well as the athlete, I believe in physical exercises to a certain
extent. Light-weight dumb-bells can be used; it is surprising how light
a weight is sufficient to accomplish the result. But it must be one
movement at a time, exercising one muscle at a time, and not various
muscles at once.

"For memorizing piano music I can say I have no method whatever. When I
know the piece technically or mechanically, I know it by heart. I really
do not know when the memorizing takes place. The music is before me on
the piano; I forget to turn the pages, and thus find I know the piece.
In playing with orchestra I know the parts of all instruments, unless it
be just a simple chord accompaniment; it would not interest me to play
with orchestra and not know the music in this way. On one occasion I was
engaged to play the Sgambatti concerto, which I had not played for some
time. I tried it over on the piano and found I could not remember it. My
first idea was to get out the score and go over it; the second was to
try and recall the piece from memory. I tried the latter method, with
the result that in about three hours and a half I had the whole concerto
back in mind. I played the work ten days later without having once
consulted the score. This goes to prove that memory must be absolute and
not merely mechanical.

"Students think they cannot memorize, when it would be quite easy if
they would apply themselves in the right way. I ask them to look
intently at a small portion, two measures, or even one, and afterward to
play it without looking at the notes. Of course, as you say, this can be
done away from the piano; the notes can even be recited; but there are
other signs and marks to be considered and remembered, so when one can
be at the piano I consider it better.