There's something very attractive about the idea of sitting down with pen, ink, and stationery to write a letter or journal entry with some relaxing music playing, and a cup of one's favorite beverage. I can manage the beverage, but I can't write with music playing! I've tried and tried, but the music distracts me. Does anybody else have this problem? ----- Or is this because I was a music teacher for so many years?

Judybug

Damn my glasses! For a moment I thought you asked if you could WRITE MUSIC! (as in musical notation!)

Depending on what the music is, yes, I can. When I write and have music playing, it's always some form of jazz or filmscore music. Something slow and relaxing, suitable for background music. 1900s ragtime piano, or any song from the turn of the century until about the 1960s which can be played soothingly by a jazz-band or on the piano. I generally don't enjoy listening to songs, but more instrumentals. Songs distract me when I write because I concentrate on the lyrics instead of what my pen's doing.

Some nice jazzy pieces of music which I like listening to, are...

Take Five (or anything by Dave Brubeck).
Anything by Django Reinhardt.
Harlem Nocturne.
Moonlight Serenade.
Moonglow.
It Had To Be You.
Ain't Misbehavin'.
As Time Goes By.
Indian Summer.

All of them can be played slow and relaxing, and that helps me concentrate sometimes.

Music from various films - 'The Godfather', 'Road to Perdition', 'Ratatoillue' (sp) etc.

As long as it's instrumental or foreign language music, yes...otherwise - not a chance.

Judybug -

It may be my age but I have to listen to music when I write, and loud. Usually it's John Zorn's Filmworks, at least lately.

John

I can, if the music has no words or it's in a language I don't understand.

Yes, but at a low level and usually classical or instrumental. Lyrics, even minimal ones, interrupt my thoughts. I really wish I could write to Byrne and Eno's My Life In The Bush of Ghosts but even that is too much.

Most of the time I prefer no music. When I do have music playing, it's classical (chamber or trios), jazz (solo guitar or piano), or ambient. The volume is low so I can listen if I want to but otherwise it fades into background white noise.

When I write or am working, I usually have Vivaldi, Bach or Mahler playing. Vivaldi is nice, relaxing music. Bach is just amazing- check out his cello suites. I have a playlist on iTunes of all of Mahler's symphonies- it's almost 24 hours long, so I pick a symphony, hit play, and let it go. I occasionally listen to other composers, too, like Dvorak, Tchaikovsky and Mozart, but I have playslists set up for Vivaldi, Bach and Mahler that are long enough that I don't have to worry about picking a new cd. If you need some CD recommendations from these composers, let me know.

Edit: I almost forgot that I have a playlist set up of all of Yo-Yo Ma's Silk Road Project. The music is very simple and relaxing too.

Funny that you brought this up JudyBug. I just posted on my blog about "Soundtracks for Writing." I can write to music and almost always do. Prefer instrumental works, or Spanish language songs, but no trouble writing with most any type of music playing. Beverages are also a plus, but I find myself guzzling.

I can neither read, write nor study with music on. I need it quiet to concentrate.

Another vote for classical music when writing or working. It just seems to go better.

Me too. I studied music in college and was a musician for a while. If music is playing, I stop dead in my tracks and listen to it and can't do anything else. There is no such thing as "background" music for me.

Doug

Instrumental or foreign language for me. Otherwise my brain follows the words, not my writing.

I can't usually write when there's music playing, even if it's instrumental. I get too absorbed in the music. The only exception to that would be if I'm working on a section that I've been obsessing about for hours or days, and it's finally coming together. When that happens, I'm oblivious to pretty much everything around me. Much to the annoyance of friends or relatives who try to talk to me when I'm in that state.

Hi, Judy.
You may (or may not) be interested to know that Fritz Leiber had the same problem: there's one of his collections (the two biggest chunks of which are Ship Of Shadows and The Big Time) where he mentions that Ship Of Shadows is one of the few occasions where he managed to write to music, and usually he'd find he was just sitting there, listening, instead.

For those of you who don't like music playing as you work, have you tried playing white noise? I find that it aids concentration. I specifically use the "brown noise" tone range.

