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To also BUILD SHELTERS and HOMES for those without shelters and homes .
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These PHOTOGRAPHS were inspiration for SPRAY PAINT designs on sweatshirts . PRETTY COOL !
Hundreds of photographs of DESIRE formed his FACE !!!!
Artwork for , " This is my home "
Leaning on these drums . From THIS to THAT . Very nice !
From the song , " I will sing to you "
WHHHHOOOOOAAAAAA !!!!!!!!!!!! SLOW DOWN !!!!!!!!!
There is always time to eat, my dear friends !!!!!
Try to take care of yourselves.
Promise me that you will always take the time to stop and eat a complete meal,
full of minerals, packed with the essential.....
( ... wait a minute .... I sound like your grandmother !!!!! .... sorry !!!!! )
Here, SIMPLY PUT, (...smile....) ...
are some easy and quick recipes to keep you satisfied and full !!!!!!!
Yes, believe it ! Some are low in
carbs, some are low in calories, all are rich and sooooooo tasty !!!!
Starving Musician's Diet Cookbook & Recipes
Here are some favorite recipes for the budget minded musician.
O.K. You're saving up for that new guitar and mom will not loan you the money.
You want to have a healthy diet, stay trim for the show, but those burger specials
give you the zits. Cooking at home can save a lot of money and can provide a
healthier diet. So grab mom's old crock pot and spend a little time in the kitchen.
Apple Pie Recipe
French Pastry Dough
1 1/4 cups flour whole-wheat
1 tblspn butter
1/2 tblspn honey
1/4 cup milk
put all into a processor blend adding water until pastry holds
roll on floured board until fits 10 inch pie plate
2 piecrusts
2 lbs. baking apples peaches pears
1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
1/8 cup brown sugar
2 tblspns all-purpose flour for thickening
peel apples into wedges place in crust
add cinnamon allspice sugar
sprinkle a little flour on top for thickening
cover with other crust pinch sides together
poke holes on top with fork
preheat 375F bake for 30 min until lightly brown
bake until medium brown
Black Beans Recipe
2 cups black beans (dry)
1/8 tblsp cayenne pepper
1/2 tblsp oregano
1/2 tblsp honey
1/2 tblsp garlic dry
3/4 lbs celery
1/2 cup diced tomatoes
1/2 bell pepper
1/2 onion
soak black beans overnight
slice all ingredients and place in crock pot
cook high temp for 8 hours
let simmer for 2 hours
Chef's Salad Dinner
1 cup raw leafy veggies; lettuce, tomatoes, green peppers, onions, mushrooms, olives etc.
2 oz chicken, 2 eggs, 1 1/2 cup bean sprouts or other protein
1 oz cheese topping
2 slices bread w/ butter
Chile
3/4 lb. meat
1 cups beans dry
kidney
1 cup onion chopped
1/2 cup green pepper chopped
1 cup tomatoes sauce
6 tspns garlic powder
6 tspns chili powder
6 tspns cumin
2 tsp. white pepper
1/4 tsp. cayenne pepper
1 jalapeno pepper
1/2 Anaheim pepper
1/2 tsp. basil dried crushed
throw all in crock pot add water to cover
cook all day (6 hrs min)
Clam Chowder - New England Home Style Recipe
1/2 lb Bacon sliced
1 Onion, sliced
3 Small Potatoes, diced
3 Cup Water
1 Dash Black Pepper
24 Clams or 3 8oz Cans Minced Clams
2 Cups Half & Half
2 Cloves Garlic, crushed
3 Tbsp Butter
1 Teasp Salt
1/4 Teasp Black Pepper
1 Teasp Basil
1 Teasp Parsley
1 Teasp Thyme
Combine clams, their liquid and water; bring to a boil. Drain clams,
reserving liquid. Remove clams from shells; chop meat; set aside.
Cook bacon. Sauté onion with Bacon until clear. Drain oil and set aside.
Corn Bread
2 cups cornmeal
2 cups flour all-purpose
2 tblspn baking powder
2 cups milk
2 eggs
1 tblspn honey
16 oz whole kernel corn
8 oz or one jalapeno or Anaheim Chile
1/2 LB cheddar cheese
blend milk and eggs
mix dry ingredients
mix all together
stir in corn green chilies and grated cheese
Creamy Potato Stew Recipe
3 small potatoes 1 1/2 cups
1/2 cup broccoli, onions, and mushrooms
2 oz hamburger
1/2 cup milk
1 oz cream cheese
For a fish stew use
2 oz Salmon
1 teaspoon dill weed
1 teaspoon garlic powder
slice and dice everything
cook in crock pot for 6-8 hours on high
Combine potato, water, salt, pepper, basil, parsley, thyme, and liquid from clams and cook until potatoes are tender.
Stir in clams, milk, butter, bacon and onion.
Heat thoroughly.
For New England Style Fish Chowder replace clams with 1 1/2 lb. haddock or cod.
Pasta Dinner Recipe
1 cup cooked pasta
2 oz meat or tofu
1 cup veggies
1 oz cheese w/cheese butter melted sauce
1 slice bread w/ butter& garlic
Pizza Recipe
Dough
3 cups flour
1 tblspn yeast
3/8 cup milk
3/8 cup water
2 tblspn olive oil for thin crust
place 1 cup flour yeast 1/3 cup water blend
add oil and the rest of the water
scrape onto floured board and knead into ball
place in bowl and cover with cloth let stand for 30 min in a warm place
shape into 2 13" pans let stand for 30 min in a warm place
or use a bread machine
Sauce
1 1/2 cups tomatoes sauce
1 teaspn red pepper
2 teaspn olive oil
2 teaspn oregano dried
2 teaspn parmesan cheese grated
Toppings
2 oz meat or tofu
1/2 cup sauce
onions
green peppers
tomatoes sliced optional
2 oz cheese mix of mozzarella, Monterey jack, Swiss, parmesan
1 cup pineapple slice
1 1/2 cup pizza dough
preheat oven 395 degrees, bake 40-45 min
Shepherd's Pie Recipe
2 oz cheese mix on top
1.5 cups potatoes smashed cooked
1 cup mixture of broccoli
cauliflower
green peppers
onions
mushrooms
carrots
green beans
2 oz of meat chopped
place meat at bottom of casserole dish
cover with the veggies
cover veggies with potatoes
cover with grated cheeses
bake at 375 for 1 hour
Spanish Bugler Recipe
1/3 cup beans dried
1/2 green pepper
1 1/4 cup raw bugler wheat
sauté till brown
1 clove garlic
1/2 cup onions green chopped
1 tsp. paprika
1/8 tsp. cayenne pepper
16 oz tomatoes
Taco Beef Recipe for burritos
3/4 cup oil
2 onions
3/4 can diced red chili
12 diced jalapenos
5 tblspn wet garlic
1 1/2 oz chili powder
1 1/2 oz salt
3 tblspn oregano
3 tblspn cumin
10 lbs. beef
Tamale Pie Recipe
use chili con carne and corn bread recipes
put corn kernel and peppers with chili
use corn bread batter
as a pie crust make a pie
cover the top with cheese
bake at 395 degrees for 45 minutes
Veggie Stir Fry Recipe
2 oz meat or 1.5 cup tofu
1/2 cup veggies mix
1 1/2 cup cooked rice
2 oz cheese w/butter sauce
for topping with Corn
2 oz meat or tofu
1/2 cup veggies
1/2 cup corn
1 cup rice
2 oz cheese w/butter sauce for topping
in frying pan cook meat until done
add veggies and rice cook until brown
add spices
Memory Tricks
FOR FREE!!!!!!!!!!!!
