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A study of the methods of memorizing employedby piano students at the University of Arizona
Item Type text; Thesis-Reproduction (electronic)
Authors Stabile, Blaise Joseph, 1922-
Publisher The University of Arizona.
Rights Copyright © is held by the author. Digital access to this materialis made possible by the University Libraries, University of Arizona.Further transmission, reproduction or presentation (such aspublic display or performance) of protected items is prohibitedexcept with permission of the author.
Download date 29/04/2018 17:14:42
Link to Item http://hdl.handle.net/10150/553843
A STUDY OF THE METHODS OF MEMORIZING
EMPLOYED BY HAND STUDENTS AT THE UNIVERSITY OF ARIZONA
B la ise J F 'S ta b l le
' )A T h esis
su b m itted to th e f a c u l ty o f th e
Department cf Music Education
in p a r t i a l f u l f i l lm e n t o f th e
req u irem en ts f o r th e degree of
MASTER OF ARTS
in th e G raduate C o lleg e , U n iv e rs ity o f A rizona
1951
Approved / £ f 7
/9<r/
; ACKNOWLEDGHfflHTS
' The w r i t e r w ishes to ex p ress h is a p p re c ia t io n
to P ro fe s s o r H a r tle y D. Snyder, the d i r e c to r of th i s
the s i s f o r h is in v a lu a b le ad v ice and gu idance du rin g
i t s p r e p a r a t io n , to A s s is ta n t P ro fe s s o r Lyle M* Young
and to a l l th e p iano te a c h e rs and p iano s tu d e n ts of
the U n iv e r s ity of A rizona who p a r t ic ip a te d in making
t h i s th e s i s p o ss ib le # .
219160
TABLE OF CONTENTS
PageCHAPTER I .............................................
a . In tro d u c tio n . . . . . . . . . . .b . S ta tem en t o f the problemc . Method of g a th e r in g d a tad . O rg a n iza tio n o f th e r e p o r t ............................... 11
CHAPTER I I ................................................................. 12P ro c esse s o f M usical Memory Based
on R e la ted L i te r a tu r e
CHAPTER I I I ............................................................................... 23P re s e n ta t io n of Data O btained
from th e In te rv ie w
chapter I?. . . . . ; . . .a . Summary . ...................................................................... 52b . C onclusions and recom m endations ................... 55
BIBLIOGRAPHY ............................................. 60
APPENDIX 62V
) h)
M
L IST OF TABLES
TABLE I - a ................ ......................................................... .C la s s i f i c a t io n o f a l l s tu d e n ts accord ing to method of m emorizing em ployed, showing frequency d i s t r ib u t io n in each of the m easures of memory a b i l i t y
TABLE I - b ........................... .............................................. .C la s s i f i c a t io n of a l l s tu d e n ts acco rd in g to method of memorizing em ployed, showing the frequency d i s t r i b u t io n a f t e r the two ran k in g s ( s tu d e n t 's and t e a c h e r 's ) were averaged
TABLE I l - a ....................... .................................................Frequency d i s t r ib u t io n of the groups using the e s s e n t i a l MA p lu s o n e , tw o, or th re e o th e r methods o f memorizing acco rd ing to the s tu d e n t 's own rank ing
TABLE I l - b ........................................................................Frequency d i s t r i b u t io n o f the groups using the e s s e n t i a l MA com bination p lus one , two o r th re e o th e r methods of memorizing acco rd in g to the te a c h e r 's rank ing of the s tu d e n t 's a b i l i t y
TABLE I I - c ......... ............. •................ ...............................Frequency d i s t r i b u t io n of the groups u sing the e s s e n t i a l MA com bination p lu s one , two o r th re e o th e r methods o f memorizing acco rd ing to the average rank ing of the s tu d e n t 's a b i l i t y
TABLE I l l - a ....................... ........... .................Frequency d i s t r i b u t io n o f a l l s tu d e n ts who used v is u a l memory, a l l who d id no t use v is u a l memory and the e n t i r e group a c c o rd ing to the s tu d e n t 's own rank ing as to a b i l i t y
Page28
30
32
33
34
3 6
TABLE I l l - b ....................................................................Frequency d i s t r i b u t io n o f a l l s tu d e n ts who used v is u a l memory, a l l who did n o t use v is u a l memory and the e n t i r e group acco rd in g to the t e a c h e r ’ s ran k in g of the s tu d e n t ’ s a b i l i t y
TABLE I I I - c ......... ........................ .................................Frequency d i s t r ib u t io n o f a l l s tu d e n ts who used v is u a l memory, a l l who d id no t use v is u a l memory and th e e n t i r e group accord ing to th e ran k in g s averaged from T able I l l - a and IT I-b
TABLE IV-a ................................ .....................................Frequency d i s t r i b u t i o n o f a l l s tu d e n ts who used harm onic a n a l y s i s , a l l who d id no t use harm onic a n a ly s i s , and the e n t i r e group acco rd in g to the s tu d e n t 's own rank ing as to a b i l i t y
TABLE IV-b ......................................................................Frequency d i s t r i b u t io n o f a l l s tu d e n ts who used harm onic a n a l y s i s , a l l who did n o t use harm onic a n a ly s i s , and the e n t i r e group acco rd in g to th e t e a c h e r 's rank ing of the s tu d e n t ’s a b i l i t y
TABLE IV-c ......................... .............................................Frequency d i s t r i b u t io n of a l l s tu d e n ts who used harmonic a n a ly s i s , a l l who did n o t use harmonic a n a ly s i s , and the e n t i r e group acco rd ing to th e t e a c h e r 's ran k in g o f the s tu d e n t 's a b i l i t y
TABLE V-a ...................................................... .................Frequency d i s t r i b u t io n o f a l l s tu d e n ts who used i n t e l l e c t u a l memory, a l l who did n o t , and the e n t i r e group acco rd in g to the s tu d e n t 's own rank ing
TABLE V-b ........................................................................F requency d i s t r i b u t io n o f a l l s tu d e n t 's who used i n t e l l e c t u a l memory, a l l who d id n o t , and the e n t i r e g roup , acco rd ing to the t e a c h e r 's rank ing o f the s tu d e n t 's a b i l i t y
Page37
38
40
41
42
44
4 5
TABLE V-0 ................................ .................................Frequency d i s t r i b u t i o n o f a l l s tu d e n ts who used i n t e l l e c t u a l memory, a l l who d id n o t , and the e n t i r e g roup , acco rd in g to the ran k in g s averaged from th e s tu d e n t’ s and te a c h e r ’ s e s tim a te s
TABLE V l-a ...............................................................D is t r ib u t io n o f s tu d e n ts u sin g the MA e s s e n t i a l , the v i s u a l , harmonic ana ly s i s , and i n t e l l e c t u a l methods
TABLE VI-b ...............................................................Frequency d i s t r i b u t i o n o f th e groups u s in g the e s s e n t i a l HA p lu s o n e , two or th re e o th e r methods of memorizing acco rd in g to t h e i r s a t i s f a c to r y o r u n s a t is f a c to ry memory su ccess
CHAPTER I
a . In tro d u c tio n
Memorizing m usic has alw ays been a g r e a t concern
among music te a c h e rs and music s tu d e n ts , and th e la c k of
success in memorizing has proved b a f f l in g and d isc o u ra g
in g . O b serv a tio n of many piano s tu d e n ts whom th e w r i t e r
has known th roughou t the course of c o lle g e y e a rs in d ic a te d
th a t s e v e ra l th in g s a re m is s in g . Many s tu d e n ts p r a c t ic e
t h e i r p ie c e s fo r long h o u rs , d ev o tin g much tim e to thorough
p r a c t ic in g to overcome problem s o f tech n iq u e b efo re memoriz
in g . In a tte m p tin g to overcome problem s of techn ique the
s tu d e n t i s c o n s ta n tly in the p ro cess of m em orizing. But
he i s n o t m emorizing c o n sc io u s ly or w i l l f u l l y . .He i s mem?
o r iz in g by means of an au to m atic k in a e s th e t ic p ro c e s s . The
s tu d e n t becomes so absorbed in h is endeavor to overcome
problem s of tech n iq u e th a t a u d ito ry memory i s somewhat
n e g le c te d . The problem o f tech n iq u e compels the s tu d en t
to d i s t r a c t h is a t t e n t io n from l i s t e n i n g to h is own perfo rm
an ce . C onsequen tly , th e re i s an in ad eq u a te a p p l ic a t io n of
a l l the p ro c e s se s of m usical memory.
The d e s ire to overcome problem s of tech n iq u e b efo re
m em orizing i s n o t alw ays enough to secu re an adequate form ula
f o r m em orizing. In m emorizing r e p e to ir e p i a n i s t s a re o v e r
2
whelmed by a s t a t e of u n c e r ta in ty as to how they should mem
o r iz e . They cannot p lay a s e le c t io n co m p le te ly th rough by
memory and a re unable to le a rn th e reaso n s why. They do n o t
understand what i s a t f a u l t in t h e i r methods o f m em orizing.
C onsequen tly , th e re i s no hope fo r im provem ent. How can
th e se s tu d e n ts improve t h e i r a b i l i t y ? What in t h e i r methods
of memorizing le a d s them a s t r a y ? How m ny methods o f memo —
liz in g a re th e re and which of them a re s u c c e s s fu l?
b . S ta tem en t of the problem
A p rev io u s study by Black was chosen as a b a s is fo r
th i s p re se n t s tu d y . In B la c k ’ s th e s i s the problem s ta te d
was " to f in d ou t what ways of memorizing piano music appear
to be most s u c c e s s fu l in a c tu a l p r a c t i c e . The s o lu t io n
to th i s problem was found u n s a t i s f a c to r y , and B lack suggested
f u r th e r s tudy of th i s problem to u n ea rth more s ig n i f i c a n t
d a ta . A te n ta t iv e h y p o th e s is was g iven by B lack as fo l lo w s :
In memorizing p iano music i t would ap p ear th a t &ny one method shou ld be re in fo rc e d by th e ' employment o f o th e r m ethods, s in c e the few est memory f a i l u r e s Were re p o r te d by those who used a combina t io n of m ethods.2
Thus the w r i t e r endeavored to u ndertake the work of
t h i s problem . The o b je c t in mind was to f in d a d d i t io n a l
d a ta which would e i t h e r r e in fo rc e o r d isp ro v e the d ed u c tio n s
■‘■Frederick L. B l a c k , ' J r . , An I n v e s t ig a t io n of The Methods o f Memorizing Employed By P iano S tu d e n ts , In d ian a S ta te T each e r’s C o lleg e , No. 311, M. A. T h e s is , 1937•
%I b i d . . p . 73.
3
made by B lack . A lso the accum ulation of d a ta from an e n t i r e ly
d i f f e r e n t l y l o c a l i t y would a f fo rd the o p p o rtu n ity to in d ic a te
w hether B la c k 's co n c lu s io n s could be made lo c a l o r g e n e ra l .
Thus the problem o f th i s th e s is i s s ta te d as fo llo w s :
What a re the methods o f m em orizing employed by p iano s tu d e n ts
a t the U n iv e rs ity o f A rizona and which of them ap p ear most
s u c c e s s fu l?
c . Method o f g a th e r in g d a ta
The method o f g a th e r in g d a ta fo r th i s p re se n t study
was s im ila r , to B la c k 's s tu d y ex cep t th a t the q u e s tio n n a ire
was s u b s t i tu te d by the in te rv ie w . R e a liz in g the shortcom ings
of the q u e s tio n n a ire method th e w r i te r b e lie v e d th e in te rv ie w
would p rov ide b e t t e r o p p o r tu n ity f o r accu racy o f in fo rm a tio n
in g a th e r in g d a ta . The study of an in d iv id u a l 's method o f
m em orizing a t the piano would be b e t t e r n o tic e d th ro u g h th e
in te rv ie w .
A ll p iano s tu d e n ts under p r iv a te I n s t r u c t io n a t the
U n iv e r s i ty o f A rizona d u rin g sp r in g sem ester o f 1951 were
in te rv ie w e d . Each s tu d e n t was In te rv iew e d p r iv a te ly . More
than h a l f were a t work in t h e i r p r a c t ic e rooms a t th e School
o f Music when they were in te rv ie w e d . O thers had to be con
ta c te d a t t h e i r homes and in between c la s s hours*
A model in te rv ie w was c o n s tru c te d c o n ta in in g a l l
p e r t in e n t q u e s tio n s on m em orizing p iano m usic. (A sample o f
t h i s in te rv ie w can be found in th e A ppenidx.) A ll q u e s tio n s
4
in t h i s in te rv ie w o r ig in a te d from p rev io u s l i t e r a t u r e r e la te d
to th i s f i e l d o f 's tu d y .
There were two main purposes f o r t h i s in te rv ie w . One
was to f in d ou t what methods o f m emorizing were employed by
p iano s tu d e n ts a t the U n iv ers ity o f A rizona . The o th e r was
to f in d ou t w hich o f th e se methods appear s u c c e s s fu l . In
o rd e r to determ ine what methods were s u c c e s s fu l i t was n ec
e s s a ry to e s tim a te the s tu d e n t ’s a b i l i t y to mem orize. A b i l i ty
to memorize was e s tim a te d by means o f a rank ing system which
fo llo w s :
A b i l i ty to memorize Rankingra p id ly ..................................... If a i r l y r a p id ............................ 2a v e ra g e ...................................... 3f a i r l y slow . . . . . . . . . . . . 4slow .............................................. 5
Both th e s tu d e n t and h is p iano in s t r u c to r were asked $0
approxim ate the s tu d e n t ’ s a b i l i t y to memorize acco rd in g to
th i s rank ing system . The two ran k in g s were then compared
w ith an average of the two as a t h i r d means o f e s tim a tin g
the s tu d e n t’ s a b i l i t y .
Q uestion number one o f th e in te rv ie w concerned m otor
memory. The s tu d e n t was asked w hether o r n o t he p layed a
p iece r e p e t i t i o u s ly u n t i l i t became a u to m a tic a lly m em orized.
Because o f th e f a c to r of economy of time in memorizing m u sic ,
t h i s has f re q u e n tly been th e o b je c t o f much s p e c u la t io n . The
common p r a c t ic e of memorizing music th ro u g h m echanical re a d in g
t r i a l s a t the p iano has been found in f e r i o r to immediate key
5
board m em orizing .^ In a a e r ie s o f ex p erim en ts designed to
answ er w hether o r nd t m e h r e p e t i t i o n o f a s i t u a t i o n produces
le a r n in g , Thorndike n l s o found th a t r e p e t i t io n s alone der n o t
produce dependable l e a r n in g . * 2
Q uestions two and th re e o f t h i s in te rv ie w w ere d ev ised
to f in d o u t w hether the s tu d e n t depended on v i s u a l memory
when p lay in g from memory.
