforgetting”(JaninaFialkowska;allcitedinChaffin,ImrehandCrawford,

2002,ch.3).Aretheytalkingaboutthesamething?

Theimportantquestionfortheperformeriswhethermemorywillbereliableonstage.Whathappensifsomething

goeswrong?Ifthememoryisintheformofanassociativechain,thentheonlyrecourseistostartagainatthe

beginningofthechain.Thiskindofmemoryfailureisanunfortunatestapleofstudentrecitals.Studentsoften

assumethatbecausetheycangetthroughapiecewithoutthescoreinthestudio,theycandothesameonstage.

Theydonotappreciatethattheassociativechainisnotthesamethingasareliable,contentaddressablememory.

Experiencedperformersknowbetter.Memoryfailuresareinevitable.Aperformermaygoforyearswithoutone,but

eventuallyitwillhappen.Theimportantthingistorecovergracefully.Experiencedperformersdonotstopandgo

backtothebeginning.Theygoon.Theyhaveamentalmapofthepiecethatallowsthemtokeeptrackofwhere

theyareastheperformanceunfolds.Themapprovideslandmarkswheretheycanrestarttheperformanceif

necessary(Chaffinetal.,2002,ch.9).Whensomethinggoeswrong,theexpertjumpstothenextlandmarkand

theperformancecontinues.Mostofthetime,theaudienceisnotevenawareofthemistake.Landmarksprovidea

safetynet.

OuraccountbuildsontheviewofmemorydescribedbyBobSnyderinthisvolume(alsoGinsborg,2004,),and

drawsonresearchonoraltraditionsandexpertmemory.First,wewilldescribehowmusicalmaterial,suchasfolk

songs,canbepasseddown,moreorlessunchanged,acrosscenturieswithoutthebenefitofwrittenrecords.

Subsequently,wewillexplainhowexpertsareabletoperformextraordinaryfeatsofmemory,suchastheyoung

MozartwritingoutAllegri’sMisererefrommemory.Carefulstudysuggeststhatsuchfeatsarenottheproductofa

specialtalentformemorization.Instead,theyarethepredictableresultofadeepfamiliaritywithmusicalstylesand

conventionscombinedwitheffectivestrategiesformakingmemoriescontentaddressable.Finally,wecombine

thesetwoareasofresearchtoexplainhowexperiencedperformersmemorize,asopposedtosimplylearn,anew

piece.

AssociativeChaining

Musicperformancereliesheavilyonassociativechaining:whatyouareplayingremindsyouofwhatcomesnext.

Inthisrespect,musicissimilartomanyotherkindsoforderedsequencesthatpeopleregularlyencounter,suchas

nurseryrhymesandpoems.Memorizationishelpedbythefactthatwhatcomesnextisheavilyconstrainedby

whatprecedesit(Rubin,1995,2006).Forexample,

TherewasayoungmanofJapan,

Whoselimericksneverwould____.

Oneneednothaveheardthislimerickbeforetoknowthatthemissingwordis“scan.”Thepossibilitiesare

constrainedbysyntax,semantics,rhyme,andrhythm.Weknowthatthesecondlinemustrhymewiththefirst

becausewerecognizeitasalimerick.Ourpreviousexperienceoflimericksisstoredinlong-termmemoryinthe

formofamemoryschemathattellsuswhattoexpect.Anticipationofthissortisanormalproductofthewaythat

memoryfunctions.

TheRoleofSchemas

Contrarytopopularbelief,memoryisnotavaststorehousecontainingexactrecords(Brewer,1987).Memoriesfor

specificevents(episodicmemories)arereconstructedateachrememberingonthebasisofschematic(semantic)

knowledgerepresentinggenericmemories(Tulving,1972).Schemasallowuseconomicallytorecallourpastin

enormousdetail,butthisabilityhasaprice.Whenwetakethetroubletocheck,manyofthedetailsturnouttobe

wrong.Thesameschematicframeworksthatallowustorememberarealsoasourceofdistortion.Weremember

thegist,andfillinthedetails,withoutdistinguishingwhatwehaveaccuratelyrememberedfromwhatwehave

simplyassumed(BrewerandTreyens,1981).

