Neil P wrote:This topic has made me think that my problem is that once a piece is learned, I am not really reading the music, it is there as a comfort blanket although I have not properly committed it to memory either. - perhaps the solution is increased self discipline to concentrate on playing AND to learn pieces from
memory to get rid of the comfort blanket effect of the sheet music.
Neil, for me you hit the nail on the head! This is exactly what my problem can be if I don't dicipline myself to fully learning the piece. If I do discipline myself I really don't need the music in front of me anymore, however like I mentioned if I do screw up, my problem is even if the music is in front of me I can't quickly find the spot on the music, correct the problem and move on because I know for a fact I'm not really reading the music.
One thing my original teacher really beat into my head was to "learn" each piece and not just play it, he said to play it exactly the same each time, same fingering, and not just however I feel like. He said it was important to use the exact same fingering each time, number above the notes if I have to or that I would continue to make mistakes. He said early on in his organ days when he went to school for it that he had a bad habit of being sloppy, what he meant by that was he didn't do things the same each time and it was a major problem for him. Once he began to write down the fingering and play a piece exactly the same each time then things improved dramaticly for him, and this is what he taught me as well and it has certainly helped.
I'd guess based on ones sight reading proficiency and the situation at hand that memorization and the need to varies. If you're a really good sight reader, then memorizing for the average church organist is probably not much of a concern and there's not much need to worry about it. Perhaps in the case of the young organists mentioned, they are trained to be proficient at sight reading and memorization as well. In my case I have to rely mostly on memorization because my sight reading is much too slow. I work out a piece a little at a time, then eventually put it all together by memory with little need of the score in front of me after awhile. I don't play at church, just at home for personal satisfaction, if I were to play at church I'd be in real trouble as sight reading for me is the lesser concern, in order to play at church I'd have to completely retrain myself. Since I probably will never play at church I don't worry much about the sight reading part and rely on memory. So, I think much of it depends on the situation. I just wish I was good at both, maybe it's time I discipline myself more on the sight reading part. Some day I'll get around to it!
Marc