What Kind of Music Do You Listen to?

There are many opportunities to listen to music throughout the day. Music not only acts as an effective mood changer, it can help people relax, and it often inspires the chores, jobs, or creative endeavors that one works on.

Reason for Listening

Nobody really needs a reason or excuse to listen to music. It's just nice to have around. It's always good to have a wide selection of music choices to provide the right background for whatever you're doing. Music with a rousing beat may encourage the completion of household chores or rote style studying for tests. Music with a sad tone lends itself to stirring up a good cry (good if you need it), whereas happier sounding music lifts the spirits. Sometimes, specific music mixes are appropriate for setting a specific tone or for suggesting a theme when performing certain creative endeavors or jobs at work.

Let's say you're writing a novel about pirates or life at sea, then a mix of sea music helps stimulate that writing atmosphere. Suppose you are working for an advertising agency, the right music choice can help stimulate the creative process for that ad campaign you're working on. It may even suggest the music that goes with the advertisement. If you're writing a term paper or doing a desk job that requires concentration. There are several pieces of classical music - Bach in particular - that lend themselves to a good level of concentration.

Vocal or Instrumental

Another thing to consider, is whether to play vocal or instrumental music. In some cases, it doesn't really matter, either style will do. For instance, when drawing, I like both instrumental and vocal music. When driving I like vocal music because I like to sing along - and, no, I don't care who's listening or whether they like my singing. When writing, though, I find vocal music irritating because the words keeping interrupting my train of thought. The words keep sneaking onto the page somehow. I also found that vocal music got in the way when studying in college. Some people don't have that problem while studying though. The key is to find out which works for you while doing each of your daily activities.

Styles of Music

Most people have a personal preference for a certain style of music. My husband is definitely a classical music person. I like jazz best. I would suggest keeping other styles of music in your music library, though, as the different styles of music will set different tones for your activities throughout the day. Changing the music around and trying out new and unfamiliar types of music or new-to-you artists also has the effect of stirring - or at times, jarring - the mind out of its ruts. Try to have some of each of these style in your music library, or at least as many of the styles as you can stand - or afford. Keep trying out new artists to find out if there's something new out there that you would like to listen to. The styles of music I'd recommend are:

· Classical

· Jazz, Big Band

· Hip Hop

· Rock, Pop

· Easy Listening

· World Music

· New Age

· Gospel, Hymns, Religious

· Soundtracks

· Marches, Band

· Country Western

· Humorous : Ray Stevens, Bobby McFerrin, PDQ Bach

· Percussion

· Christmas, Holiday Music

· Sound Effects

· Folk Music