I like a little soft music to write to. Maybe that's why I like to journal at Panera.

Is that quite a low frequency?

Yeah, it sounds almost like a fan, and it drowns out electrical noises really well. Look it up on iTunes- that's where i got my track. Another white noise track I like sounds like rain and thunder.

Thanks. That sounds like it could be a good backdrop. The second one as well: there's something very soothing about the sound of heavy rainfull (so long as you're indoors) I've always felt.

I always have music playing. I find if I know the words, I get very little writing done, so during writing time I play mostly classical or soft jazz. There are some good ideas here for new music to try.

Occasionally I teach a course in proprioceptive writing and listening to baroque music while writing is mandatory.

I listen to music almost constantly. I've created a playlist that I call my "Coffee Shop" playlist. It has about 115 tracks with songs from various artists that I like, and it grows almost daily. I started calling it the "Coffee Shop" playlist, because the first track is "Falling in Love in a Coffee Shop" by Landon Pigg... but, in fact, it is exactly the kind of music you want to hear in a coffee shop. Soft, mostly acoustic, singer songwriter stuff, with a couple of punchier songs thrown in here and there.

The music in this playlist is mostly contemplative and is easy to write while listening to. For me, this music does not suck away so much brainpower that I can not concentrate on writing, studying, or reading.

Here is a link to my playlist on Rhapsody.com.

Savarez' Coffee-Shop Playlist

ever the wierdo, i usually listen to black sabbath or led zeppelin

Nothing wrong with that, s.

I've tried---but dead silence seems to work best.

Anything instrumental. Jazz, new age, classical. A cup of tea, a good whiskey or brandy.

That is a great album, one of my favorites. Have you ever the read the novel by Amos Tutoula? I highly recommend it if not.

John

Instrumental music works better for me, but it depends. Writing and music have acted symbiotically for me. In high school, I found I couldn't read fiction-- for A.P. English-- and follow Bach at the same time. The experience of both felt lessened.

However, I can write to all kinds of music, instrumental or vocal, modern or pop. Sometimes the music just hypnotizes me enough to write. Sometimes the music feels like a soundtrack to what I'm writing. I tried to assemble a soundtrack to a novel once but it didn't work so well.

Sometimes I'll listen to a song repeatedly, because it shows me a little flash of a story. I love Ennio Morricone scores, particularly if I just know the score and sometimes not the scene it's attached to. I have this sort of desperate "last stand" scene choreographed to the main titles of Il Mercenario which is the same music playing when Uma Thurman was trapped in the cemetery in Kill Bill 2. Similarly, I had a ghost story with a biker and a burned mining town set to the Doors' "L.A. Woman".

I have some good memories of writing a Faustian dialogue with a character and the Devil to the second movement-- scherzo-- of Beethoven's Cello Sonata No. 3 in A major, Op. 69. The dialogue didn't come from the music, but I think the story might have turned out differently if I hadn't been listening.

And sometimes I'll just listen to a song over and over so many times it becomes a blur, particularly if it has a mood I'm after. There's a long instrumental by Charlie Musselwhite on a harmonica anthology I must have written to for hours.

Yay, a fellow Bach-suite lover! I'd suggest to all reading this that they pick up a recording of the Bach Cello Suites (aka Sonatas) at the library and give it a try. My favorite recording is Pablo Casal's, but any will do- Yo-Yo Ma's recording is widely available.

El Mocho- did you mean "allemande" instead of "scherzo"? None of the bach suites have a scherzo. Also the third suite is in C. Are we referring to different pieces? Also, if you like cello and Ennio Morricone, I'd suggest the CD "Yo-Yo Ma Plays Ennio Morricone." The music is very romantic and cantabile.

Phillip,

I love the suites, but my first exposure was by Anner Bylsma, who recorded them with modern strings on a big, resonant Stadivarius-- the "Servais." Other recordings by Bylsma led me to his recordings of Beethoven's Cello Sonatas, with Jos Van Immerseel on the fortepiano. That is where the scherzo movement comes from.