How would you like it if I showed you how to improve your memory skills for no cost or price whatsoever? I will show you how to have a "razor sharp" and a "laser quick" memory that will drastically increase your reading speed and improve your comprehension without costly vitamins, worthless pills or phony potions! I will quickly show you how to instantly remember names, facts, numbers, dates, lectures, foreign languages, details, playing cards, text, musical notes, everything you see, everything you hear, everything you read and everything in your life!!!!!!! Really!!!
Sounds good? Are you ready?
I will show you how to cut your study time in half, get better grades in school, amaze you family, friends and fellow workers and be considered a genius throughout your neighborhood!!!!!
This will prove to be GOLDEN INFORMATION for all musicians and songwriters!!!!!!!!
There is NO COST for these secrets and you will get enormous and abundant results from little and minimum effort!!!!!! Guaranteed!!!!!! Let's get started right away ...... and remember, it's FOR FREE!!!!!!!! ........... It may take a while to get use to these tricks…
so, let’s get started!!!!
Mnemonic techniques are specific memory aids. Many are based on general memory strategies. Although it can be easiest to remember those things that you understand well, sometimes you must rely on rote memory. The following techniques can be used to facilitate such memorization.
1. ACRONYMS. You form acronyms by using each first letter from a group of words to form a new word. This is particularly useful when remembering words in a specified order. Acronyms are very common in ordinary language and in many fields. Some examples of common acronyms include NBA (National Basketball Associations), SCUBA (Self Contained Underwater Breathing Apparatus), BTUs (British Thermal Units), and LASER (Light Amplification by Stimulated Emission of Radiation). What other common acronyms can you think of? The memory techniques in this section, for example, can be rearranged to form the acronym "SCRAM" (Sentences/acrostics, Chunking, Rhymes & songs, Acronyms, and Method of loci).
Let us suppose that you have to memorize the names of four kinds of fossils for your geology class: 1) actual remains, 2) Petrified, 3) Imprint, and 4) Molds or casts. Take the first letter of each item you are trying to remember: APIM. Then, arrange the letters so that the acronym resembles a word you are familiar with: PAIM or IMAP.
Although acronyms can be very useful memory aids, they do have some disadvantages. First, they are useful for rote memory, but do not aid comprehension. Be sure to differentiate between comprehension and memory, keeping in mind that understanding is often the best way to remember. Some people assume that if they can remember something, that they must "know" it; but memorization does not necessarily imply understanding. A second problem with acronyms is that they can be difficult to form; not all lists of words will lend themselves equally well to this technique. Finally, acronyms, like everything else, can be forgotten if not committed to memory.
2. SENTENCES/ACROSTICS. Like acronyms, you use the first letter of each word you are trying to remember. Instead of making a new word, though, you use the letters to make a sentence. Here are some examples:
My Dear Aunt Sally (mathematical order of operations: Multiply and Divide before you Add and Subtract)
Kings Phil Came Over for the Genes Special (Kingdom, Phylum, Class, Order, Genus, Species)
Can you think of other examples? Like acronyms, acrostics can be very simple to remember and are particularly helpful when you need to remember a list in a specific order. One advantage over acronyms is that they are less limiting. If your words don't form easy-to-remember acronyms, using acrostics may be preferable. On the other hand, they can take more thought to create and require remembering a whole new sentence rather than just one word (as is the case with acronyms). Otherwise, they present the same problem as acronyms in that they aid memorization but not comprehension.
3. RHYMES & SONGS. Rhythm, repetition, melody, and rhyme can all aid memory. Are you familiar with Homer's Odyssey? If you are familiar with the book, then you know that it is quite long. That is why it is so remarkable to realize that this, along with many ancient Greek stories, was told by storytellers who would rely solely on their memories. The use of rhyme, rhythm, and repetition helped the storytellers remember them.
You can use the same techniques to better remember information from courses. For example, even the simple addition of familiar rhythm and melody can help. Do you remember learning the alphabet? Many children learn the letters of the alphabet to the tune of "Twinkle, Twinkle, Little Star." In fact, a student demonstrated how she memorized the quadratic formula (notorious among algebra students for being long and difficult to remember) by singing it to a familiar tune!
Using these techniques can be fun, particularly for people who like to create. Rhymes and songs draw on your auditory memory and may be particularly useful for those who can learn tunes, songs, or poems easily. Like the other techniques in this section, however, they emphasize rote memory, not understanding. Also, when devising rhymes and songs, don't spend too much time creating them. Use these techniques judiciously and don't let them interfere with your studying.
4. METHOD OF LOCI. This technique was used by ancient orators to remember speeches, and it combines the use of organization, visual memory, and association. Before using the technique, you must identify a common path that you walk. This can be the walk from your dorm to class, a walk around your house, whatever is familiar. What is essential is that you have a vivid visual memory of the path and objects along it. Once you have determined your path, imagine yourself walking along it, and identify specific landmarks that you will pass. For example, the first landmark on your walk to campus could be your dorm room, next may be the front of the residence hall, next a familiar statue you pass, etc. The number of landmarks you choose will depend on the number of things you want to remember.
Once you have determined your path and visualized the landmarks, you are ready to use the path to remember your material. This is done by mentally associating each piece of information that you need to remember with one of these landmarks. For example, if you are trying to remember a list of mnemonics, you might remember the first--acronyms--by picturing SCUBA gear in your dorm room (SCUBA is an acronym).
You do not have to limit this to a path. You can use the same type of technique with just about any visual image that you can divide into specific sections. The most important thing is that you use something with which you are very familiar.
5. CHUNKING. This is a technique generally used when remembering numbers, although the idea can be used for remembering other things as well. It is based on the idea that short-term memory is limited in the number of things that can be contained. A common rule is that a person can remember 7 (plus or minus 2) "items" in short-term memory. In other words, people can remember between 5 and 9 things at one time. You may notice that local telephone numbers have 7 digits. This is convenient because it is the average amount of numbers that a person can keep in his or her mind at one time.
When you use "chunking" to remember, you decrease the number of items you are holding in memory by increasing the size of each item. In remembering the number string 64831996, you could try to remember each number individually, or you could try thinking about the string as 64 83 19 96 (creating "chunks" of numbers). This breaks the group into a smaller number of "chunks." Instead of remembering 8 individual numbers, you are remembering four larger numbers. This is particularly helpful when you form "chunks" that are meaningful or familiar to you (in this case, the last four numbers in the series are "1996," which can easily be remembered as one chunk of information).
6. PRACTICE MAKES PERFECT (or closer to it anyway): Okay, it may not be a mnemonic, but repeating is still a great memory aid. Remember the children's game "I'm going on a picnic and I'm bringing...." As each new object is added, the old objects are repeated. People can often remember a large number of objects this way. When remembering a list of things, you might try a similar concept. Once you are able to remember 5 items on your list without looking, add a 6th, repeat the whole list from the start, add a 7th, and so on. It can be quite intimidating to see long lists, passages, or equations that you are expected to commit to memory. Break up the information into small bits that you can learn, one step at a time, and you may be surprised at how easy it can be. You might even utilize grouping techniques, like those discussed earlier, to form meaningful groups that you can learn one at a time.
ATTENTION AND SELECTION
The first process of memory is attention. There is much more information in your environment than you can process at any one time. Thus, you must make choices (conscious and unconscious) regarding the stimuli to which you will attend. Imagine two students who are driving to Padre Island, TX for spring break. Both have different plans for how they want to spend their vacation: one listening to local bands, the other surfing and swimming. They stop to eat at a sidewalk cafe, where they are approached by a stranger who asks if they know of a surf shop nearby. Assuming they passed one on the way to the cafe, the chances are that the surfer, but not the friend, would have remembered seeing it. Had the stranger asked about music clubs, you might find the opposite scenario. Each one likely attended to what was of interest. We will have more to say about attention later, but we present the idea here to emphasize the roles attention and selection play in our memory.
