The basis of my mnemonic system is a variation on the Major System. I first learned of the system many years ago in, I think, Tony Buzan’s Use Your Perfect Memory but as with many mnemonic devices, it’s a system that dates back several centuries.
The purpose is to convert numbers in to specific letters which can then be combined to make words and phrases so that the original numbers are easier to remember. The system has some logical constructs, the letter n with two down-strokes represents the number 2, the letter m with three down-strokes is therefore the number 3.
In the major system we’re not concerned so much about the spelling of the word as the phonetic sound of it. I found the original version a little confusing at times as a “hard” g could represent a 7, but a “soft” g is a 6. A “soft” c should be a zero (sounds like a S), but a “hard” c should be a 7 (sounds like a K).
My Major System
As I could find the intersection between different variations of sounds confusing, I reduced my version of the system to the following:
| Number | Letters | Mnemonic |
|---|---|---|
| 0 | Z & S | Z for zero. |
| 1 | D & T | d & t have one downstroke. |
| 2 | N | n has two downstrokes |
| 3 | M | M has three downstrokes |
| 4 | R | last letter of four |
| 5 | L | L is the Roman numeral for 50 |
| 6 | G & J | J looks like a reversed six, and uppercase G can look like a six. |
| 7 | K & C | K is two sevens on their side. |
| 8 | F & V | A lowercase F can look like an eight. |
| 9 | B & P | Lowercase b & p both are mirrored images of nine. |
Putting the Major System to Work
I’ve just generated a few random numbers for the following table and provided an example word from the Major System.
| Number | Mnemonic |
|---|---|
| 7 | Key |
| 20 | Nose |
| 22 | Nun |
| 27 | Neck |
| 45 | Roll |
| 51 | Lady |
| 54 | Lair |
| 76 | Cage |
| 88 | FIFA |
| 95 | Ball |
If I wanted to remember these numbers I could create a vivid story that relates the key to a nose of a nun with a long neck and so on. Or I could plot these images on a journey I’m familiar with and then simply collect the image from each stop on the journey. That technique is known the Memory Palace or Method of Loci which I’ll address further in a later post.
You needn’t stop with double digits of course and adding a third or indeed forth is entirely achievable given enough time to create the mnemonic imagery for each number.
An alternative for creating a thousand images for the numbers 0 to 999, is to simply colour the image in some way. You might chose to literally colour the images like so:
Colours of the Rainbow
| Range | Colour |
|---|---|
| 0 – 99 | None |
| 100 – 199 | Red |
| 200 – 299 | Orange |
| 300 – 399 | Yellow |
| 400 – 499 | Green |
| 500 – 599 | Blue |
| 600 – 699 | Indigo |
| 700 – 799 | Violet |
| 800 – 899 | Black |
| 900 – 999 | White |
So the number 343 would be Yellow as it’s the three hundred range, and a ram from 43.
Alternatively you might prefer to simply add the X00 number to the image.
| Number | Mnemonic |
|---|---|
| 100 | Daisies |
| 200 | Sneezes |
| 300 | Moses |
| 400 | Roses |
| 500 | Lusts |
| 600 | Jesus |
| 700 | Kisses |
| 800 | Vices |
| 900 | Buzzes |
So using this method 343 this time would become Moses being chased by the ram he wants to offer as a burnt sacrifice.