I have a few other recordings of the suites by various performers, including Pierre Fournier.

Mentioning Yo-Yo Ma and Morricone leads me to a funny digression, but here goes: One of my misremembered soundtrack moments comes from Once Upon A Time In The West. There's a cue called "A Dimly Lit Room," one of my all-time favorite 'cello pieces. I got the soundtrack after I'd seen the movie, so I always pictured it as music to a scene with Claudia Cardinale and Jason Robards-- I think they ate at a table, or she helps him out, or something like that.

Not so! It was to the scene where Claudia Cardinale is in the clutches of Henry Fonda, who plays against type as a ruthless killer. So what I thought was a sort of tender, romantic cue was actually the background to a creepy scene where Fonda confronts her about her past, and she tells him whatever he can do to her will just be "another filthy memory," the name of the chapter track of the scene on laserdisc.

How is Ma Connected? "A Dimly Lit Room" has the melody of the main title theme, but re-scored for 'cello and a very softly played instrument-- not quite a xylophone or celeste, but something in that neighborhood. The cello has the melody instead of Morricone's soprano, Edda Dell'Orso. Well, in the Yo-Yo Ma recording, his cello has the melody for the main title theme-- so you get to hear it with a full orchestra behind it.

Also: If you like the suites, have you ever heard any music for the Viola da Gamba, played on historical instruments? Marin Marais? Sainte Colombe?

Do you not have a problem when writing to a film soundtrack with scenes from the films (conjured up in the way you describe) flitting through your head and getting in the way of what you're trying to write?

That's why I enjoy soundtracks to movies I haven't seen more. Though in the case of Il Mercenario, I'd only seen it when Tarantino re-used it. I think the original scene has a climactic duel in some kind of arena. Tarantino's had Uma Thurman in a graveyard. My scene has some dialogue in some kind of fortress or hideout. At first I thought it would be about the Hero sacrificing himself while the Heroine escapes, but then I thought that was cliched. So he tries to do that, and she stops him, and they escape together.

The music starts out with these mournful trumpets with weird percussion reverberating in the background, like far-off mortar fire. That gave me the situation: they're trapped and must escape. Playing against the trope of the self-sacrificing hero gave me the other moment. As the music progresses, there's this kind of martial drumbeat going on, so I could actually picture the heroine smacking the hero when the drumbeats start, then lecturing him. The drumbeats lead to a crescendo with BIG drumbeats followed by a choir taking the main theme: In those huge drumbeats I could see a pair of doors bursting open, almost like three jump cuts from a distance: "boom-boom-boom BOOM!" One cut per boom, then the doors bursting open on the last one. I could do it as a screenplay, but the music called up visuals I could use either way.

... and still had not so much to do with the movie the music was written for.

It might be harder to picture something with a strong association, like John Williams' Wagnerian leitmotifs in Star Wars, which tend to conjure up characters. If a piece has a particular mood rather than character association, I'll use it. I'll never get anywhere with the music from Jaws, either.

Also, on topic, writing in my journal I can listen to whatever. If I'm trying to take notes and engage with a text-- I'm reading on Cognitive Behavioral Therapy right now-- then I like Bach or something with counterpoint in it. I used to like to write to Bach for English papers, too.

I should have recognized that you were talking about Beethoven's third cello sonata- I've played it. The first movement is nice and fun to play too. One of my friends used the first movement of the third sonata as a college audition piece. If you like Bach and Beethoven, I'd suggest the Vivaldo cello sonatas. They are simple and fun, but not nearly as complex.
My favorite cello pieces are the Dvorak cello concerto (by Rostropovich with the Berlin Philharmonic, preferably), Bach's fifth and sixth cello suites and the Saint Saëns Cello Concerto (speaking of, I just had another friend use the Saint Saëns cello concerto as an audition piece). I also used to really like the Elgar cello concerto but, after playing it, I can't really find a melody in it and I no longer hold it to such a high esteem.
Thanks for the history about that song. Songs are always more interesting when there is a history to them (for example, did you know that Yo-Yo Ma recorded his Simply Baroque CD using a Stradivarius that was Jacqueline DuPré's before her death?).
I haven't heard any music for the Viola de Gamba, but I'll be sure to google it. Thanks!

