Musicians aiming to lock a piece into memory should begin testing recall from the very first practice session, rather than waiting until the music feels secure. Research on learning and memory suggests that early self-testing, even when it feels uncertain and error-prone, significantly strengthens long-term retention.
The Testing Effect in the Lab
A 2006 study by Roediger and Karpicke examined whether tests could enhance learning, not just measure it. They had 180 undergraduate students read a short passage and then split them into three groups: one that studied four times (SSSS), one that studied three times and took one recall test (SSST), and one that studied once and took three recall tests (STTT).
Half the participants were tested immediately after the final session. The SSSS group recalled 83% of the material, the SSST group 78%, and the STTT group 71%. The other half were tested a week later. Those results flipped: the STTT group retained 61%, the SSST group 56%, and the SSSS group only 40%. The group that studied the most performed best right away, but the group that tested the most retained far more over time.
Early Self-Testing in Music Practice
A 2002 study by British researcher Jane Ginsborg applied similar principles to music memorization. Thirteen classically trained singers were asked to memorize a 90-second song over two weeks, using six 15-minute practice sessions with no more than one session per day.
Analysis of the recorded sessions revealed a clear divide. The fastest and most accurate memorizers began testing their memory in the very first session, attempting to sing at least a few bars from memory. Their self-testing increased further in the second session. In contrast, the slowest memorizers avoided singing from memory early on and did not begin meaningful self-testing until the third session.
The early testers made more memory errors initially but corrected them quickly, leading to fewer errors in later sessions. The late testers avoided errors early by relying on the score, but experienced increasing memory problems as they began testing later, culminating in many errors during their final session.
The findings indicate that early self-testing, even when it feels uncertain, strengthens long-term retention, while delaying memorization until a piece feels secure may undermine performance reliability.
