The October 2009 issue of the UK monthly The Strad featured an article I wrote about memorization titled “Memories are Made of This.”

I was invited to contribute to the magazine by its editor, Ariane Todes, after she attended a lecture I gave on the subject of memorization at the 2009 conference of the American String Teachers Association in Atlanta.

The 1500-word piece describes concepts and strategies that apply to string players and all instrumentalists.

It’s something of a condensation of the ideas I present in my book, The Musician’s Way.

My book goes into greater detail about the memorization process, of course, and it also includes guidelines for singers that aren’t mentioned in The Strad.The Musician's Way book cover

But the article offers a cohesive approach to memorization that I think will be of value to all performers.

Its central message is that, by building up a knowledge base and skill set, any musician can become confident performing from memory.

Update: Also see my May 2010 post “The Four Stages of Memorization.”