Giventhefallibilityofmemory,musicians’routinerelianceonrotememoryseemsremarkable.Howisaccurate

Performing from Memory

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recallpossibleifmemoryforapiecemustbereconstructedfromgenericmusicalschemaseachtimeitisplayed?

Wewouldexpectperformancestobefullofmistakesasthemusicianreplacestheexactnotesprovidedbythe

composerwiththemusicalgistbasedongenericknowledgeofharmonic,melodic,metric,andrhythmicpatterns.

Theanswercomesfromstudiesofhowmemoryfunctionsinoraltraditions(Rubin,1995,2006).Innon-literate

cultures,oraltraditionssuchasballads,epicpoems,andreligiousenactmentsoftenremainstableacross

centuries.Forexample,inNorthCarolina,balladshandeddownthroughoraltraditiontosingersinmoderntimes

aredirectlytraceabletoEuropeanballadsoftheMiddleAges.Howweretheyweretransmitted,moreorless

verbatim,acrosssomanygenerations?Likethoseofeveryoneelse,thememoriesofbards,minstrels,and

storytellersarereconstructedateachperformance.Theirperformancesdovary,buttheyaresufficiently

consistentthatthedistortionisminimal,evenacrossgenerations.Thissurprisinglevelofaccuracyistheproduct

ofmultipleconstraints.Ourexampleofthelimerickillustrateshowmultipleconstraintsonrhyme,rhythm,

alliteration,andcontentlimitthepossibilitiesformemoryerrors.Constraintsofthissortarefoundineveryoral

traditionthathasbeenstudied.

Musicisconstrainedbygenreandstyle,melodyandharmony,meterandrhythm,andbyrepetition,whichismuch

morepronouncedinmusicthaninlanguage(Huron,2006,pp.229–231).Alltheseconstraintscombinetomakethe

taskofmemoryreconstructioneasier.Thisiswhymemorizationissomucheasierforexperiencedmusiciansthan

fornovices(GinsborgandSloboda,2007;WilliamonandValentine,2002):expertshavemoreconstraints.Thisis

alsowhyitisquickertomemorizesongsbylearningwordsandmusictogetherratherthanseparately(Ginsborg

andSloboda,2007):togethertherearemoreconstraints.

MultipleMemorySystems

Likeothermaterialstransmittedthroughoraltradition,musicisrecalledaspartofaperformance.Performancecalls

onthemanydifferentcognitiveandbodilysystemsinvolvedinaction,eachofwhichlaysdownitsownmemory

traces.Eachtypeofmemoryprovidesretrievalcuesandconstrainsmemoryreconstruction,makingmemoryfor

performancemorerobustthanmemoryfortext(Rubin,1995,2006).Wefocusonthosememorysystemsmost

relevanttomusicalperformance:auditory,motor,structural,emotional,visual,andlinguistic.

AuditoryMemory

ThehistoryofWesternmusicisfullofstoriesofmusicianswhowereabletohearentireworksintheirheads

(DeutschandPierce,1992).Everyonehastheabilityto“hear”soundsintheirheads(Hubbard,2010),including

melodies(Halpern,1992;Reisberg,2001,ch.11).Neuropsychologicalstudiessuggestthat,likeotherformsof

memory,auditorymemoriesarelocalizedintheirownareaofthebrain(e.g.,Fornazzari,NadkarniandMiranda,

2006).Auditorymemoryappearstocontaininformationaboutbothpitchcontour(relativepitch)andpitchcategory

(absolutepitch),sincepeopletendtorecallmusicinthesamekeyastheoriginal(Dowling,1978;Halpern,1989).

