Schick talks about that when he learns a piece he goes incredibly slow, note by note. He doesn't skip around or read ahead. He doesn't work backwards and rarely does he jump around. That's a near impossibility for me. The whole band knows the whole tune and they run it in it's entirety multiple times a night.
Schick also describes that when he begins working on a new piece he selects a small chuck, such as what he is able to sing in one breath. He plays it while looking at the music. Then he sings it. Then he steps back from the instruments and envisions himself playing it as vividly as possible. Then he returns to the instrument and plays it again with out the music. Through this system he learns it visually, aurally, kinesthetically, and mentally. WOW.
I tried it. It's hard. I just don't have the time to go that slow - even though I need to somehow be that thorough. Schick is also quick to point out that the processes of learning and memorizing are "personal and often idiosyncratic." Well that's true for sure. He also points out the biggest fear we have about memorizing - what happens when we forget. Well that's what I'm encountering right now. I have tried to illustrate below.
To give you an idea think about the alphabet. We all know it quite easily. Especially forwards. Here it is:
But what would happen if you never learned a couple of letters. They were just didn't make sense. An S is really just squiggle. And don't U and V look a lot alike? I mean they're only separated by a point. You know they exist. You even know where they belong. You just haven't gotten a grasp on them.
Well, while you begin to work very diligently on those blank spots some other stuff starts to slip. Maybe because you haven't written them out in a while or because you're getting the old markings confused with the newer ones. Now you haven't forgotten completely, but all of a sudden you can't quite remember the connections. Where does the B connect? How many line does an F have? a K? Where are the points on W, Y, and Z?
I'll get there.
