The science of song

Ever wondered how you remember a nursery rhyme, but not what you ate for dinner three days back? Read on and learn about how songs can bring some rhythm into your learning

October 12, 2015 05:42 pm | Updated 05:42 pm IST

ISBS

ISBS

Johny Johny Yes Papa .... I am sure you are now completing the rest of the poem in your head! Now can you quickly and as easily recall what you ate for dinner three days back? Are you scratching your head and rolling your eyes? Surprising isn’t it, how we can remember what we learnt many years ago in a split second but are unable to recall something we did recently?

Quick recall It’s the rhythm and the words in the poem that made recalling it so simple and easy. So, does that mean that the words that we learn and the music that we listen to are stored in different parts of the brain? Yes. Our brain is divided into a left and a right side, with left being the logical side and right the creative one. While words and numbers are processed in the left side of the brain, music and art are processed in the right. It is when the left and the right are used together that recall is made simple and quick.

The words of a poem are stored in the left while the rhythm is in the right and when they are recalled, they come together.

Doesn’t this explain why we remember the lyrics of a song much better than remembering long poems from our text books?

Research has shown that playing certain types of music during certain times of study helps retain the matter learnt. That doesn’t mean that you play loud blaring music while studying. Music can be played to manage your mood and make it positive. It is only when you are happy and in a receptive mood that you will be able to learn better. Music can help bring a shift in your mood. If you are feeling too tired to study, listening to upbeat music can help lift your spirits and remove your fatigue. If you have just come back from a very exciting match and are finding it difficult to concentrate, music can help you calm down and settle into a more reflective state of mind.

How do we use music to improve memory?

Here are a few simple suggestions to use music as a tool:

1. Become a lyricist: If you have a long table of chemicals to learn and they need to be remembered in a particular order, one way is to replace the lyrics of a poem with the list. Using the tune of Twinkle Twinkle, you can probably learn the periodic table with the names of the chemicals sung in that order. You can also try doing that for an entire answer in the same sing song manner.

2. Turn into a rap star: All of us rap, and what better way to learn the text than by turning it into a rap song? You can make it funky by wearing rings and adding a zing to your step. How about making a rap song out of the life story of some kings? It will be funny but the recall will be instant.

3. Associate a song: Many a times, we have a tune that gets stuck in our heads and no matter how hard we try, we are unable to get it out of our system. How about playing a song that you like while you learn a section of your physics textbook and make a strong association between the two? So, every time you hear the song, you will automatically be reminded of the physics concepts that you learnt along with it. Get your musical instruments out, make a song out of your lesson and see how much faster you can recall what you learnt.

(The author has over two decades of teaching experience in well-established schools)

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