It

1
Its on the Tip of My Fingers Techniques for
Memorization

• Texas Music Teachers Association Convention 2005
• Dr. Dawn Harmon McCord, Presenter

2
Music Music Everywhere . . .

• . . . But not a sound to hear.

3
Multimodal Musical Experiences

• Auditory
• Visual
• Cognitive
• Affective
• Motor
• Memory
• Donald Hodges Neurological Research and Music
  Education, 1996

4
Effective Teaching Strategies

• actively involve the student in the learning
  experience.
• This is the first step towards facilitating
  memorization.

5
Basic information is easy to talk about!

• You can tell that the
• melody is mostly conjunct and diatonic
• form is ABA
• harmony is in a minor modality
• rhythm is compound duple

• Could you help them discover this information in
  ways
• other than lecture? If so, they will own the
  parameters
• of the repertoire.

6
Where to start with active learning and listening?

• Have student
• Focus their attention to some specific detail in
  the music
• Listen for that detail as they play
• Respond to the discoveries that surface

7
There are many resources available to the teacher
that will help the student focus on specific
parameters necessary for memorization.
8
Learning and Memorization Activities

• Guidance
• Schumann Papillons from Carnaval, Op. 9
• Is this piece
• Fast or slow?
• Quiet or loud?
• Like a butterfly or an elephant?
• Guidance creates active listening which empowers
  the learner to access great hooks for
  memorization.

9
Learning and Memorization Activities

• Modeling
• Mini-teaching Moments
• Questioning

10
Learning and Memorization Activities

• Storytelling
• Visitation Rights
• American Idol

11
Learning and Memorization Activities

• Listening Maps
• A listening map is a visual image that highlights
  important stylistic parameters in a given
  composition. Examples of these images can
  include
• Pictures
• Graphics
• Shapes
• Short musical themes or motifs
• Source for ideas is Rebecca Payne Shockleys
  Mapping Music For Faster Learning and Secure
  Memory

12
Learning and Memorization Activities

• Call Charts
• Visuals

A
A
A
A
C
B
B
Robert Schumann Frightening from Scenes from
Childhood, Op. 15
13
Listening Map Example
Domenico Scarlatti Sonata in A Minor, K. 149
Longo 93
14
Now its your turn

• Select a piece to map
• On your blank paper provided, create a map for
  your selection. Let the following guide your
  choices for visualization

Form Melody Harmony Expression Rhythm Texture Style Skys the limit
15
Mapping Repertoire

• W. T. Skye Garcia Cat Walk

Susan Ogilvy Toccatina
Martha Mier Morning Dew
16
Now its your turn

• Set your imagination free.
• Create a map for your selection. The following
  guide provides some of the ideas for mapping

Form Melody Harmony Expression Rhythm Texture Style Skys the limit
17
Coda and Overture

• Set em up
• Let the learning begin
• Let the listening begin
• Begin appropriate and multimodal activities
• Memorize at all levels and modes of learning
• Where there are insecurities, expand the
  activities
• Learning activities will put it on the tip of
  your fingers!