Ditto.

I prefer music, but can write without it.


Especially loud, anthem-type music.

Dear Judybug;

I have grown up with peace and quiet in the background, with the exception of my mother's constant need to make noise, talking to herself loudly and never knowing when she was talking to someone or to me. Through the years, she has increased her need to make noise and increase the volume.

Out of the need for sanity, I went to music as to cancel out my mother's 'yapping' like a small dog constantly barking. Thank goodness for IPods now days. However, I would sit by the old record player and play J. S. Bach. "Jesu Joy of Man's Desiring."

I cannot study, write or such when there are words sung; however--I am able to write and often find inspiration through music and transpose the mood of my heart and emotions, for the type of letter I write.

When I write on Civil War topics, I have Civil War music; such as: Federal City Band's Abide with me, Fairest Lord Jesus; Pokas and Quick Steps also. Camp Chase Fifes and Drum Corps. When I want to be cheered up; the Camp Chase Fifes and Drum Corps 'Turkey in the Straw" does it every time. 11th North Carolina's Civil War music Volume II and V are lovely. Old religous hymns are on Volume V. I also enjoy the film scores of Gettysburg, Gods and Generals and More Gettysburg.

For Classical and Baroque music; I prefer J. S. Bach Corale Setting for Contata 147; Jesu Joy of Man's Desiring my favorite, I have it performed by E. Power Biggs, Virgil Fox and Rolf Snedving (trumpet)-Michael Murray-organist. I also enjoy Brandenburg Concerto #1 in F Major Concerto for Oboe in D Minor--Op. 9/No.2 Alagio by Albinoni; Vivaldi Guitar Concerto in D major-2-Largo by John Williams, to just name a few.

Just a note, should you get the album CD-Rom "Ceremonial Music" by Rolf Snedving and Michael Murray; the titles of the songs are all skewed. But, the music is wonderfully done.

Respectfully,
Maria

You bring up a good point, Maria: it's those WORDS that get in my way. I can indeed listen to instrumental music while writing.

I like to, or rather, can only, work in silence. When I am studying for an exam, sometimes I even go as far as studying in the hallway. I close all the windows and the doors of the rooms on either side of the hallway to shut out the noise from outside.

If I have a pen in my hand while there's music, I would think, "which part should I try to write down this time?".
If I have a book in my hand while there's music, I would think, "what was that clarinet progression in the last phrase?", then I would throw down the book and go running for the score.



Yes, the Saint Saëns is heard quite often. I am now listening to Elgar's E minor played by Jacqueline du Pré, with the LSO conducted by Sir John Barbirolli.

Yes, I can........and I can prove it!! here

But caliken, you can do anything. I think the question was directed to us mortals!

Doug

More often than not, I work, study, play, and write to music. Thing is, it's not classical or anything like that (at least, most of the time it isn't). Usually, I'm listening to electronic (eg: techno, trance, hardcore, and so on), game soundtracks, particularly from beatmania IIDX, an arcade game, or some J-Pop. Sometimes, oldies like Cliff Richard and Matt Monroe work too, though I've yet to get them into my computer.

Still, a bit of Bach or Mozart don't hurt, right?

There's definitely no way in the world that I could write while listening to Jacqueline du Pre play the Elgar cello concerto in E minor. It's far too dramatic and demanding of attention! I might fare slightly better with the Bach cello suites if it weren't for the distracting effect that awe tends to have. I can't express how much I love the Bach suites.

In response to the question, um, mostly not but maybe occasionally. I'd prefer total silence but have sometimes used music to drown out other, more distracting noise. Something instrumental and monotonous that I don't like too much would work best (elevator music?!), though I love the idea of white noise that sounds like rain and thunder! How lovely.

It also depends on what I'm writing and how much concentration it requires. If I'm doing something that doesn't require a lot, I might listen to music at the same time because it's pleasurable and just accept that I'll inevitably be distracted.

