Hi,

I tried listening to piano music whilst doing homework today, and found it made the work easier to concentrate on over a long period of time. A few days ago, this wasn't the case.

Just interested in whether classical music actually helps you to work.

I tried listening to Bach's Well Tempered Clavier preludes/fugues and Chopin nocturnes. I found the nocturnes easier to listen to.

What sort of music is the best to listen to whilst working?

Happy New Year!

Piano Pupil

My daughter's school did a study skills day and they suggested listening to classical music to aid concentration and they said it had been proven (not sure by what means) that the best thing to listen to was Mozart's clarinet concerto.

Maybe after a few days you get used to it and are not actually using brain space to listen any more.
I don't have background music except when ironing. I'm learning, at my teacher's suggestion, to have music on in the car but even then I have to remember to concentrate on the driving and not on the music which almost defeats the object.

I'm useless at working with music on in the background because I end up listening to the music. By working, I mean that is serious work involving reading/writing assignment type of thing, writing letters/preparing invoices for my pupils. I'm much more efficient/productive if I do the work without music on, then listen to music properly as an activity in its own right. It's a slightly different matter if I'm doing something practical like tidying up, sorting out music books/teaching materials but generally for anything that needs concentration and a logical thought process, music needs to be off.

with both the above.

I could never understand the idea of having music on when studying. I can manage in the car, but if the route gets complicated I have to turn music off.

Yes, but it has to be the right kind of music where the right kind is

- no words
- something I know very well (if it's new, then I listen to it actively rather than passively)
- not too many high pitched sounds (eg. high violins, flutes, trumpets)

If all of the above criteria are met then it helps me concentrate.

Yes listening to piano music helps me to study when im studying a piece of music.
Imagine trying to learn a piece with no sound 0,0
Poor Beethoven

I cannot concentrate on anything else when there is music in the background. I find myself drawn in to the music.

I especially hate shops, bars, hotel lobbies, lifts, in fact any public or semi-public space where someone has decided to inflict unwanted music on us.

I just can't think about anything other than the music. And I really dislike it when I visit someone who has the TV permanently on, which is more common than you might think. I wonder whether some of the shop managers realise how easy it is to alienate customers by their choice of music? Over Christmas I shot out of several shops where I'd intended to browse, simply because of the music being played.

Back on topic, I could never study with music playing, so banned it while my children did homework. However, once in 6th form my son found that the supposed work areas provided by the school were so noisy that he started taking in his MP3 player and headphones to block out the conversation (well, that was his excuse!). Now he can study with or without music playing - it depends on what exactly he's doing.

It's especially annoying when you go to the toilet and it's in there too!

I find it difficult to study in silence. I need the background sounds to help me concentrate. I agree with corenfa in that it has to be the right kind of music.

The TV is an absolute no-no when studying! I hate it at the best of times unless there's something on I'm particularly interested in watching.