Inperformance,auditorymemoryletsmusiciansknowthattheyareontrackandactivatesmemoryforwhatcomes

next(FinneyandPalmer,2003).Developingauditoryschemasforstandardrhythmic,melodic,harmonic,and

stylisticpatternsnarrowstherangeofpossibilitiesforrecall,enablingmusicianstoremembermusicbetterthan

non-musicians(HalpernandBower,1982).Developingthisabilityisanormalpartofadvancedmusicaltraining

(Gordon,1999).Sightsingingandtraininginnotationalaudiationhelptodevelopthemusicalschemasthatallow

musicianstoperformontheirinstrumentwithorwithoutascore(Brodskyetal,2008;Woody,2012).

MotorMemory

Musiciansarereferringtomotormemorywhentheytalkaboutmemoryasbeing“inthehands.”Perhapsthemost

importantfeatureofmotormemoryformusiciansisthatitisimplicit(unconscious).Musiciansknowthattheycan

playaparticularpiece(declarativeknowledge),buttheknowledgeofhowtoplaycanonlybeexhibitedby

actuallyplaying(proceduralknowledge).Thiscanbeasourceofanxietyandleadtoover-practice.Playingseems

tobetheonlywaytoreassureoneselfthatmemoryforapieceisintact.Mentalpracticeprovidesanalternativebut

requiresexplicitmemory.Tomakemotormemoryexplicit,actionsmustberecodedinpropositionalformsothat

theycanberehearsedinworkingmemoryasathoughtofthegeneralform:“Next,dothis.”Thiskindofmental

instructionisaformoflinguisticmemory,discussedbelow.

Performing from Memory

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Motormemorynecessarilyinvolvesassociativechaining;eachactioncuesthenext.Thisiswhatmakesmotor

memoriesimplicit:tobeaccessed,theymustbeperformed.Addingcontentaddressableaccessmakesitpossible

tojumparoundinapiece,skippingbackwardsorforwards.Whatisrequiredisaretrievalcue—athoughtin

workingmemorythatactivatesthemotormemory,restartingtheassociativechainatanewlocation.Chaffinetal.

(2002)introducedthetermperformancecuetorefertotheuseofthiskindofcueinmusicperformance.When

expertsmemorizeforperformance,muchoftheworkisdirectedatsettingupperformancecues(seebelow).

StructuralMemory

Memoriesforeventsareorganizedintonarrativesbasedonthegoalsoftheactorsinvolved(Brewer,1980,p.

223).Inmusic,themusicalstructureprovidesasimilarkindofhierarchicalorganization,dividingapieceinto

sectionsandsubsectionsbasedonmelody,harmony,andmeter.Hierarchicalorganizationsofthissortprovide

usefulframeworksforgeneratingcontentaddresses:forexample,thirdmovement,secondtheme,thirdbar.Of

course,itrequiresconsiderablemusicalunderstandingtogenerateaddressesofthissort.Onereasonthatpeople

havetroublememorizingmusicisbecausetheydonothaveagoodunderstandingofthemusicalstructure.

Awarenessofstructuredevelopsslowlywithmusicaltraining(WilliamonandValentine,2002)andmaybelacking,

eveninexperiencedmusicians(Snyder,thisvolume).

Whenexperiencedmusiciansprepareanewpieceofmusic,theyidentifyitsstructuralpropertiesandusethemto

organizeboththeirpracticeandtheirmemories(ChaffinandImreh,2002;Chaffin,Lisboa,LoganandBegosh,

2010;Hallam,1995;WilliamonandValentine,2002).Forexample,amusicianmaythinktoherselfassheplays

throughapieceforthefirsttime,“That’sthesecondtheme”(Chaffin,2007).Ifthestructureisobscure,an

experiencedmusiciantakesthetimetofigureitout,evenifdoingsorequiresweeksofwork(Chaffin,Gerling,

DemosandMelms,2013).Withoutaclearunderstandingofthestructure,thereisnomentalmap,andnocontent

addressablememory.