I prefer quiet when I'm writing fiction. Even if music is on (usually classical and usually acoustic guitar) I stop hearing it, so there's not a lot of point to having it on.

When doing research and such I do enjoy having background music on sometimes, though my husband is a musician so more often than not it's his music in the background when I'm doing other things. If he's not playing, then it's usually one of the following: Segovia, Parkening, Fisk, Fernandez... and usually Bach, but not always. I also love Corelli and Handel sometimes.

Then again, I listened to Gershwin when I was writing my second novel many years ago. Over and over and over... Only time I've done that.

booze! earl grey!

droning indie instrumental music that occasionally swells and climaxes helps me: the album leaf, explosions in the sky, godspeed!, mogwai, Rachels (their album "the sea and the bells" is SO good), and similar. shostakovich (the string quartets! number 15!) and bach for when i need a good distraction from writing--they're too demanding and the whole get lost in the music thing doesn't bode well for creative output.

Have you heard that "Arc" album Neil Young did, bp? That one could suit you. It's a load of song endings from the tour that Weld live album was taken from, all edited together: no rhythm, melodies, anything, just waves of feedback and distortion mixed with the odd paradiddle on the drums.

Strangely, I'm making my students read Seneca's 'On Noise' for class tomorrow. Seneca tries to argue, as a Stoic (a Roman Stoic, no less, which is like twice as dour as the Greek kind) that only a disorderly mind gets distracted by any sort of noise or distraction. A true Stoic, he argues, can keep his mental placidity even in the middle of the bathhouse.

Of course, he cheekily adds at the very end that he's moving to the country because he doesn't feel the need to test himself any further....

I'm with the 'if it's got no words or words I can understand, I can write to it' camp. Normally, though, with this refinement: it should match the mood I'm writing. So, when I'm writing a piece requiring fine detail, Couperin. When I need big swashes of thought, Beethoven. Sometimes getting the 'match' absorbs me.

And then I go to work where my (expletive deleted) officemate puts on his experimental punk music (think monkey-orgy in a junkyard) in a CD in the computer on his desk (he knows I won't violate his space) and then walks out to teach. Oh yes, one day he's going to realize how bad an idea it is to give me 'murder music'.....

HK

I suppose I'm in the minority here. Not only do I write better when I have music on, but I prefer music with words. I'll pick and choose songs based on the story that I'm writing; different songs help me get into the right mood for pieces set in different times or places. A select few always seem to work well for me, though: "Mad World" by Sacre (the version from the movie Donnie Darko, not to be confused with the original by Tears for Fears, which is also good); "Holy Grail" by Hunters and Collectors; "Hallelujah" by Jeff Buckley; "Save Yourself" by Stabbing Westward; "Wake Me Up When September Ends" by Green Day. Recently I've added a lot of Coldplay, songs like "Fix You", "Cemeteries of London", and "Viva la Vida". Some I'll probably cycle out after a while, but I imagine "Cemeteries of London" will get a lot of play; just sort of works well for writing horror.

I try to pick songs that have a tone that fits well with whatever I'm writing, preferably a playlist of a dozen or fewer songs, or even a single specific song set on repeat. Something that'll cycle through fairly quickly, so I'm listening to the same thing over and over. After a few minutes, I don't notice the music per se. I know it's there, and it sets a nice atmosphere that bleeds into what I'm writing, but I'm paying more attention to the words I'm putting on the page or the story playing out in my head than the lyrics. Oddly enough, the music helps me focus because it drowns out those random thoughts that would distract me from what I'm writing. (Works well to drown out nitpicky internal editors telling me my stuff is garbage and I'll never get it published, too. )

I guess it's because when I write, I sort of fall into the world of the story. Listening to a song that evokes that world helps me do that and, by extension, helps me write about it. Interestingly, listening to Neil Gaiman has the same effect....

Andi

For me, it has to be music I know well, then it becomes subconscious entertainment and there are no surprises. I guess if I was into the band, I could work to Rage Against The Machine. Luckily, I'm not.

David.