ENCODING
Once something is attended to, it must be encoded to be remembered. Basically, encoding refers to translating incoming information into a mental representation that can be stored in memory. You can encode the same information in a number of different ways. For example, you can encode information according to its sound (acoustic code), what it looks like (visual code), or what it means (semantic code). Suppose, for example, that you are trying to remember these three types of encoding from your notes. You might say each of the terms aloud and encode the sounds of the words (acoustic), you might see the three types of encoding on your page and visualize the way the words look (visual), or you might think about the meanings of each of the terms (semantic).
How does encoding apply to memory? Well, the way you encode information may affect what you remember and how you recall it later. If you encoded the three things visually or acoustically, but not semantically, you may be able to list them during a test, but you may have difficulty recalling what each term means. If you encoded them only semantically, you might be able to explain what they mean but have difficulty remembering the order in which they were listed on the page.
You may be able to remember information best if you use techniques (while retrieving the information) that are related to the way you encoded it. For example, if you encoded something visually, you will be able to recall it most easily by drawing on visual cues. You will find that many of the memory techniques discussed in this section are designed to help you encode the information in different ways.
STORAGE
Storage is the process of holding information in your memory. A distinction is often made between short-term and long-term memory. Short-term memory is just that, brief and transient. Think about looking up a new phone number in the phone book and making a call. You may remember it long enough to make the call, but do not recall it later. This is your short-term memory, which can hold a small amount of information for a short period of time. Once you stop attending to the number, perhaps after you make the call and move on to another task, you are likely to forget it. In order to remember the number for a longer period of time (and after attending to other things), you would need to store it in your long-term memory.
The transfer of information from short- to long-term memory can be achieved in many ways. Simply repeating the information can help if it's repeated enough times. For example, frequently called phone numbers are remembered because you have used (repeated) the number many times. Although simply repeating, or practicing, something can help move it into long-term memory, another strategy for transferring information is to think about it deeply. That is, elaborate on the information, drawing connections between what you are trying to remember and the other things with which you are already familiar. You might learn that telephone number quicker, for example, if you notice that it includes the dates of your friend's birthday, the numbers on your license plate, or some other familiar number pattern.
RETRIEVAL
Retrieval is the process of actually remembering something when you want to. If you think about tip-of-the-tongue experiences, when you know a word or name but just can't seem to recall it, you will understand how retrieval is different from storage. In terms of memory improvement, it can help to understand how the retrieval process relates to encoding and storage. Consider the relationship between retrieval and encoding. If you encoded something visually, but are trying to retrieve it acoustically, you will have difficulty remembering. Like encoding, information can be retrieved through visualizing it, thinking about the meaning, or imagining the sound, etc. The more ways information has been encoded, the more ways there are for retrieving it. Imagine that you are taking a test in which you are given a definition and asked to recall the word it describes. You may recall the page of your notes that the word was on and visualize the word, or you might say the definition to yourself and remember yourself repeating the word. Thus, memory is aided by encoding and retrieving information in multiple ways.
Retrieval relates to storage as well, Obviously the memory has to be stored in order for you to retrieve it, but knowing how it was stored can help. This is where elaboration and processing come in. When attempting to retrieve information, it helps to think about related ideas. For example, you are trying to remember a chemistry formula during an exam. Although you are able to visualize the page of your chemistry notes, you cannot recall the exact formula. You do remember, however, that this same formula was used in the biology class you took last semester. As you think about that class, you are able to recall the formula. This is one reason why intentionally organizing information in your memory when you are learning it helps you recall it later.
SUMMARY
Attention ----> Encoding ----> Storage ----> Retrieval
Here are the steps of memory discussed thus far. First, you select the information to which you will attend. You then code the information for storage (where it can be practiced and processed more deeply). Later, when needed, information is retrieved by using a search strategy that parallels how the information was coded and stored.
FORGETTING
Although information can be stored in long-term memory for extended periods of time, "memory decay" does take place. In other words, we can forget what we learn. In fact, we forget things quickest shortly after we learn them. This has two implications in terms of improving our memory. First, as disheartening as it is, you will often learn a great deal more than you can retain in the long run. But, before you lose heart entirely, keep in mind that the memories can be retained with a little effort. So, the second implication for improving memory involves maintaining memories with the least amount of effort. In order to retain information in memory, you must practice, think about, and sometimes relearn things. Every time you practice and relearn the information, you are reinforcing it in your memory. Taking a few moments to do frequent, but brief, reviews will save you time by helping you retain what you have learned. For example, it's a good idea to make rehearsal part of your reading and note-taking regimen. When you complete a reading assignment or a note-taking session, take a few minutes to rehearse the material as a way of moving the information from short-term to long-term memory. Not that this practice alone is sufficient to prepare for most test, but it will enhance your understanding and recall of the material, facilitating serious study.
YOUR MEMORY'S
NATURAL RHYTHMS
You can utilize the mind's natural processes for learning information. Your memory and memorization skills (comprehension + memory = learning) will benefit from knowing how your brain best absorbs information (builds new neural connections) . If you were to hear a list of 30 words and were then asked to recall them. You would be able to recall some words from the beginning of the list, some from the end but only a few from the middle of the list. These effects are known as primacy (words from the beginning of the list) and regency (words from the end of the list). Unless you were applying a mnemonic technique, it is highly unlikely that you would recall all of the words.
You would however be able to recall words that were repeated or connected in any way and any outstanding or unusual words (for example the word "Rhinoceros" in a list of underwear is outstanding just as the word "Underpants" sticks out in a list of large African Herbivores. How can you use this? If you were to study for hours and hours and hours without a break, you would find that the dip in recall between the primacy and regency effects would be considerable. On the other hand, if we stopped every 5 minutes during a half hour we would not get into the flow of learning.
We need to find a balance between these two extremes. You need to take more breaks when you are studying. Split your study time into 20-50 minute chunks with 10 minute breaks in between when it is important that you relax or do something physical or creative.
The time chunks will mean that you create more primacy / regency high points and will remember more from your studying. The breaks will give your mind a chance to rest from learning and doing something different will actually stimulate it.
Instead of poring over your notes solidly for 3 hours, if you split the time up into 50 minute segments, you will actually remember more during your learning periods.
How do you recall this information after you have learned it? (transferring short term memory to long term). The ability to learn something once and then have the ability to recall it whenever you wanted?
It does require effort. Imagine that you went to a class, listened to the teacher, took your notes and at the end of the lesson threw your notebook into your bag. How much information do you think you would remember about what you had learned by the end of the following day? Ebbinghaus proved that within 1-2 days, we forget about 80% of what we have learned. Quite a waste! There is a way to overcome that problem.
At the end of an hour's learning, your mind integrates the information that you have just studied so that your ability to recall it actually rises, peaks after about 10 minutes and then falls off dramatically. Now if you review what you have learnt at that 10 minute point, you will reinforce the information at its strongest in your mind. (I will be writing about a suitable note taking technique to allow you to do this in future articles, so just bear with me).
Your ability to recall this information will remain at a high point for about a day before it begins to drop off rapidly. So it is a good idea to review what you have learnt again after a day. This second review will mean that your ability to recall what you have learnt will remain for about a week before it begins to tail off again so guess what we do after a week? Full marks to those who think we should review again.
If you are worried about all these reviews, don't be because with the right note taking technique, each review will only take a couple of minutes. After this third review your recall will last for about a month at which your fourth review will keep the information accessible by you for up to 6 months. A fifth review after 6 months will meant that the information is firmly logged in your long-term memory.
In summary then:
1. Study for as long as you like but make sure it is in 20-50 minute chunks with breaks of 10 minutes where relaxation and/or something physical and fun is mandatory.
