Do you prefer to memorize or read sheet music? 🎹

Summary in one sentence: *You have to be able to read your music sheet, in order to memorize or sight read*

I find that whenever I’m learning to play a new piece at my lessons and the fact that I’m playing it over and over again during practice my brain just automatically memorizes it without trying because of the constant practicing of it.

I prefer reading sheet music but my sight reading skill is not that good...so I always end up just memorizing my sheet. 😔

Thank you so much. I am a middle age woman who has decided to learn the piano for brain health. This was a good topic for me as my memory is an issue and sight reading is tricky too. Find if I practice with my eyes closed, it helps tremendously. As I can focus on listening and cut out some of the distraction from the visual.

"Oh, a piano. Let's pl... Oh, I need the sheet". So, no, I don't want to become dependent to be able to play. Great video, as always.

Jazer, yes, as an adult learner five years down the memorising path, by grade 6, everything took so long that I felt like I was grinding to a halt. It was a wake up call to fix sight reading because it was so much effort just to pull three exam pieces together. No fun at all and just like learning to move my hands from a to b sequentially via muscle memory rather than being 'in' the music or even feeling the 'key' of the piece. I've gone right back to basics and I would absolutely choose being a fluent reader over holding an exam certificate. I wasted a lot of time memorising increasingly more difficult pieces as with no reading skill, it just took longer and longer. Like the wood cutter that didn't stop to sharpen the axe! I've stopped to sharpen my axe now and I'm really glad I have!

After 40 years of not playing the Piano am back at it in my retirement. Am not very good at sight reading but I am working on it, yet I would also like to memorise a piece.

I am grade 5 but I HATE sight reading and have to memorize a piece bit by bit...but who knew I have such clever fingers? It is ultra-rewarding to play a memorised piece all the way through.Thanks fir your input on this!

one thing I know for sure, everytime I play my music is sheet:)

Hi Jazer. I took piano lessons for 6 years, starting when I was 9. That was 1959. ( Yes, I'm that old.) If I run across a song that I really like then I usually memorize it. At this time I have 33 songs memorized. This also keeps the brain sharp. Keep the videos coming. Very helpful.

Thank you , Jazer! I personally find it almost impossible not to memorize the piece given the amount of practice that it usually requires to play it with proper articulation and dynamics. I never cared much about sight reading until a few months ago and I couldn't agree more with you: it really takes one's playing ability to the next level!

I'm glad I've chosen to do both from the start. Once I remember the piece from sight reading I can play it with more feeling from memory, but I can sight read it too. We had a pianist who practically walked in off the street to help our choir practice when our regular pianist was sick. I want to be able to do that!

Dear Jazer! I'm watching hundreds of music videos on youtube and I can say one thing for sure: You are the only teacher on youtube that hitting exactly all the problematic points that I'm facing with. Every and each video of yours are just perfectly oriented to the students weakness points and I thank you so much for your professional teaching attitude. Regards!

I have been an intermediate-advanced sight reader for over 60 years, but I also try to simultaneously be memorizing at least one complex piece at any moment in time with a goal of recording it for myself. What's sad is when I move to the next complex piece to memorize, since I know the previous one will decay rapidly and I never seem to have any sort of repertoire of memorized pieces beyond a few. I'll play the memorized piece over and over for a few weeks before saying goodbye. Selecting the next piece to memorize is then filled with excitement and anxiety!

Definately deserve more subs!!

Just subscribed! Took my Grade 2 last Friday and aiming to take Grade 3 this Spring but looking to change my approach and really feel confident and connected to my pieces so that I can express the emotions. Glad I've found your videos right at the start of this section of my journey 😊

Your energy is so good man and your lessons. I admire you.cuz i interested in piano palying with your videos. Thank you teacher.

Love your videos Jazer, it's really helpful. Hope to see more videos from you.

Best video. Thanks! I must say that I struggle to perform complex and advanced music, but I'm a fantastic site reader and rely on reading music rather than performing it. Shows I need to take a step back and develop my memorizing skills. Makes so much sense.

What a great video. It answered a question I’ve been asking myself for years. I’m a memorizer and I’ve always thought that was a bad technique but you have removed the guilt feelings. Thank you’ll much. Rick

Thank-you Jazer this is another great video that I missed before but now am so thrilled to say I couldn't agree more with you on. 🔆 As a beginner in the middle of 7th grade (= in between 70 and 79 years of age), my goal over the past few months has been to keep practicing so as to eventually memorize Air on G String (albeit an easier version) as well as sight reading to try and play lots of hymns and other classical pieces too. 🔆 Thank-you !! 🙂

You are the best instructor I have found on youtube! It's like getting one on one time with an expensive piano teacher. You are amazing!! You really teach GREAT information THOROUGHLY. I love it! Good luck, I hope you can monetize the crap out of this!

