Listening to music can have a positive effect on your concentration and therefore on your memory. You can also use rhythm and music as a learning aid. Putting the information to music makes it easier to remember. Your brain is very good at linking music and language. This memory technique will not work well for everyone, but it is certainly worth trying; also for people who have no musical talent.
Listening to music and memory
It is often said that some types of music improve your concentration. Especially by listening to classical music you would be able to learn or remember more in a limited amount of time. However, the effect of classical music on your brain is not undeniable. Also, scientists are not sure what kinds of music have a positive effect on you memory and which ones are not.
What music can in any case ensure is that you can keep reading or learning longer. Many parents are irritated by the fact that their (adolescent) children listen to music while doing homework. However, it has not been proven at all that listening to music has a negative effect on learning performance. If listening to music makes it more pleasant to learn for a long time, then it is certainly worthwhile to try out what effect this has on your concentration and the effectiveness of your memory. You brain are well able to process different stimuli at the same time. Reading and listening at the same time should not cause any problems for your brain, especially when you practice a little in this.
If you listen to music while to learn, then it is important that it concerns background music. Because although your brain can process different stimuli at the same time, your ability to concentrate is very limited. You can really only really focus on one thing at a time. It is therefore probably a lot more effective to listen to music that you know. There is also something to be said for listening to classical music and instrumental jazz. Your brain is very easily distracted when voices can be heard. Jazz and classical offer an extensive repertoire of instrumental music; this in contrast to pop music.
Music as an aid to better remember
Music can also be a tool for compiling lists, for example to remember. From an evolutionary point of view, music and rhythm are probably much older than language. Music can therefore penetrate deeper into our brains. We easily associate music with things that belong or seem to belong to the music. For example, we link a certain song or a certain tune very quickly to a product or to a television program. We can also remember text more easily when it is linked to a melody and / or rhythm.
An example of this is learning the different cases and genders of the German cases. You can learn these by simply saying them and repeating them as often as necessary. However, you can also learn them by setting them to the chimes of the Big Bang in London.
There are many more such musical aids. Just think of the way many people have learned the alphabet (in the tune of Kortjakket is always ill). Music and combining language appears to be a very effective learning and memory method. When you dedicate yourself to this, you can make much more use of it. You will then just have to find lyrics for (existing) melodies yourself. This will probably take a lot of time at first, but the more you practice it, the easier and more effective it becomes.
This method does not work for everyone. You have to have a certain aptitude for it. That doesn’t mean you have to be musical for it. Even if you have no musical talent, it is worth trying out this memory technique. If it doesn’t work, there are plenty of other memory techniques.