2. Review what you have learned:
10 minutes after learning
1 day after learning
1 week after learning
1 month after learning
6 months after learning.
The Principles of Short-Term and Long-Term Memory. This principle of long-term memory may well be at work when you recite or write the ideas and facts that you read. As you recite or write you are holding each idea in mind for the four or five seconds that are needed for the temporary memory to be converted into a permanent one. In other words, the few minutes that it takes for you to review and think about what you are trying to learn is the minimum length of time that neuroscientists believe is necessary to allow thought to go into a lasting, more easily retrievable memory.
Recognition is an easier stage of memory than the recall stage. For example, in an examination, it is much easier to recognize an answer to a question if five options are listed, than to recall the answer without the options listed. But getting beyond just recognizing the correct answer when you see it is usually necessary for long-term memory, for the more we can recall about information the better we usually remember it.
Understanding New Material. First and most important, you must make sure that you understand new material before trying to remember it. A good technique to ensure understanding is to recite or write the author's ideas in your own words. If you cannot, then you do not understand them. The conclusion: you cannot remember what you do not understand. In other words, you cannot form a clear and correct memory trace from a fuzzy, poorly understood concept. In the classroom, do not hesitate to ask the instructor to explain further a point that is not clear to you. If the point is unclear to you, there is a good chance that it is unclear to others, so you will not be wasting anyone's time. Furthermore, most instructors appreciate the opportunity to answer questions. Getting it right the first time. We have learned that all remembering depends on forming an original, clear neural trace in the brain in the first place. These initial impressions are vitally important because the mind clings just as tenaciously to incorrect impressions as it does to correct impressions. Then we have to unlearn and relearn. Incorrect information is so widespread that Mark Twain once wrote, "Education consists mainly in what we have unlearned."
Evaluate the Learning. Another way to improve retention is through evaluation. After you have studied, work the matter over in your mind. Examine and analyze it; become familiar with it like a friend. Use comparison or contrast: how is this topic like or different from related topics? If the learning concerns things conjectural, do you tend to agree or disagree? Are there aspects of the subject which you can criticize? Analytical thinking encourages you to consider the matter from various aspects and this kind of mental manipulation makes you more knowledgeable.
For all these reasons, recall is significantly improved.
The Principle of Over learning.
After you have recited a lesson long enough to say it perfectly, if you continue reciting it a few times more, you will over learn it. A well known psychologist and researcher, Ebbinghaus, has reported that each additional recitation (after you really know the material) engraves the mental trace deeper and deeper, thus establishing a base for long-term retention. For many people over learning is difficult to practice because, by the time they achieve bare mastery, there is little time left and they are eager to drop the subject and go on to something else. But reciting the material even just one more time significantly increases retention, so try to remember this and utilize the technique when you can.
The Principle of Recitation
There is no principle that is more important or more effective than recitation for transferring material from the short-term memory to the long-term memory. For one thing, you are obviously in the process of repeating the information. Recitation can take several forms -- thinking about it, writing it out, or saying it out loud. "Thinking about it" is potentially the least effective because it gives us the least amount of reinforcement since writing or speaking involve more electrical muscle movement messages to the brain which are known to increase mental response and recording. Vocal, "out loud" recitation is usually the most effective single technique for review because it employs more of the senses than any other review technique (utilizing both auditory and vocal senses.) If, for example, when reviewing your notes immediately after class the reviewing is done by vocal recitation, you will not only be consolidating the new information but also strengthening the neural traces made to your brain.
What is recitation? Recitation is simply saying aloud the ideas that you want to remember. For example, after you have gathered your information in note form and have categorized and clustered your items, you recite them. Here's how: you cover your notes, then recite aloud the covered material. After reciting, expose the notes and check for accuracy. You should not attempt to recite the material word for word; rather your reciting should be in the words and manner that you would ordinarily use if you were explaining the material to a friend. When you can say it, then you know it. (This is why it is best NOT to recite directly from the text.)
How recitation works. Recitation transfers material to the secondary or long-term memory. While you are reading the words in a sentence or paragraph, the primary memory (short-term memory) holds them in mind long enough for you to gain the sense of the sentence or paragraph. However, the primary memory has a very limited capacity, and as you continue to read, you displace the words and ideas of the initial paragraphs with the words of subsequent paragraphs. This is one reason for not remembering everything in the first part of the chapter by the time we reach the end of the chapter when we read continually without taking a break or taking time to review what we have already read.
It is only when we recite or contemplate the idea conveyed by a sentence or paragraph that the idea has a chance (not guaranteed) of moving on into the secondary memory (a long-term storage facility).
All verbal information goes first into the primary memory (short-term memory). When it is rehearsed (recited), part of it goes into our secondary (long-term) memory. The rest of it, usually the part we are least interested in, returns to the primary memory and is then forgotten.
Whether new information is "stored" or "dumped" depends, then, on our reciting it out loud and on our interest in the information.
After this number of days
The amount remembered by students who did no review wasThe amount remembered by students who reviewed was
The amount remembered by students who did no review wasThe amount remembered by students who reviewed was733%83%
33%83%6314%70%
14%70% Remembering. As a student, one of your main concerns is to retain old learning's while you continue to acquire new ones. Do we remember more when we begin to study a subject or after we already know something about it? According to several recent studies, learning which involves memorization of a unit of material begins slowly, then goes faster, and finally levels off. In other words, the amount learned per unit of time is small at first, then increases, and then becomes small again. This finding contrasts with older studies which showed that learning was rapid at first, then became slower until it leveled off.
Even though a person continues to study, he may expect to encounter periods when there seems to be little or no gain. Such plateaus in learning may be due to several causes such as fatigue, loss of interest, or diminishing returns from using the same inefficient methods. Another explanation of plateaus is that they represent pauses between stages of understanding; when the student acquires a new insight, he can move on. Sometimes the lower stage of an understanding or a skill may actually interfere with progress to a higher level. For example, learning to read by individual letters of the alphabet interferes with learning to read by words. Learning to read word-by-word delays reading by phrases or sentences.
The important thing is to recognize that plateaus or periods of slow learning are inevitable, and they should not discourage the student unduly. Learning may still be taking place, but at a slower pace. Recognizing that he is at a plateau, the student should first try to analyze and improve his study methods, if possible. Sometimes, however, an incorrect mental set may be interfering with the necessary perception of new relationships. Sometimes slow learning may simply be due to fatigue. In either of these circumstances the most efficient procedure may be to drop the activity temporarily and return to it after a good night's rest.
The rate at which a student learns depends upon his learning ability, but slow learners remember just as well as fast learners, provided that they have learned the material equally well. The reason a bright student may do better on examinations is that he has learned the subject matter more effectively within the time available. But if a slower student spends enough time on his studies, he can retain every bit as much as the faster student. Fortunately, there is evidence that both rate of learning and rate of retention can be improved with practice.
The Principle of Neuro-Transmitter Depletion
Often students study or attempt to read for too long a period of time without stopping for a rest break. B.F. Skinner and other experts have concluded that the average student cannot usually study really difficult material efficiently for more than about four hours a day. Then efficiency and memory begin to suffer. Research shows that the average student cannot study effectively on the same subject for more than about four consecutive hours, even with short breaks every hour. What occurs is what is referred to as The Principle of Neuro-Transmitter Depletion. Neuro-scientists have developed techniques to monitor activity (usually defined as electrical impulses) and chemical changes in the brain during study or thought processing. If one studies the same subject too long, fatigue, boredom, sometimes slight disorientation may occur. It is a common result of too much consecutive study when even the most simple concept begins not to make sense any longer. The monitoring of brain activity and chemical changes indicate that studying too long results in a depletion of chemicals in the brain cells necessary for efficient processing of information. Therefore, for effective consolidation of material into memory storage, take frequent breaks (at least 10 minutes every hour) and do not attempt to deal with really difficult material for more than about four hours a day, and do not study any easier subject area (even with breaks) for more than four consecutive hours.
1. PULLING IT ALL TOGETHER. Organizing and ordering information can significantly improve memory. Imagine, for example, how difficult it would be to remember a random list of 62 letters. On the other hand, it would not be difficult to memorize the first sentence in this paragraph (consisting of 62 letters). Similarly, learning a large amount of unconnected and unorganized information from various classes can be very challenging. By organizing and adding meaning to the material prior to learning it, you can facilitate both storage and retrieval. In other words, you can learn it better and recall it easier. The following concepts can help you pull various information together in order to increase understanding and organization. This can mean organizing material on paper, such as when you make an outline or idea web, or simply organizing material in your memory, such as learning it in a particular order or making intentional associations between ideas.
2. THE FUNNEL APPROACH. This means learning general concepts before moving on to specific details. When you study in this manner, you focus on getting a general framework, or overview, before filling in the details. When you understand the general concepts first, the details make more sense. Rather than disconnected bits of information to memorize, such as history dates, the material fits together within the overall framework. Seeing how the smaller details relate to one another, you process the information more deeply (which helps you store, and later retrieve, it from memory). This idea is probably familiar--there are many learning strategies based on the funnel approach. For example, the approach is used in previewing a chapter for the major ideas as a way to enhance your comprehension of details contained in the chapter. You may also notice that many textbook chapters are organized in a "general to specific" format. Finally, you probably use this type of approach when studying from an outline, matrix, or concept map. Because of their organization, these tools are particularly well-suited for learning general to specific.
3. ORGANIZING THROUGH MEANING AND ASSOCIATION. Earlier, we discussed the concept of making intentional associations in order to improve learning retention. What do we mean by "intentional associations"? When learning, a person continually makes associations. We make associations between what we are learning and the environment we are in, between the information and our mental states, and between the information and our stream of thoughts. When things are associated in memory, thinking of one helps bring the other to mind. Have you ever actually retraced your path when you have forgotten where you put an object such as your keys? Often, as you approach the place where you put them, you are suddenly able to remember the act of laying them down on the table or putting them in your gym bag. This is association. The memory of putting the keys down was associated with your memory of things in the environment. You can make associations work for you by making them intentional. When you are having difficulty recalling new material, you can help bring it to mind by thinking about what you have associated it with. In other words--retrace your mental path. We will return to this idea later when we discuss specific strategies.
a) Deep processing--relating the material to yourself. One way to process information more deeply, and also to create meaningful associations, is to think about how the information can be personally meaningful. You might think about how the new material relates to your life, your experience, or your goals. If you can link new information to memories already stored ("mental hooks"), you'll have more cues to recall the new material.
b) Grouping. This idea is probably best explained with an example. Before reading ahead, take a moment to complete the following exercise.
EXERCISE: GROUPING
Read the following list of sports one time. When you are done, write down as many of the sports as you can without looking back at the list.
Snow Skiing Basketball Tennis
Long Jump Bobsledding 100-Meter Dash
Hockey Baseball Ice Skate
Discus Golf High Jump
Volleyball Javelin Soccer
Luge Curling Cricket
Decathlon Hurdles
Note the number of sports you remembered correctly. We will return to this exercise later.
You can organize material by grouping similar concepts, or related ideas, together. Arranging the material into related groups helps your memory by organizing the information. For example, in the exercise you just completed, you could have grouped all of the sports into one of the following categories:
a) Winter sports,
b) Track and Field sports, and
c) Sports using a ball.
Keeping these categories in mind, try the exercise again. If your are like most people, you will be able to remember more of the sports.
Of course, in this instance, we created a list with the intention of demonstrating grouping; thus, there were 6 or 7 sports in each category. Still, with a little thought, this strategy can be used in a variety of ways. For example, can you think of other ways that these sports could be grouped? There are individual sports, team sports, sports you may enjoy, and sports you may dislike. There are sports requiring a great deal of equipment, and sports requiring little or none. When you are trying to remember lists for a test, the concepts and words may or may not have a natural organization. Therefore, you may need to be creative when making associations. Finally, the process of organizing a list into groups can often help you to understand the relationship between the concepts better.
4. VIVID ASSOCIATIONS. We have already discussed the idea of associations: aiding storage and retrieval of new information by intentionally pairing it with something familiar. When learning something new and unfamiliar, try pairing it with something you know very well, such as images, puns, music, whatever. The association does not have to make logical sense. Often times it is associations that are particularly vivid humorous, or silly that stay in your mind. Some people remember names this way. For example, they may remember the name "Robert Green" by picturing Robert playing golf (on the green), wearing green clothes, or covered in green paint. Or suppose for your anatomy course you have to recall names of the veins in the human body, and the first one on the list is "pancreatic" followed by "right gastroepipeloic" and "left gastroepipeloic" and so on. You can picture a frying pan being creative--maybe painting a picture with bright paints and bold strokes. If the frying pan is working in a studio, picture gas pipes with little padlocks on them (gastroepipeloic) in the left and right studio corners....
VIVID ASSOCIATIONS: LEARNING THE NAMES OF CLASSMATES
1. Pick names of classmates with whom you are unfamiliar.
2. For each name, brainstorm some words or ideas that you can associate with the name. For example, if one student's name is Teresa Martinez, you might think of Mother Teresa, a Martin (a bird), Mars the planet, a Martini (the drink), the word "terrific," Martinique, etc.
3. Once you have brainstormed several ideas, you can begin to think of ways that some of the associations can be combined to remember the name. In this example, create a visual association by picturing Mother Teresa standing on the beach at Martinique.
4. Do this for each person, and you will have a great way to remember the names of your new classmates!
5. ACTIVE LEARNING. You will notice that the term "active learning" has come up frequently. Active learning facilitates your memory by helping you attend to and process information. All of the memory techniques we have discussed require active learning. Even if you attend every lecture and read every assignment, there is no guarantee that you will learn and remember the information. Although you may passively absorb some material, to ensure that you remember important information requires being active and involved, that is attending to and thinking about what you are learning.
6. VISUAL MEMORY. Some people remember information best when it is encoded visually; if that is the case for you, then code information in this manner. But even if you do not consider yourself specifically "a visual learner," you may find that including visual memory can still help. After all, it is one more way of encoding and storing information--and one more way of retrieving it for a test. There are many ways of visually encoding and retrieving information. We have already mentioned the strategy of associating concepts with visual images. But other aids to visual memory include diagrams, tables, outlines, etc. Often these are provided in texts, so take advantage of pictures, cartoons, charts, graphs, or any other visual material. You can also draw many of these things yourself. For example, try to visualize how the ideas relate to each other and draw a graph, chart, picture, or some other representation of the material. You may even want to make it a habit to convert difficult material into actual pictures or diagrams in your notes, or to convert words into mental images on the blackboard of your mind.
Finally, using your visual memory can be as simple as writing out vocabulary words, theories, or algebraic formulas. This allows you to not only practice (repeat) the information but also to see the way it looks on the page (developing a visual memory that you may be able to retrieve later). Another advantage is that it helps you take an active role in learning the material. When you draw your ideas on paper or write down things you are trying to remember, you have the opportunity to think about the information more deeply.
