Piano students need to learn music theory to tap into all their musical potential. This involves some memorization of facts, however, so that they come easily to mind while playing. Don't let this intimidate your or your piano student at home. This is not hard to do, it just takes a little creativity and planning. Here are three creative memory techniques that work, even for young children.

1. Organizing the material for easier storage and retrieval.

Since music theory can all be seen on the piano keyboard, visualization is an important tool or organizing information that will be easily accessible. Scales, for example, should be learned on the keyboard without looking at notes on the staff. Mental keyboard pictures of the scales are much easier to store and retrieve than notes on the page. The same is true for memorizing chords. Start with memorizing the keyboard imagery first, then draw the notes out on the staff and play them.

2. Adding meaning to the material through association.

The primary chords of each key can be memorized easily by associating them with acronyms for short ideas which are fun to recall. The primary chords in the key of D are D Major, G Major, and A Major.