Jazzer we need more videos from you bud. I love the way you explain things.

Thank you for such an insightful video! :) I have always been thinking if memorizing a piano piece brings out a different performance, and you just answered my question in a very understandable way. Bringing out emotions while playing is really important, hence, the memorization is needed. Thank you again!

I'm a new fan Jazer, but this reminded me of a story my piano teacher told me. She knew a piece backwards and forwards. At a mother daughter tea in school she was going to play that piece. So she didn't take the music. During the piece she realized she didn't know what was coming up after the first part. In a panic she replayed the first part twice. In the end, in college she could never play without music in front of her. Her skills were amazing. She could play very difficult pieces but would never play without music right there. Funny stories that anyone who gave a speech might relate.

I just want to say a big THANK YOU! 👍😊 YOU ARE HELPING ME

Thank you for answering a question I didn’t even know I’ve had but that is now totally making sense. :-)

I Just love to play... any sheet music I can lay my hands on... And so every now and then encounter a piece that keeps on stalking me. It doesn't wanna leave me... It will haunt me day and night, I'll hear it in my dreams and it interferes in my daily life... Then I fervently attack it in practise and study it with so much intensity, it just unintentionally get stuck forever after.... With, or without the sheet music...

The points you make are very valid. My guitar teacher could listen to a unique piece once and play it immediately. I played in an orchestra with some very experienced players. They could sight read and play a new piece immediately. I found that a change was happening where I wasn't consciously reading the music but was playing it, kind of how you go from reading letters to reading words. The really tough stuff with lots of notes, I had to memorise. I can still play them now many years later.

I hope you make more videos soon, I love your videos and teaching style, I discovered your channel 2 days ago and already watch all of your videos lol

This is really interesting. I can't memorize anything bc of some brain injuries. But it really gave me perspective on how much I should focus on the emotions when I'm limited to paper. Thank you for your insights!

Oml thank you for this answer to a question I've been asking in my head.

Hey Jazer. Your tips regarding reading, are really helpful! I notice how my reading skills are going better and better! Thanks you so much!

A really practical lesson for me Jazer, thanks so much for this one.

Thank you Jazer Lee, prefer reading the music, you convinced me and I decided to do both. At the moment I have 2 peaces to learn so one peace i was already doing reading and the other I, am going to memorize. Nice, I am curious!!!!!

Thanks for this video! This helped to answer more in detail the question I asked you in the comment section in another one of your videos :)

I realise this video is 4 years old but I'm getting back into learning piano in a more consistent and effective way, and your videos really help. Memorising pieces is key for me as my sight reading is good, but I do get frustrated at not being able to play pieces without having to dig out the sheet music, so I'm working on my memorising now. After many years gap between playing I've forgotten most of my memorised pieces so back to the begining again on that front. You videos on the best way to learn a piece have been very helpful - because I'm self-taught, I had no grounded techniques to how to approach pieces. Now I'm using your videos to help with that and start fresh.

I took up learning to play the piano about 5 years ago. I have found that my preferred method of learning is to memorise the piece. My sight reading skills need to be worked on and I do this during the early stages of learning a new piece of music. I force myself to learn the piece by sight reading whilst simultaneously learning where my hands are in the keyboard by using muscle memory and paying attention to the sound. Once I am confident with reading the piece I move away from sight reading and rely on memory so that I can then focus on the performance and the musical dynamics. So far, this way of learning has served me well in my piano exams, but I can totally see what you’re saying about having a balanced approach to memory and sight reading. I’ve on,y just found your videos. They’re brilliant. I’ll definitely be subscribing. ❤️

Hi Jazer! I'm very used to memorizing sheet music but I'm currently bringing myself to sight read for the first time. It's been a rocky road but your videos help!

OMG! Thank you! It's good to hear that learning pieces by heart is totally legit. I am terrible at sight reading. I translate the sheet music to fingers and notes a few times and then memorize that. After that I usually stare at my left hand while playing and rely on muscle memory for my right hand. Part of my problem is clearly that I keep choosing pieces that are way above my current level which means deciphering the sheet music is a challenge, but on the other hand by the time I can play one hand I really know what is going on, because learning the music by heart required so much effort and patience in the first place. I am trying to improve my sight reading though and practice playing through more than just a couple of bars in one go.

You are amazing! You give such amazing tips! Pleassseeee keep posting new videos!

Great video. It makes me feel a lot less guilty about being a memorizer rather than a reader, but I'll take your advice and will try to improve my sight reading.

I am older and I can’t remember whole songs. I need the music at least to look at. I remember parts but not everything

I am still new to the piano (I primarily play guitar so I understand the theory behind it and some of it transfers over quite well) and am finding that I memorize pieces much better than sight reading. I never did learn how to read sheet music but am doing so now and it's interesting to say the least! I will be putting more practice into learn how to sight read.

Great lesson ..I often wondered same question. You explained well the pros and cons. Thank you.

You are great man. Thank you so much! ❤️

As a self-taught adult I love sight-reading! It is like a miraculous language for accessing so much music. My greatest challenge is rhythm and I have to force myself to use a metronome which reveals how flawed my time-keeping is. It has concerned me how reliant I am on always having the musical score in front of me. I haven’t really tried to memorise pieces but having seen you video I will give it a go.

Had this in mind for a few days. Thanks for making a video

I had a similar experience as a child with reading music. I memorized so quickly that my reading skills were quite poor, and I was even fired by a teacher who became frustrated and crumpled up my music because I wasn't reading it and threw it across the room. Now at age 66, and getting back into my music, I find that the memory is not what it used to be and I really could use that sight reading skills. Thanks for your video.

I’m returning to the piano after several years ignoring it in the other room. My sight reading skills were always weak and so I memorized almost everything. It took a LONG TIME. So I decided to start over from scratch and study theory and practice sight reading. I’m finally optimistic that starting at the beginning this time will improve everything and I’ll play better and learn (and re-learn) pieces in less time. I pulled out my old notebook today and discovered notes indicating my teacher TRIED to teach me some theory; I just resisted. This time I’m jumping in. I’m 75 but I’m pretty sure this approach is going to help a variety of things in my life. Thanks, Jazer, I really am enjoying your videos.

Great video: very clear and helpful, many thanks Jazer!

Could you make a video recommending some classical pieces to learn for beginners please? That would be amazing

Hi Jazer, I’d love to memorise so that i can be more expressive, but I fear I can only read. You are the best and most concise teacher I have seen

Thanks so much for all the great tips. I would be able to learn how to memorize music. I just started learning the piano at age 61 without any knowledge of it, but after 3 months, I am addicted and use the simply joy apps which is great. I also need inspiration from a great pianist like you, I appreciate watching your videos. Thank you

Thanks for the informative video Jazer. I prefer to read but would love to just be able to play. Work in progress!

I can't remember most of the pieces I learned decades ago so now I just sightread what I can...Really need to practice again. Thanks for your videos. I just stumbled upon them today but I feel that I will practice again soon.

Thank you, sensei. your videos are super helpful!

New subbie here! Thank you for this encouraging video. I like to memorize and create my own songs, and slacked a little on sight reading. I'm still a beginner, but love to play Chopin pieces one day. So I'll better get to to the sight reading then😉😆 I love how Khatia Buniatsvilli plays...so much feeling without looking at sheet and piano♥️

right now i'm at a point where i haven't learned much music theory and i'm just going off of synthesia's on KZfaq. sure i'm also chunking, doing one hand at a time, writing down the notes and trying to see patterns that way and all that. i do hope i can sit down to slowly learn some music theory to help a bit with learning more songs going foward.

Thank you Lee for clearing my doubts😘

So thanks Jazer for your great understanding what I have wondering for a long time.

I’m subscribed because of the Aussie accent! Let’s gooo Aussie!

Totally agree ---- about the goals or target - the level one wants to reach, and also own natural ability. For people that love music - that's pretty much all of us here --- most of us can remember melodies that we love, and also have snapshots of at least some portions of the accompaniment and counter-point music that comes along with it. It's fascinating. So combining it all with some useful piano theory and some useful tips about how things 'work' and 'fit' together --- eg. how some music having incredible melody plus accompaniment/counterpoint - combine to give a miracle of nature ---- can really help with understanding ---- so all of that actually help somebody play particular piece of music without full-on bare-bones memory work. But then again - whether or not somebody can play the world's or universe's most physically and mentally challenging pieces will generally depend on the person at hand. At the highest level of say sport and music (tennis, car racing, piano etc) ------ there are always the ones that have particular abilities - prodigies - with abilities well above normal. I think with read or memorise ----- it will be about just choosing or doing what's necessary for the task at hand --- the intention/aim/goal. And - just to have flexibility ---- just work on both components if needed. For me - all the music that I really like ---- I prefer to just play without sheet music. So it will be about getting to know the music really well, so that it becomes possible to play what we like at any time. Not necessarily the most challenging bits of music. Once we get to know the workings ----- then things can be quite interesting and nice.

i've learned to read notes from you tube videos for about a year now but i read really slow, by the time i get to play the entire piece i usually know it by heart. Takes me about a week. I've learned, shindler's list, forest gump, the entertainer, minuet in g, the friendship theme, cherish opus 11, and more i cant think of right now. also composed and recorded one. Im 45 years old and never imagined i could do this one day. I wish i cold afford a teacher but i cant. Not giving up though and making progress everyday i think. Thanks to you tube videos!

I like to know it so well that I still look at the music to keep me on track but know it so well I don’t really read it

thank you very much i am just like you in your childhoods.i memorize the song i'm playing from the sheet music instantly.the good thing is i don't need sheet music that much and the bad thing is because of that i really suck at reading sheet music and i didn't really know what to do.accept my fate and memorize songs and stick with my crappy reading skill or force myself to read sheet music and change the way i practice and never memorize but your video helped me decide that it's ok to be a memory person but also i need to work on my reading skills

I'm also a big memorizer and realized my sight-reading was terrible! Now I'm forcing myself to read and say aloud every note I play in my practice (Chopin Nocturne op9 no1) I was wondering this exact same question just yesterday! Thank you, you're born to teach!

Jazer, i so love all the tips you give us. Each topic you pick is so relate-able. Much much thanks !!! Oh by the way, im terrible at sight reading.... i automatically end up memorizing. So i know i need to work on reading !

Thanks Jazer for your video. For me it´s hard to memorize some works. I will try, thanks for your lesson, again.

Both. I don’t want to read during recitals. However, I want to improve and be good at sight reading. Thanks for this video. I am now one of your subscribers. 😉👍🏼

Thanks for this great video, Jazer. I really enjoy subscribing to your channel.

OMG, YES. This is where I am. My teacher always encouraged me to ply more difficult pieces and I had no problem with them, but the READING just got beyond my ability and I had to dial back and catch up. I jumped down 2 grades to improve my reading ability (I had to catch up in theory and ear training, as well). I'm finally on an even level, which feels SO much better! Now going forward, everything makes sense and it's so much easier to understand what I'm doing.

I don't know yet . Thats a really good question 🤔. You are an excellent teacher and I am learning with alot. Thank you

Great video! You always come up with things that pianist struggles with the most! I am also like you. We didn’t have KZfaq at the time so I would watch my teacher play through a piece once, and I would go home and play based on my memory. As a result, my sight reading skill suffered because I had relied so much on my ear. Thank you so much for this! I am now using hymns to help me with that. What other books do you also recommend other than hymns? I do find that after awhile I am getting pretty comfortable playing chords.

Great channel. Keep up the good work!

Namasthe, What you told was exactly right as I feel too. Thanking you. Namasthe.🙏

Hey Jazer Lee, This is such a great video! Very recognisable for me: I now play the piano for 2 years and 1 month (!!!). I am an adult learner and I found right from the very beginning that I very easily memorize the music I am learning. I practice 3 hours every day and so I play a lot of different stuff..Händel, Bach, Eric Satie , Burgmuller,,...also pop/jazz piano pieces. I just memorize immediately what I am learning. It does not cost me any effort at all. My piano teachers tell me this is not very common for a 'beginner'. The downside is that, although I spend a lot of time practicing every day, I do not spend that much time sightreading the music. I can read notes , but not fluently to even manage play grade 2 stuff whilst sightreading. I do try and practice 10 min every day unseen musicscores so that I have to sightread. I play it no more than a couple of times / days ... So, yes memorizing music easily is an advantage but it does not help improve my sightreading skills...

To me, memorization happens naturally. However, I find it important to keep your score handy and take a look at it from time to time to make sure you’re not missing on anything.

Hi . I really like the way you teach the Piano very well

Janet, You are grate. Greatful Frankie. PS:. I hope you and everyone (or anyone ?) reading this knows exactly what I mean 😃. They ought to, because I am sure they feel exactly the same as I do.

Because I was a stubborn child, my musicality and technique is light years ahead of my embarrassingly bad reading. Watching how professional pianists can read through new material so fast and then begin focusing on the difficult passages immediately rather than trudging through reading made me realize that being able to read fast is mandatory if I want to be able to play at a high level without dedicating literally half a year per piece. The KZfaq video of Lisitsa's practice routine, as well as others like Josh Wright, really woke me up on this. So, as painful as it is, I started practicing sightreading hailing all the way back to Twinkle Twinkle Little Star levels. You have a good channel going on, keep it up.

