I tried doing a search on this and didn’t find anything, so…
What’s up with music and our memories?
I was visiting a friend and he popped in a DVD of School House Rock and we were singing along, remembering all the words precisely as if it were only yesterday when it was last played.
And it’s not just School House Rock but things like old TV commericials, especially ones with catchy jingles!
So, why do we remember things much better when they’re set to music?
Actually, I don’t remember words even if set to music. This might be something peculiar to me. I have a hard time memorizing exact words, although I do remember the content of the text well. On the other hand, I have on occasion asked around on that problem, and it appears (very generally speaking) that women tend to be better at memorizing words than men. But that may be just my impression.
Maybe it’s just that if you like the melody of something, you’re more likely to pay attention to it and listen to it several times. When I was a kid, “Conjuction Junction” was everyone’s favorite SHR song, and when I ask people now, that is the only one of the songs they can remeber the lyrics to.
The REALLY scary thing is…
…what on earth did we fail to store in our memories, in order to have room to remember crap 80’s lyrics?
Where we put the car keys!
I just find it interesting that when set to music, words, phrases and lyrics are easily remembered. I was wondering why this is, has an explaination been found?
I’m thinking constant repetition might have something to do with it, too. TV commercials, songs from the radio, etc. bombard us constantly. However, something like the national anthem, which we hear infrequently, isn’t quite as memorable.
The explanation is actually really easy. The more forms of thought that go into a set of information the more easily you remember it. A song bridges both halves of your brain with aural memory (the way you hear it), physical memory (the way you say it), and possibly visual memory (the way you see it). If you could find a way to put smell and taste into the equation you probably won’t ever forget it.
Physical memory is the easiest memory to acquire for most people. It is why practicing physical tasks get easier over time, such as shooting a basketball. Aural memory tends to be the hardest to develop. This can be evidenced by putting 100 people in a line and telling the first person a simple list of items and have them repeat it to the person next to them along the entire line. By the end of the line you will not likely have the same list, (ie, things will be omitted or added).
Putting words into a song, add in a rhythmic aspect of memory. Many people use memory aids such as lists which is similar to what rhythm does. It tells the person that there should be a syllable on any given note and the person can fill it in. Songs with a lot of melismas (many notes per syllable) tend to be harder for a person to remember for this reason. Also songs that are difficult for a person to sing or hum (like the National Anthem) are difficult to remember for a similar reason.
Both Prof. Matthew Schulkind at Amherst College and Prof. Ray Jackendoff at Brandeis do or have done music cognition research. It might be worth checking out some of their writings.
– CH
If you listened to any bunch of words as many times as you listened to that song then they would probably go in your head too.
I expect its just that you don’t tend to listen to the same bunch of words over and over unless they are attached to a song.
You remembered the song because it was fun to remember it. As a kid you were more mentally involved in the song than if it were just spoken text.
As a slight hijack regarding music and memory, I’ve often wondered why more of us don’t have perfect pitch. I’m a trained musician, but if you play a note for me (and most other musicians), we couldn’t tell for sure which note it is.
However, if we hear a person say the word “Hi”, we can always identify who the person is just on the basis of that on syllable. I wonder why there is such a difference in these types of tonal memory.
But you don’t recognize a person’s voice based on just pitch. There are all sorts of things that make the sound of someone’s voice distinctive–if you miss one, there are lots of other components to give you the information. It’s sort of like wondering how you can tell a clarinet from an oboe, or a flute from a violin, without perfect pitch. Pitch is only one part of the difference, and you don’t need to distinguish it narrowly to know you’re listening to a cello, not a violin. You really just need a ballpark reading to hear the difference.