EmotionalMemory

Emotionalmemories ofallkindsarerememberedbetterthannon-emotionalmemories(Bower,1981;Talmi,

Schimmack,PatersonandMoscovitch,2007),andthisistrueforbothmusiclistening(Schulkind,HennisandRubin,

1999)andmusicperformance(Chaffin,2011).Thepositiveeffectsofemotionaredisruptedbydamagetoneural

areasinvolvedinemotion(GreenbergandRubin,2003).Wecanseethecontributionofemotiontoperformance

memorywhenresearchersaskmusicianstoperformwithoutexpressioninlaboratorystudies;themusiciansoften

havedifficultyplaying.Wesurmisethatplayingwithoutexpressionreducesemotionalcuesthatnormally

contributetotheretrievalofmusicfrommemory(e.g.,Demos,2013).

VisualMemory

Therearelargeindividualdifferencesbetweenmusiciansintheirsubjectiveexperienceofvisualmemory.Some

musiciansreporthaving“photographic”memories,whileotherssaythattheirvisualmemoriesarepooror

unhelpful.Forexample,MyraHessdescribedhowshecould“see”and“read”theprintedpagewhenplayingfrom

memory,whereasAlfredBrendelreportedthathismemorywas“notvisualatall”(Chaffinetal.,2002,pp.37–41).

Thesereportsmayreflectrealdifferencesinthedetailedinformationavailableinvisualmemory(Reisberg,2001,

ch.11).However,reportsofvisualimagescanbemisleadingintwoways.First,mentalimagesarenotpictures,

i.e.,objectivedepictionsofreality.Imagesareinterpretations.Todiscoverwhethershehadmisreadanote,Myra

Hesscouldnotinspecthermentalimageofthescore;shehadtolookattherealthing.Second,peoplewhoreport

havingnovisualmemorystillhavespatialmemories.Theyknowthelocationofnotesonthepageand,asaresult,

mightwellhavethesametroubleusingadifferenteditionofascoreasapersonwhohasvividmentalimages.

LinguisticMemory

Thementalinstructionsthatexperiencedperformersusetoremindthemselveswhattodoatkeypointsina

performanceareaformoflinguisticmemory(Chaffinetal.,2002).Theseinstructionsdonotnecessarilyinvolve

words,buttheydohavealanguage-like“subject-predicate”(propositional)form,oftenpointingtoother,modality-

specificmemories:motor,auditory,visual,andemotional(BinderandDesai,2011),forexample,Holdback”

(pointingtomotormemory)or“Now,likethis”(pointingtoauditorymemory).Theirpropositionalformallowsthemto

berehearsedinworkingmemory,fromwheretheycandirectothermentalprocessesandimplementplansand

Performing from Memory

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strategies(Baars,1988,pp.99–104;Reisberg,1992,p.viii;Rubin,2006).“Internalspeech”canbeusedfor

mentalrehearsalandtohelprecoveriftheassociativechainbreaksduringaperformancefrommemory.

ContentAddressableMemory

Associativechainingworkswellsolongasthechainisintact.Iftheperformancestops,however,thechainis

broken.Theperformercanonlygobacktothebeginningandstartover.Toavoidsuchignominy,experienced

performersprovidesthemselveswithotheroptions:theypreparemultiplestartingpoints.

Whenyouwanttosinghappybirthday,yousimplythink,“HappyBirthday,”andstartsinging.Theverballabelacts

asaretrievalcueforthestartofthesongandtherestisthencuedbyassociativechaining.Nowimaginethatyou

wanttostartatthelastline.Mostofuscannotdothisimmediately.Wehavetostartatthebeginningandrun

through.Oncewehavethelastlineinworkingmemory,however,wecaneasilysetupanewstartingpointby

thinking,“Startofthelastline”aswesing.Afewrepetitionstostrengthentheassociativelinkbetweenthenewcue

andsingingthelastlineandwehaveanewstartingpoint.Anytime,wewanttostartatthelastline,wecannow

simplythink,“Startofthelastline”andstartsinging.Wehavesetupanewperformancecue,makingthisplacein

themusiccontentaddressable(Chaffin,2011).Simplythinkingofthecuenowactivatesthememoriesneededto

startsinging.Theperformancecueprovidesflexibilityandcontrol.Youcannowthinkofthepassageatanytime,

withoutrunningthroughthewholepiecefromthebeginning.

