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Music Mnemonics
I've always been fascinated with memory. How it works, why we remember some things and not others, different techniques people use to remember stuff.One of the most effective methods for remembering information is to use mnemonics - easy-to-remember phrases or stories that act as a link to the less-easy-to-remember information. For example, learning 2,000 Japanese kanji characters would be impossible without having a little story to remind you of each one.
Since starting to play music again I have been going back over some music theory - modes, chords, scales etc - that I have a vague recollection of once studying back in high school when I was playing the clarinet. But this time round I am applying mnemonics wherever possible, to not only make the theory easier to remember, but more fun as well.
Here are the mnemonics that I have been using, a collection of old classics and some originals too (with apologies to my aunt if she has gone off grapes lately!) If anyone else knows of some great mnemonics please add them as a comment!
For remembering.... Mnemonic ---------------------------------- ---------------------------------- the strings of a guitar, top to bottom: E B G D A E Easter Bunnies Get Drunk At Easter the distances between notes in a major scale: Tone Tone Semitone, To The Second Tier, Take Ten Soldiers Tone Tone Tone Semitone the notes on a music stave (treble clef) gaps: F A C E The word 'face'. Easy. lines: E G B D F Every Good Boy Deserves Fruit (bass clef) gaps: A C E G Aunty Claire Eats Grapes lines: G B D F A Great Bassists Develop Finger Acumen the Circle Of Fifths clockwise: C G D A E B F# C# Come Get Drunk And Eat Bad Fried Chicken anti-clockwise: C F Bb Eb Ab Db Gb Cats Fight Back Even After Dogs Growl the modes: Major (Ionian), Dorian, My Dear Parents Love Me A Lot Phrygian, Lydian, Myxolydian, Aeolian, Locrian
| Posted by Matt at 10:34 /music # |