Q uestion fo u r was based on a u d i to ry memory. Each s tu
d en t was ex p ec ted to answer MYesn . The purpose o f t h i s ques
t io n was m erely to judge from th e s tu d e n t 's response the
e x te n t to w hich e a r memory was being u t i l i z e d .
In q u es tio n number f iv e the s tu d e n t r e l a t e d w h eth e r
o r no t harm onic a n a ly s is had been a p p lie d in m em orizing.
Q uestion s ix concerned i n t e l l e c t u a l memory. T h is item
n e c e s s i ta te d some e x p la n a tio n to e l im in a te co n fu sio n between
harm onic a n a ly s is and i n t e l l e c t u a l memory. In the s tu d y by
B lack , harm onic a n a ly s is and i n t e l l e c t u a l memory were in c lu d ed
a s one s in g le memory p ro cess under the c l a s s i f i c a t i o n of
" I n t e l l e c t u a l Memory". However, the w r i te r f e l t j u s t i f i e d
i n c l a s s i f y in g th e two p ro c e sse s as s e p a ra te d i s t i n c t c a te
g o r ie s . This s e p a ra te c l a s s i f i c a t i o n was based on the f a c t
t h a t many s tu d e n ts have had no t r a in in g in th e o ry , and th e r e
fo re would be unable to an a ly ze h a rm o n ic a lly . Y et th e se
l& race Rubin-R abson, "S tu d ie s in The Psychology o f M emorizing P iano M usic", Jo u rn a l o f E d u c a tio n a l P sy cho logy . A p r i l IQ4 0 , p . 111. '
2I b i d . , p . 111 .
6
same s tu d e n ts w e re . in o lin e d to em phasize t h e i r I n t e l l e c t u a l
concep ts by s tu d y in g the m usic seay from th e piano* As
f u r th e r i d e n t i f i c a t i o n of t h i s s e p a ra te p ro ce ss o f m em orizing
i n t e l l e c t u a l l y an experim en t by Rabson i s summarized a s
fo l lo w s :
Of th e s e v e ra l te ch n iq u e s examined in sea rch o f an adequate form ula f o r memorizing none y ie ld e d such marked r e s u l t s as th e a n a ly t ic a l" s tu d y o f the m a te r ia l p re lim in a ry to keyboard c o m p le tio n .. .*
S ince the I n t e l l e c t u a l concep ts a re b e t t e r apprehended when f r e e from th e e x ig e n c ie s o f mainta in in g smooth and rhy thm ic flow in perfo rm ance, s i l e n t s tu d y and a n a ly s is must p recede keyboard p r a c t i c e .
Q uestion seven w ith re g a rd to th e whole o r p a r t
method re q u ire d much i n t e r p r e t a t i o n by the in te rv ie w e r .
Many s tu d e n ts were n o t aw are o f w hich method th ey em ployed.
The d e c is io n to in c lu d e t h i s item in the in te rv ie w was due
to e v id e n t d isag reem en t concern ing the r e l a t i v e e f f ic ie n c y
o f the p a r t and whole m ethods. 0 ,B rien summarized a r e p o r t
on p a r t and whole methods in th e m em orization o f music s t a t
in g th a t the p a r t method was more econom ical s in c e th e re
was d e f in i t e sav ing o f tim e ran g in g from tw e n ty -f iv e p e r
c e n t to s ix t y - f iv e p e r c e n t in th e u t i l i z a t i o n o f t h i s m ethod.
In th e so u n d le ss m em orization of music ( v is u a l memory) th e
p a r t method was d e f in i t e ly s u p e r io r in economy of tim e .
N e ith e r whole no r p a r t method was fav o red when a l l th e r e s u l t s
-klraoe Rubin-Rabson, "S tu d ie s in The Psychology of M emorizing P iano M usic", Jo u rn a l o f E d u c a tio n a l P sycho logy . Volume 3 2 , January 1941 , p .1 0 2 .
7
of th e experim ent in a u d i to ry ( d ic ta t io n ) memory was c o n s id
e re d . Where th e k ln a e a th e t ic memory was p redom inan t, m o to r
memory of music by the p a r t method was accom plished w ith a
sav ing o f tim e ran g in g from t h i r t y - f i v e p e r c e n t to s i x t y
f iv e p e r cent*
In i n t e r p r e t in g the d a ta o f t h i s s tu d y th e re i s e v i
dence th a t in the m em orization o f music in v o lv in g a u d i to ry ,
v is u a l and m otor c a p a c i t ie s th e p a r t method o f mem orizing
i s more econom ical,
In one o f Rabson*s ex p erim en ts th e re was rea so n to
b e l ie v e th a t a group o f m usic s tu d e n ts o f d iv e rs e c a p a b i l i
t i e s could most p r o f i t a b ly be ad v ised to work in as sm a ll
u n i ts as th e y in d iv id u a l ly f in d s a t i s f a c t o r y • R e su lts
in d ic a te d th a t " a b i l i t y to work co m fo rtab ly w ith l a r g e r
u n i t s i s s p e c i f i c to the more capab le s u b je c ts and so
becomes a c r i t e r i o n tow ard w hich to s t r iv e * "
Q uestion e ig h t concerned the use o f m emorizing each
hand s e p a r a te ly . I t was in c lu d e d in t h i s in te rv ie w because
th e re has been c o n s id e ra b le d is tu rb a n c e caused by th e in a d
equacy of th e p re p a ra t io n o f th e l e f t hand* This becomes
p a in fu l ly ap p a ren t in p u b lic perform ance when em o tio n a l con
d i t io n s a l t e r somewhat th e ba lance o f a t te n t io n * Rabson
I d y r i l C. O 'B rien . P a r t and Whole Methods In The M em orization o f M usic. Departm ent o f P sycho logy , M aritim e Academy o f M usic, H a lifa x , N. S. Canada*
Zorace Rubin-R abson, "S tu d ie s in The Psychology o f M emorizing Plano M usic". Jo u rn a l o f E d u c a tio n a l P sy ch o lo g y . Volume 31, Septem ber 1940, pp. 466- 476*
8
r e p o r ts th a t "a p a t te r n of r ig h t-h a n d e d c u l tu re combined w ith
th e g r e a te r a u d i b i l i t y of h ig h e r as a g a in s t low er to n es have
o p e ra ted to s t r e s s th e em phasis and t r a in in g of th e r ig h t
hand in p iano s tu d y .
An o p p o s ite p o in t o f view i s tak en by Brown in h e r
f in d in g s th a t the ’hands to g e th e r ’ method of le a rn in g was
more e f f i c i e n t in bo th speed and t r i a l s th an th e ’hands
s e p a r a te ' m ethod. The 'h an d s s e p a ra te ' method was p ro g re s
s iv e ly i n e f f i c i e n t owing to th e f a c t th a t th e music f o r each
hand became p a r t i a l l y memorized which m i l i ta te d a g a in s t t h e i r
com bination . P le a su re in le a rn in g was more in ev idence in
the 'h an d s to g e th e r ' m ethod.^
Rabson concluded in a n o th e r s tudy th a t u n i l a t e r a l
t r i a l s p re lim in a ry to co o rd in a ted t r i a l s o p e ra te to produce
g r e a te r s t a b i l i t y and c l a r i t y in the le a rn in g o f p iano m a te r ia l ,
even though th i s s u p e r io r i ty i s no t ap p a re n t in the number of
t r i a l s re q u ire d e i t h e r f o r le a rn in g o r r e le a rn in g .^
Q uestion number n in e was in ten d ed to re v e a l w hether, ■ >
or n o t the s tu d e n t developed a s o - c a l l e d " s tu t t e r in g h a b i t .
M atthay p o in t s 'o u t th a t p la y in g * a r ig h t no te im m ediately a f t e r
a wrong no te w i l l tend to Im press a wrong sequence in the mem-
^Grace Rubln-Rabson, "S tu d ie s in The Psychology of M emorizing P iano M usic", Jo u rn a l of E d u c a tio n a l P sy ch o lo g y . Volume 30, May 1939, PP- 321-345. -
ZRoberta 17. Brown, "The R e la tio n Between Two Methods of L earn ing P iano M usic", Jo u rn a l o f E d u ca tio n a l P sycho logy , June 1928. “ ; ~ ^
3Graoe R ubin-R absonr. "S tu d ie s in .The Psychology of M emorizing P iano M usic", Jo u rn a l of E d u ca tio n a l P sy ch o lo g y , Volume 3 1 , September 1940, p . 490-4761 ™— _
9
ory p ro c e s s . The v ery n ex t time th e sequence w i l l be p layed
w ith a r e p e t i t i o n of th e b lu n d e r fo llow ed by the c o r re c t io n *
To overcome t h i s stum bling f a u l t M atthey su g g e s ts t h a t one
shou ld move a c ro s s th e e n t i r e su c c e ss io n o f sounds in the
ph rase from beg inn ing to end u n t i l the r i g h t no te i s le a rn e d
in the sequence*^
Item te n w ith re g a rd to w orry ing d u rin g perform ance
was in s e r te d to p rep a re the s tu d e n t f o r th e n ex t q u es tio n *
As in d ic a te d by B lack i t would be d i f f i c u l t f o r m ost s tu d e n ts
to remember w hether a memory f a i l u r e had occured f r e q u e n t ly ,2
o c c a s io n a lly o r seldom . Thus i t was hoped th a t t h i s q u e s tio n
would h e lp th e s tu d e n t to r e c a l l h is p a s t perform ances by mem
o ry .
M atthay b e l ie v e s t h a t t r y in g to r e c a l l the th in g ahead
w i l l in e v i ta b ly d e s tro y the s e q u e n tia l a c t io n o f memory. This
can be avoided by th in k in g on ly of the music which i s being
played a t th e moment. C o n tin u ity i s broken down th e moment
th e re i s doubt about what w i l l fo llow * T rying to r e c a l l th e
n ex t no te w i l l be f a t a l in th a t i t w i l l d is r u p t the p re v io u s ly3
made s e q u e n t ia l memory ways o r c h a n n e ls .
I l l u s t r a t i n g th i s p o in t o f th e course of memory being stopped by o n e’s t r y in g to remember the n ex t th in g : a t one o f our p r iv a te c o n c e r t m eetings one
^Tobias M atthay . On Memorizing and P lay in g From Memory, Oxford U n iv e r s ity P r e s s , Amen llouae . Warwick S quare , E .C .4 ,P . 8 .
F re d e r ic k L. B lack , J r . , An I n v e s t ig a t io n o f The Methods o f Memorizing Employed by P iano S tu d e n ts , In d ian a S ta te T each er’ s C o lleg e , No. 311, M. A. T h e s is , 1937.
^Tobias M atthay , On M emorizing and P lay in g From Memoryr Oxford U n iv e rs ity P r e s s , Amen House, Warwick S q u are , S . 0 . 4 , p ,12 .
1 0
of the p erfo rm ers broke down a f t e r p la y in g about 16 bars* She th en s t a r t e d ag a in and broke down a f t e r p la y in g e ig h t b a r s . A f te r she t r i e d , and ag a in stopped h e r s e l f , a f t e r fo u r b a rs now. F in a l ly a f t e r b e ing urged to p la y a g a in , she was ab le to p lay the f i r s t fo u r n o te s ! I then p u lle d h e r to g e th e r by speak ing to h e r from th e aud ience say in g : "Do n o t t r y to remember, but j u s t th in k the m usic, and l e t the music tak e you a lo n g ." She th en s t a r t e d once more and q u ite s u c c e s s fu l ly p layed th e same l i t t l e P u rc e l l p ie c e to the end , w ith o u t h e s i ta t io n *She had been p re v e n tin g the n a tu r a l m em ory-action o f h e r m ind, and s to p p in g i t by ask ing h e r s e l f : "What i s th e n ex t n o te ? " 1
M atthay concludes from t h i s ty p ic a l ex p e rien ce th a t
i f m u sica l co n n ec tio n o r a s s o c ia t io n s have been p ro p e r ly
l in k e d , we can s t im u la te them in to a c t io n only by fo cu sin g
a t t e n t io n on the p o in t engaged a t each moment du ring the
perform ance of th e p ie c e . Each item su g g e s ts th e fo llo w in g
one. L e tt in g the mind th in k o f som ething ahead w i l l d e s tro y2
th e s e q u e n tia l au to m atic a c t io n .
R estin g a f t e r le a r n in g ’''was in c lu d ed in q u es tio n tw e lv e ,
As re p o r te d by Munn r e s t in g a f t e r m em orizing i s a psycho log
i c a l p r in c ip le of e f f i c i e n t le a rn in g w hich a id s r e te n t io n .^
In q u e s tio n th i r t e e n the s tu d e n t was asked to r a te
h im se lf as to h is a b i l i t y in m em orizing. T h is was done
acco rd in g to the ran k in g system m entioned above.
^Tobias M atthay , On Memorizing and P lay in g From Memory. Oxford U n iv e rs ity P r e s s , Amen House, Warwick S q u are , E .C .4 ,p . l2
; i b i d . , p . 13 .^Norman L. Munn, P sycho logy . B oston: Houghton M if f l in
Company, 194b, p , 165•^Throughout t h i s s tu d y le a rn in g w i l l be used i n t e r - -
changeably w ith m em orizing s in c e even a t i t s in c e p tio n le a r n in g i s d ir e c te d tow ard immediate memorising*
1 1
Q uestion fo u rte e n 'was in ten d ed no t only to d isc o v e r
what number o f s tu d e n ts were r e a l l y g e t t in g a id from t h e i r
te a c h e rs in the memorizing p ro cess bu t a ls o to be ab le to
compare what methods were being ta u g h t each s tu d e n t and the
degree o f frequency of th e v a r io u s m ethods»
The l a s t q u e s tio n co n ta in ed the v a r io u s ty p es o f
methods on which the s u b je c t was found to depend* T his
q u es tio n was f i l l e d in by the w r i t e r a f t e r th e in fo rm a tio n
to a l l p rev io u s q u e s tio n s had been answered*
d* O rg a n iza tio n o f the r e p o r t
C hapter two o f t h i s .r e p o r t in c lu d e s a review of the
p ro c e sse s o f m usical memory based on p re v io u s l i t e r a t u r e
r e la te d to th i s f i e l d o f s tu d y . Five d i s t i n c t p ro ce sse s
of m usica l memory were found p o ss ib le . They a re c l a s s i f i e d
a s : motor memory, a u d ito ry memory, v is u a l memory, harm onic
a n a ly s is , and in te l le c tu a l .m e m o ry .
C hapter th re e c o n ta in s the p re s e n ta t io n of d a ta
o b ta in ed from the in te rv iew * A t o t a l number o f s e v e n ty -s ix
p iano s tu d e n ts were in te rv iew ed d u rin g sp r in g sem este r of
1951 a t the U n iv e rs ity of A rizo n aTs School o f Music* T ables
one th ro u g h s ix r e p o r t the methods of memorizing employed
by p iano s tu d e n ts as w e ll as the s tu d e n t 's a b i l i t y to mem
o rize*
C hap ter fo u r i s devoted to the summary, co n c lu s io n s
and recom m endations r e s u l t in g from t h i s in v e s t ig a t io n .