7. TALK IT OUT. When trying to memorize something, it can help to actually recite the information aloud. You might repeat ideas verbatim (when you need to do rote memorization), or you can repeat ideas in your own words (and thus ensure that you have a true understanding of the information). Repeating information aloud can help you encode the information (auditory encoding) and identify how well you have learned it. Some students have told us that they know the test information and are surprised when they "freeze" and cannot give adequate responses. For some students, this "freezing" may be a result of test anxiety. For others, however, it may be a result of overestimating how well they know the material. If you recite the information aloud from memory (answering questions, defining words, or using flash cards), it is often quite clear how well you know it. If you stumble in your responses, have to look up answers, or can only give a vague response, then you know that you need to study more.
Although reciting aloud can be a helpful memory technique, some people avoid it out of fear of appearing foolish ("what if someone sees me talking to myself?"). If this applies to you, work with a friend or study group. Another advantage of working with someone else is that they can inform you when you are missing important concepts or misunderstanding an idea. Keep in mind, however, that studying with others does not work for everyone. For example, some students may become anxious or intimidated in study groups and would be more comfortable studying alone.
8. VISUALIZE YOURSELF TEACHING THE MATERIAL. An effective way to enhance recall and understanding of dense material is to teach it to an imaginary audience. By doing so, you are forced to organize the material in a way that makes sense to you and to anticipate potential questions that may be asked by your students. Moreover, by articulating your lecture aloud, you will uncover gaps in your comprehension (and recall) of the material. (Far better to discover those "weak" areas before a test than during it.) After you have mastered a particular section from your textbook, try delivering an organized lecture on any topic from that section. Then check for accuracy. Don't forget to anticipate questions that students might ask about the material as a way of anticipating potential test questions.
1. Draw Mind Maps. That's how your brain stores information: like branches on a tree. And if you draw Mind Maps using symbols as well as bold words, you'll be able to visualize the main points.
2. Learn with all your senses. If you can see it, touch it, taste it, hear it and smell it, you are much more likely to remember it.
3. Learn by doing. "Muscle memory" is extremely powerful. That's why you can easily ride a bike, even if you haven't been on one for 20 years.
4. Use linking tools as memory pegs. "The more you link, the more you learn" - that's the key to most memory courses. So attach new information on to information that you know well.
5. Make those links visual - like visualizing a McDonald's arch with a crocodile under it to recall that Ray Krok founded the fast-food chain.
6. Make your links physical - like learning to using a simple series of physical actions.
7. Make your links in rhyme - and visualize them.
8. Practice, practice, practice. If you're learning French, work in a French restaurant. Studying shorthand? Write every day over a newspaper editorial. Join Toastmasters to practice public speaking.
9. Memorize initial letters - such as AIDA (attract Attention, arouse Interest, create Desire, and urge Action) as the key principles of advertising. Make up your own.
10. Get emotionally involved. Emotion is the gateway to learning.
Draw Mind Maps. That's how your brain stores information: like branches on a tree. And if you draw Mind Maps using symbols as well as bold words, you'll be able to visualize the main points.
Learn with all your senses. If you can see it, touch it, taste it, hear it and smell it, you are much more likely to remember it.
Learn by doing. "Muscle memory" is extremely powerful. That's why you can easily ride a bike, even if you haven't been on one for 20 years.
Use linking tools as memory pegs. "The more you link, the more you learn" - that's the key to most memory courses. So attach new information on to information that you know well.
Make those links visual - like visualizing a McDonald's arch with a crocodile under it to recall that Ray Krok founded the fast-food chain.
Make your links physical - like learning to count in Japanese, using a simple series of physical actions.
Make your links in rhyme - and visualize them.
Practice, practice, practice. If you're learning French, work in a French restaurant. Studying shorthand? Write every day over a newspaper editorial. Join Toastmasters to practice public speaking.
Memorize initial letters - such as AIDA (attract Attention, arouse Interest, create Desire, and urge Action) as the key principles of advertising. Make up your own.
Get emotionally involved. Emotion is the gateway to learning.
On Memory Tricks
A. Putting things to memory is an active process.
B. Know the difference between recognition and recall memory - don’t get fooled !
C. Mnemonic Tricks
D. Jogging your memory - what to do when you forget
A. Memorizing is an active process
Many students mistakenly believe that reading course material over and over again is the best way to learn it. Nothing could be farther from the truth. Think of reading as a passive activity -- one's eyes passing over words. Learning does not occur until your brain does some sort of processing with the information. If you read passively, no processing takes place. This is what's responsible for that frustration you may have felt after reading a chapter and then not really knowing or understanding what you've read.
"Think of reading as a thinking activity...If you are not thinking about what you are reading, then you're missing the point."
Learning and memorization are active processes. In order to engage these processes, you need to modify how you read. For starters, think of reading as a thinking activity rather than about looking at the words. Some good ways to think about your reading include:
underlining passages
writing notes in the margin of the book
drawing a graph or picture that represents the concept in a new way
finding ways that the concept relates to things you already know
creating reading notes
It is also a good idea to stop your reading every 15 minutes and ask yourself the following questions: "what is this material about?" and "how does what I have just read fit into the material presented previously in the book or in lecture?". If you are able to answer these questions, then you are reading actively and stand a much better chance at recalling the information later.
When you encounter some information that you know you will need to memorize (like definitions or key concepts), be sure to mark it or write it down in your reading notes. You'll want to review and test yourself on the material repeatedly in order to me sure you can recall it for exams. A good way to do this is with flash cards. Most students have short breaks in the day that are perfect for reviewing flash cards.
B. Types of memory — Recognition and Recall
Memory can be categorized in many different ways. One such way to look at your new memories is in terms of recognition and recall memory. These two types of memory simply represent the depth with which you remember the new material. Recognition memory is a superficial memory -- if you have this type of memory for a concept, you will recognize it when you encounter it and may be able to generate some of the material on your own if you are prompted or given clues. Recall memory is a much deeper level of memory. If you have this type of memory for a concept, you should be able to generate it at any time without any prompting or clues.
Why is this distinction important? Recognition memory plays tricks on us when we study, and fools us into thinking that we really know material when in reality we have only a superficial understanding of it. Let's say you pick up your text to resume your preparation for an exam. You begin to review a concept but decide to move on because you have a strong sense that you already know it. The concept seems very familiar and as you read over it you know that you know it. The problem is that you may have just fooled yourself! The only way to know for sure if you actually know the material is to test yourself -- close your book and notes and write down what you know about the concept. Only information stored in recall memory can be pulled up using this method. If you cannot recall the concept, then you need to continue actively studying.
C. Mnemonic Tricks
A mnemonic is a system to develop or improve the memory. Sometimes you will need to memorize lists of information. Students have been using memory tricks, or mnemonics, for generations in order to memorize such lists. Here are two common techniques:
1. Create an acronym or phrase that uses the first letters of each word you need to memorize. For example, say you need to be able to remember the four parts of Great Britain: Wales, Scotland, Northern Ireland, and England. By arranging the first letters of each item, you can make the word NEWS. By recalling NEWS, you can figure out each item.
2. [this works best with recalling concrete objects] Create a visual map in your mind of a familiar place like your house. Close your eyes and imagine moving through the space in a systematic manner (front door, entry way, kitchen, hallway, etc...). After you create this mental map, place objects from your list of things to memorize along the route in the order you want to recall them. Go through your familiar space a number of times, imagining the objects in the items you need to recall in the same location each time. After several repetitions, you should be able to recall your list my mentally moving through your familiar place in your mind. This method makes use of paired associations to jog memory.
It works. Try it!
D. Jogging your memory — what to do if you forget.
Have you ever had the experience of taking an exam and coming to an item that you know you know, but you cannot recall it? It's frustrating, isn't it! Most people try brute force to try to recall the information. Sometimes this works, but often it doesn't. Here are a few tricks for jogging your memory:
Relax! Sometimes, wanting to remember makes you over motivated. This over motivation actually interferes with the recall process. Many psychological studies show that over motivation degrades performance at most tasks. Close your eyes and take three deep breaths and try again.
