Zen: I think mnemonics always make things easier to remember. All Cows Eat Grass and Get Big dates FRom America have always stuck easily in my mind. And I was talkinmg to a fiddle teacher about to give a beginner's lesson to a nine-year old and discussing the lack of a suitable mnemonic that either of us can recall. Sentences are instantly memorable, GDAE and EADGBE sound like gibberish the first time you hear them.