I sat down and played through the Bach 2 part invention #4 for the first time in a week. Last week when I recorded the first video of the piece, I could play it through fine but had to really concentrate. It took me 5 or 6 tries to get an acceptable video take.
Today I did another recording, this is the first take and the second time I played this today:

I think it sounds better than last week’s take, there was huge difference playing it.
Because I didn’t play it at all for a week after it was memorised, when I came back to it, my memory was significantly more secure.
Sometimes we try too hard, bashing a piece into our brains, when we really need to just stop and let it sink in!

Yesterday I was playing 4 hand piano with a friend, and found a short passage rhythmically difficult. We went over it several times, but I could not get it. Finally I somehow found the correct rhythm and we moved on to the next section, which went very well. We were sailing through, enjoying Mozart’s inventiveness, and kept playing without any troubles.
Interestingly, I had no trouble at all with the repeat of the difficult part, I just sailed through that part as well. I know that if I had thought about the hard part coming up, I would have stumbled!!! Since I was in the “Zone”, I was not “trying” to think about playing, and was able to play it perfectly.
So often, our playing is sabotaged by us trying too hard with our brains. I know that my best playing occurs when I feel very relaxed and enjoying the sounds, I will play a whole piece without “thinking” about playing. It is very much like driving along the highway - in a heightened state of concentration, but relaxed and enjoying the scenery.
Playing piano is so complex that we get worried about some aspect of our playing, but maybe concentrating on our mental state should be our goal. Before I start playing, I like to do some stretching exercises and then play a piece through, with the metronome, 4 or 5 times. I find that after a short time I am in the “Zone” - relaxed, centered, enjoying. When I have attained this, I am in my most productive state.

playing piano

This is one of my warm-up pieces. I put the metronome on to an easy quarter note beat and play it through 4 or 5 times. I switch the metronome to one to a bar once I feel settled. This piece has so many places where you can stumble. lose your place, or lose the pulse!
Here I am, this is after the warm up!

I have been away from the piano for several weeks. Today I sat down and played Dr. Gradus without the score. I got through it, but with a few mix ups.
It seems that to really have a piece memorized, you have to have worked through it from many different approaches. It is very different to playing a piece through without the score after practicing it for a half hour, than playing it for the first time in several weeks!
There are places that I forget how the music sounds, others where I forget specific notes, and others where I need to memorize the chords.
I am back to daily practicing, will log my progress here.