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Hungarian classical guitarist Zsombor Sidoo performs Partita No.2, BWV 1004 in D Minor for solo violin by Johann Sebastian Bach (1685-1750). This comes via Sidoo’s YouTube channel (go subscribe). Nineteenth century guitar by Bernhard Kresse. I really enjoyed Sidoo’s performance of Partita No.1, and it looks like he might be recording them all. A wonderful and musically balanced performance with excellent motivic attention, articulation, and pacing.

Movements and Times

• Allemanda 00:00
• Corrente 05:10
• Sarabanda 07:45
• Giga 12:00
• Ciaccona 16:27

The post Zsombor Sidoo Performs Partita No.2, BWV 1004 by Bach first appeared on This is Classical Guitar.

Question: Is it better to memorize pieces in music and classical guitar?

Short answer: yes.
Long answer: depends on the situation.

Yes, it is generally it is better to memorize your music for performance. Memorized music often results in a more refined performance and good experience for both you and the audience. It also promotes solid muscle memory and maximum performance concentration. Reading music can be a multi-tasking distraction and playing by memory often allows the player to focus solely on the music and the performance itself.

However, there are a number of other variables involved in the question which must be considered. Maybe you didn’t have time, it wasn’t important, or you simply didn’t want to. Let’s explore this more.

Reasons to memorize your music

A refined performance – Memorizing your music is an extra layer of preparation in practice that often leads to a more refined performance. After 35 year of playing and 20 years of teaching, I’m almost always certain a memorized piece will be performed better by my students. The mere act of memorizing the music results in more time, effort, and careful consideration of the piece which equals a better musical performance. This isn’t a rule, it’s just a consistent observation.

Good experience – Less setup, less looking away from the guitar or your audience, less distraction, less everything. It’s a good experience to just pick up the instrument and play that thing you know.

Clutter free – Without the music stand there and having to either setup your music or carry it on stage, performing my memory is a clutter-free experience.

Muscle memory and mental memory – The extra time thinking and practicing the piece both with the music and without it often results in better muscle memory and internal memory. Even when you read music you know, you are still using a lot of muscle memory to accomplish it and the act of memorizing it is an extra layer of embedded muscle memory and mental memory.

Distraction free (no multi-tasking) – Reading and playing does require a small amount of multitasking brain work. You can cut one of those elements out for a distraction free, high focus performance.

Memory can improve – The more you practice memorizing your music the better and faster you get at it. For the majority of students I’ve taught I know this is true. Memorizing music is a skill that gets developed over time and with practice.

Valid reasons to NOT memorize your music

The context of the performance or practice session is a serious consideration as well. Not every piece needs to be memorized and there are many situations where music might not be memorized for good reason. Here are a few reasons:

You didn’t have time to memorize it yet – Memory takes time and dedication and if you are on a short schedule it might not be possible. For example, because I record music for this website every week, I rarely have time to memorize it. I’m on a timeline and it isn’t my personal performance material so I learn it, record it, and move on. Sometimes we need to make the time and just do it for important pieces but that is not always possible.

It’s just one of many learning pieces you are studying short term – I don’t have my beginner students memorize every piece in my method book. It’s just too much quantity. However, I usually select three main focus works and have them memorize those while also playing through other parts of the book.

Sight reading – Obviously, when sight reading you don’t have time to memorize more than a few measures at a time. It’s important to read music as well as memorize it sometimes.

Large volumes of music being played – Sometimes the sheer volume of music you play makes memorization of all the music not feasible, at least in the short term.

The piece isn’t important – Individual works get played for different reasons. Maybe one piece is a concert piece you’ll perform in a big concert, maybe another piece is something you are just playing for fun at home. You can pick and choose what pieces are important enough for you to memorize.

The piece is not conducive to memorizing – Some pieces can be memorized very quickly whereas other works are very difficult. Pattern-oriented, repetitive, and memorable melodic works are often easy to commit to memory without much effort outside of basic practicing. An intricate and complex work without much repetition might not be as practical to memorize, at least in the short term. You’ll have to choose what you want and plan accordingly.

It doesn’t affect you much (for experienced players) – Some players will have 80-90% of their music essentially memorized but will use the score as a basic guide to remember key points. We all do this in practice at some point during the learning process. An experienced player may be able to use the score and perform at their highest level. When it comes to students though, be careful that they aren’t avoiding the skill of memorizing music. It is something that must be developed over time.

Performance nerves – Although I recommend people work through performance nerves (separate conversation), some people need the music to play the piece under pressure. Often the music is just there to give hints as to which part comes next. When it comes to students I’m usually of the opinion that the student just needs more preparation time and more practice performing the piece by memory. So it I still think it’s better to perform by memory even if a student has performance nerves.

You don’t want to – We could dive into a conversation about making music special and not being lazy about memorization but I’m a realist and know that not everyone is into music for the same reasons. If you play music as a hobbyist, or even as a professional, you have a personal choice and no one can force you to memorize your music. Special note here: If your teacher is asking you to memorize your music please follow their advice, they are trying to help you improve, develop, and discover new skills within yourself. Please listen to them.

Recommendation

Don’t worry too much either way. That said, I highly recommend you always be memorizing three or more works just to keep the skill going and/or development of the skill. Even if you don’t perform by memory, at least practice it.

One more tip, if your performance piece is memorized perform it by memory. Take more preparation and practice time and more test-performances for friends and family. You can do it! If you need to use the music, practice it with the music for a few weeks so the way you’ve been practicing it at home matches the way you’ll perform it. It can be disorienting to look back at the score after weeks or months of playing it solely but memory.