Move on. Make a notation in the test booklet and continue with the exam. Go back to the problem later. This has a number of benefits: (a) it does not delay you further -- you'll complete more of the test this way, (b) it keeps you from getting too anxious and over motivated and lets you relax so that when you try again later, your recall may work, and (c) you may encounter words or phrases later on in the exam which help you to remember.
Work around the concept. Trying to recall the exact word or concept is the wrong strategy. Instead, try to recall things similar to it. Start with the context in which you learned the concept. Where were you? Was it in the text or lecture? Can you picture it on the page of the textbook or can you imagine hearing your professor lecturing on it? If that doesn't work, try recalling concepts that you know are related. If you studied well, these related concepts should be linked to the one you are trying to recall
Four Memory Tricks
Nothing helps you get ahead quicker than a good memory. Whether you're trying to remember the name of the guy you just met, a state capital, or complex sets of business data, these simple tricks can help you improve your memory skills.
1. Start by chunking. According to psychologists, it's especially hard to make your brain recall long lists of separate pieces of information. To make it easier to remember a long list of almost anything, break the list into small and manageable groups, or "chunks."
For example, you might find it hard to remember all of the original 13 British colonies in the United States. But if you break them into small groups based on common traits, such as the region each colony belongs in, it's much easier. First, just concentrate on learning which colonies belong in which region. When you know each region, you know the whole set of 13.
Mid-Atlantic
Delaware
New York
New Jersey
Pennsylvania
Southern
Maryland
Virginia
North Carolina
South Carolina
Georgia
New England
Connecticut
Rhode Island
Massachusetts
New Hampshire
2. Use mnemonic devices. These are memory improvement techniques, and are sometimes quite elaborate. One common device uses words or abbreviations to compress lists of information into shorter bits that are easier to remember. Here are some common examples:
Names of the Great Lakes
H-O-M-E-S; Huron, Ontario, Michigan, Erie, Superior
Colors of the spectrum
R-o-y G. B-i-v; Red Orange Yellow Green Blue Indigo Violet
Order of operations in mathematics
Please Explain My Dull, Awful Subjects; Parentheses, Exponents, Multiplication/Division, Addition/Subtraction
Planets in the solar system
Many Vocal Enemies Make Jokes Squealing Under Nervous Pressure; Mercury, Venus, Earth, Mars, Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus, Neptune, Pluto
Biology taxonomy
Kings Play Chess On Funny Green Squares; Kingdom, Phylum, Class, Order, Family, Genus, Species
Musical scale
Every Good Boy Does Fine; E, G, B, D, F
3. Link information to visual cues. Often it's easier to remember a place or an image and its characteristics, than it is to recall a set of unfamiliar pieces of information. To memorize the information, you can try taking an item from the list and associating it in your mind with a picture or place that you know well.
For example, let's say you need to memorize the presidents of the United States since World War II. You could associate each of the presidents with a place you know well, such as your front porch:
EisenhowerSitting on the steps
Sitting on the stepsKennedyKnocking at the front door
Knocking at the front doorJohnsonSwinging on a porch swing
Swinging on a porch swingNixonStanding at the mailbox
Standing at the mailboxFordRinging the doorbell
Ringing the doorbellCarterSitting in a wicker chair
Sitting in a wicker chairReaganStanding under the porch light
Standing under the porch lightBush (1st)Standing on the right
Standing on the rightClintonSitting at a table
Sitting at a tableBush (2nd)Standing on the left
Standing on the left To reinforce this, you could draw a sketch of your porch, and note on it the location of each president. This technique is so powerful that you might find yourself thinking of the presidents the next time you go to your porch.
4. Read with a purpose. Many psychologists think that the best way to remember what you read is to follow the PQ4R method. PQ4R is a mnemonic device for Preview, Question, and four R's: Read, Reflect, Recite, Review.
If you are reading a chapter in your biology book, for example, you should start by skimming the whole chapter for an overview. Then create some questions to concentrate on while you study, such as "How does photosynthesis work?" Then read the chapter.
After you've finished, reflect--think about how the chapter has answered your questions. Recite the answers back to yourself, explaining the information in your own words. Finally, go back through the book, skimming again for the main points.
Sound like a lot of work? It may take longer than a quick skim, but it's also a great way to make sure you retain what you are reading, rather than just sitting in front of the book and turning pages.
In conclusion , take your time, stay focused, maintain calm, breathe comfortably and relax.
It will all come to you in due time, beloved.
Love forever and forevermore ,
your friend and fellow musician ,
Desire
Healthy hands for shakuhachi players and other musicians This series of exercises is a gentle day-to-day program that can significantly ease the tensions and trauma arising in the hands of musicians who play regularly. They promote bloodflow and mobility and can release cronic tension and pain in muscles, tendons and joints. The exercises are designed to be used at any time of day, several times a day and can become part of your daily musical practice.
Don't grip your instrument. Allow your fingers to lightly hold the instrument at all times, particularly when you are working on difficult passages.
Take regular breaks while practicing . Relax and stretch for at least 15 minutes per hour. This is key to healthy hands.
Be aware of your body and posture while you play. It is your instrument. How all the parts of you stack up under gravity profoundly affects your breathing and tension.
Do all these exercises in a very relaxed manner: relax your entire body through each movement. In particular, don't hold tension in your shoulders or upper arms. Breathe deeply and exhale well throughout your program.
1. SHOULDER STRETCH (30 seconds)
Plant your feet firmly on the ground, slightly apart. Reach above your head with palms together, breathing deeply. Feel the stretch throughout your body, pull upwards as much as you can. Rest and repeat.
2. SHOULDER STRETCH (30 seconds)
Sit cross-legged and place your palms on the ground just behind you, fingers together pointing forwards, hands a shoulder-width apart. Gently arch your back, arms straight, allowing your chest to push out and up while your shoulders, arms and wrists feel the stretch.
3. SELF MASSAGE (one minute)
Allow your arm to relax, palm upwards on a firm surface. Using a tennis ball and your other hand, gently massage the tendons through the forearm and wrist in a circular motion along the length of the arm. Keep everthing relaxed, especially both your hands and shoulders. If necessary, turn the forearm over and massage the top of the arm too. Anywhere you have pain, the ball can gently massage. The exercise is repeated with the ball on the table and the arm/wrist moving gently, without applied pressure, over the ball.
4. FOLDING FINGERS (8 seconds each)
Lay your forearms on the table in front of you, palms together pointing upwards. Take a pair of fingers and cross them. Hold for a few seconds, cross them the other way and hold for a few seconds. Repeat with each pair of fingers. All other fingers not being crossed should remain straight, pointing upwards and together. If this is too hard with forearms flat on the surface, you can bring your hands off the table slightly, elbows remaining, to relieve the posture. Shoulders are relaxed. Over time your mobility should improve to where you can leave your forearms on the table.
5. FOLDING PAIRS OF FINGERS
Repeat the above exercise but this time take any two pairs of fingers and cross them first one way then the other. Pairs can be adjacent or separated. Try all possible permutations, gently, shoulders relaxed. All other fingers remain straight and together.
6. FINGER SLIDES
With palms together and forearms on the table, Take each pair of fingers and cant the pair, first one way, then the other, keeping the fingers together so that one finger slides against its opposite. Do this with each finger pair. This directly addresses the individual tendons in each wrist.
7. FINGER STRETCH (8 seconds each)
Take your tennis ball again and whilst standing, place your hand flat on the table with your arm roughly vertical. (This angle can be relaxed if the exercise is too difficult). Place the ball under each finger in turn and feel the stretch for a few seconds. A smaller ball can be used if necessary.