CHAPTER I I
PROCESSES OF MUSICAL K3.I0RY BASED ON RELATED LITERATURE
V e r if ia b le and a u th o r i t a t i v e memory te c h n iq u e s do
n o t e x i s t . At b e s t te a c h e rs and s tu d e n ts have been f o r
tu n a te enough to d is c o v e r them . On th e o th e r hand, re g a rd
l e s s o f t a l e n t many s tu d e n ts a re handicapped by an igno rance
o f m em orizing te c h n iq u e s . What th e se te ch n iq u e s a re i s th e
scope o f t h i s study*
P sy c h o lo g is ts have done much th rough en d le ss exper
im e n ta tio n to u n ea rth some p r in c ip le s and laws of le a r n in g .
For th i s reaso n i t has been deemed b e s t to p re s e n t w hatever
d a ta m ight be a v a i la b le in o rd e r to make th i s s tu d y as ob
je c t iv e a s p o s s ib le , Munn s t a t e s th a t memory t r a in in g i s
s u c c e s s fu l to the degree th a t i t makes f o r more e f f i c i e n t
le a r n in g . I t does n o t develop a "memory" f a c u l ty . Sheer
m em orizing o f som ething w ith th e id e a th a t i t w i l l improve: 1
memory, a s e x e rc is e im proves a m uscle, i s a w aste o f tim e .
Of the p r in c ip le s o f e f f i c i e n t le a rn in g w hich a id r e te n t io n
Munn in c lu d e s the fo llo w in g :
1 , In te n d in g to le a r n2 . Paying c lo se a t t e n t io n 3* U sing imageryA. A sso c ia tin g the new w ith th e o ld 5 , U sing rhythm
~ 7 iNorman L. Munn, Psy ch o lo g y . B oston : Boughton M if f l inCompany, 1946, p , 164.
1 3
6 . D is t r ib u t in g p r a c t io e7 . R e c it in g w h ile le a rn in g8 . R e s tin g a f t e r som ething h as been le a rn e d9 . G e ttin g a survey o f th e whole b e fo re s t a r t in g
to le a rn by whole o r p a r t method
Munn s t a t e s t h a t anybody who le a rn s to use th e se
p r in c ip le s w i l l improve h is "memory*, b u t whenever he f a i l s
to ap p ly them h is memory w i l l be no b e t t e r than before."*"
W ith a very h ig h degree o f d i s s im i l a r i t y (as between
m em orizing words and s in g in g ) , th e re is r e l a t i v e l y l i t t l e
f o r g e t t in g . With a h ig h degree o f s im i l a r i t y (a s between
memorizing a l i s t of words and m em orizing a n o th e r l i s t o f2w o rd s), th e re i s u s u a lly a la rg e degree o f f o r g e t t i n g .
T his p r in c ip le of f o r g e t t in g m ight i n f e r a s o lu t io n to th e
problem o f f o r g e t t in g in m u sica l perfo rm ance . I t i s known
th a t the n e u ra l t r a c e s o f p re v io u s ex p e rien ce grow f a i n t e r
w ith a la p se o f tim e . However, i t i s by no means c e r ta in
th a t la p se of t im e , as such, cau ses f o r g e t t in g . I t i s much
more l i k e l y th a t o th e r a c t i v i t i e s which occur w ith in th e
in t e r v a l weaken n e u ra l t r a c e s and make us f o r g e t . In o th e r
w ords, tim e may be an im p o rtan t f a c to r in f o r g e t t in g m erely e
because of th e a c t i v i t i e s which occur in tim e . Numerous
experim en ts have shown, in f a c t , th a t r e l a t i v e i n a c t i v i t y
fo llo w in g a c q u is i t io n d e c re a se s f o r g e t t in g .^
Recent e x te n s iv e in v e s t ig a t io n shows th a t r e te n t io n
* ^Norman L. Munn. Psychology". B oston : Houghton M if f l inCompany. 1946, p . 164 .
; i b i d . , p . 163 .3T b Id . . p . 162 .
14
la b e t t e r when a r e s t p e r io d I s In te rp o la te d Im m ediately
a f t e r le a r n in g . In a ty p ic a l ex p e rim en t, two e q u iv a le n t
g roups memorized the same l i s t of words ( th i s was c a l le d
L is t A )« One group (ex p e rim en ta l) th en le a rn e d a n o th e r
l i s t ( t h i s was c a l le d L is t B )♦ W hile they w ere doing t h i s ,
the c o n tro l group r e s te d , perhaps by s in g in g o r t e l l i n g
s t o r i e s so as to p rev en t r e h e a r s a l of L is t A. A fte r the
ex p e rim en ta l group had le a rn e d L is t B, both groups r e c a l le d
a l l they cou ld of L is t A . The r e c a l l sco re f o r the ex p e r
im en ta l group was much low er than th a t fo r the c o n tro l group*
Thus le a rn in g L is t B appeared to o b l i t e r a t e , to some e x t e n t ,
the n e u ra l t r a c e s produced in th e le a rn in g of L is t A.*
W ith in c lo se agreem ent of the above o b se rv a tio n
M atthay s t a t e s th e re i s no doubt th a t p e r s i s t e n t use of
memory du ring one p a r t i c u l a r p r a c t ic e s e s s io n w i l l r e s u l t
in f a t ig u e . F requen t and s h o r t e x e rc is e s r a th e r th an o v e r-
e x e rc is in g a t one tim e of th e memory a p t i tu d e s w i l l prove2more e f f e c t i v e .
W ith in s ig h t o r u n d e rs ta n d in g , r e te n t io n i s b e t t e r .
For exam ple, c o lle g e s tu d e n ts le a rn e d v a r io u s p u zz les e i t h e r
by memorizing th e s o lu t io n o r by m em orizing the p r in c ip le s
in v o lv e d . The m a jo r ity o f th o se who memorized w ith o u t under
s ta n d in g the p r in c ip le s e x h ib ite d marked and ra p id f o r g e t t in g
w ith in a m onth. On the o th e r hand , most of th o se who le a rn e d
~ iNorman L, Munn. P sychology . B oston: Houghton M if f l inCompany. 1946, p . 103.
2Tobias M atthay , On Memorizing and P lay in g From Memory Oxford U n iv e r s i ty P re s s , Amen h o u se , Warwick sq u a re , ib'.0.4 , p*3*
1 5
the p r in c ip le s had alm ost p e r f e c t r e te n t io n when te s te d
l a t e r a t i n t e r v a l s up to one month.*
McGeogh su g g e s ts t h a t s t r e s s should be on grouping th e
m u sica l m a te r ia ls in to p a t te r n s , r e p e t i t i o n s , t r a n s p o s i t io n , .
chord l i n e s , and th e l i k e . Grouping and o rg a n iz a tio n o f the
m a te r ia l w hether i t be m ean ingfu l o r a t the moment unmeaning
f u l , a re the d e c is iv e f a c to r s in the le a rn in g and m em orizing 2p ro c e s s .
Rabson a ttem p ted to d isc o v e r w hether e x tra s t r e s s on
the a n a ly t i c a l p re -s tu d y of the music from the sco re sh e e t
would prove more e f f i c i e n t th an by a llo w in g s tu d e n ts to be
haphazard in m em orizing. Four methods of memorizing p iano
music were compared f o r t h e i r r e l a t i v e e f f i c ie n c y . In o n e ,
the a n a ly s is of th e music was p rep a red by th e ex p e rim en te r;
in th e o th e r m ethod, th e a n a ly s is o f th e music was p repared
by the s u b je c t . The t h i r d method re q u ire d no a n a ly t i c a l
p re -s tu d y to le a rn in g a t th e keyboard . The fo u r th method
was to t e s t the v a lu e o f f a m i l i a r i t y W ith the m u sica l m at
e r i a l by h e a rin g i t b e fo re le a rn in g i t by any of th e o th e r
m ethods. To c l a r i f y t h i s methodology by the ex p e rim en te r,
a l i s t i n g of th e fo u r methods w i l l fo llo w :
a . Study o f th e sco re w ith th e a id of a g iven o u t l in e .
b . Study o f the sco re w ith the p ro d u c tio n of th e s u b je c t 's own o u t l i n e .
* ^Norman L. Munn. P sycho logy .. B oston: Houghton M if f l inCompany. 1946 , p.. 161.
23". McGeogh, "E xperim ental S tu d ie s of Memory", R o b in so n 's R eadings in G enera l P sy ch o lo g y . U n iv e r s i ty o f Chicago P re s s , 1929, p . 329.
16
c» Learillng a t th e keyboard w ith no p re lim in a ry study p e r io d
d , A h ea rin g o f fo u r r e p e t i t io n s o f the com position w h ile re ad in g the s c o r e , p reced in g each o f th e th re e above m ethods1
Both methods a and b showed marked s u p e r io r i ty o ver
method c In which the a n a ly t i c a l p re -s tu d y p e rio d was om itted#
Rabson r e p o r ts as an a d d i t io n a l o b se rv a tio n th a t the s tu d e n t
showed annoyance and i r r i t a t i o n under method o . I t was a ls o
n o ted th a t w ith methods a and b the keyboard r e n d i t io n seemed
to be f irm e r and le s s s u b je c t to e r r o r than under method c#
Even in e x p e r t and in e x p e rien c ed a n a ly s is showed up v ery much
b e t t e r th an none a t a l l ; "S ince p r a c t i c a l l y no r e la t io n s h ip
e x i s t s between p iano ex p e rien ce and le a r n in g , ex p e rien ce in
p lay in g does not im ply th a t memorizing o f new m a te r ia l w i l l
be quickened in d i r e c t r a t i o to th e amount o f such e x p e r
ie n c e , "■ " ■.......
W inslow 's r e p o r t on m u sica l memory s t r e s s e s the need
f o r co o rd in a te d developm ent o f a u d i to ry , v is u a l and k in a e s -
th e t lo a s s o c ia t io n s which in s u re the r e c a l l o f the m u slea l
item s as th ey appear in d e f in i t e and f ix e d sequence in th e
m usica l s c o re . To r e c a l l and r e t a i n the music w ith o u t s tim
u lu s from th e p r in te d page, one must see i t , h e a r i t , and
f e e l i t th ro u g h o u t the neuro -m useu lar sy stem . T his p ro cess
i s o b v io u sly a v o lu n ta ry one and b a a ie a l ly dependent upon
^Sraoe R ubln-kabsbn. A rch ives o f P sycho logy . R. S . Woodworth, E d i to r , No. 220 , Mew York, November 1937, pp#18-44 ,
2I b l d . , p , 41 .
17
1the w i l l , d® a i n and in te n t to m em orize.
In co n fo rm ity w ith t h i s M att hay a s s e r t s th a t th e -
a c t io n o f p la y in g from memory i s au to m atic w hereas th e
p ro cess o f com m itting to memory i s more o r l e s s c o n sc io u s ly 2w i l l f u l .
S im ila r ly , 'E rskine s t a t e s t h a t th e p o s s i b i l i t y o f
d i s c ip l in in g a w i l l power w hich a llo w s no la x n ess n o r l a z i
n ess i s one o f the f a c to r s r e q u ire d f o r a m u sica l memory *
The power o f the w i l l i s th e fo u n d a tio n upon w hich a l l
memory work r e s t s , W illpow er d i s c ip l in e s th e c o n c e n tra tio n
which d i r e c t s u n d ers tan d in g o f th e m a te r ia l . M a te r ia l
understood i s known and on ly the known i s capab le of b e in g 3
r e c o l le c te d .
Winslow, e x p la in s f u r t h e r th a t memory work i s n o t
som ething to be added a f t e r the music has been presum ably
le a rn e d . I t i s n o t a s e p a ra te o r f i n a l p ro c e s s ; b u t an
in te g r a l p a r t of the t o t a l a c t o f m u sica l l e a r n in g • I t i s
n o t d en ied th a t one can le a rn a p ie c e "by h e a r t" a f t e r so
many r e p e t i t i o n s th a t th e f in g e r s f a l l a u to m a tic a lly in to
the r ig h t p la c e s a t the r i g h t tim e . But th a t would be
m ere ly develop ing a "m otor" o r " f in g e r " memory and a ch a in
o f m echanical resp o n ses which can very r e a d i ly f a l l to
* ^R obert W. W inslow, "The Psychology of M usical Memory", Music E d u ca to r? s J o u rn a l . January 1949, p p , 15 -1 6 ............ ^T obias M atthey . On Memorizing and P la y in g From Memory.
Oxford U n iv e rs ity P r e s s , Amen H ouse, Warwick S quare , E .u .4 , p . 7l , /M artha E r s k in e , Harmonic A nalysis As An Aid To Memo
r iz in g P iano R e p e to i re , U n iv e rs ity o f A riz o n a , M. M. T h e s is , 1942, p . 71 .
18
p ie c e s i f any l in k shou ld b re a k . T his person has m astered
the k in a e s th e t io a s p e c ts o f th e memory p ro c e s s , but u n fo r
tu n a te ly has no t c u l t iv a te d a u d ito ry ( " in n e r h e a rin g " ) o r' '. - ?■. ; 1
v is u a l im agery o f the muaio *
P robab ly a u d i to ry im agery i s the most n e g le c te d a s p e c t
o r memory w ork. The le a r n e r m ust have a c le a r a u ra l-m e n ta l
p ic tu re of how th e music shou ld sound* Rabson su g g es ts th a t
a u d ito ry im agery as a b a s ic a id in music le a rn in g needs f u r -2 .
th e ? in v e s t ig a t io n . In th e same manner B lack concludes in
h is s tudy th a t in c re a s e d s t r e s s o f e a r t r a in in g in sch o o l
music i n s t r u c t io n should a s s i s t in develop ing a r e l i a b le-3 . . . .
m u sica l memory.
As an a id to m em orizing p iano r e p e t o i r e , E rak ine' ' . - - - • ' : - " ■ -
b e l ie v e s th a t harm onic a n a ly s is i s too o f te n n eg lec ted *
Developing m usica l memory i s dependent on th re e f a c t o r s .
F i r s t , a b i l i t y to memorize i s improved by use o f o rg a n iz
a t io n and meaning of th e m u sica l m a te r ia l by i n s i s t e n t d a i ly
harmonic a n a ly s i s . By an ex tended p e rio d in which m en ta l
im p ressio n s a re deepened, th i s f i r s t f a c to r i s accom plished .
Second, the a b i l i t y to memorize i s improved by in c re a s in g
e f f o r t o f c o n c e n tr a t io n . The th i r d f a c t o r , as a lre a d y men-
iR o b e rt Vf. W inslow, "The Psychology of M usical Memory", Music E d u c a to r 's J o u rn a l , January 1949, pp. 15 -1 6 .