Wewillfocusontwoaspectsofthisstrategy.First,whenappliedtoalongpieceofmusic,thestrategyofcreating

multiplestartingpointshasmanysimilaritieswithhowexpertsmemorizeinotherdomainsthathavenothingtodo

withmusic.Wewilldescribethesesimilaritiesinthesection“ExpertMemory.”Second,thereisariskinvolvedin

settingupadditionalstartingpoints.Thinkingaboutwhatyouaredoingcaninterferewithskilledperformance,a

phenomenonknownaschoking(BeilockandCarr,2001).Wewilldescribehowexperiencedmusiciansavoidthis

probleminthesectionon“PerformanceCues”.

ExpertMemory

Expertsinanydomainmemorizewithafacilitythatoftenseemssuperhuman(ChaseandSimon,1973;Gobetand

Simon,1996).Musiciansarenoexception;aswehavealreadynoted,theirbiographiesarefulloftalesofamazing

memoryfeats.Thesefeatsaremadepossiblebytheusehighlypracticedretrievalstrategies(ChaseandEricsson,

1982;EricssonandKintsch,1995).Ourunderstandingofexpertmemoryisbasedonthestudyofmemoryfor

domainssuchaschessboards,digitstrings,anddinnerordersthatareverydifferentfrommusicperformance.

Motormemoryprobablyplaysaminorroleinrecallingthepositionofpiecesonachessboardortheordersofa

tablefullofcustomersinarestaurant.Despitethedifferences,theprinciplesofexpertmemoryestablishedinthese

domainsapplytomusicperformancebecauseexperiencedmusiciansalsorelyonstructuralandlinguisticmemory

toprovidethemwithcontentaddressableaccess.

Performing from Memory

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Clicktoviewlarger

Figure1. Hypotheticalhierarchicalretrievalscheme“unpacked”forSectionCofthePrestofromtheItalian

ConcertobyJ.S.Bach.Mainthemes(sections)arerepresentedbycapitalletters.SectionCis“unpacked”

intosubsections(Ca1,Ca2,Cb).SubsectionCa1isfurther“unpacked”intoitsperformancecues

AdaptedwithpermissionofTaylorandFrancis,fromPracticingperfection:memoryandpiano

performance,RogerChaffin,GabrielaImrehandMaryCrawford,p.200.Copyright©2002,Taylorand

Francis.

Thefeatsofexpertmemoristscanbeexplainedintermsofthreeprinciples:meaningfulencodingofnovelmaterial,

useofawelllearnedretrievalstructure,andextendedpracticetodecreasethetimeneededforretrievalfrom

long-termmemory(EricssonandKintsch,1995).Thesamethreeprinciplesapplytoexpertmusicperformance

(ChaffinandImreh,2002;KrampeandEricsson,1996).First,experts’knowledgeoftheirdomainofexpertiseallows

themtomakeuseofschematicknowledgealreadystoredinmemorytoorganizeinformationintolargerchunks

(Brewer,1987).Foramusician,theseincludefamiliarpatternslikechords,scales,andarpeggios,whosepractice

formsanimportantpartofeverymusician’straining(HalpernandBower,1982).Second,expertmemoryinany

domainrequiresaretrievalschemetoorganizethecuesthatprovideaccesstothechunksofinformationinlong-

termmemory(EricssonandCharness,1994).Foramusician,theformalstructureofthemusicprovidesaready-

madehierarchicalorganizationtoserveasaretrievalscheme(WilliamonandValentine,2002).Forexample,

Figure1showshowthehierarchicalorganizationoftheItalianConcerto(Presto)byJ.S.Bachintomovements,

sections,subsections,andbarswasusedbyapianisttoorganizehermemoryforthepiece(Chaffinetal.,2002).

