My little niece came singing a song that she had learned at school that day. “ABCD...” she happily sang. Within a short period of time she could recite the whole alphabet properly. This was the same strategy used with learning numbers, colours shapes and all sorts of concepts. Very soon, she became a confident speaker. Why? The power of music to create a lasting impression, committing whatever has been learned not only to the short-term memory, but more securely in the long term memory cannot be underestimated and has been used since time in memorial by our ancestors to pass on important information and to keep alive memories from generation to generation. Have you ever wondered why little children are taught through songs? It is because music has rhythms and patterns that are easier to grasp and remember. Music is also used in churches and other places of worship to repeat truths so that the faithful do not forget them. The same methods can be employed by anyone, especially students, to store simple or even complex information, that they want to recall later on for a specific purposes e.g test, examination or for other reasons. For instance, if you want children to memorise the lakes in Rwanda, you can include them in the rhythm of the nursery song: ‘One little duck swimming in the water … replace it with the names of lakes in Rwanda. So instead sing it like this: One little duck swimming in Burera, Two little ducks swimming inIhema Threelittle ducks swimming in Mugesera Four little ducks swimming in Muhazi Fivelittle ducks swimming in Mpanga Six little ducks swimming in Ruhondo How the technique works: This strategy uses the power of association. The brain will remember the old song and when you include the new words, then the brain will be able to remember faster and absorb the new information. Apply different rhythms to topics you want to remember or better still compose your own. The funnier the song is, the more likely you are to remember it! When you need to remember the ideas, just start singing the rhythm and the ideas will roll out of your long term memory as they have been impressed there by associating them with an already known pattern. The writer is an educator and counsellor.
