GET IN THE MOOD WITH MUSIC

STEPS TO CREATIVITY #5

Unknown

BLACK NOTE ©Vickie Martin

Music is a powerful way to change your mood and tap into your creativity. Did you realize since music is made up of vibrating sounds, it forms patterns and creates energy?  When you listen to music, it trigger the release of dopamine, often referred to as the pleasure chemical. Music has been around since the beginning or time. Even in Paleolithic times (or the Stone Age), time was spent creating music as flutes made from animal bones have been found. Music just makes us feel good!

“Without music, life would be a mistake.” Nietzsche

Music helps us enter into the “mind wandering mode” – the day-dreaming state where thoughts seem to float around and often seem  unconnected.

Familiar music helps you stay focused. However, new music (new to you that is) demands more attention – you will stop and listen because you don’t know what is coming next.

Music helps us exercise. As early as 1911, science found cyclists went faster while listening to music.

Music makes us more productive.  It helps us focus.

So, what should you be listening to? That is a somewhat individual decision. Most studies show lyrics to be distracting. But, there are lyrics that some people find inspiring.

There is a lot of research out there about the effects of music on the brain, it is a question scientists have long been interested in. They all agree that music does have an affect on our moods, that is makes us move, it helps us focus and it inpisres us.

dadskeyboard8x10

MY FATHERS PIANO ©Vickie Martin

For me, classical music inspires me. I’m talking about Beethoven, Stravinsky, Tchaikovsky and the like. I like that BIG SYMPHONIES. That may not work for you. Stephen King listens to hard rock while he writes. Jazz inspires me. And, there is always Bowie to listen to!

What have you found to work for you? I’d like to know, I always willing to give it a go!

 

 

 

 

4 thoughts on “GET IN THE MOOD WITH MUSIC

  1. Nancy Jambor

    Vickie, what a great post about the benefits of music! I know I’m in a really good place when my tunes are blasting and I’m dancing around the living room:) I also enjoy classical music and usually listen to it when I am working. I also like Norah Jones and Enya. Guess I have pretty eclectic taste in music. Thanks for a great post!

  2. Deborah Weber

    Like Nancy I think I have pretty eclectic tastes in music, although I’d have to say classical music isn’t top of my list. I find kirtans can be supportive while I’m working.

    I read something the other day that has me thinking. Studies show that by age 33 our musical “tastes” are pretty much set and we don’t go about discovery new things. Maybe that’s one of the advantages of things like Spotify and Pandora – they can continually introduce us to new things, and inch us into new genres.

  3. Michelle

    I always work to music. 2 weeks ago, I tried to listen to an audio book and found it VERY stressful. It kept me out of my normal creative process. I once attended a presentation by a neuropsychologist who spokes about how music can change our brainwaves into the creative theta waves (where we get lost in time and process). I like switch up genres depending upon the type of work I’m doing. Thanks for a great post!

  4. SKJAM!

    I find the “Irish & Celtic Music Podcast” by Marc Gunn very pleasant to listen to while making blog posts. The one hazard is that Celtic genre songs tend towards the sentimental and I might find myself crying at a particularly sad lyric.

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *