Monday 22 July 2013

Music, Memory and the Mind

Eine Kleine LP Music
I've arrived at the time in life when memory becomes an issue, namely the point when for some occasional, inexplicable reason, names of people, particularly celebs., just disappear from mind. I can sense the required information tucked away just out of sight, but for the life of me I can't get at it, until, bingo, when my mental back is turned it pops back into view like a naughtly little hobgoblin, having a laugh. Memory becomes for most people a compelling subject. On a mundane level, that's perhaps why Eggheads is such a smash hit TV show - how can they remember so much and seemingly recall it at will?

On a more sublime level, memory plays a huge roll in making music. Not only for every rehearsal and concert do you have to remember to take music stand, music, instrument, loose change, route map, remember timing and what to wear (and, nota bene, hand your music in again after the show), but there is all that musical notation to remember, too. When reading a piece of music that has been well practised, the process is of using the written notations as memory prompts enabling recall of all that musical information from the unconscious mind.