In a recent study done at Indiana University, 20 musicians were asked to memorize a short passage, with one group simply repeating the music and the second group repeating the music as well as analyzing the piece afterwards to describe different characteristics. After the initial practice was completed, all 20 students were asked to play what they had memorized. At first, there was no significant difference in their memorization. The next day, however, when asked to play the piece again from memory, the group that analyzed the text remembered about as much as they did the day before. The more verbally descriptive they were with their analysis the day before, the more they remembered. The group that only repeated the music remembered less than half as much as they had just the day before!
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