Is Learning Memorizing or Memorizing Learning?

So, is learning memorizing or is memorizing learning? Well, both learning and memorizing begin with sensory memory.

This is where we first take in information by seeing the music, hearing what it sounds like and feeling how we produce the sound.

Think of this as your brain's inbox, briefly holding onto these sensations before processing them further.

But sensory memory is short-lived, so we have to quickly decide what's important and that's where attention comes in.

Our attention decides what matters and moves that information into our short-term memory.

Short -term memory is like being in a practice room, where you work on what you've prioritized.

There are so many ways to do this, like slow practice with a metronome, you know, where you play slowly to build accuracy, coordination and awareness before you increase the tempo, or chunking, which means breaking the music into smaller sections like motives or phrases and practicing each one before combining them.

I mean, there are lots of possibilities depending on what you've decided to work on.

So practicing like this helps to put the music into your long-term memory, ready to be performed.

To do this, we rely on two key processes, recall and recognition.

Recall happens because you've mapped it out both mentally and physically.

Recognition, on the other hand, uses cues such as a familiar note or pattern.

But take care, if the cue doesn't appear or nerves block it, your memory can break down.

So what happens if we practice superficially? Well, if we don't pay enough attention to details, critical information may never make it into our long -term memory.

Or if we fail to reinforce certain passages through repetition, retrieving the material to perform becomes more difficult.

And what follows? What follows is that dreaded memory slip.

Well, with all that, I think how we learn is a lot clearer.

But does this really answer the question? Is memorizing learning, or is learning memorizing? Well, I guess the answer depends on how you think about it.

Automatic video-to-text transcription by DaDaScribe.com

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