Day 11
Mark Up Your Music Like a Pro
As an international examiner and well-known adjudicator, I’ve watched hundreds of students (of all ages) perform 🎻🎹🎺.
Want to know one of the biggest differences I see between students who play confidently 😌 and those who struggle 😬?
It’s not talent 🌟.
It’s not even how much they’ve practiced ⏰.
It’s what their music looks like 🎼🖊️.
The students who perform well have music that’s covered in markings — fingerings, circled accidentals, highlighted dynamics, breath marks, notes about tricky bars. Their scores look well-used, well-loved, and well-understood.
The students who struggle often have pristine music 🧾. It looks like they’ve barely glanced at it 👀, let alone studied it 📖.
Now, I know some of you are thinking, “But Fiona, I don’t like to write on my music. It makes it messy!” 😅
I hear this all the time. But here’s my question:
👉 Would you rather have tidy music that you can’t play, or marked-up music that helps you perform with confidence? 💪🎶
I thought so. 😉
Marking up your music isn’t about creating a mess — it’s about creating a roadmap . And the more colour you use the better.
When you write things down, you’re helping your brain in two crucial ways:
1️⃣ The act of writing creates a stronger memory 🧠 — it’s called encoding.
2️⃣ Those visual cues 👁️ during practice and performance guide you past potential pitfalls.
Think about learning to drive 🚗. Remember those first few times? You probably talked yourself through everything:
“Check mirrors, indicate, look over shoulder…”
Eventually, those actions ‘mirror, signal, manoeuvre’ became automatic.
But in the learning phase, verbal reinforcement was essential.
It’s the same with music 🎵.
Writing fingerings, circling accidentals, and highlighting dynamics — these are your verbal reinforcements.
They help you during the learning phase until things become automatic.
🎯 Today’s Task (10 minutes):
Take the piece you’re currently working on and give it some love ❤️.
Here’s what to mark:
• Circle or highlight ALL sharps and flats — especially accidentals that appear mid-bar (they’re the ones we always forget!)
• Write in fingerings for any tricky passages or position changes
• Highlight dynamic markings — use different colours if you have them.
• Add breath marks or phrase marks where you need reminders
• Circle any patterns you’ve spotted — scales, arpeggios, repeated sections
🎓 For Advanced Players:
Go deeper with your analysis:
• Mark the chord progressions throughout the piece- and think about why those chords have been used. Perhaps the music is driving towards a cadence or changing mood.
• Note the structure (ABA form, rondo, etc.)
• Write in the technical focus for difficult sections (“relaxed wrist here” or “finger 4 stretches out”)
• Add your musical intentions (“gentle,” “building tension,” “triumphant”)
If you genuinely can’t bear to write on your music, here are some creative solutions 💡:
📄 Put it in a clear plastic wallet and use dry-erase markers
🖨️ Photocopy it (make sure it’s legal to do so!)
📱 Scan it and use a tablet with annotation software
🗒️ Use sticky notes for temporary reminders
The goal is to make your music a living document, not a museum piece.
Your score should tell the story of your journey with this piece 📖.
Trust me — that “messy” music is going to be your best friend when you’re performing at Christmas 🎄🎶❤️
Happy marking!
— Fiona