- *Orace Rubin-R abson, "Psychology of Memorizing M usic", Jo u rn a l o f E d u c a tio n a l P sycho logy . Volume 31, A p r i l 1 9 4 0 ,p .44.
^ F red e rick L. B lack , J r . 7 "In v e s t ig a t io n of The Methods Of M emorizing Employed by P iano S tu d e n ts ." In d ian a S ta te T ea ch e r ' s C o lleg e , No. 311, M. A. T h e s is , p . 5b.
19
tio n o d above. I s th e p o s s i b i l i t y of d is c ip l in in g the w i l l pow er,^ 1 : \ - - : : : " • r-j-. L J :%
. A ccording to Hibsoii le a rn in g ' may be s a id to e x i s t
on ly when the m a te r ia l has been m ean in g fu lly memorized*
Since r e te n t iv e n e s s depends la r g e ly in the s t r e n g th of th e
im p ress io n s made d u rin g th e f i r s t a tte m p ts to m aste r a com
p o s i t io n , th e w i l l to memorize a t once i s im portan t* T h is
demands an in te n s i t y o f a t t e n t io n a lm ost never ach iev ed when
the memorizing i s superim posed a s a s e p a ra te and d i s t i n c t
fu n c tio n * ^
McGeogh sums up the r e s u l t s of ah in v e s t ig a t io n in to
r e l a t i v e e f f i c i e n c i e s o f massed and d i s t r ib u t e d le a r n in g ,
s t a t in g th a t ’’some form o f d i s t r i b u t i o n i s alw ays s u p e r io r
to massed p r a c t i c e s . I t h o ld s v i r t u a l l y f o r a l l ex p e rim en ta l
te ch n iq u es and f o r a l l s u b je c ts and m a te r ia ls .* ^
An experim ent by Rabson was designed to r e t e s t th e
long e s ta b l i s h e d s u p e r io r i ty o f d i s t r ib u t e d over massed
p r a c t i c e . For e v a lu a tin g the advantage o f b r in g in g th e
le a rn in g to smooth memorized perform ance a t one s e s s io n as
compared w ith d i s t r i b u t in g the p r a c t ic e on the same o r the
fo llo w in g day , the ex p e rim en ta l s i t u a t i o n was k ep t a s n e a r ly
•^Mkrtha I r s k l n e . Harmonic A n a ly s is As An Aid To Memof^ i z in s P iano R e p e to ire . U n iv e r s i ty o f A rizo n a , M. M. T h e s is ,19427 p . 42 . ~ . - - - .
ZGrace Rubin-Rabson, "Psychology o f Memorizing M usic", Jo u rn a l o f E d u c a tio n a l P sycho logy . Volume,3 1 , A pr!1 1 940 ,p ,41•
3J. McGeogh, "E xperim en tal S tu d ie s of Memory", R o b in so n 's R eadings in G eneral P sycho logy . U n iv e rs ity o f Chicago P r e s s ,1929*
20
as p o s s ib le l ik e a tru e le a rn in g ' s i t u a t i o n , O th e r p ie ce s '
were in te r p o la te d between p r a c t ic e p e rio d s In o rd e r to more
n e a r ly approxim ate the d a i ly p r a c t ic e r o u t in e , s in c e few
s tu d e n ts confine t h e i r d a i ly p r a c t ic e to the s tu d y o f one
co m p o sitio n . The r e s u l t s o f th i s experim ent showed th a t
the number o f e r r o r s made in t r a n s c r ib in g th e m a te r ia l
from memory a f t e r r e le a r n in g in d ic a te d no g r e a te r v iv id n e ss
o f a c c u ra c y . The advantage o f d i s t r ib u t e d p r a c t ic e was
found to be in v e rs e ly r e l a t e d to the a b i l i t y o f th e s u b je c t .
D is tr ib u te d p r a c t ic e was recommended fo r l e s s a b le l e a r n e r s .
F or more a b le le a r n e r s e i t h e r approach would be p ro d u c tiv e .
A t e n ta t iv e h y p o th e s is was su g g ested in e x p la n a tio n of th e
s u p e r io r i ty of d i s t r ib u t e d p r a c t i c e i
The i n t r i n s i c p a t te r n s and g roup ings o f the m usica l s t r u c tu re a re r e a d i ly p e rce iv ed by the ab le l e a r n e r s . For the l e s s a b l e , th e se p a t te r n s p ro b ab ly emerge from the g e n e ra l background on ly when they a re " re -s e e n " a second time in a new s i t u a t i o n . S ince i t i s the ap p e rc e p tio n o f th e se p a t te r n s w hich makes fo r r e a l o r lo g i c a l le a r n in g , any p rocedure w hich r e - r e p r e s e n ts th e m a te r ia l in a new s i t u a t io n r e g a rd le s s of th e time I n te r v a l between the p r e s e n ta t io n , w i l l be more e f f i c ie n t than one th a t does n o t . l
To review the fo reg o in g r e p o r t s , th e r e f o r e , the
main problem f o r the l e a r n e r i s to e s t a b l i s h a c l e a r and mean
in g f u l com prehension o f the m usic to be mem orized. T his type
o f le a rn in g must a r i s e ou t of a co nscious e f f o r t by the
" " iG raoe H ubln-Rabson, "Psychology o f M emorizing P iano M usic", Jo u rn a l Of E d u ca tio n a l P sycho logy , Volume 31, A p r i l 1 941, p . 45 . . .
21
s tu d e n t to m enorlae a s e l e c t io n . The music austt be o rg an ized
in to m ean ingfu l u n i t s and t i e inner d e t a i l s o f t l e i e :u n i t s
m ust be an a ly zed and le a rn e d . The le a r n e r must reco g n ize
the In h e re n t r e la t io n s h ip s w ith in the m usica l s t r i c t u r e , such
as t o n a l i t y , rhy thm ic p a t te r n s end f ig u r e s , *@16dic c d n to u r ,
ch o rd a l r e l a t i o n s h i p s , r e p e t i t i o n s , c o n t r a s t s , dynamic e f f e c t s ,
and o th e r e lem en ts of the s c o re . In f a c t he must know th e
music in ev ery d e t a i l to memorize i t f u l l y . He must see i t ,
h ea r i t ; and f e e l i t c l e a r ly a t any time a f t e r the p r in te d
page i s l a id a s id e . Music w hich has been s a t i s f a c t o r i l y
memorized h as been th o ro u g h ly le a rn e d .
Memory work r e q u i r e s r e g u la r and c a r e f u l guidance
from com petent te a c h e rs who know the psychology o f le a r n in g .
I t i s f u t i l e and m ost d isc o u ra g in g to th e s tu d e n t to g e t
th e all-too-oom m on ass ig n m en t, "memorize the n ex t th re e p ag e s ,
o r th e n e x t s e c t io n , fo r n ex t w eek", w ith o u t being guided in
the complex p ro cess which l i e s ahead*
Numerous a s s o c ia t io n s shou ld be e s ta b l i s h e d from th e
m usic , r e l a t in g i t to p i c t u r e s , moods, c o lo r s , w ords, n a r r a
t i o n , e t c . A lso a s s o c ia t io n and com parison o f one rhy thm ic ,
m e lo d ic , o r harmonic p a t t e r n , p ro g re s s io n , o r s e c t io n w ith
an o th e r may b e ,v a lu a b le in b u ild in g memory c lu e s , l i n k s , and
c o n n e c tio n s . M ental images of the p r in te d pages (p h o to g rap h ic
memory) , a u r a l im p ressio n s ( remembering how th e music shou ld
so u n d ), k ln a e s th e t ic memory (m otor-m uscular " f e e l " o f how the
music shou ld be ex ecu ted ) - a l l o f th e se sen so ry f a c u l t i e s
2 2
prov ide in v a lu a b le a s s o c ia t io n s . Memory f a i l u r e s a re r e
la te d to th e number o f a s s o c ia t io n s and r e la t io n s h ip s w hich
have been c u l t i v a t e d . f When ohe a s s o c ia t io n la p s e s , o th e rs
w i l l sp u r the memory on; b u t when a s s o c ia t io n s a re l im ite d
m erely to " f in g e r* memory o r p h o to g rap h ic memory o r o th e r
m echanical p ro c e s se s the p erfo rm er has l i t t l e re s e rv e when
em ergencies a r i s e .
To know how to mem orize, one must le a r n th e m usic ,
n o t as u n re la te d n o te s and sym bols, but as c l e a r ly under
stood rh y th m ic , m elo d ic , harm onic and s t r u c t u r a l d es ig n s
and m eaningfu l u n i t s . One must le a rn how to a c t iv a te and
in te g r a te th e b as ic memory p ro c e s s e s , such a s , motor memory,
v is u a l memory, a u d i to ry memory, harm onic: a n a ly s is and I n t e l - -
l e c tu a l memory. :
PRESENTATION OF DATA OBTAINED FROM
THE INTERVIEW
Of the t o t a l number o f se v e n ty -n in e s tu d e n ts who
were ta k in g p r iv a te p ian o le s s o n s d u rin g th e sp r in g sem este r
o f 1951, a l l were in te rv ie w e d . However, tow ard th e l a t t e r
p a r t o f the sem ester th re e s tu d e n ts out of th e t o t a l number
had w ithdraw n from t h e i r p iano c o u rse . For t h i s reaso n
th e i r re s p e c tiv e te a c h e rs were unable to rank the s tu d e n ts
as to t h e i r a b i l i t y in m em orizing, e s p e c ia l ly s in c e th ey
were a l l th re e new s tu d e n ts a t th e U n iv e r s i ty ’s School o f
M usic. Thus i t became n ecessa ry to e lim in a te th e se th re e
in te rv ie w s s in c e they would n o t be v a l id w ith o u t the te a c h e r ’ s
rank ing o f th e s tu d e n t ’ s a b i l i t y . C onsequently th i s th e s i s
was made p o s s ib le by a t o t a l number of s e v e n ty - s ix s tu d e n ts
who were in te rv ie w e d . r
There were f iv e p o s s ib le ways o f memorizing w hich
the s tu d e n t m ight in d ic a te he u sed . They were m oto r, a u d ito ry
v i s u a l , harm onic a n a ly s i s , and i n t e l l e c t u a l memory. O bviously ,
no s tu d e n t could be found who d id n o t employ motor and aud
i to r y m ethods. M emorizing p iano music w ithou t a sense of
touch (motor memory) would be analogous to m emorizing v o ca l
m usic w ith o u t a v o ic e . L ikew ise , i t i s absu rd to ex p ec t
24
any s tu d e n t to memorize p iano music w ith o u t the a id of h is
sense o f h ea rin g (a u d ito ry memory). T herefo re the s m a lle s t
p o s s ib le com bination o f m ethods employed f o r memorizing was
the com bination o f th ese two e s s e n t i a l s , m otor and a u d i to ry '
memory♦ "• ' ' ' • ' : ' ' = '' - ' • - ' 1
I t would seem lo g ic a l a ls o th a t v i s u a l memory would
have to be in c lu d ed in th i s group o f e s s e n t i a l s s in c e one
would have to read the m usic w ith th e eye b e fo re p lay in g #
This would be c e r t a in i f s tu d e n ts would use t h e i r sense of
see in g even a f t e r the com position i s memorized. U n fo rtu n
a te ly , t h i s i s n o t the "case w ith many s tu d e n ts . Some o f the
in te rv ie w e e s became in d ig n a n t when the w r i t e r in q u ire d as
to w hether o r n o t they had to depend on the v is u a l memdry
of th e p r in te d page . They were a b s o lu te ly c e r t a in th a t th e re
was no v is u a l r e c a l l o f th e p r in te d page o r o f the movement
o f t h e i r hands on the keyboard , f o r th e y were d ec id ed ly
a g a in s t the idea#
About halfw ay th rough the in te rv ie w s a l i t t l e o b se r
v a tio n among one of th e s u b je c ts f i n a l l y b rought ou t some...
e x p la n a tio n f o r memorizing w ith o u t the a id o f v is u a l memory.
This p a r t i c u l a r s tu d e n t was p a r t i a l l y b lin d w ith h ig h myopia#
When asked w hether o r n o t he depended upon th e v is u a l memory
of th e p r in te d n o te s o r the movement of h is h ands, the s tu
dent r e p l ie d th a t he could n o t , due to h is myopic c o n d it io n .
He s ta te d t h a t h is te a c h e r o f te n d ic ta te d th e com position in
p a r t s . A lthough i t was n o t planned in the model in te rv ie w .
2 5
the w r i t e r asked t h i s s tu d e n t i f he would l ik e to dem onstra te
by perfo rm ing a s e le c t io n by memory. The s u b je c t became
q u ite p le a se d upon th is re que s t . and v; i th o u t he s i t a t ion p laye d
th re e r a th e r d i f f i c u l t s e le c t io n s co m p le te ly by memory w ith "
out s t u t t e r i n g o r showing s ig n s o f u n e a s in e s s . Due to t h i s
ex p erien ce the w r i t e r became convinced th a t w ith o u t a doubt
i t i s q u ite p o s s ib le to memorize w ith o u t th e a i d o f v is u a l
memory . ; . , - , ■ ■ ; - ■ . •:
Hence i t was in f e r r e d th a t th e re a re two in d is p e n s a b le
methods of m em orizing, m otor and auditory-# Then th e re a re
e ig h t p o s s ib le com binations o f m ethods. They a re a s fo llo w s :
1 . m otor and a u d ito ry (a b b re v ia tio n -■ MA)2 . m otor, a u d ito ry and v is u a l (MAV)3 • m oto r, a u d i to ry , v i s u a l and harmonic a n a ly s is
(MATH)4 . m o to r, a u d i to ry , v i s u a l , harm onic a n a ly s i s ,
and i n t e l l e c t u a l (MAVHI)5 . m otor, a u d i to ry , v i s u a l , and I n t e l l e c t u a l .
(MAVI)6 . m o to r, a u d i to ry , harm onic a n a ly s i s , and
i n t e l l e c t u a l (MAHI)...............7 . m otor, a u d i to ry , and i n t e l l e c t u a l (MAI) .......8 . m otor, a u d i to ry , and harm onic a n a ly s is (MAH)
In o rd e r to g e t a b e t t e r p ic tu re as to t h e i r a b i l i t y
in m em o riz in g ,th ree m easures o f e s t im a tio n were u sed . F i r s t ,
th e s tu d e n t was asked to ran k h is own a b i l i t y on th e b a s is o f
one to f i v e . Second, a l l the p ian o te a c h e rs a t the U n iv e r s i ty
o f A rizo n a ’ s School of Music w ere asked to e s tim a te each
s tu d e n t ’ s a b i l i t y acco rd in g to the same s c a le . T h ird , a
m easure was tak en as to the s tu d e n t ’s a b i l i t y by means o f
av e ra g in g th e t e a c h e r ’ s and s tu d e n t ’ s e s t im a te s .
