How to Memorize Anything (and Teach Your Child Your Phone Number)

Google “memorization techniques,” and you get over 8 million results. 

Ideas are presented in droves from acronyms and acrostics to visualizing a room or writing things by hand.

Time-Honored Method

One of the best methods has been used for millennia.  It has been used to memorize simple concepts like letters of the alphabet as well as complicated lists like the periodic table of the elements. 

I’m willing to bet you’ve used this method, too!

Wide Variety of Uses

I used it last month to teach my 5-year old our family member’s birthdays and I use it regularly to memorize large chunks of text. 

You can memorize grammar concepts, science facts, multiplication tables – its uses are nearly endless!

Now I know my ABCs

How did you learn the alphabet? 

Most people I know learned the 26 letters in order to the tune of Twinkle Twinkle Little Star / Baa Baa Black Sheep.  (Yes, they’re the same song.  Yes, it took me a lot longer to realize this than I care to admit.  My son picked up on it at about 2-years old when he would sing “ABCDEFG How I wonder what you are.”)

To this day, when I am putting things in alphabetical order, I still sing quickly through the song to put everything in order. 

Schoolhouse Rock

My siblings and I watched a lot of Schoolhouse Rock growing up.  I can still recite the Preamble to the Constitution, count by 3’s, and know that a noun is a person place or thing. 

Music is Glue

You can memorize nearly anything by putting it to song or singing a song someone else has already written!  

How many times have you heard a song that you haven’t heard in 10 years and discover that you still remember all the words?

Music is a powerful memory device.  It sticks information into your brain in a way that it can be retrieved with ease. 

Try it Out

Let’s memorize a 10-item grocery list using a song you already know. 

Read the following list and spend a minute trying to commit it to memory: 

Milk, Eggs, Toothpaste, Toilet Paper, Diapers, Wipes, Chips, Salsa, Pepsi, and Mountain Dew.

How many items did you remember?

Now sing the same list below set to the tune of Happy Birthday and see how many items you can remember.

“Milk and Eggs, Toothpaste, too!

Toilet paper for poo.

Diapers, wipes, chips, and salsa.

Pepsi and Mountain Dew.”

You don’t have to be a song writer to set any list to a familiar song. 

If you have more items, add a second verse!

Teach Your Child Your Phone Number

You can write down your grocery list, text it to yourself, use a grocery app, so perhaps memorizing your grocery list isn’t very exciting or useful to you.

What about teaching a child to memorize a parent’s phone number? 

This could be life-saving if a child is lost or missing.

Sing the following to the tune of Row Row Row Your Boat.

“My phone number is
easy, can’t you see?
697-854-9873.”

Most children could learn that song with a little practice.  Then when asked “What’s your phone number?” they can sing their song. 

To take advantage of the rhyming scheme use the following lyrics based on the last digit of your phone number:

1 – My phone number is / easy and it’s fun! 697-854-9871

2 – My phone number is / easy, yes, it’s true! 697-854-9872

3 – My phone number is / easy can’t you see? 697-854-9873

4 – My phone number is / easy. Sing it more! 697-854-9874

5 – My phone number is / easy to arrive? 697-854-9875

6 – My phone number is / easy with these tricks! 697-854-9876

7 – My phone number is / easy to teach Kevin! 697-854-9877

8 – My phone number is / really really great! 697-854-9878

9 – My phone number is / really very fine! 697-854-9879

0 - My phone number is / easy for me to know! 697-854-9870

I Can Help

If you need help putting important information to song, leave a comment or send me an email at gtlockhart2010@gmail.com.  I'd love to write you something! 

If You Can Read a Menu, You Can Understand Keys

When you order the #1 combo at a fast food restaurant, what food do you get?

A burger and curly fries? A taco and some chips? A chicken sandwich and waffle fries?

That all depends on what restaurant you’re at.

Key Signature Menus

Musical keys are like restaurants.  Each one serves something different.  Some restaurants serve similar items, but every place has something distinct about it.

Keys are the same way.  Every key serves something different.  Some keys have similar items, but every key has something distinct about it.

What-A-Major

Consider the What-A-Major menu below.  

If you order the #1 – the Tonic triad – you’ll get an A C# E, an A Major triad.  This combo consists of the first, third, and fifth degrees in the A major scale, shown below the menu.  

The #4 Subdominant combo comes with a D F# A, a D major triad.

 What-A-Major Scale

If we go to a different restaurant/key and order a #1 Tonic Combo, we will get something completely different.

B-Minor King

 At B-minor King, the #1 Tonic Combo includes a B D F#, which is a B Minor triad.  The #4 Subdominant Combo is EGB, an E Minor triad, also made from the notes of the B-minor scale. 

B-Minor King Scale

*In any minor key, there are alternative Harmonic and Melodic forms of the sixth and seventh degrees, which gives you additional options for the Subdominant, Dominant, Mediant, Submediant, and Subtonic triads. 

You Can Create the Menu

By memorizing the 15 major and 15 minor key signatures, you can create the menu for any key signature.  

By assembling the 7 to 9 pitches of any scale (including harmonic and melodic alterations) in stacks of thirds, you can easily create every triad that belongs to the key (diatonic triads).

Check out the full menus for What-A-Major and B-Minor King below to see how it’s done. 

How to Handle Criticism with Grace and Confidence

How should we respond when we face criticism?


Not if…when.  


When you try something new, you will face criticism.  

When you take an unusual path, you will face criticism.

When you don’t do it – whatever “it” is – the same way most people do “it,” you will face criticism. 

When you put yourself out there, you will face criticism. 

When you follow your dream, you will face criticism. 

When you follow the Lord, you will definitely face criticism. 


What do we do when this guaranteed criticism crosses our paths?


Count it all Joy

James writes that we are to “count it all joy” when we face trials of various kinds, for the testing of our faith produces steadfastness.  

Steadfastness.  That’s a big Bible word that we don’t use much these days.  

To be steadfast is to be “marked by firm determination or resolution; not shakeable” (Vocabulary.com/dictionary/steadfast).  

I literally got chills reading that definition!  When we face trials of various kinds, including criticism, we become firm, determined, resolute, and unshakeable.  That is a joyful outcome for sure!


Be Gentle

Solomon was the wisest man to ever live.  In the book of Proverbs, he advises his son concerning how to respond to others.  “A gentle answer turns away wrath, but a harsh word stirs up anger” (Prov 15:1). 

When naysayers tell you that your dream is foolish or that you can’t do “it” that way because it’s always been done this way, respond gently.  This person is not likely to change how they feel about what you’re doing, so don’t waste your time trying to convince them.   

Solomon then says “the tongue of the wise commends knowledge, but the mouths of fools pour out folly” (Prov 15:2).  I can’t say for sure if your critic is foolish or wise, but you can be wise and gentle instead of foolish and angry.  

You can also show them love.  People who are always critical are usually nursing wounds of their own and could use an extra helping of love.


A Word of Caution

You must use discernment when someone comes to you with a concern about what you’re doing.  James says we should be “quick to listen, slow to speak, and slow to anger” (1:19).

People who love you may come and voice genuine concern about what you are doing.  You should not be quick to dismiss their concern, but consider what they have to say.  

However, if someone comes at you with blatant negativity and no interest in seeing you do something better with your life, be gentle, be kind, and grow in steadfastness as you continue toward your goal.


Your Worst Critic

We’ve all heard the phrase “You’re your own worst critic” (I had to read that sentence three time to be sure I used the correct you’re/your.).  This is a terrible since you are always with yourself.  

On the flipside, you could also become your own biggest fan!  I reference Mel Robbins’ book The 5 Second Rule in my very first post to help you overcome not wanting to go practice.  

You can also use this 5-4-3-2-1 technique to banish your inner critic and become your biggest fan. 

When you notice yourself saying “This is dumb.  Why am I doing this?  I will never amount to anything.  I might as well change my major/career now.”   Stop those negative, usually untrue, thoughts in their tracks by saying “5-4-3-2-1” and something true.  

“This is dumb...5-4-3-2-1...No, this may be off the beaten path and look ridiculous to others, but this is awesome and adventuresome!”

“Why am I doing this?...5-4-3-2-1…I am doing this because I love it and I’m excited by it and I’m passionate about it!”

“I will never amount to anything…5-4-3-2-1…God know what I will amount to and it’s greater than I can imagine.”

“I might as well change my major/career now…5-4-3-2-1…Nothing good follows the phrase ‘I might as well.’ I will continue on this path, giving it my all, and see how it all turns out!”


I Believe in You

Whoever you are, I believe in you.  I believe in you because whether you believe in Him or not, you were created by God and you have a purpose for existing.  Deep down inside, you know what that purpose is.  

You may not know the big picture, but you know what you’re to do right now, so do it with all that you are.  Be the best student, the best fast food worker, the best teacher, the best retail worker, the best friend, the best sibling, the best child, the best leader…the best person you know how to be. 

I believe in you and you should believe in you, too!

So go out and do your thing and encourage someone else by believing in them to do their thing!  

3 Ways to Punch Stage Fright in the Face

Picture this.  

It’s the night of your big performance.  

You look great. You feel great.  You’re ready to show your friends and family what you can do.

You’ve practiced for months.  You know your music inside and out, forward and backward, figuratively speaking of course.  You’re as prepared as you know how to be.

Yet when you step backstage, that’s when he shows up.

Dressed in black with menacing eyes glaring at you above a disgusted smirk, Stage Fright emerges from the shadows.

“You call that ‘prepared’? Ha! You didn’t even practice today.  You’re about to make an absolute fool of yourself in front of everyone.  That dream career of yours is about to end with one horrendous train wreck of a performance.  You’ve only had that last piece for a few months!  I can’t believe you’re ending your big recital with your least prepared piece.”

He laughs menacingly and slaps you on the shoulder.

“Look on the bright side! Once you trash your reputation as a musician, you won’t have to worry about me showing up anymore.”

Leaning in conspiratorially he whispers, “You could always just quit and save yourself the embarrassment of falling on your face.  Literally or metaphorically.  Both will probably happen knowing your luck.”

The stage manager snaps you from your conversation. 

“Hey! You’re up!”

Stage Fright takes a seat on the front row and laughs as you take the stage.

An Ever-Present Foe

My first piano recital was over 25 years ago. I’ve played in many recitals, competitions, concerts, seminars, auditions, and other performances since then, yet Stage Fright still rears his ugly head.

What has changed over the last few years is that I have learned 3 highly effective ways to beat Stage Fright at his own game.  These techniques also work when you’re giving a presentation, attending an interview, or any other situation where you may fear the outcome of your performance.

1. Best Case/Worst Case Scenario

In The Inner Game of Music Barry Green and W. Timothy Gallwey, share a technique for dealing with Stage Fright.  Consider the best and worst possible outcomes of your best or worst performance.  “When you explore the answers to these questions in a little detail, it usually becomes clear that the ‘worst possible case’ wouldn’t be so bad after all, and that the ‘best case’ would be just fine – but not so fine that you’d need to worry about it.”

Imagine yourself auditioning for your dream job. 

Best case scenario: You perform incredibly and they hire you on the spot.

Worst case scenario: You freeze up, perform terribly, and they tell you they’re not interested.

Can you live with both of those outcomes? 

Getting your dream job? Absolutely! 

Not getting the job? It stinks, but it’s not the end of the world.  Chances are there are similar jobs you could audition for.  Or you could work on your skills and come back another time and try again.

Chances are you will neither ace nor bomb your audition, so when Stage Fright starts telling you that your life will be over if you bomb this audition, give him a good one-two punch to the nose and tell him that if today goes poorly you can pick yourself up and try again.

2. Anxiety = Excitement

Every time I perform, my heart races, my hands sweat, and my breathing gets shallow.  Sometime those responses are more noticeable than other times, but they are present nonetheless.  

Stage Fright frames those feelings as fear and anxiety.  If you try suppressing your fear and anxiety by thinking about something else, it usually makes you feel worse, not better. 

In The 5 Second Rule Mel Robbins shares a fascinating fact – “physiologically anxiety and excitement are the exact same thing!” 

Consider the physical responses you feel when you’re anxious – racing heart, sweaty hands, shallow breathing, can’t sleep.  Now consider how you feel when you’re excited about something – your heart races, your hands sweat, your breathing shallows, you can’t sleep. 

Notice any similarities in those lists?

When Stage Fright uses those physical responses to prove to you how anxious you are, give him a black eye by saying “This isn’t fear. This is excitement! I am so excited to perform today!”  

It’s true, isn’t it?

3. Build up to Every Performance

Have you ever wondered why your teacher has you perform your pieces so many times in front of so many different people before a big competition or a recital? 

Believe it or not, it’s not to stress you out.  On the contrary, it’s to help you beat Stage Fright!

Don’t you hate it when you can perform a piece perfectly in a practice room and it falls apart in your lesson? I’ve actually had students video themselves playing a piece just to prove that they can do it. Performing in front of your teacher is a slightly more intidimating situation than performing by yourself in the practice room. 

In the same way that you build up in skiing from the bunny slopes to the triple black diamonds, you build up from the practice room to the stage with a series of gradually more intimidating performance situations. 

Your personal series may include some or all of the following:    

•         In a practice room by yourself
•         In a lesson with your teacher
•         In a practice room with a few close friends
•         In a practice room with a few strangers
•         In a voice, piano, or instrumental seminar with other voice, piano, or instrumental students
•         In an audition at your school or church
•         In a department-wide weekly performance hour with other music students
•         In a masterclass with a different teacher in front of other students and teachers
•         In a small competition
•         In juries/final exams
•         In a recital with other music students
•         In a recital by yourself
•         In an audition for a job or other big performance opportunity

When Stage Fright comes at you dual-wielding light sabers of doubt and fear, you can disarm him easily as you recount all of the times that you’ve already performed this piece well.  Don’t let him trick you into thinking you can’t do something you’ve already done.

What about you?

What techniques do you use to fend off the attacks of Stage Fright?

Leave a comment below and you may see your name and idea in a future post (with your permission of course)!

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Become a Musical Super Hero - FREE pdf download!

Imagine this. 

You arrive at a friend’s wedding and spot a mutual friend who looks slightly panicked. 

“What’s wrong?”

“I’m supposed to sing in the wedding, but my accompanist is lost and won’t get here before the wedding starts!”

What do you do? 

Are you prepared to step up and save the day?  

Or can you merely sit quietly and hope your friend finds someone else who can help?

Transformation

People love stories of transformation. 

Whether it’s remodeling a house, overhauling a wardrobe, or losing weight, we love to watch the process of transformation.

In Cars, Lightning McQueen transforms from being a selfish, friendless jerk who only cares about winning the race into someone who sacrifices his trophy to help a wrecked racer cross the finish line of his last race.  Who would love this movie if Lightning McQueen remained a jerk and just won the race himself? 

We love these stories because they give us hope that our lives can also be transformed for the better.

Average or Super

There is one thing that can transform any musician from an average citizen to a musical super hero. 

What do you think that is? 

Innate talent?  Beautiful tone? Great personality? A bite from a musically gifted spider?

The majority of excellent musicians have most of those things, but many average musicians have them, too!  
Musically gifted spiders do not tend to be very discriminatory these days.

Super Sight Reader

The one skill that makes excellent musicians a cut above the rest is their ability to sight read. 

When one performs a prepared piece, it says a lot about the musician’s technical and expressive abilities.  In an audition or contest setting, however, everyone’s prepared piece should be top notch. It may have taken a week or a year to get their piece to that level, but it got there nonetheless.

This is why most auditions include a sight reading portion.  Sight reading separates the super hero musicians from the average citizens.

Super Powers

Sight reading gives you super powers, including the ability to:

·       

•       Learn new music without relying on someone else’s recording
•          Approach new music with confidence
•          Stop wasting time learning new music
•          Gain more time for making your music sound incredible
•          Leap tall intervals in a single bound
•          Get hired for more gigs
•          Get hired for better-paying positions
•          Rescue musical damsels in distress, as in our initial story
•          Impress your friends
•          Save the day

The rest of the story

What did I do when I discovered a damsel in musical distress at our friend’s wedding?  

Thanks to the super powers I had developed through practice, I was able to spend about 10 minutes rehearsing with my friend before the wedding and save the day!

Who are you now?

Are you a super hero musician with sight reading skills of steel, able to wield the above super powers with ease?

Are you an average citizen musician with average music reading skills who stands in awe of the super heroes, doubting you could ever join their ranks?

Who will you become?

You can change nothing and remain the same, or you can take steps to become a super sight reader. 

Take the first step right now!  Download The Super Hero's Top Secret Guide to Sight Reading for FREE and learn how to become the musical super hero your world needs! 

The Quickest Way to Proclaim Your Mistakes to the World!

“Hello, World! I made a mistake!”

Nope. That's not the fastest way to let your audience know you made a mistake.

Scrunch up your face or shake your head.

Nope. Too subtle.  If someone is listening but not watching, they’ll miss it.

Error Detecting Machine

As a music teacher, I have heard many students and professionals perform.  I can easily spot mistakes with my eyes closed, having never heard the piece before, whenever a performer does this one thing. 

Am I some sort of error detecting machine?  Nah.  You could catch these mistakes with ease, even if you knew nothing about music!

Try it out

Imagine you’re listening to someone sing the ABCs: (Underscores are pauses in the music.)

“A B C D E F G_ H I J K L N M O P_ Q R S_ T U V_ W X_ Y and Z”

Did you catch their mistake? Maybe you did. Probably you didn’t.

Imagine someone else singing the same song and making the same mistake in this way:

“A B C D E F G_ H I J K L N M O_ _ _ L M N O P_ Q R S_ T U V_ W X_ Y and Z”

Did you catch the mistake this time? Yes! It was obvious!

Mistake made here!

What made the mistake obvious the second time around? 

The break in the music.

It was essentially a neon sign saying “Mistake made here!”

Do we want our mistakes to stick out like a sore thumb? I know I don’t. 

The Musician’s Goal

Why do you listen to music?  People listen to music for a variety of reasons – to feel happy, to set the mood, to feel sad, to dance, to exercise, and so much more!

People do not listen to music to hear a perfect performance.  It is your goal as a musician to provide a effective, musically sensitive performance.  Your goal is not perfection.  

Your goal is to create music.

When you stop and correct your mistakes, you break the flow of the music and the feelings expressed through your performance.

Not only that, you’re letting your pride get in the way of a musical performance because you can’t stand for anyone to think that you don’t know the way it’s supposed to be performed.  The joke’s on you because your performance sounds worse when you go back and fix your mistakes mid-performance.

Just keep swimming

If stopping and fixing your mistakes makes them obvious to the world, doing the opposite will help hide a good number of your mistakes and maintain the flow of the music.

When you make a mistake, don’t sweat it.  Just play or sing the next note and keep the music moving forward. 

Will it be a perfect performance? Nope.

Will it be a musically pleasant performance? Yep.

Will you maintain the emotional content of that musical moment? Absolutely.

Whatever you do, don’t stop! Don’t go back and fix.  

Don’t let your pride force you to wreck a beautiful moment.  

Love covers a multitude of sins and moving on covers a multitude of musical mistakes!

Now, go forth and make music!

In Case of Emergency: 5 Tools for Sight Reading in a Time-Sensitive Situation

Have you ever been handed and asked to perform a piece of music at the last minute?

Your eyes grow wide.  Your heart starts racing.  You may even begin to sweat.

Saying no may be an acceptable answer, but more often than not you want to come through and make it work for the person making the request.

There’s not enough time to learn the piece perfectly.

How do you make the most of the time you have?

1. Key

Chances are you will be making up a bit of what you’re playing or singing.  The least you can do is make it up in the right key. 

Once you’ve determined your starting key, look through the piece for any changes in key or mode, as indicated by a change in key signature or the addition of accidentals throughout a section of the music.

In order to do this well, you must know your key signatures and be able to distinguish between major and minor keys.  A study of scales and key signatures will improve your knowledge in this area.

1b. Vocalists: Language

Hopefully, if you’re being handed something at the last minute, it’s in English, but that won’t always be the case! This is why it is so important to have a general understanding of the following languages: German, French, Italian, and Spanish.

2. Count

Whether reading alone or with an ensemble, it is crucial to know where you are within the piece of music.  If you don’t pay attention to the time signature and tempo, you will very quickly get lost.

Also, if you have to decide between playing the right notes and playing at the right time, always choose rhythm.  There are many tools online and off to help you master rhythm. 

3. Chords

If you’re singing, you may not be aware of the exact chord progression, but if you know what key you are in, you can be aware of whether a phrase is ending on a strong note or a weak note or if there are unusual notes, as indicated by accidentals. 

Strong notes are the first and fifth note of the scale (the Tonic and Dominant).  Any other pitches are considered weaker notes.  Focus on getting the strong notes right and letting the weak notes fill in the gaps.

At the piano, harmony is more important than melody, especially if you are accompanying.  It is your job as the accompanist to support the melody using the given chords. 

Using basic theory knowledge, you can usually reduce difficult musical sections to a chord symbol or two. 

4. Start and End

In everything you do, whether you’re writing, singing, speaking, or playing, people will remember how you start and how you end.  What you do in between is not unimportant, it is simply less important. 

When time is limited, focus on starting and ending well and let the middle be what it will be.

5. Musical

Believe it or not, it is possible to play and sing wrong notes beautifully. Dynamics, articulation, and slight changes in tempo can take a piece of music from mediocre to amazing!  

Also, ignoring the expressive markings can be embarrassing in an ensemble setting. 

Application:

Use these tools to tackle the following excerpt from Malotte’s The Lord’s Prayer:

1. Key: C major!  When in doubt, play a natural note and it will probably sound okay!

2. Count:  In the accompaniment, you have a steady stream of triplet eighth notes. Whether you are singing or playing, you should have a steady stream of “One-trip-let Two-trip-let Three-trip-let” going in your mind at all times to keep both singer and player together.

3. Chords: In the key of C major, C and G are the strong notes. In this excerpt there are some D# and F# in the melody, so you know just at a glance that they will sound like they don’t belong.  The notes on “For Thine” are a G to a C, so that will be a strong, important part of the melody!

For the accompanist, it is unnecessary to play every note written.  Using basic theory knowledge, you can simplify each of the above measures to a single chord, which I have done in red.

4. Start and End: This excerpt is from the middle of the piece, but the beginning and the end are both piano only, which is another reason for accompanists to focus on the beginning and end, since you are often playing by yourself at that point.

5. Musical:  These seven measures are full of expressive markings, mostly dynamics.  How embarrassing would it be to play or sing the wrong or right note loudly when everyone else is playing softly?

Summary

Next time you’re asked to sight read on the spot, keep these five tools in mind to make the best of a tricky situation.

Just remember: the 1) Key is to 2) Count the 3) Chords from 4) Start to End 5) Musically!

Note: These tools are NOT to be used to get you out of a bind when you put off practicing for too long.  These tools are for emergency use only!