I’ve dipped in and out of learning keyboard skills, through my adult years. I didn’t have any opportunity to learn as a child. When lockdown started, due to Covid, I made more of an effort to practise the keyboard! I found it interesting that you said that those who were good at English at school, were usually good at sight reading - I must be the exception!! I am quite good at spelling, but I really need to concentrate when I look at a music sheet! I have quite a good ear for music, but I’m not sure whether I could memorise a piece! I am retired, and would describe myself as a young 73 year old! I can’t tell you how much I really appreciate your teaching videos!! I find the Internet such a brilliant resource for learning music theory. I am learning Minuet in G at the moment, and I find the advice to play SLOWLY, is paying off, as well as several shorter practices pays off for me, rather than a longer session. Patience.Perseverance. Perspiration!!! Thank you SO much for your videos, and hope that you have recovered from Covid. 😘🤗❤️🙏

hello, i'm a beginner, i can memorize and follow the music, but i want to learn to read the notes because it's good to me to improve next level

This video really hit home to me in many ways. I’m almost 50 years old. I have been playing piano again over the last couple of years. I played when I was young and took lessons, from age 10 -17. I had to perform at recitals , and in front of judges . I gave up playing for many years but now I’m playing again. Learning some pieces that I always wanted to play and relearning old pieces that I had to perform. But always back then and even now, people would want me to play for them. Even if I’m somewhere else and there’s a piano. But right now, there are only a couple of songs I can play by memory . I’d like to be able to memorize more so I can play for them. I think that’s what I need to work on. But my challenge was always site reading . The judges would mark me down when I was being graded by them. And I always knew it was something I needed to work on more . And yes, I wished my teacher helped me more with sight reading . Good video. But I need to work on both

i have the problem that im partially tone deaf and i somehow just cant read sheet music no matter what i try and it's really frustrating. i also have splints for my fingers and wrists to prevent them from dislocating and i have a slowed information progress. this always made it very hard for me to even learn an instrument but i decided that im going to learn how to play the piano no matter what.

I prefer to listen and memorise pieces so I Guess I’ll practice reading

Thanks Jazer for lesson .

Awesome video! I am a good sight reader, I tend to memorize parts where I can’t read and play at the same time 🤣 I think if I start to focus on memorizing my pieces from now on, I will probably be good at both ☺️ Can’t wait to start learning to memorize my new piece tomorrow!

The ultimate for a musician is not to play by memory but to play with feeling of certain situations that will improve your performance. One example is hearing Vivaldi's Four Seasons played by Nigel Kennedy. He spoke of seeing in his minds eye, ducks on a lake, the breeze wafting through the shore grasses. This is when you can convey your unique vision to your audience, even if the audience is a sample size of one. Blessed are the musicians!

Thank you. I used to ask myself the same question .

Being good at sight reading is one skill set. However if you could play without referring to sheet music brings to up another level. You have mastered two skills and one can just walk up and play any time anywhere.

I think more to appreciating and indirectly memorize the pieces. O dont read notes but understood the sequence if the chord progression once I know the tune and melody but tend to forget about it if I dont play the pieces too long

Sight reading is very important for progress in music. Memorizing is very good for emotional performance. Both are important but first learning is "Sight Reading" only

Thanks for these useful tips🤩

Thank you teacher..

I have a poor vision and I have trouble reading sheet whilst playing, leaving me no choice but to memorize in order to play with the regular speed.

I used to memorize songs, because it meant not having to read sheets that much xD but the more songs I learned, the more frustrating it got to play "old" songs, since I've forgotten some notes and had to look them up and looking up one specific note in a three pages sheet every 15 seconds was really annoying, so now I'm learning how to read sheets faster. To me it's like learning how to read words, you start not knowing anything, become better and better by practicing until you look at the word/note and immediately recognize it and know how to pronounce it/which key to press! :)

This depends on how many pieces you perfrom per week, over a year. For example, as a church organist and pianist, I performed 3 pieces or more each service, plus interludes and responses. Easter week had the most services with the most arrangements, and played only once a year, so memorization wasn't possible. I am retired now, and it's amazing how many hymns I can play from memory, but didn't dare doing so while I was actively performing. My personal rule, was to play a piece only 1 time per year, but each following year included new arrangements and a few old ones. Therefore, both are important, but it depends on whether it is a recital or a weekly/yearly mass of arrangements.

I use both ear and eye. However, my strength is in memorizing chord progressions for contemporary music. I am now building my sight reading skills using method books such as John Thompson and Bastien piano basics