26
T ab les I - a and I -b were c o n s tru c te d to g ive the d a ta
on a l l the above m entioned $ d i n t i . C a re fu l1s tu d y O f th e s§
ta b le s w i l l make posslb l® >a c h a p le t# u Jd 4 rs ta n d in g ' of some
o f the most s ig h i f l e a n t d a ta which were o b ta in e d from th i s
in te rv ie w ;
The l e t t e r s a c ro s s the to p o f th e ta b le s in d ic a te the
g roup ings o f the s tu d e n ts acco rd in g to the p a r t i c u l a r combin
a t io n of methods w hich were being u se d ; T hus, the column
headed MA in d ic a te s th a t th e numbers in t h a t column re p re s e n t
the number o f s tu d e n ts who used th i s com bination alone e The
column headed MAV in d ic a te s th a t the s tu d e n ts c l a s s i f i e d in
th a t column used a com bination o f m otor, v i s u a l and a u d i to ry
memory. The o th e r columns a re s im i la r ly in d ic a te d *
In Table I - a , the f re q u e n c ie s a re l i s t e d fo r the 1
s tu d e n ts in each c l a s s i f i c a t i o n , acco rd in g to how the s tu
d en ts ranked t h e i r memory a b i l i t y , how th ey were ranked by
t h e i r t e a c h e r s , and a s to t h e i r s ta te m e n ts o f how f re q u e n tly
th ey s u f fe re d the em barrassm ent o f having t h e i r memory f a i l
them when p la y in g in p u b lic*
The extrem e r i g h t hand column g iv e s th e f re q u e n c ie s
f o r th e t o t a l d is t r ib u t io n *
The number o f s tu d e n ts using a com bination o f two
methods alone was f o u r te e n . This was ap p ro x im a te ly e ig h te e n
p e r cen t o f th e to ta l*
The number of s tu d e n ts who were u s in g a com bination
o f th re e methods was th i r ty - tw o . This was ap p ro x im a te ly
fo r ty - tw o p er f@nt o f the t o t a l .
The number o f a tu d e n ts w h o were u sin g a com bination
of fo u r methods was tw en ty -o n e . This was ap p ro x im ate ly
tw e n ty -e ig h t p e r c e n t o f the to ta l*
The number o f s tu d e n ts who re p o r te d u s in g a l l f iv e
o f th e p o s s ib le methods were n in e s tu d e n ts . T h is was approx
im a te ly tw elve p e r cen t o f th e to ta l*
S tu d en ts who were in te rv iew ed tended to use a combin
a t io n of th re e m ethods, m ain ly th a t which in c lu d ed v is u a l
memory, This was the w e l l known m o to r -a u d ito ry -v is u a l com
b in a t io n . T his c o n tra s te d s tro n g ly w ith th e f in d in g s in
B la c k 's s tu d y . B la c k 's s tu d y re p o r te d on ly e ig h t ou t of
one-hundred and f o r ty s tu d e n ts using t h i s MAY co m b in a tio n ,
which was ap p ro x im ate ly s ix p e r cen t a s compared w ith f o r ty -
two p e r ce n t in t h i s p re s e n t s tu d y ,
A stu d y o f the t o t a l frequency column on the r i g h t
shows th a t the s tu d e n ts ranked them selves r a th e r h ig h in
re g a rd to memory a b i l i t y . A lthough "3" was th e ran k to be
g iven f o r averag e a p t i tu d e fo r m em orizing, the number o f
ca ses in the ran k in g of " 2" exceeds t h a t f o r the average
and i s g r e a te r than th e t o t a l f o r th e two lo w es t ra n k in g s .
When th e te a c h e rs ranked the s tu d e n ts , th e m a jo rity
o f ca se s were g iven a ran k in g o f "3 " . They g e n e ra l ly gave
the s tu d e n ts h ig h e r ran k in g s s in c e th e number o f ca se s w ith
a rank ing o f " l " exceeds the number of c a se s in the s tu d e n t 's
e s t im a te s . In the m a jo r i ty o f c a s e s , however, th e re was
TABLE I - a2 8
CLASSIFICATION OF ALL STUDENTS ACCORDING TO METHOD OF MEMORIZING EMPLOYED, SHOWING FREQUENCY DISTRIBUTION IN EACH OF THE MEASURES
OF MEMORY ABILITY
: method used MA MAV
MAH
MAT
MAVH
MAT I
MAHI
MAHVI
t o t a l :
: s tu d e n t’ s : ov m 1 1 3 1 3 2 2 12 r: ran k in g : as to 2 6 i i 1 6 1 3 2 30 :: a b i l i t y
3 6 6 3 5 1 4 25 :
4 3 1 4 !
5 1 4■ ;
5 :•
: t o t a l 14 27 4 1 14 4 3 9 76 :
1 3 7 1 4 1 l 3 20 :
: te ach e r* s 2 3 9 1 1 3 1 l 2 21 :: ran k in g :o f 3 7 3 1 6 1 l 4 25 :*: s tu d e n t ’s l a b i l i t y 4 i
;4
:1 6 i
5 2: 1 1 4 ' :
: t o t a l 14 27 4 1 14 4 3 7 76 :
: frequency s 8 8 3 1 8 3 3 4 38 !:o f:memory 0 4 9 1 4 3 21 :: f a i l u r e
F 2 10 2 1 2 17 :
: t o t a l 14 27 4 1 14 4 3 9 76 i
M - m otor memory
A - a u d ito ry memory
V - v is u a l memory
H - harm onic a n a ly s is
I - i n t e l l e c t u a l memory
S - seldom
0 - o c c a s io n a lly
F - f r e q u e n tly
29
c lo se agreem ent between s tu d e n t and te a c h e r e s tim a te s of
m em orizing a b i l i t y .
The mean and th e median were worked ou t in o rd e r to
have m easures o f c e n t r a l tendency w hich would p e rm it th e
com parison o f d a ta on d i f f e r e n t p o in ts . The mean f o r th e
t o t a l d i s t r ib u t io n acco rd in g to s tu d e n t ran k in g s was 2 . 4 7 *
The median was 2 .3 6 . In the t e a c h e r ’s ran k in g o f s tu d e n t ’s
a b i l i t y to memorize the mean was 2.38 and th e median was 2 . 64*
In T ab le I - b th e two e s tim a te s ( te a c h e r ’s and s tu d e n t ’ s
r a n k in g 's ) of Table I were averaged and condensed in to one
s in g le c h a r t in o rd e r to o b ta in a f a i r ra n k in g . The m a n f o r
the t o t a l d i s t r i b u t io n acco rd in g to t h i s c h a r t was 2 .4 1 . The
median was 2 .0 6 . T h is ta b le a l s o shows how su c c e s s fu l the
s tu d e n ts were as to t h e i r ra n k in g s , acco rd in g to each o f th e
e ig h t p o s s ib le com bination o f m ethods. Those who used th e
MAVH com bination ranked h ig h e s t w ith a mean o f 2 .01 and a
median of 1.75 a s compared w ith the mean o f 2 .4 1 and median
of 2 .06 f o r th e t o t a l d i s t r i b u t i o n . A study o f t h i s c h a r t
w i l l in d lc a te t h a t th e b e s t ran k in g s were re p o r te d by those
who used a com bination of fo u r o r f iv e m ethods. I t w i l l
a ls o in d ic a te t h a t th o se who used the i n t e l l e c t u a l method
in t h e i r com bination scheme o f th re e methods ranked among
the h ig h e s t .
A word o f e x p la n a tio n m ight h e lp to make c le a r what
i s meant g e n e ra l ly by h ig h e r and low er in th e d is c u s s io n of
TABLE I - b
CLASSIFICATION OF ALL STUDENTS ACCORDING TO METHOD OF MEMORIZING EMPLOYED, SHOWING THE FREQUENCY DISTRIBUTION AFTER THE TWO RANK
INGS (STUDENT’S AND TEACHER’ S) WEREAVERAGED
:method :used
MA MAV
MA : MA H : I
“n nVH
T ™VI
MAHI
MAHVI
t o t a l : :
: 1 1 2. i
1 i 2■ • :7 :
: 1 .5 2 3: •
5 i 1:
12 :
: 2 1 7 1 i!
2: i:
1 1:
14 .......1
: 2 .5 4 4 1 2 1 1 3i
16 :
1 3 4 5 2i
3 1 3:
18 :
S 3 .5i
2: i
2: - :: ' ! • :
4 :
*: 4 1::
: 4 .5 4• ' :
4
: 5 :: :
0 :
: t o t a l 14 27 4 1 U 4■ i
3s "
9■ :
76 :
:mean 2 .50 2 .61 2.62•;
2 .005 '2.01 2.00 2.00 2 .27
:2 .4 1 :
:median 2.50 2 .13 2.75 2 .00 J jlZ I 2.00 2 .00 2.25:
2 .06 :
31
of t a b l e s . S ince "1" r e p re s e n ts the h ig h e s t rank ing and "5*
the lo w est ra n k in g , the c lo s e r to *1” th e f ig u re w hich re p
r e s e n ts th e m easure o f c e n t r a l tendency i s , th e h ig h e r i s
the measure of th a t group*
T ab les I l - a , I l - b and I I - c show the d i s t r i b u t io n a c —
cording to w hether th e s tu d e n ts used the MA method a lo n e or
in com bination w ith one o th e r m ethod, two o th e r methods o r
a l l f iv e methods of memorizing* A study o f th e mean and
median which i s g iv en f o r each column shows th a t in the s t u —
dent ran k in g s o f Table I l - a th e e s tim a te d a b i l i t y to memorize
ro se h ig h e s t among those who used the MA method w ith two
o th e r methods# They w ere a ls o above the eve rage f o r the
whole group* Those who used the MA method w ith on ly one
o th e r method were th e lo w es t and below the average f o r th e
whole group*
In the T e a c h e r 's ra n k in g s , Table I l - b , the e s tim a te d
a b i l i t y to memorize ro se h ig h e s t among th o se who used a l l
f iv e methods* They were above the average mean and median f o r
the whole group* Those who used the MA method alone were the
lo w est and they were below th e average f o r th e whole group*
In the averaged r a n k in g s , Table I I - c , th e e s tim a ted
a b i l i t y to memorize ro se h ig h e s t among th o se who used th e MA
method w ith two o th e r m ethods. They were above the average
mean and m edian f o r th e whole g ro u p . The d if fe re n c e between
the o th e r th re e groups was so sm a ll th a t th e median f o r those
who used a l l f iv e methods was low er and th e mean h ig h e r th an
TABLE I I ~ a
FBE^JENCy DISTRIBUTION OF THE GROUPS USING THE ESSENTIAL MA PLUS ONE, TWO, OR THRU OTHER METHODS OF MEMORIZING ACOORDING TO THE STUDENTS OWN
RANKING
: ran k io g
.•......... ,.....
:a l l who used : a l l who used th e two o n ly : MA p lu s one
(MA) : more method
a l l who used : a l l s t o t a l i MA p lu s $#0 f iv e ? ; more methods : m ethods: :
: 1:
1 ____ : 4' ' ■ V "5 ' “* *w*%z***''- ̂TP | f T « - 4|F ' % ■ - 0"
5 : 2 : 12 :
: 2 ..... 6 ......... : 12 10 : 2 : 30 :
s 3 6 : 9 6 : 4 : 25 :
: 4t ■
0 : 3' f ̂# 5 • . '*= " "5 H ' ̂ ̂' • JK - " - 30 • » . • „ ... 0̂.
..- -...0 ..-... -..... : .......1 ......... : 4 :
: 5:
....... 1 ................• 4 .: ; :
0 : : 5 :
: t o t a l;
1A- • v 32. - f , . ,jg. 1 .r. , .. . ... ,
21 . . } S_. 1 76 :
:mean 2 .57 : 2 .7 2 ..................f*' -■-* * j 0 ’ ' ̂̂ " " 0' ' *» - - • j|2 .05 : 2 .44 :2 .4 7 :
:m «diaa:
2*'5© : 2 .50 2.05 : 2 .63 :2 .3 6 :
TABLE I l - a
FRBQErSHOr D ISTH Iim O S 0? THE GROUPS USING THE ESSENTIAL MA PLUS ONE, TWO, OR THREE OTHER METHODS OF MEMORIZING ACCORDING TO THE STUDENTS OWN -
• 0 ‘ 0 • * * • « « <
: ran k in g : a l l who used : a l l »h© uaed: ; : th e two o n ly : MA p lu s one: : (MA) : more method •
‘ ■ • s # *a l l who need : a l l : t o t a l iMA p lu s two z f iv e s i
• more methods z m ethods: :i : ; :
5 z 2 z 12 z: r ■ ■ : ................s 2 ; 6 : 12
...............................Z I s10 z 2 z 30 z
: : : , z- : :
: : : . : :J iJljjl % ■ ■ -• ̂ i t
: s s0 z 1 z A :
t . z :« 5 s i z A
: z z0 s z 5 z
: : :2 t o t a l * 14 *' - 32 * -.