Thethirdprincipleofexpertmemoryisthatprolongedpracticeisneededinordertousearetrievalschemelikethe

oneinFigure1atratesthatarerapidenoughtobeuseful(EricssonandKintsch,1995).Forthemusician,this

involvespracticingmemoryretrievaluntilitisfastenoughtokeeppacewiththeperformance.

Rapidmemoryretrievalisimportantinmusicperformancetopreventthehandsfrom“runningaway”asthe

retrievalofproceduralknowledgebyassociativechainingoutpacestheslower,content-addressableretrievalof

declarativeknowledge.Thesmoothintegrationofthetwosystemscreates“long-termworkingmemory”(Ericsson

andKintsch,1995).Practiceisneededsothattheperformancecueforwhatcomesnextarrivesinworking

memoryatjusttherightmoment,beforethecorrespondingmotorsequences,butnotsosoonthatitdistractsfrom

theexecutionoftheprecedingpassageandcauses“choking.”

Performing from Memory

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Clicktoviewlarger

Figure2. Modelofepisodicmemoryformusicperformanceshowingseparateretrievalorganizationsfor

accessbycontentaddressandbyserialchaining.

AdaptedfromK.A.EricssonandW.Kintsch,Long-termworkingmemory,PsychologicalReview,102(2),

211–245,http://dx.doi.org/10.1037Copyright©1995,TheAmericanPsychologicalAssociation.

TheinterplayofthetworetrievalsystemsisillustratedinFigure2,whichshowsthetworoutesbywhichmemoryfor

apieceofmusiccanberetrieved.Atthebottomofthefigurearetheserialassociationssetupwhilelearningto

playthepiece.Theseassociations,basedonschemasforrhythm,meter,harmony,andmelody,directlylinkeach

passagewiththenext.Eachpassageiscuedbytheprecedingpassage.Direct,contentaddressableaccessis

providedbyasecondretrievalsystem,shownatthetopofthefigure.Here,ahierarchicalretrievalorganization,

similartothatinFigure1,providesdirectaccesstoanysectionofthepiece.Performancecuesembeddedinthis

organizationprovidepossible“startingpoints”incasethingsgowronginperformance.

PerformanceCues

Oneofthemainchallengesinmemorizingforperformanceistointegratethetworetrievalsystems.Asonepianist

putitintalkingaboutlearningtheItalianConcerto(Presto)byJ.S.Bach:

Myfingerswereplayingthenotesjustfine.ThepracticeIneededwasinmyhead.Ihadtolearntokeep

trackofwhereIwas.ItwasamatteroflearningexactlywhatIneededtobethinkingofasIplayed,andat

exactlywhatpointsothatasIapproachedaswitchingpointIwouldautomaticallythinkaboutwhereIwas,

andwhichwaytheswitchwouldgo.

(Chaffinetal.,2002,p.224)

Thepianistwastalkingaboutperformancecues.

Performancecuesarelandmarksinthementalmapofapiecethatanexperiencedmusicianattendstoduring

performance.Becausetheycanbeaccessedbothbyserialcueinganddirectlybyaddress,theyprovideasafety

netincaseserialcueingbreaksdown.Carefulpreparationofperformancecuesmakesitpossibleforsoloists

reliablytoperformchallengingworksfrommemoryontheconcertstage.Byrepeatedlypayingattentionto

performancecuesduringpractice,themusicianensuresthattheybecomeanintegralpartoftheperformance,

comingtomindeffortlesslyasthemusicunfolds.Theperformerremainsmindfuloftheseaspectsofthe

performancewhileallowingotherstooccurautomatically(ChaffinandLogan,2006).Inanyparticularperformance,

musiciansnormallyattendtoonlyasubsetoftheperformancecuestheyhaveprepared,usingthemstrategically

inresponsetotheneedsofthemoment(Ginsborg,ChaffinandDemos,2012).Whenthingsgosmoothly,

performancecuesareasourceofspontaneityandvariationinhighlypolishedperformances(Chaffin,Lemieuxand

Chen,2007;Ginsborgetal.,2012).Whenthingsgowrong,theyprovideplacesatwhichthesoloistcanrecover

andgoon.

