Remembering a Composition

They say that playing an instrument is like riding a bicycle. Once you learn it you will never forget how to do it. I would maybe disagree with this statement. It is not just that easy, not that black or white situation.

Many of us started to play an instrument as a child, we have some thousands and thousands of hours of practising behind us, and if we would stop, no guarantees that we would play with the same ease after a pause of let's say some months or years of not touching our musical instruments. In the case of a pianist, the fingers need agility. An oboist or flautist needs its blowing technique to be in shape to produce a sound. The violinist also needs constant practising for maintaining the perfect pitch. If we stop, it is not the same anymore, we need some time to get back into shape.

The same happens with musical pieces or songs. They are here, in our mind, but the reproduction of them from our hearing through the instrument might go with some troubles. Just a few days ago I listened to a selection of the Preludes and Fugues from The Well-Tempered Clavier composed by Johann Sebastian Bach. I played many of them, a very long time ago. Time is relative, so I will just say I played this one, in F Minor when I was 16 or 17 years old. (feels like yesterday :D ) I remember even the lessons where we worked on this composition with my teacher, how was her make-up, the clothes she liked to wear etc. The classroom and the pictures that were on the wall. One portrait of Bach and the other one representing Franz Liszt in his youth 💙 (come on mipiano, you are now more serious than in your teenage years. Maybe. So, no hearts!). In that classroom, among other pieces, I was practising this piano piece.

Bach wrote two types of compositions for keyboards. Some were intended for harpsichord and others for clavichords, such as The Well-Tempered Clavier, a collection of preludes in fugues. The idea of even tempering was new in Bach's time. It enables the equal exploitation of all major and minor tonalities, as well as using of all modulation plans. He basically opened the way to compose and use as many possibilities as the keyboard could give, making a solid base for all the future pieces written for piano (keyboards). So, this Well-Tempered Clavier collection consists of two books, each one featuring 24 preludes and fugues, in 12 major and 12 minor keys. One of them is what I am playing in this video, as I already mentioned, in F Minor. I play here just the Prelude part, but it has also a corresponding second part, a fugue.

Back to the opening sentence. Is it true if you lean a piece long time ago, you would never forget it? Depends also on how well you knew the certain piece. I loved this small gem, so I had it well prepared, but I would not remember it without the scores and playing it a few times before I recorded it this morning. Well, I recorded one video of it two days ago, in the evening but my camera went crazy and it was zooming in all the time. I had to delete the video. This morning, a new recording came and it is how it sounds XYZ years after I practised it regularly.

I will not say now anything whether I am satisfied with this performance or not. I will let you know maybe later :))

However, if you like you can let me know what do you think about this topic? Do you have a song you learned many years ago and you never forget it, even if you don't practise for a long time? Do you forget the pieces you have learned back in time? Is it difficult to remember them? You know, I would be glad to read about your experience!