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MUSICIANS HAVE SUPERIOR MEMORIES

#61
Groove Doctor said:
The article above talks about musos remember things by breaking them into chunks, aka chunking.

That lead me to reading this.....
Link Removed

...and this
The many kinds of memory in music
Click to expand...

This^^^

I can play a riff perfectly. Then play it again, perfectly. The third time? Like I never heard it before or even saw the instrument before!

Not just music. When I tried to learn Morse code it was the same story. Dat dit dah dit. Ok that's a C. Dat dit dah dit. Aha another C. Dat dit dah dit. I have no idea what that sound represents.
 
#63
Brad Johnson said:
I'm one of those mutants who can remember and play thousands of songs, remember tons of often useless trivia...

and forget your name moments after I'm introduced. It would be fun to know why my musical memory is as sharp as it is. It only takes the mention of a song or maybe a couple of notes and the full arrangement starts playing back in my head. And I do mean "full". And not just songs... TV soundtracks, commercials, doesn't matter, it's all burned in.

Maybe I don't remember names because I don't consider them important. Then again I doubt I really considered segues on Gilligan's Island important either and I'm stuck with them.

If I repeat a name a couple of times it does seem to stick a bit better.
Click to expand...
i'm a mutant too.
the name thing is tough, but I can recall the actor's name in an obscure movie from decades ago, and can remember the name of character(s) that they played in other movies.
I can repeat dialog back after I walk out of the theatre.
I can recall the color of the Jacket/dress/car/room.
I can give you directions to a place that i have only been to once, NOT by street names, but visual landmarks.

I can recall names of band members, obscure band names, club names, what instruments were played....

IP addresses, Phone #s, Software developer of a particular application, the software requirements for imaging 30-40 different client configurations......

the decor and color of the furniture in my grandmothers house that i visited only a couple times before they moved (i was 3 and no there aren't any pictures)
I remember and can describe the time i crawled out of my crib when i was 2 (i fell out when i unlatched the side and cut my eye lid on the edge of the railing, bled all over the place, freaked my mom out, the neighbor, his name was Jim, was a nurse at the local hospital, i told my Mom to get him, with the few words i knew at the time)

Names: of casual introductions, gone before the next sip... WEIRD!!!

I'll remember your face, the place we met, perhaps even the clothing you were wearing and the people you were with (at least how they look)

I have decided it is because i know 1000's of Johns 10's of thousands of Mikes.
Several 1000 Betty,jane,sandy,julie,shannon,meghan,tina,amy... on and on

it's a matter of the face with the name, i know and remember the face but the name? that takes effort or something else to correlate it.
 
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#66
Haven't read the article yet, but two things strike me....
1. I wonder if the work to become a musician involves a lot of work in developing memory - so it's a complicated finding, not a simple one?
2. I wonder if the finding only applies to musicians that have memorized their book, and is false for those that only sight-read and have not memorized a band's book?

Have a nice day.
 
#67
Brad Johnson said:
I'm one of those mutants who can remember and play thousands of songs, remember tons of often useless trivia...

and forget your name moments after I'm introduced. It would be fun to know why my musical memory is as sharp as it is. It only takes the mention of a song or maybe a couple of notes and the full arrangement starts playing back in my head. And I do mean "full". And not just songs... TV soundtracks, commercials, doesn't matter, it's all burned in.

Maybe I don't remember names because I don't consider them important. Then again I doubt I really considered segues on Gilligan's Island important either and I'm stuck with them.

If I repeat a name a couple of times it does seem to stick a bit better.
Click to expand...

This sounds exactly like me!
 
#69
Apparently I remember things that didn't happen, at least, according to my friends. They remember things that didn't happen also. I've heard that you only remember something once. Each time you think of it after that you recall your last memory of it, rather than the actual event. It can morph over time. My experience indicates that that's true.
 
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#73
micguy said:
I can remember certain things really well - music, certain numbers, etc. What I had for lunch yesterday, or the name of the person I met 5 minutes ago, not a clue.
Click to expand...

Brad Johnson said:
I'm one of those mutants who can remember and play thousands of songs, remember tons of often useless trivia...

and forget your name moments after I'm introduced
Click to expand...

This thread makes me feel better. I can be told a name three times in 10 minutes and still not remember it.
 
#79
vilshofen said:
Posted without pontif- er, further editorial comment:

A new meta-study concludes musicians tend to have stronger short-term and working-memory skills than their non-musical counterparts. The research, published in the online journal PLoS One, finds they also appear to have a small advantage in terms of long-term memory.

Musicians Have Superior Memories
Click to expand...

Not surprising. What were we talking About?
 
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