z z z.........21 ............. • 9 t 76 2
: : zsiaean : 2 .5 7 s 2 .7 2
z z :2 .05 s 2.AA Z2.A7 :
: : ::m edian : 2 .5 0 : 2 .5 0
z z z2 .05 s 2 .63 Z2.36 s
TABLE I l - b
FREQUENCY DISTRIBUTION OF THE GROUPS USING THE ESSENTIAL MA COMBDIATION PLUS ONE, TWO OR THREE OTHER METHODS OF MEMORIZING ACCORDING TO THE
TEACHER'S RANKING OF THE STUDENT'S ABILITY
: ran k in g s a l l mho used the two o n ly
(MA)
a l l mho used MA p lu s one o th e r method
a l l mho used MA p lu s tmo o th e r methods
a l lf iv emethods
t o t a l :
: 1 3 8, 6 3 20 :
: 2 3 11 . . 5 _________ 2 21 :
: 3 7 6 8 4 25 :
: 4 1 .. .........4 ... 1 — - 6 s
__5, 0 3; : " ■
.....1 __________■ : _■i
4 *
: t o t a l 14 32 21 : 9 76 ;
: mean 2.43 2 .47 1: i
i 2 .33 r 2 .11i :2 .3 8 :
: median 3.07: :
2.22 : 2 .4 0 : 2 .0 0 2*54 i
w
TABLE I I - c
FREQUENCY DISTRIBUTION OF THE GROUPS USING THE . ESSENTIAL MA COMBINATION PLUS ONE, TV/O , OR THREE OTHER METHODS OF'MEMORIZING ACCORDING TO THE
AVERAGE RANKING OF THE STUDENT’S ABILITY
rank ings MAgroup
: : :MA p lu s one : MA p lu s two : a l l f i v e : t o t a lo th e r m ethods: o th e r methods : m ethods::
1 ' 1■» . » *► • • * " i _
2 : 2 : 2 : 7
1 .5 2: i :
3 : 7 : : 12
2 1: : :
9 : ___ 3 : 1 : H
2.5 A 5 : 4 : 3 : 16
3 4: : :
7 : 4........ : ...3 : 18
3 ,5 2: . r ; :
2 : : 2 ■<: i 4
4. . : :
: 1 .. ....... : 1
4 .5- : : :
4 : : 4
5: : 2
■ ■ /;■ ■ ■ • : ■ : 0t o t a l 14
2 2. ̂ 32 ____ : . 2 1 : . 9 : 76
mean Z.50-^. 2 .5 9 - — 2 ? . 12___ J 2 .2 8 „. j 2 .4 1median 2 .50 2 .1 5 . I 1 .75 1 2 .25 1 2 .0 6
those who used the MA w ith one o th e r m ethod, The median f o r
th e MA group was th e lo w e s t. A lthough the mean was on ly n ex t
to th e low est f o r t h i s s e c t io n , i t was below the average f o r
the whole group* s .. , . . .»• .: *
In o rd e r to e v a lu a te the su ccess o f th e use o f each of: ̂ — : : ■
th e f iv e m ethods, i t was n ec e ssa ry to determ ine the d i s t r i t u i
t io n of a l l th e groups which in c lu d ed one c e r t a i n ; method as ■ . ' : ; ; : , • ' ■ =
opposed to the d i s t r i b u t i o n fo r the r e m in in g g ro u p s . Each
group was a ls o compared w ith th e d i s t r ib u t io n ' f o r th e t o t a l
number o f c a s e s . Thus» the d i s t r i b u t io n was in d ic a te d f o r
a l l those who were employing v is u a l memory e i t h e r to g e th e r
w ith th e e s s e n t i a l MA o r in com bination w ith harm onic a n a ly s is
and i n t e l l e c t u a l m ethods. T his d i s t r i b u t io n could th en be. ■ , ; >
compared w ith th e d i e t r l b u t l e a f o r a l l thqee who d id n o t use
v i s u a l memory as p a r t o f t h e i r scheme o f m em orizing, and w ith
the t o t a l d i s t r i b u t i o n . The means and m edians o f th e se groups
formed the b a s is o f com parison*
T ab les I H - a , I I I * b , and I I I - c show how th e s tu d e n ts
who em phasized v is u a l memory e i t h e r to g e th e r w ith the MA o r : i n
com bination w ith o th e r ways of m em orizing s to o d in com parison
w ith th o se who d id n o t use v is u a l memory a t a l l and w ith the>
t o t a l g ro u p . Those who used v is u a l memory, ranked alm ost th e
same a s those who d id n o t , acco rd in g to the s tu d e n t ’ s own
ra n k in g . A ccording to the te a c h e r ’ s e s tim a te o f a b i l i t y to
memorize, th o se who used v is u a l memory ranked h ig h e r than
th o se who d id n o t . They ala© ranked h ig h e r a s compared to
TABLE I l l - a
FREQUENCY DISTRIBUTION OF ALL STUDENTS WHO USEDVISUAL MEMORY, ALL WHO DID NOT USE VISUAL MEMORYAND THE ENTIRE GROUP ACCORDING TO THE STUDENT’ S
OWN RANKING AS TO ABILITY
:{ranking:
a l l ytho used v is u a l memory
a l l who d id n o t use v is u a l memory
:t o t a l ot b o th ;
groups :ti: 1 . . : 10 _ . . 2 !5 12 :
: 2 20.... ' ' """ 4
10 30 ;
: 3 16 i 9 25 ;
: 4 :1
........ .....4 ............. .:.......
0 4 :
: 5 ' :: 4 1 . 5 ............I: : : t o t a l
:54 22 . .. 76 :
: mean 2 .48.
2 .4 5 2 #47i «:: median 2 .35 2 .4 0 2 .36 ;
TABLE I l l - b
FHEQOENCr DISTRIBUTION OF ALL STUDENTS WHO USEDVISUAL MEMORY, ALL WHO DID NOT USE VISUAL MEMORYAND THE ENTIRE GROUP ACCORDING TO THE TEACHER'S
RANKING OF THE STUDENT'S ABILITY
: ran k in g a l l who used v is u a l memory
a l l who d id n o t use v is u a l memory
t o t a l o f b o th :g roups :
:: 1 - . 15 .: 5 .......... 20 ::: 2 15 6 21:: 3 16 25 ::: 4 5 6 ...... •
: 5 ’■ ■ - 3 ■ ■-■■■ . ! .............. • ■ 4 :
: t o t a l ...... 54........ . 22 ........... 76 •
: mean 2 .37 2 .4 1 " ... 2 .38 ' :
: median 2 .30 2 .5 0„ i
2 .36 :
- b , s,
■■ r :::
SftBL» I l l - q
■FREqPBNGr; DISTRIBUTION OF all STUDENTS WHO USED VISUAL MELIORY, ALL WHO DID NOT USE VISUAL MEMORY AND THE ENTIRE GROUP ACCORDING TO THE RANKINGS
AVERAGED FROM TABLE I l l - a AND H l - b
:: ran k in g a l l who used
V isu a l memorya l l who d id n o t use v is u a l memory
t o t a l o f bo th : groups :
: 1 6 1 . 7 „ :
s 1 .5 _ 9>
..... . 3 ...• ..........
12 ::: . 2 .....i i ..._ _ 4 ......15 :
: 2 ,5 10 6. :
16 :
: 3 12 ______ 6 .. . j i s ;
: 3 .5 2 2 4 :
: 4 1 _.... .l ....X 11
: 4 .5 4, #
4 :
: 5 ------------------- . .
Tt
0 ::: totaJL ____ 54 L 22
:76 L
: mean 2.44 ..2 .43 . ____ 2 .4 1 :
: median•
1.95 : 2.25•
2 .06 :
39
the t o t a l g ro u p . T hus, the mean f o r th e v is u a l group was
2 .37 f o r the te a c h e r ’ s ran k in g s compared w ith 2 .41 f o r th o se
who d id n o t use v is u a l memory, and 2 .38 f o r the e n t i r e d l s -
t r i b u t i o n . M easured In Table I I I - c , w hich i s an average of« !
1 - * ' ; tthe s tu d e n t 's a b i l i t y e s tim a te d by the s tu d e n t h im se lf and
the te a c h e r , th o se who used ti# * la l memory had an average rank
o f 2 .44 in term s o f th e m ean;compared to 3.43: fo r the group
who d id n o t use v is u a l memory, and 2 .41 f o r th e whole g ro u p .: . . ; ; ; , : . -
The median i s h ig h e r fo r the v is u a l group th a n f o r th e non-
v is u a l group* (
T ables IV -a , IV -b , IV~o # iow ,the d i s t r i b u t i o n of th o se' ' - ■ ' ' " ! ; '
. ' : ’ ■ 'who in c lu d ed harm onic a n a ly s i s in t h e i f scheme o f m em orization
As ranked by th em se lv es ,(T ab le IV -a ) , th e s e s tu d e n ts averaged
b e t t e r than t h e i r fe llo w s tu d e n t# who d id n o t use harmonic a n a l
y s i s , and b e t t e r than th e ;w h o le g ro u p . The mean was 2 .2 6 f o r
th o se who used harmonic a n a ly s i s , 2*61 fo r th o se who d id n o t ,
2 .47 fo r the whole g roup . The m edian was 2 .31 fo r the group
using harmonic a n a ly s is compared w ith 2 . 40- f o r those who d id
n o t , and 2 .36 f o r th e t o t a l d i s t r i b u t i o n . As ranked by t h e i r
te a c h e r s , (Table IV -b ) , th o se s tu d e n ts who employed harm onic
a n a ly s is had a mean average of 2 .3 0 and a median o f 2.07 com
pared w ith 2 .44 and 2.35 f o r th o se who d id n o t use harmonic
a n a ly s is , and 2 . 38 : and 2 .54 fo r the t o t a l o f a l l c a s e s . When
th e two e s tim a te d ran k in g s were av e rag ed , ( Table T V -c), the
mean and median were even h ig h e r f o r those.w ho used harm onic
a n a ly s i s . They had 2 .25 and 1 .8 9 as compared w ith 2 .51 and
TABLE l Y - a
FREQUENCY DISTRIBUTION OF ALL STUDENTS WHO USEDHARMONIC ANALYSIS, ALL WHO DID NOT USE HARMONICANALYSIS, AND THE ENTIRE GROUP ACCORDING TO THE
STUDENT’ S OWN RANKING AS TO ABILITY
:: ran k in g :
a l l who used harmonic a n a ly s is
22
a l l who d id n o t use, h a m o n ls a n a ly s is
:2:
to ta l o fgrottos
:both:
2: 2 2 2: 1 6 J 6 . 2 - 12 . -I-
2 7 8 2: 2 11 19 Is - jo , • . -l i: 2 2 2: 3 12 .2 -»■ * 1 3i ■. *" • ^ : 25 2
: 2 2: 4 i : 3 ■ X- 4 - 2
i : 2 2: 5 ........1______ 0____ __ • 4 ■ t 5 ...» 4 ,.i : : 2 2: t o t a l : 30 2 i t 2
2 2 2: mean 2*26 : 2 2.47 ■ : -..T1S
2 ; 2 2: median : 2 .31 * . 2i ----
TABLE I V -b
FREQUENCY DISTRIBUTION OF ALL STUDENTS WHO USEDHARMONIC ANALYSIS, ALL WHO DID NOT USE HARMONIC 'ANALYSIS, AND THE ENTIRE GROUP ACCORDING TO THE
TEACHER’ S RANKING OF STUDENT’ S ABILITY
: rank ing a l l who used :harm onic a n a ly s i s
: ................ :a l l who d id n o t : t o t a l o f bo th :use harm onic a n a ly s i s : g roups . . .:
: 1 9* e~
11 : 20 :
: 2 _ _ 7..__ ________: :
14 ...... ' s 21 :
: 3 12: :
13 : 25 :
i i ■ !! 0: :
6 : 6 ;
: 5 _ s _ 2 „ ii
t___________ 2___ _________ r________4_________ :: ; : ; v '■ -■ f: t o t a l : . 30 : . 4 6 : 76 :
i meanl ' " ' ■» : - ;
2 .3 0 ' : 2 .4 4 . : 2 .38
: median111 1 : 1 : ' i
2 .07 : 2 .3 5 : 2 .5 4 :..'■ J"11 ■ U[IL 111 ”l"" 1 ....... 1 * .....1 11
TAB1,3 IV -c
FREQUENCY DISTRIBUTION OF ALL STUDENTS V/HO USED HARMONIC ANALYSIS, ALL WHO DID NOT USE HARMONIC ANALYSIS, AND THE ENTIRE GROUP ACCORDING TO THE RANKINGS AVERAGED FROM THE STUDENT’S AND TEACHERS
ESTIMATION
i :ira n k in g : a l l who used s : harm onic a n a ly s is
a l l who d id not ase harm onic a n a ly s ismCj.. _. .
t o t a l o f bo th : g roans :
: :: 1 : 3 — ____ 4 „ r . . . 7 :: :: 1 .5 : 6
.
12: : • ■ : 2 : 5
/ Tj 9 14 :
: t -i 2 .5 : 7 9 ' r‘ 1
:! 16 i
j : ■ ^: 3 i 8
• : : i 10 : 18 :
: , i : ■ ■ - % ̂ ‘ ' r i 1: 3 .5 : 0 : 4 : 4 :: ' t ... : ; :t 4 . : 1 : “ x : »*1 :: - : - - ; -: 4 .5 : . : : 4
. :4 ■ • * *
: _ : : •: . 5 t :
;0 :. *, e '** * ' * - % . * » W ^
: t o t a l : 30 r 46 iL '._ 76 1 . 4: • : • ! mean : 2 .25 : 2 .5 1 2 .4 1 i
: . :: median : 1 .89 : 2 .7 5
:2 .06 :
4 3
2.75 f o r those ■who did n o t use harmonic a n a ly s i s .
T ab les V -a, V-b, and V-c show th e d i s t r i b u t io n by
ran k acco rd in g to b o th s tu d e n t and te a c h e r judgement and
th e rank ing f o r each case made up of an average o f the
t e a c h e r 's and s tu d e n t 's e s t im a te s f o r those who used i n
t e l l e c t u a l memory, th o se who d id n o t , and the t o t a l g ro u p .
Those who d id no t use i n t e l l e c t u a l memory were n o t as
s u c c e s s fu l a s th o se who d id . The mean f o r th e i n t e l l e c t u a l
memory group was 2 .1 8 a g a in s t 2 .54 f o r th o se who d id not
use th a t form o f memory. T h is i s a c co rd in g to the s tu d e n t 's
own rank ing o f memorizing a b i l i t y . The median was 2 .14 fo r
th o se who employed i n t e l l e c t u a l memory, compared w ith 2 ,43
f o r th o se who d id no t* Judged as to a b i l i t y by the te a c h e r s ,
the ones who employed i n t e l l e c t u a l memory ag a in showed up
w e l l , the mean rank ing a s h ig h as 2 .18 and the median 2 .20
a g a in s t a mean o f 2 .4 4 and median of 2 .40 f o r those who d id
n o t r e p o r t u s in g i n t e l l e c t u a l memory. Compared w ith the
mean and median of th e e n t i r e g ro u p , the ones who used in *
t e l l e c t u a l memory had a h ig h e r average rank*
Taking in to c o n s id e ra t io n a l l the p rev io u s t a b l e s ,
the f ig u re s show t h a t th o se who used harm onic a n a ly s is and
i n t e l l e c t u a l memory a s p a r t o f t h e i r m em orizing method had
a h ig h e r average ran k in g acco rd in g to a l l th re e schemes of
m easurem ent. Those who in c lu d ed o n ly the m otor and a u d i to ry
methods in t h e i r scheme f o r m em orizing ranked the lo w e s t.
In ta b u la t in g th e re sp o n se s g iven to the q u e s tio n as
TABLE V~a
FREQUENCY .DISTRIBUTION OF ALL STUDENTS V/HO USEDINTELLECTUAL MEMORY, ALL WHO DID NOT, AND THEENTIRE GROUP ACCORDING- TO THE STUDENT’ S OWN
RANKING
: ran k in g a l l who used a l l ■who d id n o t t o t a l o f bo th :i n t e l l e c t u a l memory use i n t e l l e c t u a l memory _ .. . g ro up s :
: 1 4 8 12 :
: 2 7 23 . . . .30 . .. 1
: 3 _______5 ................ 20 25 :
: 4 1 i: .............. .. 3___ ______ _____ _ _ 4 ...:
: 5 0 5 5 :
: t o t a l 17 ............■.. -5.9 ....... . . '.. ....... 76 :
: mean 2 .18 2 .54 2 .47 :
: median 2.14 1i 2 .43 2 .36 !
