Wednesday, June 27, 2007

hEARing, part 1

I arise from my summer daze for a rare blog...
I've been working on memorizing Peaslee's Arrows of Time. Normally I don't bother to memorize music. Why? I've always felt you should do whatever produces the best performance. If I hesitate because of a little memory slip, the piece suffers.

I must admit, however, as I work to memorize some of the funkier intervals of that piece, I find that I must truly learn them. I find that I play them better because, since I had to memorize them, they are clearer in my ear.

So here's an equation to consider...

Memorizing = Better Inner Hearing = Better Performance

I'm not totally sold on memorizing yet but I have to admit, this is something new to consider.

You never stop learning.