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NM Freemason · Skills & Drills · Chapter 45

Building a Memorization Practice

Drawn from published Masonic monitor content. See site Credits for source citations.

Vocabulary (7)

Make it a priority
Ragain's published recurring theme. Time does not appear; it is allocated. The book asks a Mason to compare his weekly hours of television and phone to his weekly hours of memory work, and to move a few hours across the line. The brain learns when given the time.
Leave your comfortable place
A non-obvious published rule. The brain associates the recliner with relaxation, not learning. Ragain's published advice is to switch to unfamiliar territory (a different room, a different chair, a different time) so the mind fires on all cylinders for the work.
Distractions, turned into tools
If you cannot avoid distraction, harness it. Ragain's published suggestion: keep a monitor on the car console (where attention is already engaged), play soft instrumental music during study and again on the drive in (Glen A. Chaney's contribution), roll keys or coins through your fingers while reciting so movement drives engagement. If the body moves, the mind tends to follow.
Study partner
James Oates III's published contribution: many brothers learn alone with difficulty but learn fluently with a partner. The system is to find one regular partner, meet daily, and work each other's passages. Memorization becomes social and the brother shows up because someone is waiting for him.
The weekly schedule
Glen A. Chaney's published weekly cadence (the Deputy Grand Lecturer's example). Monday: conferrals, obligations, reception lectures. Tuesday: approaches, aprons, symbolism, charges. Wednesday: Middle Chamber and working tools. Thursday: 2nd-section explanatory. Friday: 3rd-section explanatory. Saturday: MM degree (all). Sunday: rest. After a few weeks the schedule becomes habit and any moment in any day yields a piece to practice.
Stretch before lifting
Chaney's published warm-up rule. Don't start a session by attempting the hardest passage. Recite something short and well-known first, to wake up the recall muscle. The brain, like a body, needs a few easy reps before heavy lifting.
Three-day cycle
Ragain's own published cadence for a new piece: about three days in a row of intensive work, then a one- or two-day rest, then a return-check before the end of the week. He notes most new pieces feel like failures for the first few days and then suddenly start to stick.

Sequences (1)

Glen A. Chaney's published weekly schedule

The Deputy Grand Lecturer's example schedule, as published in Ragain Ch. 5. Use as a starting point; adjust to the brother's own jurisdiction and work.
  1. Monday: Conferrals, Obligations, Reception lectures
  2. Tuesday: Approaches, Aprons, Symbolism, Charges
  3. Wednesday: Middle Chamber and Working Tools
  4. Thursday: 2nd-section Explanatory Lectures
  5. Friday: 3rd-section Explanatory Lectures
  6. Saturday: MM Degree (all sections)
  7. Sunday: Rest

Multiple-choice (5)

1. Why does Ragain say to leave your favorite chair when doing memory work?
  1. It's bad for your back
  2. Your brain associates familiar relaxation places with not thinking; switch to unfamiliar territory so the mind fires on all cylinders ✓
  3. The Lodge bylaws require it
  4. Memory work is too sacred for casual settings
2. Whose published contribution describes the partner-based daily-meeting system?
  1. Brian M. Ragain
  2. James Oates III ✓
  3. Glen A. Chaney
  4. Jerry Armstrong
3. On Glen Chaney's published weekly schedule, what falls on Wednesday?
  1. Conferrals and obligations
  2. Middle Chamber and working tools ✓
  3. MM degree (all)
  4. Rest
4. What does Chaney say to do at the start of every session?
  1. Tackle the longest, hardest piece first
  2. Stretch out with a shorter or well-known lecture before the heavy lifting ✓
  3. Recite the obligation
  4. Take the day's distractions out of the room
5. What is Ragain's own published cadence for a new piece?
  1. Seven consecutive days
  2. Three intensive days, then a rest, then a return-check before the end of the week ✓
  3. One marathon weekend
  4. Whenever inspiration strikes