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How to memorize using the technique “This old man”

The “This Old Man” technique can be a useful tool to help you memorize many seemingly unrelated items or ideas. The “This old man” technique connects the elements or ideas that we want to remember with the number rhymes and the key words of the nursery rhyme. The principles of this memory technique have been confirmed by recent hemispheric brain research. Our brains act like computer file folders, placing newly learned information in the same file as previously learned information that fits within that same file. This technique associates ideas or items together with rhyming numbers and song keywords, just like our brain file folders do. If we take the time to organize new information in the same way our brains do, we can improve our retention of that information.

Addresses

The trick is to associate the elements you want to memorize with each keyword in the song in a memorable way. As much as possible, link each keyword to each other to form a connected image. Substitute concrete objects for any keywords that are too abstract to remember well. For example, substituting abstract listening for concrete ear would be a much more memorable object to pair with. If you need to memorize more than ten keywords, just start over with a second set of ten, etc.

To refresh your memory, here is the first verse of the song:

“this old man”

This old man, he played one.
He played baubles on my thumb.
With a paddywhack of treats, give a dog a bone.
This old cam rolling home.

The key words are “one” and the rhyme “thumb”. It’s not an exact rhythm, I know; however, I did not write the song. The song continues with a new verse for numbers two through ten.

Here is the list of verse numbers and their key words, with some more concrete substitutions, that I suggest using for “This old man.”
a thumb
two shoes
three knees
four doors
five hives (image of a bee hive)
six sticks
seven heavens (imagine an angel or fluffy white clouds and say “to heaven”)
gate eight
nine backbone
ten-hen (better than “again”)

Let’s say you have a list of fruits to buy for a nice summer picnic. The list includes the following:
a lesson
two oranges
three watermelons
four grapefruits
five bananas
six cherries
seven raspberries
eight red apples
nine green grapes
ten yellow pairs

Using the “This old man” memory technique, you associate the key words of the song with each of the fruits you wish to buy. Develop a mental image that connects each element.

one-lemons-He is standing outside his front door with a lemon stuck in his right hand-thumb
two-oranges-and an orange on top of your-right shoe
three-watermelons-with a slice of watermelon on the right knee.
four-grapefruit-You are pushing the grapefruit doorbell next to your front door
five-bananas-because you are trying to get into your house, away from a swarm of angry bees buzzing around a banana placed on top of their hive
six-cherries-which is in the cherry tree in the front yard, propped up by a bunch of stick-branches.
seven raspberries: in front of the tree is a statue of an angel outlined with raspberry-shaped lights that illuminate the angel
eight-red-apples-which is standing behind a white picket fence, with a row of red apples stuck to the gateposts.
nine-green grapes-Attached to the angel’s back is a string of green grapes running down his spine
ten -yellow pairs- to two eggs in a nest, on the ground by the door. The eggs look like two yellow pairs, guarded by a nearby cackling hen.

Now encourage yourself to remember each object by singing the song with each of the objects serving as the focus of a verse. It works fine, doesn’t it? A little rehearsal will put these facts into your long-term memory.

Memorizing using the “This Old Man” technique will allow you to retain memory of many seemingly unrelated items. Useful for upcoming tests, speeches, shopping lists? Yes, and also for your singing voice.

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