SHOULD WE STUDY WITH MUSIC?

“Unless students find ways to come up with own musical ideas, they will have no way of expressing themselves in musical thought and action”. (Woodford, 1996).

Music taught is drawn from Western tonal music. (Carlos et al, 2016).

Classical music: Never became a long lasting. (Pedro De Bruydiere).

"Every music can be relaxing but did not produce 'super results' or not having any influence." (Wagner and Tilney) 

Did you ask yourself any time what should be this world without music? I did, and I cannot imagine this world without music, basically because I am a person which is the whole time with music 24/7. I am that kind of person that puts music to everything, to every moment, to everyone… for me it tells me a lot of things, for example, how you feel. Every type of music means different things, different kinds of moods. A song could tell you lots of things besides the lyrics that it is another message but, the important thing is that the rhythm, the melody and the moment could tell you everything. There is something that happens to everybody or most of the people and it is that when you are for example sad because of something you start listening to the saddest song you could ever imagine or in the other hand, if you are happy or you have a very good day, you will listen to the happiest one that you know. Everything depends on the mood that you are at that time.

There is another thing that I usually do and some people too, but I will talk about myself. Studying with music, is it better? Do teachers accept that? Is it true that you get more concentrate? Well, in my opinion it depends, I mean, I usually study with music, I prefer it and I usually get more concentrated, but I do not listen to every type of music, it has to be most of the times techno, as it does not have any lyrics at all so I cannot get distracted singing the lyrics. At the same time, this type of music has a very repetitive rhythm and sometimes pretty quick, that makes me go faster and motivate. In my case it really works but I think that is a very deep type of music and not everybody could support that rhythm. There are sometimes that I also listen to English music, chill English music. As I am Spanish, I do not know most of the lyrics so I do not really care and I do not have any problem on working with those songs, but I cannot work with Spanish music as I will listen to the lyrics or listening to them or whatever, it would me do my work slower and without any attention. Actually as I am writing this, I am listening to English music that I have never listen to it.

In today’s lecture we have done a practice, make some calculous some of them with classic music and the rest without it. It is quite curious but, I will do it easily and faster with classical music rather than listening to all the thing that the people around me is doing, as I am a person that gets very distracted quite easily. Most of the people that did it with music they got at least one wrong, that is something that I get quite impressed.

By the way, in my student life, I remember that when I was at school I really like study with music but it just distract me the whole time because I did not take the right music I think. Teachers and my mother as she is a childhood psychologist, always said to me to not to study with music, at least if I want to listen to classical music, but that does not work with me, actually makes me sleep…

In my case if a student said to me what my opinion is, I will say yes, study with music, but that means that should be music that does not distract you at all, a music probably monotonous and without lyrics. By the end, I did not say anything about this, but I have never study an exam with music. There is people that has probably that capacity but not me, why? Well, an exam is something that you have to study and memorized, it is not the same as an assessment that you have just to read, write and pay attention that is not memorized.

To sum up, music it is very good for everything, I will not be happy without it as I am listening to it the whole time. For studying, I will approve it but just if you know what type you can listen to it and you do not get distracted with it. So, for me music plus study time, works.