Some people also have images for 000-999, but it isn’t necessary unless you are entering memory competitions and want a 1000-image system. It is recommended that any serious mnemonist have at least one fixed image for every number between 0-9 and 00-99. This is much less effective than having a pre-made set of images for every number.

Some people use the major system to create mnemonic images on the spot. It doesn’t matter how you create your images as long as it makes sense to you and you can create a permanent link between the number and the visual image.

For example, “ghost” would map to 701, but it could also be mapped to 70 if the final “t” is ignored.

Some people create images that contain the exact number of consonants in the number, while others just use the consonants as general guidelines and don’t mind if the word has additional consonants. Double letters don’t matter, only their sounds, so the “ss” in “missile” would be encoded with a single zero, not two zeros. The link is phonetic, that is to say, it is the consonant sounds that matter, not the spelling.Įxamples: The “g” in “ghost” is similar to the “k” in “kilo” or the “c” in “car”, but the “g” in “fragile” is related to the “j” in “James” and the “ch” in “chair”. Yanjaa uses the following consonant assignments:Įach numeral maps to a set of similar sounds with similar mouth and tongue positions. The Harold Mangum System uses phonetic sounds for 0 to 9 based on the most common form of the Major System, mentioned above: Suh, Tuh, Nuh, Muh, Ruh, Luh, Shuh, Cuh, Fuh, Puh.The Dominic System uses both consonants and vowels, and uses the letters to suggest the initials of people.The Ben System is similar to the Major System in its use of consonants, but expands it with vowels in a similar way to Richard Grey’s method from 1730.Josh uses b for 6 along with some other modifications.The magician Derren Brown, for instance, chooses the number 5 to map to the f and v sounds because the word ‘five’ uses both of those sounds.Here are some other variations as examples: In 1808, Gregor von Feinaigle’s system looked like this: The sounds can be matched to the digits in different ways as long as the person using the system is consistent. These can be used anywhere without changing a word’s number value b sounds similar and resembles a 9 rolled around Last letter of four, also 4 and R are almost mirror images of each otherĪ script j has a lower loop / g is almost a 6 flipped over M has three downstrokes and looks like a 3 on its side N has two downstrokes and looks something like 2 on its side The other letters have a similar sound.ĭ & t have one downstroke and sound similar (some variant systems include th) These can be used as “fillers” to make sensible words from the resulting consonant sequences. In the Major System’s most common form today, vowels and the consonants w, h and y are ignored. Use those letters to generate visual images that can be memorized in place of the numbers.Assign consonant sounds (not letters) to each digit.In its modern form, each numeral is typically associated with one or more consonants like this: The Major System has evolved over hundreds of years. The Major System is a collaboratively-designed mnemonic system that is used differently by each mnemonist. Even the Major System that is used by most Mental Athletes in Memory Competitions today is not the same as the one described by Gouraud and Lorayne. The variations between the different Major Systems over the past few centuries is so large, that just about any mnemonic system for assigning sounds to digits could fall under the definition, but today, “Major System” usually refers to the version developed by Francis Fauvel Gouraud (or possibly Aimé Paris, see below), and popularized by Harry Lorayne. It is related to the Dominic System, the Mnemonic Association System for Numbers, and the Ben System. The system works on the principle that images can be remembered more easily than numbers. The system works by converting numbers into consonant sounds, then into words by adding vowels. See the History of the Major System and this article for details. It appears to be named after Major Beniowski, though the modern major system was first described by Aimé Paris and is built on earlier systems going back hundreds, or possibly even thousands, of years. The Major System is a type of Phonetic Number System used to aid in memorizing numbers and playing cards.

Harry lorayne memory peg system