Can You Use Method of Loci To Memorize Music? (Science Explained)

Memorists use the method of loci to memorize over 100,000 digits of pi. Can it be used in music?

With its origins found both in Ancient Greece, hunter-gatherer societies and even the Stonehenge, the Method of Loci has an extremely long history. It is a powerful memory technique to store massive amounts of information, utilizing two memory systems in our brains that have been evolutionarily pressured to be very effective. Before pen and paper, the Method of Loci was indeed one of the ways in which ancient societes remembered tons of important information. It is even theorized that the various stone circles found in the UK for example, including the Stonehenge, may have been physical real-world memory palaces to utilize the method.
But if this memory technique is so powerful, what about it's applications in music? Is it a better method to memorize things compared to muscle- or procedural memory, and if so what are the pros and cons? Can it be used to memorize music or the terminologies involved in it? Can it be used to learn a piano piece or notes in a musical performance? Let's find out.

Timestamps:
0:00 Introduction
1:01 How to use the method
2:22 How to make it more effective
3:10 Other ways to harness it
4:11 Problems with the method and solutions
5:40 The notion of "superior memory"
6:05 The bottom line
6:38 Credits

YT Sources (Information and footage sources):
   • TUTORIAL: Learn Difficult Spots Using...  
   • Feats of memory anyone can do | Joshu...  
   • Stonehenge  
   • Cracking London’s Legendary Taxi Test  
   • Murray Perahia - Schubert - Impromptu...  

3D Models:
Cabbage model by Meerschaum Digital
https://sketchfab.com/3d-models/cabba...

PS1 Low Poly Guitar by Wersaus33
https://sketchfab.com/3d-models/class...

Source list:

Qureshi, A., Rizvi, F., Syed, A., Shahid, A., & Manzoor, H. (2014). The method of loci as a mnemonic device to facilitate learning in endocrinology leads to improvement in student performance as measured by assessments. Advances in physiology education, 38(2), 140–144. https://doi.org/10.1152/advan.00092.2013

(The speed of the Method of Loci)
Benjamin, & Bjork, R. A. (2000). On the Relationship Between Recognition Speed and Accuracy for Words Rehearsed Via Rote Versus Elaborative Rehearsal. Journal of Experimental Psychology. Learning, Memory, and Cognition, 26(3), 638–648. https://doi.org/10.1037/0278-7393.26....

(Origins of the Method of Loci in prehistoric societies, and the Stonehenge.)
Kelly L. (2015). Knowledge and power in prehistoric societies. Cambridge University Press.

Twomey, C., & Kroneisen, M. (2021). The effectiveness of the loci method as a mnemonic device: Meta-analysis. Quarterly Journal of Experimental Psychology, 74(8), 1317–1326. https://doi.org/10.1177/1747021821993457

(Akira Haraguchi Pi records)
Bellos, A. (2017, June 6). He ate all the pi : Japanese man memorises π to 111,700 digits. The Guardian. https://www.theguardian.com/science/a...

(Optimizing the Method of Loci)
F A Yates. (1999). Art Of Memory. Routledge.

(The idea of superior memorizers not having a superior memory, but rather simply harnessing our brains in a better, more optimial way)
Maguire, E., Valentine, E., Wilding, J. et al. Routes to remembering: the brains behind superior memory. Nat Neurosci 6, 90–95 (2003). https://doi.org/10.1038/nn988

(Dominic O' Brien playing card record)
http://dyslexiahelp.umich.edu/success...

(Comprehensive information on the Method of Loci, world records, optimizing the method, idea of superior memorizers not having superior memory, but taking better advantage of memory systems in our brains.)
Foer, J. (2011). Moonwalking with Einstein: The Art and Science of Remembering Everything.

"[...]no structural difference in the brains of the memory athletes compared to untrained people."
Hooper, R. (2019). Superhuman: Life at the Extremes of Mental and Physical Ability. Abacus.

(London taxi drivers utilizing spatial memory)
Maguire, E. A., Woollett, K., & Spiers, H. J. (2006). London taxi drivers and bus drivers: A structural MRI and neuropsychological analysis. Hippocampus, 16(12), 1091–1101. https://doi.org/10.1002/hipo.20233


Tags: #music #science #documentary #selfimprovement #memory #piano #classicalmusic #musicproduction #training #methodofloci