Guide to Memorizing Music

Guide to Memorizing Music
By AJ Goodrich Contents Preface
I--Diatonic Melodic Sequences [Motive--Design]
II--Melodic Sequence Continued
III--Harmonic Cadences [Major]
IV--Harmonic Cadences [Minor]
V--Various Forms of Complete and Perfect Cadences
VI--Themes and designs Founded upon cadence Harmonies ["The Goblin" Reproduced]
VII--Unrelated Tones [Suspension, Appoggiatura, Passing Notes]
VIII--Unrelated Tones Continued [Gruppetti, Anschlag]
IX--Passing Note Figures
X--Chromatic Sequence [Interchangeable Parts]
XI--Harmonic and Melodic Sequences Modulating
XII--Chord Sequences [Free and Strict]
XIII--Chord Inversion [Dispersed Harmony; Motive Inversion]
XIV--Free Sequence Structure in Two Parts [Attempt to Reproduce a Cramer Etude]
XV--Canonic Imitations
XVI--Canonic Imitations Concluded
XVII--Period Construction [Form]
XVIII--Miscellaneous Examples from Beethoven
XIX--Bravura Music [Modern Figurations] Excerpt Lesson I: Diatonic Melodic Sequences. Motive--Design
The major portion of this system is based upon melodic and harmonic sequences in some of their forms. Repetition, and sequence (which is a species of altered repetition), enter so prominently into the structure of music that whoever understands the principles and applications of these elements possesses the key which will unlock almost every investiture of notes. In order to master a composition quickly it is essential that the performer shall be able to reproduce a considerable portion of the music by means of sequence, repetition or other methods for continuing and enlarging a motive. We will presuppose that a given page of music consists of a motive or group continued in sequence through various tonalities--such frequently being the case. Soon as the design is apprehended an expert performer ought to be able to play the page correctly without further reference to the notes. After repeating it slowly two or three times the actual notes would be learned, without having resorted to the usual tedious process of "memorizing" them. To increase the movement gradually and to include the proper style of performance would be matters of technic and taste. With these subjects the present system has little to do. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Windham Press is committed to bringing the lost cultural heritage of ages past into the 21st century through high-quality reproductions of original, classic printed works at affordable prices. This book has been carefully crafted to utilize the original images of antique books rather than error-prone OCR text. This also preserves the work of the original typesetters of these classics, unknown craftsmen who laid out the text, often by hand, of each and every page you will read. Their subtle art involving judgment and interaction with the text is in many ways superior and more human than the mechanical methods utilized today, and gave each book a unique, hand-crafted feel in its text that connected the reader organically to the art of bindery and book-making. We think these benefits are worth the occasional imperfection resulting from the age of these books at the time of scanning, and their vintage feel provides a connection to the past that goes beyond the mere words of the text.