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Memory Mill
Free lesson · ~10 minutes

The Major System (Easy)

You're good at remembering sounds and objects and bad at remembering bare digits, so the Major System turns numbers into things you can picture. It's the one memory champions use, and you'll see it work below.

First, feel it

Twelve digits, or one story?

Look at each for a few seconds. Which one could you still say back tomorrow?

Twelve digits, 52 44 77 96 95 58, become six pictures - LION 52, ROAR 44, KICK 77, BEACH 96, BALL 95, LAVA 58 - and one story: a lion roars and kicks a beach ball into lava.
The same twelve digits, twice. By the end of this page you'll read one straight off the other.
Step one · Hear

All ten sounds - seven for today.

Every digit keeps one consonant sound for good. The story only needs the seven highlighted, and the other three can wait until you want them.

0
S · Z
a circle is smooth
1
T · D
straight up, like a 1
2
N
count the two legs
3
M
count the three legs
4
R
four is a roar
5
L
L is Roman for fifty
6
J · SH · CH
C + lowercase h makes 6
7
K · G
two sevens make a K
8
F · V
8 looks fancy
9
P · B
nine innings: baseball
5

Which sound does 5 keep?

Tap the sound that belongs to it.
Step two · Build

Two digits, two sounds, one thing.

Take the digits two at a time. Each pair gives you two consonant sounds, and you add any vowels you like until it's a word you can picture (vowels, W, H and Y don't count, so they're free).

5
2
→
L
N
→
LION
4
4
→
R
R
→
ROAR
ROAR has two R sounds, so it's 44 - the O and A are free.
7
7
→
K
K
→
KICK
9
6
→
B
CH
→
BEACH
It's sounds, not spelling - the CK in KICK is one K sound, and CH is one sound too.
9
5
→
B
L
→
BALL
5
8
→
L
V
→
LAVA
A doubled letter (the two L's in BALL) is still one sound.

A LION ROARS and KICKS a BEACH BALL into LAVA.

Six things in order: 52 44 77 96 95 58. The story keeps the order for you, because each thing does something to the next.

Step three · Recall

Before you look - rebuild it.

No scrolling up - play the story in your head and let the sounds hand you the digits.

What does the LION do first?

No peeking - four quick questions, then the reveal.
You remembered it

Twelve digits, from one silly story.

LION, ROAR, KICK, BEACH, BALL and LAVA were six pairs out of a hundred, and with the rest any number becomes a story.

Major System - the next level

Every pair from 00 to 99 has a word waiting, and once you know them any number is a picture on sight.

Forge more pairs →

Memory Palace

Pictures need somewhere to go, and once you're building more than one story a route keeps them all in order.

Give them a home →
Curious where your raw memory tops out? Play the digit span game - one digit longer every round.
Memory Mill for iPhone · free on the App Store

This lesson, as a daily practice.

The same sounds-to-story loop with a new number every day. Free core, no ads.

Download on the App Store