Experimenting with AI to write a song to help memorize facts

Using AI as a Memory Tool

I find it interesting how songs can get stuck in your head and how you can remember lyrics after decades of not hearing them. This got me thinking if AI could be used to write a catchy song for helping to remember facts. Of course it wouldn’t be the first song written to do this. The Sesame Street ABC song is a well known example. The Periodic table song is a good example but probably lesser known.

Since relatively few songs are written specifically for memorisation, this seemed like a useful task to try with AI. When I was a teenager, I was interested in rocks and minerals and tried to memorise the Mohs scale of hardness. For those unfamiliar with it, the Mohs scale ranks minerals from 1 to 10 based on their resistance to scratching by other materials. I thought this would be sufficiently boring to should make the lyrics and rhyming a challenge.

I decided to test if I could get ChatGPT to write the lyrics and Suno create the song.

Mohs scale of hardness

The scale the song would be based on is:

1. Talc
2. Gypsum
3. Calcite
4. Fluorite
5. Apatite
6. Orthoclase or feldspar
7. Quartz
8. Topaz
9. Corundum
10. Diamond

Hard Facts (The Mohs Scale Song)

I started with ChatGPT. I have found it to be quite good at writing lyrics. Its first attempt wasn’t very good, but after a couple of requests for changes it came up with some lyrics that I thought could work. You can look at the ChatGPT conversation here. I particularly like the title it suggested: Hard Facts (The Mohs Scale Song)

[Verse 1]
Let’s line them up from soft to tough,
Ten little steps, that’s hard enough.
We’ll start right down where scratching’s easy,
Work our way up, slow and steady.

Number one, soft as can be,
Talc goes first, that’s the key.
Number two won’t fight your nail,
Gypsum comes next on the scale.

[Chorus]
One is Talc, two Gypsum, three Calcite,
Four Fluorite shining bright.
Five Apatite, six Feldspar,
Seven Quartz scratches glass so far.
Eight Topaz, nine Corundum strong,
Ten is Diamond—hardest one!
That’s the Mohs scale, one to ten,
Say it now, then say it again.

[Verse 2]
Calcite’s three, it marks with ease,
Fluorite four—bright crystal sheen.
Five is Apatite, teeth and bone,
Six Feldspar fills the stone you own.

Seven Quartz, now things get tough,
Glass won’t win—it’s scratched enough.
If it cuts what came before,
You know the number’s climbing more.

[Chorus]
One is Talc, two Gypsum, three Calcite,
Four Fluorite shining bright.
Five Apatite, six Feldspar,
Seven Quartz scratches glass so far.
Eight Topaz, nine Corundum strong,
Ten is Diamond—hardest one!
That’s the Mohs scale, one to ten,
Say it now, then say it again.

[Bridge]
Topaz eight, sharp and clean,
Corundum nine—ruby, sapphire sheen.
Diamond ten sits at the top,
Nothing scratches it—nothing stops.

[Final Chorus]
One is Talc, two Gypsum, three Calcite,
Four Fluorite shining bright.
Five Apatite, six Feldspar,
Seven Quartz scratches glass so far.
Eight Topaz, nine Corundum strong,
Ten is Diamond—hardest one!
Soft to hard, remember when—
That’s the Mohs scale, one to ten.

I see its filled with AI’s signature em dashes. The rhyming is good, but a few of the lyrics are not odd. “Seven Quartz scratches glass so far.” is a bit vague. Still, it’s a lot better than I expected.

Version 1

The lyrics were uploaded to Suno. The first version was sort of ok. I used ChatGPT’s recommended style “Educational, Upbeat Folk-Pop, Medium tempo, Cheerful, mnemonic-focused” in the Suno song field. The result was harmless, but a bit boring to my taste. It wasn’t one that I would want to listen to a second time. I’ve included it here as it was generated in the style suggested by ChatGPT.

You can also listen to it on Suno.

Version 2

I changed the style prompt in Suno to something that has resulted songs in a style that I like, “Pub chant, comedic rock, driving anthem”. I left the lyrics the same. The result was more like what I wanted. This is something I could listen to this regularly.

Listen to this one on Suno

Results

It was quick and easy to do. I only spent about 15 minutes from start to finish. I found I had to check the lyrics carefully for accuracy; both those output from ChatGPT as well as what ends up in the audio. Suno generates an image for the song and it seemed to have random numbers up to 15 in it, so that had to be checked too. I found it wrote a decent song that was enjoyable to listen to.

Does it work to help remember Mohs scale? I’ve listened to the song 14 times now and I’m not sure that I remember more of the scale than I did before. I’ve also played this to anyone that will listen and I don’t know they have learned it either. Perhaps it is too early to tell. It may be that the version I like overwhelms the words with the music.