Questions & Support

If you need clarification on this particular Q&A please leave a comment below. For new and existing questions please visit the main Classical Guitar Q&A page. If you are enjoying the free Q&As you can support the site here.

The post Is it better to memorize my music? first appeared on This is Classical Guitar.

Classical guitarists SoloDuo (Lorenzo Micheli & Matteo Mela) perform Intermezzo Op. 118, No.2 by Johanes Brahms (1833-1897). Arranged for two guitars by Lorenzo Micheli. This comes via SoloDuo’s YouTube channel (go subscribe). Filmed in Geneva, Switzerland, Salle Caecilia, November 2025 by Lilium SoundArt. Beautiful performance by SoloDuo with gorgeous phrasing, melodic work and wonderful balance between the parts.

The post SoloDuo Perform Intermezzo Op. 118, No.2 by Brahms first appeared on This is Classical Guitar.

Canadian classical guitarist Simon Farintosh has a new album of Christmas song arrangements in all 24 major & minor keys titled A Well-Tempered Christmas. Farintosh has completed such a creative and challenging project but also tastefully listenable as holiday album. With a span of influences from jazz, early music, and traditional Christmas fare, this is certainly one of the best holiday albums for classical guitar I’ve heard.  

A Well-Tempered Christmas: Listen on Spotify or Apple Music

Here’s a small note from Simon on the album:

“A Well-Tempered Christmas” is a collection of Christmas reharmonizations I made over the course of several years. The title is a nod to Bach’s “Well-Tempered Clavier,” a famous cycle of preludes & fugues in every key. Each arrangement is a sort of character piece, exploring a certain musical style, mood, or technique. A variety of styles are represented in these arrangements; numbers like “The Christmas Song,” “It’s Beginning to Look a Lot Like Christmas,” and “My Favourite Things” have a clear jazz influence, echoing the whimsical chord melody arrangements of Joe Pass in his iconic album “Six String Santa.” While numbers such as “Silent Night” and “Greensleeves” feel cozy and familiar, others such as “God Rest Ye Merry Gentlemen” and “O Come O Come Emmanuel” feel more dark and obscure, reflecting their Gregorian chant origins.

Video Performances

This comes via Simon’s YouTube channel (go subscribe). 

The post A Well-Tempered Christmas by Simon Farintosh first appeared on This is Classical Guitar.

Music Theory Lesson No.3a: The Staff and Introduction to Clefs. In this lesson we will learn about the staff and the idea of clefs as well as how we map out pitches and musical time on the staff. You can find all the lessons at the Music Theory Lessons page. Here’s the Youtube link if you want to watch it there.

The staff (plural staves)

Music notation is written on a staff. The staff has five lines and four spaces.

Notes and rhythms can be placed on the lines and spaces of the staff to indicate pitch and musical time.

Ledger lines can extend the range and pitch of the staff. In short, ledger lines create more lines and spaces to place notes on which extends the pitch range of the staff.

The staff is a visual grid that we use to orient musical time (horizontally) and the highness and lowness of pitch (vertically). Musical time on the staff reads from left to right based on what note or rest is indicated. Notes higher on the staff are higher in pitch. Notes lower on the staff are lower in pitch. Notes on ledger lines extend the pitch range of the staff

Line Notes – For a basic orientation, here are some notes on the lines of the staff. Notice that the notehead (the circular part) goes through the centre of the staff line.

Space Notes – Notice how the notehead is placed between the two lines in the space of the staff.

Notes on lines and spaces – Here are some notes on both lines and spaces in order.

Clef

The Clef is a symbol placed on the staff to show the range of the pitch and the exact pitch represented by each line and space on the staff.

Different instruments and voices produce pitches in different ranges. The cello plays notes in a low range. The flute plays notes in a high range. There are many clefs to indicate these ranges.

We’ll be focusing on just two clefs for the first little while: the treble clef and the bass clef.

The Treble Clef

The treble clef (also called the G clef) indicates the location of G on the 2nd line from the bottom. For example, a soprano voice or a flute produce notes in a high range and use the treble clef to indicate notes on the staff. This tells use that the range is generally high and it also tells us what pitch is assigned to each line and space of the staff. 

This image shows how the treble clef indicates G on the 2nd to bottom line.

Here is the note G occurring on the same line as above.

You can see in the below image, the musical alphabet works in order when we place notes on each line and space of the staff with G as a reference point. This is a C major scale.

The Bass Clef

The Bass clef (also called the F clef) indicates the location of F on the 4th line. For example, a lower bass voice or a cello produce notes in a low range and use the bass clef to indicate notes on the staff.

This image shows how the bass clef indicates F on the 4th line from the bottom.

Here is the note F occurring on the same line as above.

You can see in this image that the musical alphabet works in order when we place notes on each line and space of the staff with F as a reference point. This is a C Major scale.

You don’t have to remember any specifics for now.

The only thing to know for now is that the clef is placed on the staff to show the general range and the specific pitch represented by each line and space on the staff. 

You won’t have to worry about it while playing guitar because you’ll only be reading the treble clef and you will simply get to know it super well without thinking about this. 

Summary

The staff, in conjunction with a clef, allows musicians to know the range and specific pitch represented by each line and space on the staff as well as musical time and rhythms reading from left to right.

In future lessons we will look at pitch classes and the grand staff to understand how the different clefs form all the commonly used pitches in music.

Hope you found that helpful. Find more theory lessons on the Music Theory Lessons page. I’m offering these lessons free of charge but feel free to support the site here. If you need any clarification on this particular lesson please leave a comment below.

The post Music Theory Lesson No.3a – Staff and Clef first appeared on This is Classical Guitar.