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Sounds like the way you use Anki is more of a learning supplementary rather than a singular tool? Like you are learning of words elsewhere and entering them int

by afro88 8y ago

Sounds like the way you use Anki is more of a learning supplementary rather than a singular tool? Like you are learning of words elsewhere and entering them into Anki for memorization once you have learned about them? I’m just curious. I’d like to use Anki to get better at reading and playing chords (on keyboard / piano) from symbol notation but I haven’t started yet. Would you recommend learning each chord one by one and entering them into Anki as I learn them?

laurieg 8y ago
I think that's a very fair assessment of how I use Anki. I think if you spend all your time using Anki and no time interacting with the actual language you're learning you won't get very far. Basically every sentence I put into Anki comes from a book, movie, TV show or conversation. The question about piano chords is really interesting. I often compare learning a language to learning to play the piano. Both are real time skills that require practice, to just learning. I meet someone who loves reading grammar books I say "You can read a book on piano construction 100 times and you won't learn to play the piano. As for your case, what is the skill you want to learn? Playing the chords right? Then that has to form the main focus of your practice. By all means, use Anki to help memorise chord names and chord patterns but be careful: You might just get really good at seeing a chord and saying it's name rather than seeing a chord and playing it! Also, sight-reading is a very real-time skill. You have to read those chords and then play them on the right beat. If you practice chords with Anki you might get good at seeing them in Anki and then playing them a few seconds later, but it's not the same as doing it in real time.
- afro88 8y ago
  So true. My goal with learning to play chords from symbols is to look at a chord progression and be able to play it without too much trouble. Not really for performance or anything, but to help with composition. So perhaps a good approach would be to do the Anki spaced learning sessions in front of the keyboard and actually play the chord as the answer. I may not become a great real time sight reader, but being able to see a chord like C+9 / C95 and be able to play it a second or two later should be good enough. Thanks for the advice.
Timpy 8y ago
I've tried using Anki for music and I don't think it works very well. You want to drill chords so your fingers don't forget them. If you get the flash card right you will only see it once. Flash cards may help with learning chords, but spaced repetition flash cards will not.
- mikekchar 8y ago
  I would recommend putting in chord progressions (like in a normal song) rather than single chords. Also make sure to actually form the chords, either on the piano (definitely much better), or on the table (in a pinch). This will allow you to learn the chords in context and give your hands muscle memory, especially with common transitions.
arkades 8y ago
Anki is king of med schools, and was huge among my classmates back then. The first thing you learn after failing to use it right for a while: Anki is for retention, not learning. If you haven’t internalized what you’re flashcarding, it’s not going to stick just because you’re using spaced repetition.

by afro88 8y ago

laurieg 8y ago

I think that's a very fair assessment of how I use Anki. I think if you spend all your time using Anki and no time interacting with the actual language you're learning you won't get very far. Basically every sentence I put into Anki comes from a book, movie, TV show or conversation. The question about piano chords is really interesting. I often compare learning a language to learning to play the piano. Both are real time skills that require practice, to just learning. I meet someone who loves reading grammar books I say "You can read a book on piano construction 100 times and you won't learn to play the piano. As for your case, what is the skill you want to learn? Playing the chords right? Then that has to form the main focus of your practice. By all means, use Anki to help memorise chord names and chord patterns but be careful: You might just get really good at seeing a chord and saying it's name rather than seeing a chord and playing it! Also, sight-reading is a very real-time skill. You have to read those chords and then play them on the right beat. If you practice chords with Anki you might get good at seeing them in Anki and then playing them a few seconds later, but it's not the same as doing it in real time.

afro88 8y ago
So true. My goal with learning to play chords from symbols is to look at a chord progression and be able to play it without too much trouble. Not really for performance or anything, but to help with composition. So perhaps a good approach would be to do the Anki spaced learning sessions in front of the keyboard and actually play the chord as the answer. I may not become a great real time sight reader, but being able to see a chord like C+9 / C95 and be able to play it a second or two later should be good enough. Thanks for the advice.

Timpy 8y ago

I've tried using Anki for music and I don't think it works very well. You want to drill chords so your fingers don't forget them. If you get the flash card right you will only see it once. Flash cards may help with learning chords, but spaced repetition flash cards will not.

mikekchar 8y ago
I would recommend putting in chord progressions (like in a normal song) rather than single chords. Also make sure to actually form the chords, either on the piano (definitely much better), or on the table (in a pinch). This will allow you to learn the chords in context and give your hands muscle memory, especially with common transitions.

arkades 8y ago

Anki is king of med schools, and was huge among my classmates back then. The first thing you learn after failing to use it right for a while: Anki is for retention, not learning. If you haven’t internalized what you’re flashcarding, it’s not going to stick just because you’re using spaced repetition.