TABLE V -b
FREQUENCY DISTRIBUTION OF ALL STUDENTS WHO USED INTELLECTUAL MEMORY, ALL WHO DID NOT, AND THE ENTIRE GROUP, ACCORDING TO THE TEACHER'S RANKING
OF STUDENT’S ABILITY
: ran k in g a l l who d id use i n t e l l e c t u a l memoir
a l l who did no t use i n t e l l e c t u a l memory
t o t a l o f bo th : groups :
: 1 5 15 20 ;
: 2 5 ■**'*••' - • 21 :
: 3 6 25 :
: 4 1 . . . . . 5 . . . . . . _ __:
6 z
: 5 0:
4 :
; t o t a l 17:
76 :z: mean : : : 2*18 ...... 2 .4 4 " ' " ' 2 .3 8 ........... i
: median 2.20 2 .4 0 .......... . 2 .54 t
TABLE V - e
FRiqUBJCY DISTRIBUTION OF ALL STUDENTS WHO USED INTELLECTUAL MEMORY, ALL WHO DID NOT, AND THE ENTIRE GROUP, ACCORDING TO THE RANKINGS AVERAGED
FROM THE STUDENT’ S AND TEACHER'S ESTIMATES
: ran k in g i a l l who d id use a l l who did n o t : t o t a l of bo thi n t e l l e c t u a l memoiy use i n t e l l e c t u a l memory : groups
: 1i## .. - : . 3 ____ _____
:4 : 7
s 1 .5a"
2 10 : 12
: 2### 3 11 : 14
: 2 .5 ## 5 11 : 16 .
: 3 4 # 14 : 18
i 3 .5 a»
4 : _____4
s 4*#
1 : 1 !
: 4 .5 ::: 4 : 4 • S
! 5## I 0 i
: t o t a l # 17 : 59 1 76 i
: mean#: 2.15
:: * 2 .48 : 2 .41 1: i :
: median i -Jf-9?____________ : _2&16 : 2 .0 6 !
4 7
to w hether f a i l u r e m ight b e s t be d e sc rib ed as o ccu rin g s e l
dom, o c c a s io n a lly o r f r e q u e n t ly . I t was co n s id ered th a t the
re p ly "seldom ” in d ic a te d the s tu d e n t 's memory was s a t i s
fa c to ry , w h ereas , the re p ly " o c c a s io n a lly " o r " f re q u e n tly "
was co n s id ered to mean h is memory was u n s a t i s f a c to r y . The
r e s u l t s o b ta in ed from t h i s q u e s tio n were somewhat co n v in c in g .
Of th e s e v e n ty -s ix in te rv ie w s , t h i r t y - e i g h t s a id th a t t h e i r
memory f a i l e d seldom , and the same number ( t h i r t y - e i g h t ) sa id
th a t t h e i r memory f a i l e d o c c a s io n a lly o r f r e q u e n t ly . T here
fo re , th e re were as many s tu d e n ts w ith s a t i s f a c to r y memory
su ccess a s th e re were w ith u n s a t i s f a c to ry memory s u c c e s s .
But o f a l l those who used v is u a l memory, s ix te e n had s a t i s
f a c to ry memory su ccess and th i r ty - o n e u n s a tis f a c to ry * Of
th o se who ;em ployed‘harm onic a n a ly s is a s one of t h e i r methods
o f m em orizing, the p ro p o rtio n was e ig h te e n to tw e lv e . Those
who used th e i n t e l l e c t u a l m ethod, l in e up e lev en to s i x . In
the ca se of those who used th e two e s s e n t i a l methods (m otor
and a u d ito ry ) w ith o u t th e a id of any o th e r method, e ig h t had
memory f a i l u r e o ccu rin g seldom w h ile s ix s ta te d i t s o ccu r
rence o c c a s io n a lly o r f r e q u e n t ly . Table VT-a r e p re s e n ts th e s e
f ig u re s showing th a t ap p ro x im ate ly tw o - th ird s of th o se who
used v i s u a l memory in " th e ir memorizing scheme had u n s a t i s
f a c to ry memory su c c e s s , t h r e e - f i f t h s o f th o se who used h a r
monic a n a ly s is had s a t i s f a c to r y memory s u c c e s s , and approx
im a te ly tw o - th ird s o f th o se who used i n t e l l e c t u a l memory had
s a t i s f a c to r y memory su c c e ss . The c lo se n e ss o f th e f ig u re s
TABLE V I -6
DISTRIBUTION OF STUDENTS USING THE MA ESSENTIAL METHOD, THE VISUAL, HARMONIC, AND INTELLECTUAL
METHODS
MA v is u a l p lus MA
harm onic a n a ly s is p lus MA
i n t e l l e c t u a l p lu s MA
t o ta l*
s a t i s f a c t o r ymemorysu ccess
8 16 18 11 53
u n s a t i s f a c to r ymemory 6 31 12 6 55su ccess
to t a l* 14 47 30 17 108
* The ex cess t o t a l In t h i s ta b le i s o b v io u sly due to an o v e rlap p in g
number o f s tu d e n ts who employed more th a n th re e m ethods in t h e i r scheme of
m em orizing.
f-03
in the MA column shows no t r e n d . In Table V l-b no o b se rv
ab le tre n d I s o b ta in ed when th e se f ig u re s a re grouped as to
w hether the s tu d e n t used tw o, t h r e e , fo u r o r e l l f iv e methods
of m em orizing.
When asked i f th ey had e v e r been ta u g h t s p e c i f ic a l ly ,
how to memorize, f i f t y - e i g h t s tu d e n ts r e p l ie d th a t they had
never been ta u g h t. Of the e ig h te e n s tu d e n ts who r e p l ie d
th a t th ey had d e f in i t e ly been tau g h t how to memorize, a l l
excep t th re e were tau g h t to memorize by harm onic a n a ly s is ,
two by the v is u a l method a lone and one by a u d ito ry method
a lo n e . Nine s tu d e n ts of the f i f t e e n in the harm onic a n a ly
s i s group were ta u g h t to combine harmonic a n a ly s is w ith
a u d ito ry memory, one w ith v is u a l memory, one w ith i n t e l l e c
tu a l memory, one w ith m otor and a u d i to ry , one w ith m otor and
i n t e l l e c t u a l and one w ith a u d i to ry and i n t e l l e c t u a l .
In t e l l i n g w hether th e s tu d e n t r e s te d o r co n tin u ed to
s tudy a f t e r m em o riz 'ig , t n i r t y - t h r e e r e p l ie d t h a t th ey r e s te d
and f o r ty - th r e e con tinued to s tudy in an o th e r su b je c t bu t in
the same f i e l d , i . e . , m usic. No tren d was in d ic a te d by
the r e s u l t s . The group which had been r e s t in g a f t e r memo
r iz in g had alm ost as many u n s a t i s f a c to ry memory f a i l u r e s as
s a t i s f a c to r y memory perfo rm ances. (16 u n s a t is f a c to ry and 1?
s a t i s f a c t o r y ) . Of the group which had co n tinued to study
a f t e r m em orizing, th e re were app ro x im ate ly t h r e e - f i f t h s who
had u n s a t is f a c to ry memory w ith tw o - f ir th s , s a t i s f a c to r y mem
ory su c c e ss . (26 u n s a t is f a c to ry and 18 s a t i s f a c t o r y ) .
FREQUENCY DISTRIBUTION OF THE GROUPS USING THE ESSENTIAL MA PLUS ONE, TWO, OR THREE OTHER METHODS OF MEMORIZING ACCORDING TO THEIR SATISFACTORY r OR UNSATISFACTORY MEMORY SUCCESS
TABLE V T -b
MA MA p lu s one method
MA p lu s two methods
MA p lu s th re e methods
t o t a l :
: s a t i s f a c to r y :memory : su ccess
8 11 14 4
:
37 :
•
r u n s a t i s f a c t -:o ry memory : su ccess
6 20 7 6 39 :
: t o t a l 14 31 21 10 76 I
51
R egarding th e q u e s tio n o f whole and p a r t m e th o d s,th e
r e s u l t s gave very l i t t l e ev idence of s u p e r io r i ty by any one
method# There w ere f o r ty - th r e e s tu d e n ts u sin g th e p e r t method
o f which tw e n ty -th re e had s a t i s f a c to r y memory su ccess and
tw enty u n s a t i s f a c to r y , e ig h te e n s tu d e n ts u sin g the whole
method of which e ig h t had s a t i s f a c to r y memory su ccess and
te n u n s a t i s f a c to r y , f i f t e e n s tu d e n ts u sing bo th methods o f- • \ V.-.. ■ ■ ■ - ' . ■ ' ■ ■ /- -
which th re e had s a t i s f a c to r y success and tw elve u n s a t i s
fac to ry #
W ith r e s p e c t to the q u e s tio n o f u n i l a t e r a l and b i
l a t e r a l methods of m em orizing, the tendency was somewhat
marked in fav o r of the fo rm e r. The f ig u re s showed th a t of
tw e n ty -f iv e s tu d e n ts who employed m em orizing w ith each hand
s e p a ra te ly , s ix te e n had s a t i s f a c to r y memory su ccess and nine
u n s a t is f a c to ry * Of the f i f ty - o n e s tu d e n ts who d id not employ
m em orization of each hand s e p a r a te ly , n in e te e n had s a t i s f a c t
o ry memory su ccess and th i r ty - tw o u n s a t i s f a c to r y .
In answer to the q u e s tio n o f s t u t t e r i n g , t h e r e s u l t s
showed th a t th e re were th i r ty - s e v e n s tu d e n ts who were n o t in
the h a b i t o f p lay in g a r ig h t no te im m ediately a f t e r a wrong
n o te . T h ir ty -o n e of th ese s tu d e n ts had s a t i s f a c to r y memory
su ccess and s ix u n s a t i s f a c to r y . Of th e th i r ty - n in e s tu d e n ts
who in d ic a te d s t u t t e r i n g , th e re were f i f t e e n w ith s a t i s f a c to r y
memory su ccess and tw en ty -fo u r w ith u n s a t i s f a c t o r y memory
s u c c e s s .
■ • ’ • -
CHAPTER IV
a * Summary
In Chapter One the problem sta ted was to f in d out
what methods of memorizing were employed by piano students
at the U n iv ers ity of A rizona’ s School o f Music during spring
sem ester of 1951, and which o f these methods o f memorizing
wra s u c c e s s fu l . The in terv iew was used as a means o f gath
er in g data*
Chapter Two acknowledged the p ro cesses of m usical
memory as based on previous rep orts in th is f i e l d o f study*
In terp re ta tio n o f th is r e la te d l ite r a tu r e in d ica ted that i t
would be p o ss ib le to c la s s i f y the p rocesses of m usical mem
ory in to the fo llo w in g c a te g o r ie s : motor memory, auditory
memory, v is u a l memory, harmonic a n a ly s is , and in t e l le c t u a l
memory» In a d d it io n , sev era l in feren ces were made w ith re*
gard to fo r g e tt in g in m usical performance* They were based
on such problems as: u n ila te r a l and b i la t e r a l lea rn in g ,
re s t in g a f te r memorizing, whole and part methods, and s t u t
tering during performance* On the su b ject o f u n ila te r a l and
b ila t e r a l le a r n in g , some disagreem ent was m anifested when
various reports were compared. In terp o la ted r e s t p eriod s
when memorizing was in ferred as b e tte r than p e r s is te n t use
of the memory by continous study a t the piano* The act o f
53
unrestrained s tu tte r in g a t the piano during p ra c tic e s e s
sions was b e liev ed conducive to s im ila r s tu t te r in g during
subsequent performancea. Concerning the problem o f whole
and part methods, no d e f in ite procedure was recommended.
Chapter Three presented the det# obtained from the
in terv iew . Attem pting to answer the q u estion s g iven in the
in trod u ction and in the statem ent of the problem o f Chapter
one, ta b le s one through s ix were con stru cted . As a r e su lt
of th is in v e s t ig a t io n the fo llo w in g statem ents were sub
m itted:
The number o f stud en ts using a com bination o f two
methods alone was fo u r teen . This was approxim ately e igh teen
per cen t o f the t o t a l number o f s e v e n ty -s ix s tu d en ts .
The number of stud en ts using a combination o f three
methods was th ir ty -tw o . This was approxim ately forty-tw o
per cent o f the t o t a l .
The number of stud en ts who were u sin g a com bination
of four methods was tw enty-one. This was approxim ately
tw en ty-eigh t per cent of the t o t a l .
The number of stud en ts who were using f iv e methods o f
memorizing were nine stu d en ts . This was approxim ately tw elve
per cent o f the t o t a l .
Students who Were Interview ed tended to use a combin
a tio n of three methods, mainly that which included v is u a l
memory.
Students who used a combination o f four or f iv e
$4
methods reported the b est rankings* I t v.as a ls o In d icated
th a t those stud en ts who used the in t e l le c t u a l method In
th e ir combination scheme of three methods ranked h ighest*
Those stu d en ts who used two methods a lo n e , namely,
motor and auditory methods, ranked low est*
Those students who used harmonic a n a ly s is in th e ir -
scheme o f memorizing averaged considerably h igher than th e ir. . . . • , . . : '
fe llo w stud en ts who did not use harmonic a n a ly sis*
Students who employed in t e l le c t u a l memory in th e ir
scheme o f memorization ware com paratively h igher in th e ir
average ranking than those who did not use in t e l l e c t u a l
memory*
The few est memory fa i lu r e s were reported by stud en ts
who employed harmonic a n a ly s is and in t e l l e c t u a l memory in
th e ir scheme o f memorizing*
There were more memory fa i lu r e s among those stud en ts
who used v is u a l memory than those who did not*
Of the to ta l number o f se v e n ty -s ix s tu d en ts , f i f t y -
e ig h t re p lied th a t they had never been taught how to memor
i z e , Of the e ig h teen stud en ts who r e p lie d th at they had
d e f in i t e ly been taught how to memorize, a l l except three
were taught to memorize by harmonic a n a ly sis*
The r e s u lt s were sanewhab convincing in answer to
questions regarding the p sy ch o lo g ica l laws o f lea rn in g ,
such a s: whole and part methods, r e s t a f te r le a rn in g ,
u n ila te r a l and b i la t e r a l le a rn in g . Concerning the problem
55
of whole and part m ethods, the f ig u r e s gave no evidence o f
su p er io r ity of any one method. As' fa r as i t was p o ss ib le to
denote from t h is r e p o r t , r e s t a f te r lea rn in g had no p o s it iv e
advantage over the group who did not r e s t . However, there
was a s l ig h t ly h igher degree of s a t is fa c to r y memory among
the group that rested a g a in st those who did not r e s t . The
r e s u lts w ith regard to the question of u n ila te r a l and b i la t
e r a l learn in g were somewhat in favor of the u n ila te r a l method,
sin ce i t had a g rea ter degree of s a t is fa c to r y memory than the
b ila t e r a l method.
