Playing a musical score by heart is a very common task for professional concert pianists today. Also from string and wind soloists are usually expected to play by memory when performing the solo part of a concerto with orchestra. Still, learning a score by memory can be a difficult achievement and could increase the stage fright. Since each professional concert performer has to deal with this matter, tips and tricks to improve the memory are always welcome from musicians.

American violinist Claire Allen published some smart tips to improve the memorization of a musical score in his blog. Her post is worthy to read and also include a short test to check our musical memory:

 

 

British pianist Sam Haywood went further and patented the “Memory Star”, a simple system to learn a piece by heart, covering increasingly large areas of the score until the whole piece is perfectly memorized: