This week we see the first in a four part series on the importance of good memory for musicians. These are excerpts from a forthcoming book by Doug Oliver. Anyone interested in discussing these ideas &/or the book can contact the author, Doug Oliver: GUITARDOG_1@email.msn.com or Neil Shedden: GNW-Editor@Hitsquad.com.

Doug writes:

"I'm hoping that this chapter on memory will create some interest and that readers will then want to explore the other aspects of mind power that I discuss in my book. As of this point, the tentative title of the book will be "Mindpower for Musicians".

Doug's articles will cover:
1. A general memory primer: music and the need for strong memory
2. General memory improvement: common memory techniques
3. Specific memory improvement for musicians
4. Memory and diet / supplements

Music and memory go hand in hand. The average band has a play list of about four hours, or approximately 50 - 60 songs. That's a lot of memorizing considering all the combinations of verses, choruses, and bridges. And then of course you have the ultimate memory challenge - the solo. No other art form is as demanding with regard to memory.

The learning process of music theory itself requires a great deal of memory. Taking into account the study of scales, chords, arpeggios, intervals, harmonic progression, etc. A college course in music can be just as grueling as law or accounting.

Lets first discuss how the mind stores information and how that information is retrieved at will. If you could bear with me for the next few paragraphs, you'll see how a lot of this technical stuff will actually apply to the ability to improve your memory.

Here goes...

The brain contains about ten billion neurons. Spreading from each neuron are thousands of fibers connecting the neurons to one another. The junction of two of these fibers is called a synapse. There are estimated to be over ten trillion synapses in the brain. It is through the synapse that one neuron interacts with another. Electrical pulses and chemical reactions take place in this tiny space. This activity is the core of consciousness. But there are also certain proteins and other molecules present, that if triggered will change the electro - chemical activity. This changing of the activity is how memory works. When you take in information through the senses, it creates a change in the electro -chemical activity within the synapse. The greater the change, the more solid the memory. To improve memory, you have to reinforce and strengthen the molecular changes in your brains network of neurons.

It probably wouldn't do much good if I were to end this article here. Now what we must do is discuss how scientists have taken this and other discoveries about the brain and nervous system and apply it to the strengthening of memory. Believe me, all of that biology talk is the basis of the techniques that have been designed for memory improvement, as you'll see later.

There are actually two types of memory; short term and long term. Short term is the working type of memory. It is a temporary storage device. It's short term memory that remembers the beginning of a book long enough for you to make sense of the end of the book. Later, you'll eventually transform that short term memory of the books beginning into long term memory, but only after certain chemical changes take place in the brain. But until that happens, its only a temporary mental picture that you use in your day to day living.

A popular misconception is that memory is like a bucket of water , with a limited capacity , and once it's full some water has to be poured out to make room for new water. This is not true. Science has yet to find any limit to how much can be stored in memory. One theory is that under hynosis, you can remember every single second of your conscious life. For example, what you were doing on October 3rd, 1991 at 2 pm. It would be like a video camera that's always running.

It's a fact that there are certain people with photographic memories that can read and remember , word for word, an entire book. These are rare cases, but physically and neurologically speaking, you and I have the same brain chemistry and nervous system as those people ,and therefore have the same potential. Its just a matter of utilizing our brain to a very intense level using the techniques and information listed here. But like many aspects of life, there are some people who are gifted and who focus incredible effort on developing a skill. Using the information in this series of articles will dramatically improve your memory, but its still rare to achieve a level as intense as people with photographic memory.

Memory can be divided into three actions: registration - the intake of information, retention - the storage of information, and recall - the retrieval of stored information. In order to improve memory, all three of these aspects of memory must be worked on.

Act one - registration. If you are unfocused and distracted when you are memorizing information, it won't be stored properly. In computer terminology this would be called "GIGO" ;garbage in - garbage out. If you program into even the most powerful computer that 2 + 2 = 5, then all the information coming out of that computer concerning 2+2, 5, 5 - 2, etc will be wrong. Your brain is a lot like a computer, so in many ways you should treat it like one. The brain is one of natures most amazing machines, but it is not without it's limitations. You can't just quickly and incompletely look at a complex collection of information without taking to time to fully focus and analyze it, and expect to fully recall it later. You must see, and not just look at information, if you want to be able to recall it later. This simple fact is one of the most important keys to improving memory and we'll expand on it later. In another chapter of my book, I deal with focus and concentration, which has direct applications to improving musical performance, but in this case also applies to improving memory.

Act two - retention. Retention can be a conscious decision ("Let me sit down and memorize this song"), or just the minds subconscious trait of storing everything (or most everything) it sees. Ever notice that a month later you may recall a trivial conversation you had with a stranger while waiting in line at the store. But other times you can't remember your wife telling you to pick her up after work. There's a number of ways to improve retention. The primary way is just to become aware of the fact that you are trying to implant something in memory. Most people just assume that memory is automatic and they don't make the conscious effort to memorize something. If you treat memory like an activity, like doing math in your head, then the information is "tagged" and is given a deeper level of retention. Basically this just means stopping what you're doing, focusing, repeating the information, visualizing it, and using other techniques discussed later. Never assume or be over confident that you'll remember something.

Another basic principle of retention is that you tend to remember that which you are interested in. You would need to try half as hard to remember something dealing with music then information about sewing or flower arrangement (assuming that bores you).This is getting back to focus again. You naturally are more aware of a subject of interest, which also leads us to another aspect of mind control - motivation. You may be interested in music, but not necessarily interested in all the work required to become a great musician. If you worked on your motivation and discipline (also discussed in my book) it will increase your overall awareness of information that can otherwise become tedious and boring after hours of study. Lets face it, even if you love music, studying advanced theory can be dreadfully mind numbing. But if you can psyche yourself into getting into it, it will definitely improve your ability to memorize what you are studying. Many aspects of mind control are inter-connected.

Act three - recall. It's been proven that memory is very dependant on emotional and mental state. For example, you tend to remember things better when you are sad that you learned or saw when you were sad. Ever notice on rainy days that dismal memories seem to surface more. Here's a possible way to take advantage of this. If you were to misplace your keys and are frantic when looking for them, chances are you aren't in the same state of mind you were in when you put them down somewhere. If you can recall the overall emotional and mental feelings you had, in addition to simply trying to remember where you put them, your memory will be much stronger.

We'll expand on all of these and many other techniques. This first article was meant to just establish some basic principles and descriptions of the memory process. Article two will go into detail on general, everyday memory improvement. Article three will deal with specific techniques for musicians. And article four will teach some very interesting ways to sharpen your mind and memory with diet and supplements.

(c) Doug Oliver 2000

This week we have seen the first in a four part series on the importance of good memory for musicians. These are excerpts from a forthcoming book by Doug Oliver. Anyone interested in discussing these ideas &/or the book can contact the author, Doug Oliver: GUITARDOG_1@email.msn.com or Neil Shedden: GNW-Editor@Hitsquad.com.

Doug's articles will cover:
1. A general memory primer: music and the need for strong memory
2. General memory improvement: common memory techniques
3. Specific memory improvement for musicians
4. Memory and diet / supplements