Forget Memorization

I am always asked how I am able to maintain such a large repertoire at my fingertips or perform from memory in a short span of time numerous hours of music.

I realize that this question originates from the common misunderstanding that we pianists rely only on muscle memory.

The truth is that muscle memory alone can be fickle and insufficient, especially when performing under pressure.

Since this topic is one of the most problematic for pianists (and piano students, especially), I decided to give a lecture during the recent PianoFest at the Chicago College of Performing Arts at Roosevelt University. The lecture title: Forget Memorization.

The lecture explored the difference between knowing and memorizing music. I discussed my own methods of memorizing and learning a new piece of music. I talked about the memorization process, covering what to memorize, when to memorize, how to memorize, and how to maintain memory.

The pianists present commented on how helpful this was, and I am planning a chapter on this topic to include in one of my upcoming books.

Absolute pianistic brilliance. Technically, one can hardly imagine more pearly runs and differentiated articulation and arpeggios. – Westfalen-Blatt Bielefelder Zeitung

Mr. Farouk simply lived and breathed the music with the poetry of a born artist. – New York Concert Review

Mr. Farouk daringly showed his mastery and discipline over all sorts of technical hurdles and was even more impressive in making a breathtakingly poetic, singing tone. – New York Concert Review

Breathtakingly poetic – New York Concert Review

Wael Farouk is a completionist… a marathon man in music world -Chicago Tribune

Tremendous music making, the kind that defies and transcends any and all challenges. – New York Concert Review

Wael Farouk imposed from the first chords of Bach’s Partita in C Minor a gravity of tone, a height of view that belongs only to the greatest. – La Tribune Le Progrès

Absolute virtuosic mastery. – Westfalen-Blatt Bielefelder Zeitung

A very special musical genius. – Al Ahram Weekly

Wael Farouk played the highly virtuoso, technically challenging solo part with absolute mastery. – Nordwest Zeitung

One of the best renditions of the Rachmaninoff Third Concerto I’d ever heard. – New York Concert Review

With his history-making concert, pianist Wael Farouk speaks to social inequities and is ready to reach higher. – Chicago Tribune

A virtuosity and an expression without equal. – La Tribune Le Progrès

An audacious and inventive pianist. – La Tribune Le Progrès

Pianist Wael Farouk is a ‘super-virtuoso.’ – New Jersey Star-Ledger

The way Mr. Farouk sailed through the piece, as if daydreaming out loud, made masses of notes seem merely incidental. That is how it should be, but only when one hears it does one realize how rare it is. – New York Concert Review

Completely the virtuoso. – Wilhemshavener Zeitung

Here is piano playing that brings chills to the flesh, performed with a rare virtuoso technique. – David Dubal

Here was . . . absolutely masterful playing. – New York Concert Review

Wael Farouk is, without a doubt, a formidable and magnificent pianist . . . Of the most interesting and individualistic I have heard in a long time. – New York Concert Review