8. WRIST FLEXION
Stand and place one hand flat on the table pointing away from your body. Take your other hand and place it on top, applying a little downwards holding pressure. Try to pull the bottom hand from under the top hand whilst simultaneously rotating the wrist of the bottom hand, first one way then the other (like turning a doorknob).
A very effective and gentle weights program for hands and arms/tendons is as follows:
1. Use a light weight, in one hand at a time (4lbs or less based on the severity of the trauma).
2. Resting the forearm on a knee or low table, palm up holding the weight, physically assist the hand (with the other) to curl the weight up without moving the arm or wrist, i.e. the wrist is the fulcrum.
3. Remove the assisting hand and allow the hand to curl downwards, slowly, again not moving the forearm or wrist.
4. Start with three sets of 4 curls with each hand. Do this every other day (or longer intervals, you decide). Remember to assist the weight upwards and freely curl downwards.
5. After two or three weeks add one extra curl to each hand, and maintain this for some weeks, and so on up to 3 sets of 12. (This may take months!).
6. Once successfully completing 3 sets of 12 at a given weight and maintaining these sets for up to a month, add a pound to the weight and start all over again at 3 sets of 4 curls, increasing over time.
7. As strength/healing takes place the weights can be increased. If it proves to be too much, go backwards in the program for a while.
HOT AND COLD BATHS
To rapidly address pain, tension and inflammation, hot and cold baths are a marvel. Find two litter bin size receptacles, deep enough to hold both your hands and forearms. Fill one with very hot water (you be the judge of 'hot') and the other with cold water and ice cubes. Plunge your arms into the cold bath for as long as you can (probably less than 30 seconds) and then go to the hot bath until you feel the warming effect. Repeat this for 3 cycles, ending with the hot bath. Do this up to 3 times a day including just before bedtime...it can be very healing. For cronic sufferers this can be carried out daily until you cease to feel the direct benefits. Coupled with the hand exercises it's very powerful.
Piano Solos
1. 12 Variations on " Ah , vous dirias - je , Maman , " K . 265 by Mozart
2. Chant sans paroles, Opus. 2 , No.3 by Tchaikovsky
3. Engravings (Gardens in the Rain) by Debussy
4. The Entertainer by Scott Joplin
5. Etude in C minor, Opus 10 , No. 12 ( Revolutionary) by Frederic Chopin
6. Etude in D sharp minor, Opus 8 , No . 12 by Scriabin
7. Etude in E, Opus 10, No.3" Tristesse" by Frederic Chopin
8. Etude d'execution transcendante d'apres Paganini No.3 La Campanella by Liszt
9. Fur Elise by Ludwig Van Beethoven
10. The girl with flaxen hair by Debussy
11. Gnossienne No.1 by Erik Satie
12. Grande valse brillante in E flat major, Op . 18 by Frederic Chopin
13. Gymnopedie from 3 Gymnopedies by Erik Satie
14. Humoreske No.7 by Antonin Dvorak
15. Hungarian Rhapsody No.2 by Franz Liszt
16. Impromptu in A flat major, Op . 90 , No . 4 by Franz Schubert
17. Impromptu in C sharp minor, Op . 66 ( Fantaisie Impromptu) by Frederic Chopin
18. Je Te Veux by Erik Satie
19. Kinderszenen , Op . 15 ( Children Scenes) No . 1 : Of Foreign Lands and Peoples by Robert Schumann
20. Kinderszenen , Op . 15 ( Children Scenes) No . 2 : A funny story by Robert Schumann
21. Kinderszenen , Op . 15 ( Children Scenes) No . 5 : A perfect happiness by Robert Schumann
22. Kreisleriana , Op . 16 No.5: Sehr lebhaft by Robert Schumann
23. Kreisleriana, Op. 16 No.8: Schnell und spielend by Robert Schumann
24. La priere d'une vierge by Badarzewska
25. Landler in B minor, Op . 171 , No . 4 by Franz Schubert
26. Liebestraum No . 3 in A flat by Franz Liszt
27. Lieder ohne Worte heft 6, Op . 67 , No.4: Spinnerlied by Felix Mendelssohn
28. Mazurka in B flat major, Op . 7 , No 1 by Frederic Chopin
29. Mazurka in C sharp minor, Op . 63 , No . 3 by Frederic Chopin
30. Mazurka in D major, Op. 33, No.2 by Frederic Chopin
31. Melody in F by Rubinstein
32. Menuett by Paderewski
33. Menuett in G by Ludwig Van Beethoven
34. Military Polonaise by Frederic Chopin
35. Moment Musical No.2 by Franz Schubert
36. Moments musicaux , Op . 94 , D . 780 No . 5 in F minor by Franz Schubert
37. Nocturne in E flat Op. 9, No.3 by Frederic Chopin
38. Piano Sonata No . 3 in C major, Op . 2 , No . 3 (Dedicated to Joseph Haydn)
Fourth movement: Allegro assai by Ludwig Van Beethoven
39. Piano Sonata No . 8 in C minor, Op . 13 ( Pathetique )
First movement: Grave I Allegro di molto e con brio by LudWig Van Beethoven
40. Piano Sonata No . 11 in A major, K. 331 Andante grazioso by A. W. Mozart
41. Piano Sonata No . 12 in A flat major, Op . 26 ( Funeral March)
First movement: Andante con variazioni by Ludwig Van Beethoven
42. Piano Sonata No. 14 in C sharp minor, Op. 27, No.2 (Moonlight)
Third movement: Presto by LudWig Van Beethoven
43. Piano Sonata No. 14 in C sharp minor, Op. 27, No.2 (Moonlight)
First movement: Adagio sostenuto by LudWig Van Beethoven
44. Piano Sonata No . 15 in C major, K. 545
First movement: Allegro by Ludwig Van Beethoven
45. Piano Sonata No . 23 in F minor, Op . 57 (Appassionata )by LudWig Van Beethoven
46. Pictures at an Exhibition ( Promenade) by Modest Mussorgsky
47. Polonaise in A flat major, Op . 53 ( Heroic) by Frederic Chopin
48. Prelude in D flat, Op . 28 , No . 15 " Raindrop " by Frederic Chopin
49. Prelude in G minor, Op . 23 , No . 5 by Sergei Rachmaninov
50. Preludes flasques (pour un chien) No.1: Voix d'interieur by Erik Satie
51. Reverie by Claude Debussy
52. Rondo, Op . 52 , No . 1 by Ludwig Van Beethoven
53. Rondo ana Turca from Sonata No . 11 in A , K . 331 by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart
54. Rondo brilliante , Op . 65 , J . 260 (Aufforderung zum Tanz ) by Weber
55. Rondo capriccioso in E major, Op . 14 by Felix Mendelssohn
56. Rondo in D major, K . 485 by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart
57. Rustle of spring by Christian Sinding
58. Scherzo in B flat major, D . 593 , No . 1 by Franz Schubert
59. Slavonic Dance in A flat major, Op . 46 , No . 3 by Antonin Dvorak
60. Slavonic Dance in C major, Op . 46 , No . 1 by Antonin Dvorak
61. Slavonic Dance in E minor, Op . 46 , No . 2 by Antonin Dvorak
62. Slavonic Dance in F major, Op . 46 , No . 4 by Antonin Dvorak
63. Sonata No . 2 in B flat minor, Op . 35 Third movement: Marche funebre by Chopin
64. Spring song by Felix Mendlessohn
65. Suite No. 11 Sarabande by George Frederic Handel
66. Waltz in A flat, Op . 39 , No . 15 by Johannes Brahms
67. Waltz in D flat minor, Op . 64 , No . 1 (Waltz by Minutes) by Frederic Chopin
68. Waltz in B minor, Op . 69 , No . 2 by Frederic Chopin
FOOD and DIET
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