Memory for Musicians and Alzheimer's Patients

Abstract

There have been many studies on how music can affect memory, especially in the context of memory care patients, as well as how musicians understand the concept of memory. The first chapter of this thesis discusses how musicians perceive memory, such as memorization strategies they use when learning music. The second chapter focuses on how memory care patients relate to music. It places an emphasis on discovering what types of music elicit the most response and possible reasoning behind the relation of the specific genres to their memories, specifically when related to memories from childhood. The final chapter looks at four specific examples of a composer using memory-like concepts in Grieg's Lyric Pieces. It details how certain phrases within the pieces relate to remembering the past as well as remembering back to other phrases or melodic ideas in the pieces.