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One way that I've found to be better is to do overlapping chunks 1-8, then 5-14 then 11-19, etc..

The process of converting from knowing what it's supposed to sound like to physically touching the keys to achieve that result -- without any chart or other input -- is what I'd call "playing by ear".

When you're playing with your eyes on the score, actually having to "translate" the lines and dots into audible music beat by beat (otherwise known as sight-reading), there is zero memory involvement.

It feels different to me to have something carefully memorized (and maybe have brain cramp in the middle of playing it) versus knowing something well and playing it by ear, with maybe a glitch or two when the fingers don't land right, but little chance of a meltdown. These seem like different mental processes.

I'm going to disagree with you slightly on this. What you describe is what I call prima facie sight reading, and there is a component of that happening. But the good sightreaders do as little of that as possible. Most of what they play is by retrieving thoroughly learned (and memorized) patterns.

For me, that representation will be an "internal recording": it is primarily auditory. For you, it might be primarily visual, or primarily kinaesthetic, or primarily logical (musical structure, chord progressions, etc.), with some elements of all the others thrown in to make it stronger in the long run.

Interesting trick question. And although it was not addressed to me, I feel compelled to take a stab at answering it.

I would say that "playing by ear" in the strictest sense involves immediate imitation: you listen to someone else play (live or recorded), and then you immediately attempt to copy. When there is a delay between the model and the copy, then "playing by ear" becomes "playing from memory".

I'd say this applies also to music learned from a score. The greater the distance between "model" (score) and "copy" (your playing of what's in the score), the better you're remembering.

When you're playing with your eyes on the score, actually having to "translate" the lines and dots into audible music beat by beat (otherwise known as sight-reading), there is zero memory involvement. Going from that to playing entirely from memory requires a representation of those dots and lines in your own mind. It might be an audible representation, in which case playing from memory essentially becomes a variation on playing by ear, in that you're copying the music in your head. But there are other possibilities: your representation might be visual (you're "reading the score" without actually having it in front of you), physical (you can play without a score because you know what your fingers, hands and arms are supposed to do to make the music come out), or some combination of all of the above. I think that for obvious reasons, the latter is most resistant to memory lapses.

I'd argue that all those methods require different versions of memorization. Sightreading DOES require you to work on a skill where you read something, digest it memorize it momentarily and then play it while basically "queueing" these actions over and over. You are constantly memorizing the previous measure because you ideally should have read it, digested it and be playing it WHILE you are doing the same to the next measure and being one step ahead.

First, we should differentiate between prima vista reading, called "sight reading", which is an advanced and specialized skill needed, for example, by an accompanist who has to play a score in real time - and reading. Most of us need the skill of reading music. That can be done slowly, and carefully.


Reading does NOT necessarily entail memorizing and queuing. What you are describing is one way that people go about it. When I read music from the page, I am not doing what you describe.

Yes, after learning measures 1-8, you really need to learn measures 6-14, not 9-16.

What do you do when you read? Because I'm inclined to say memorization happens in ANY type of reading.

What do you do when you read? Because I'm inclined to say memorization happens in ANY type of reading.