Practice: Mnemonic Devices

While spaced repetition controls the process of forgetting, mnemonic techniques allow us to control the process of remembering. When learning new information, your brain will store it more effectively if it can assimilate the new information into existing structures.

Most people know about mnemonics from making acronyms in school. For example, “Every Good Boy Deserves Fudge” is a popular way to remember that the lines of the treble clef are EGBDF. Mnemonics aren’t just about acronyms though, any technique that allows you to incorporate new information into existing structure is a mnemonic.