Performancecuespointtodifferenttypesofmemoryaccordingtowhichaspectofthemusictheyaddress:

structure,expression,interpretation,orbasictechnique(Chaffinetal.,2002;Chaffin,Lisboa,LoganandBegosh,

2010;Ginsborg,ChaffinandNicholson,2006).Performancecuesarecontentaddressablethroughtheirlocationin

thehierarchicalorganizationofthepiece(seeFigure1).Inlearninganewpiece,themusicianmovesupanddown

thehierarchy,attendingtoeachleveloforganizationandeachtypeofcueinturn(Williamon,Valentineand

Valentine,2002).Likeexpertsinotherfields,whoapproachanewproblembylookingatthe“bigpicture,”

Performing from Memory

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experiencedmusiciansapproachthetaskoflearninganewpiecebyfirstunderstandingitsstructureand

expressiveshape(Chaffin,Imreh,LemieuxandChen,2003;Lisboa,ChaffinandLogan,2012).Beyondthis

commonality,theorderinwhichdifferenttypesofperformancecuearepracticeddependsontheindividual,piece,

andsituation(Chaffin,2011;Chaffinetal.,2013).Whatexperiencedperformershaveincommonisthatthey

practiceperformancecuesandsohaveasafetynetfortimeswhenassociativecueingfails.

Conclusion

ThoughithasalonghistoryinWesternclassicalmusic,playingfrommemoryisoftenasourceofanxietyfor

performers.LazarBermanreported,“EverytimeIplayinfrontofanaudience,itisaveryimportantanddifficult

affair,bothphysicallyandspiritually.Iamneversurethatitisgoingtoendwell”(Chaffinetal.,2002,ch.3).Anton

Rubinsteinwrotethatfearofmemoryfailure“inflicteduponmetorturesonlytobecomparedwiththoseofthe

Inquisition”(Rubinstein,1969,p.18).

Giventhecostsinvolvedinplayingfrommemoryanditslongtradition,stretchingback175years,itmightbe

expectedthatmusicianswouldhavedevelopedasystematicunderstandingoftheproblemsinvolved.Thishasnot

happened(AielloandWilliamon,2004).Individualmusiciansknowagreatdealaboutstrategiesformemorization

(Hallam,1995,1997),butthisknowledgeisconveyedfromteachertostudentthroughanapprenticeshipsystem

thatmakesitunavailableforsystematicanalysis.Memorizationisviewedasanindividualandmysteriousprocess.

Itisuptoeachpersontofindtheirownmethod(Ginsborg,2002).Thisisregrettableandunnecessary(Lisboa,

ChaffinandDemos,2015).Thereisnoreasontothinkthatmusicalmemoryvariesanymorefromonepersonto

anotherthananyothertraitorcapacity.Beneathasuperficialdiversity,thecognitiveandneurologicalsystems

involvedinmemoryarecommontoallhumanbeings.Inthischapterwehavedescribedthoseaspectsthatare

mostrelevanttoperformingmusicfrommemory.

Acknowledgments

WethankMaryCrawfordforhelpfulcommentsonapreviousversionofthischapter.

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Notes:

( )Ouruseofthistermisanoversimplification.Emotionisacomplexandvariedphenomenonthatdrawson

multipleneuralsystems(Rubin,2006).

RogerChaffin

RogerChaffin,DepartmentofPsychology,UniversityofConnecticut

AlexanderP.Demos

AlexanderP.Demos,McGillUniversity

TopherR.Logan

TopherR.Logan,CommunitySchooloftheArts,UniversityofConnecticut