The question of s tu t te r in g showed r e s u lt s in favor of
the n o n -stu tter in g group, s in ce i t had e ig h ty -fo u r per cent
s a t is fa c to r y memory su ccess as compared to th ir ty -e ig h t per
cent s a t is fa c to r y memory su ccess with those who s tu tte r e d .
b . Conclusions and recommendations
The r e s u lts o f th is in v e s t ig a t io n proved that the use
of motor and auditory memory alone did not in d ica te a s a t i s
fa cto ry scheme of memorizing. In f a c t , the ease and r e l ia
b i l i t y of memorizing increased according to the number of
methods used. This was in d ica ted in the h igher rankings
obtained by those students who employed a combination of
four and f iv e methods o f memorizing, p a r t ic u la r ly those
schemes of memorizing which in c lu d ed .harmonic a n a ly s is and
the in t e l le c t u a l method.
56
In view of th is con clusion i t is recommended that
students should u t i l i z e every p o ss ib le method when memo
r iz in g a t the piano to insure adequacy of preparation .
Any tra in in g in music theory should be advantageous i f the
student a llow s i t to operate through harmonic a n a ly s is in
the memorizing p ro cess . S im ila r ly , stud en ts should make
numerous a s so c ia t io n s when memorizing music by use o f
in t e l le c t u a l con cepts. A sso c ia tio n and comparison of one
rhythmic, m elodic or chordal pattern or fig u re w ith another
would be valuable in b u ild in g memory c lu e s , lin k s and connec
t io n s . Memorizing by use of harmonic a n a ly s is and in t e l le c t u a l
memory should re in fo rce the employment of other methods.
Since there were more memory f a i lu r e s among those
students who employed v is u a l memory than those who did n o t,
i t might be im plied that v is u a l memory i s the le a s t e s s e n t ia l
method o f memorizing. I t should be noted, however, th at
v is u a l memory was included in the scheme of memorising o f a l l
those who employed the f iv e p o ss ib le methods. This would
In d ica te that the su cc essfu ln e ss o f v is u a l memory depended
on the Increase o f the number of methods used.
Students were not p a r t ic u la r ly conscious of how they
were supposed to memorize. This was in d ica ted by the fa c t
that f i f t y - e ig h t stu d en ts r e p lie d that th ey had never been
taught how to memorize. P ro v is io n should be made fo r
5 7
regular and ca r e fu l guidance of piano students when memo
r iz in g at the p iano. A c le a r and meaningful comprehension
of the memorizing process should be e s ta b lish ed by the piano
teacner in order to secure a more adequate formula of re ten
t io n during m usical performance. At the same tim e, t h is
learn in g must a r ise out o f a conscious e f fo r t by the student
to memorize a s e le c t io n . I t i s f u t i l e and d iscouraging to
the teacher when the student who i s taught how to memorize,
makes no attempt to p ra ctice according to in s tr u c t io n s .
In the teach ing procedure, students should be taught
to memorize im m ediately. Memory work i s not something to
be added a f te r the music has been presumably learn ed . I t
i s not a separate or f in a l p ro cess, but an in te g r a l part
of the to ta l act o f m usical le a rn in g . T echnical d i f f i c u l t i e s
can be overcome more e a s i ly through a conscious and w i l l f u l
p ro cess. In beginning a new p iece a student does not have
to overcome the tech n ica l d i f f i c u l t y of knowing the notes
by p laying the p iece through r e p e t i t io u s ly . This w i l l on ly
r e su lt in an autom atic motor memory, and would tend to cause
more memory fa i lu r e s the moment a wrong note i s played sin ce the
autom atic system i s broken. The student should be taught
to memorize a s e le c t io n w ith an understanding of a l l i t s
p a rts . The music can be organized in to meaningful u n its
and the inner d e ta i ls of th ese u n its must be analyzed and
learned . M usical th inking i s not done in n o te s , bars and
5*
m easures, but in f ig u r es and p a ttern s. These may be rhythmic
and m elodic f ig u r e s , or harmonic p a ttern s. The a b i l i t y to
memorize th is way should be c u lt iv a te d from the beginning,
w ith e a s ie r p ie c e s . Once the h ab it i s formed, th is system
of memorizing can be ap p licab le to more d i f f i c u l t m usic.
In in te r p r e ta t in g the r e s u lt s in answer to the question
of u n ila te r a l and b i la t e r a l lea rn in g , i t was found that
students who memorized w ith each nand sep a ra te ly had a higher
degree of s a t is fa c to r y memory. However, th is does not imply
that the u n ila te r a l method should be used throughout the
t o ta l memorization scheme. O bviously, no student could mem
or ize a s e le c t io n w ith each hand sep a ra te ly w ithout ev en tu a lly
using th e ir hands to g eth er . N ev erth e less , i t was ev ident th a t
u n ila te r a l learn in g proved more h e lp fu l in securing a greater
degree o f memory su cc ess . T herefore, i t i s recommended that
students be concerned prim arily w ith the u n ila te r a l method,
e s p e c ia lly in the more d i f f i c u l t passages.
As was Indicated in t h is research , th ere was d e f in i t e ly
a h igher percentage of s a t is fa c to r y memory success among the
n o n -stu tte r in g group of s tu d en ts . Therefore, i t i s recommended
that stu d en ts be taught never to correct a mistake by p laying
a r ig h t note immediate]y a f te r the wrong one. This w i l l tend
to impress a wrong sequence in the stu d en t’ s memory, and the
very next time the sequence w i l l be played with a r e p e t it io n
of the blunder fo llow ed by the co rrec tio n . This i s the cause
5 9
o f s tu tte r in g and stum bling. To overcome th is stum bling
fa u lt one must move across the en tire su ccession o f sounds
in the phrase from beginning to end u n t i l the r igh t note
i s learned in the sequence.
No d e f in ite trend was in d icated by those students
who rested a f te r memorizing'as compared w ith those who did
not r e s t . Also the f ig u r e s concerning the whole and part
methods of memorizing gave n o :evidence of su p e r io r ity of
any one method. T herefore, i t i s fu rth er recommended that
research should be undertaken in subsequent in v e s t ig a t io n s
fo r the purpose of com piling added p ertin en t data. C o llec tin g
a d d itio n a l o b jec tiv e data on the problem of memorizing would
fu rn ish fu rth er con clusions regarding memorizing a t the p iano.
219160
60
BIBLIOGRAPHY
BOOKS
Munn, Norman L . , P sychology. Boston: Houghton M iff lin Company 1946, pp. x v i i i -4-497.
M atthay , T o b ias , On M emorizing and P lay in g From Memory.London, V.T-1 : Oxford U n iv e rs ity P r e s s , Amen House, Warwick S q u a re , B. 0 . 4 .
McGeogh, J . , "E xperim en tal S tu d ie s of Memory” , RobinsorfsReadings In G eneral P sycho logy» Chicago: U n iv e rs ity o f Chicago P re s s , 1929.
THESES
Black, Frederick L . , J r . , An In v estig a tio n of The Methods of Memorizing Employed by Piano S tu d en ts. Terre Haute: Indiana State T eacher's C o lle g e ,M . A. T h e s is , number 311, 1937.
E rsk in e, Martha, Harmonic A n a lysis As an Aid to MemorizingPiano R ep eto lre . Tucson: U n iv ers ity of A rizona, M. M. T h e s is , 1942.
PERIODICALS
Brown, Roberta W ., "R elation Between Two Methods o f Learning Piano Music” , Journal o f Experim ental P sychology, volume 16, June 1933, PP* 435-441.
O’B rie n , C y r il C . , "P a r t and Whole Methods in the Memorizat io n of M usic", Jo u rn a l of E d u ca tio n a l P sycho logy , volume 34, December 1943, PP* 552-560.
Rabson, Grace Rubin, "S tu d ie s in th e Psychology of Memor iz in g P iano M usic" , Jo u rn a l of E d u ca tio n a l P sycho logy : I . "A Comparison of the U n i la te r a l and th e C oord inated A pproaches", volume 30, May 1939, pp. 321-345; I I . "A Comparison of Massed and D is tr ib u te d P r a c t ic e " , volume 31, A p r i l 1940, pp . 270-284; I I I ." A Comparison of th e Whole and th e P a r t A pproach", volume 31, Septem ber 1940, pp. 460-476.
Rabaon, Grace R ubin, "The In flu e n c e o f A n a ly tic a l P re Study in M emorizing P iano M usic” , A rch ives of Psycho lo g y . R, S . Woodworth, E d i to r , number 22u, New York, November 1937*
Winslow, R obert W., "Psychology of M usical Memory", Music E d u c a to r 's J o u r n a l , volume 35* January 1949, p p . 15 -16 ,
62
APPENDIX
The a c tu a l q u e s tio n s co n ta in e d In the in te rv ie w were
as fo llo w s :
1 . As a ru le does th e s tu d e n t memorize im m ediately o r does he w ait u n t i l th e f in g e r s become a u to m a tic .( e n te r "yes" i f th e s tu d e n t memorizes im m edia te ly ; a l l o th e rs e n te r "no "). This q u es tio n i s based on m otor memory: 1 . e . sense of key touch o r sense o f p lace and movement from n o te to note*
2 . Does th e s tu d e n t depend on r e c a l l in g the p r in te d page w hile p la y in g from memory, ("y es" o r " n o " ) .This q u e s tio n i s based on v is u a l memory; i . e . an eye memory o f th e p r in te d p ag e•
3* Does th e s tu d e n t depend on a v i s u a l memory o f the movement of h i s hands. ( "yes" o r " n o " ) . This q u es tio n i s a ls o based on v is u a l memory; i . e . an eye memory o f th e keyboard p ro g re ss io n s and combina t io n s .
4 . Does the s tu d e n t h ea r the sounds f i r s t m e n ta lly and then t r a n s l a t e s them to the keyboard?Does the s tu d e n t l i s t e n to the d e t a i l s o f the m usic? Away from the p iano does the s tu d e n t t r y to h e a r a p iece m e n ta l ly , remembering how th e music sounds? (answ er "y es" to th i s q u e s tio n i f the s tu d e n t in d i c a te s the employment o f any one of the th re e m ethods)* This q u e s tio n i s based on a u d ito ry memory; 1 . e . sound im agery .
3* When memorizing does the s tu d e n t an a ly ze the music h a rm o n ica lly ? ("y es" o r " n o " ) . This q u e s tio n i s based on harm onic a n a ly s i s .
6 . Does th e s tu d e n t s tudy the m usic away from the keyboard ; i . e . , s tu d y the sco re as to i t s m usica l s t r u c tu r e and a l l i t s d e t a i l s ? ( "yes" o r "no" )*This q u e s tio n i s based on I n t e l l e c t u a l memory; i . e* s tu d y in g the m usic in ev e ry d e t a i l ; rh y th m !e p a t t e r n s and f i g u r e s , m elodic c o n to u r , r e p e t i t i o n o f p a t te r n s and p h r a s e s , c o n t r a s t s , dynamic e f f e c t , e t c .
S 3
?• Does th e s tu d e n t memorize by the whole o r p a r t method o r both? ( e n te r "whole* method i f a p ie ce i s p lay ed from beginning to end w ith o u t s to p p in g , and i f a t no tim e a re r e p e t i t i o n s o f d i f f i c u l t m easures made in any of the le a r n in g . E n te r "part® i f d p ie ce i s memorized by b a r s , l i n e s , p ag es , e t c » E n te r "b o th " i f the s tu d e n t employs bo th m ethods; 1 . e . , g e t t in g a survey o f the whole before s t a r t i n g to le a r n by whole o r p a r t m ethod)*
8» Does th e s tu d e n t e v e r memorize each hand s e p a ra te ly ?("yes" or " n o " ) .
9* When making a m is tak e w i l l th e s tu d e n t p la y a r ig h t n o te a f t e r a wrong no te o r go back to the b eg in n in g of the p h ra se . T h is does n o t re v iv e i t s e l f v ery e a s i ly in th e s tu d e n t’ s co n sc io u sn e ss , s in c e most s tu d e n t ’ s a re no t s e l f - c r i t i c a l enough to observe how they c o r r e c t t h e i r m is ta k e s , ( e n te r "y es" i f the s tu d e n t makes the c o r re c t io n by p la y in g a r ig h t no te a f t e r a wrong n o te ; "no" i f th e s tu d e n t goes back to the beg inn ing of the p h ra s e ) . This q u es tio n was designed to t e l l w hether o r n o t the s tu d e n t is s tu t te r in g *
10* When perform ing in p u b lic from memory does the s tu d e n t f in d h im se lf th in k in g ahead , w orry ing abou t what comes in the nex t s e c t io n , ("y e s" o r "no" ) . This q u e s tio n r e f e r s to M atthay’ s th eo ry about b reak in g the m u sica l sequence,
11, When p la y in g in p u b lic from memory (w hether in r e c i t a l s o r p iano f i n a l s ) has the s tu d e n t’ s memory ev e r f a i l e d ? ("y es" o r " n o " ) . Has th i s been f r e q u e n t . o c c a s io n a l ly , o r seldom? This q u e s tio n used to e s tim a te a b i l i t y to memorize.
12 . Does the s tu d e n t r e s t a f t e r m em orizing o r does he contin u e to stu d y in the same f i e l d im m ediately a f te rw a rd s? ( e n te r " r e s t " i f s tu d e n t r e s t s a f t e r m emorizing o r cont in u e s to study in an o th e r f i e l d . E n te r "s tu d y " i f s tu d e n t co n tin u es to p r a c t ic e o r s tu d y in the same f i e l d ) . T h is q u es tio n i s based on recom m endations f o r in t e r p o l a te d r e s t p e r io d s .
13* Have the s tu d e n t r a te h im se lf as to a b i l i t y in m em orizing. RAPID FAIRLY RAPID AVERAGE FAIRLY SLOW SLOW
(1) (2) (3) (4) (5)
14* Has th e s tu d e n t ev er been ta u g h t how to memorize?Which method o r methods have been ta u g h t as most dependable?
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15e Which method o r methods does the s tu d e n t depend on: m otor - sense o f to u ch ; memorize by p la y in g th ro u g h
r e p e t i t i o u s l y ,v is u a l - memory o f th e p r in te d page, o f th e keyboard
p ro g re ss io n s and co m b in a tio n s. a u d ito ry - remembering how the music should sound; h e a r
ing the sounds and t r a n s l a t i n g them to th e keyboard .
harm onic - an a ly z in g by chord p h ra se s ; a to p ic a l o u t l in e of the m u sica l s t r u c t u r e .
i n t e l l e c t u a l - an a ly z in g by thorough s tudy of a l l d e t a i l s ;a d e ta i le d o u tl in e of the m u sica l s t r u c tu r e .
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