I thought that I could listen to my playlists anytime because I love them so much. But when I got to college, I quickly realized the only music that I can listen to while doing homework, a project, or studying is classical music. This realization of mine has formed a new love for the genre.
Many of us, including myself, unconsciously turn on our favorite playlist on our drives, while making dinner, and throughout the tasks of our days. It has become so rooted in us to hit shuffle so there is background noise to do what we need to get done.
I sometimes wonder if this habit is good or bad for us. I wonder if this habit only applies to our generation because of how technologically advanced we were born to be. If so, are we losing touch with what it means to be successful? Or is this a new trend because the human race is suffering from an attention span deficit, especially after COVID-19? How did a pandemic affect me this much? Or I find myself landing on the question of if the habit is a wholesome human trait, or to be truly effective in what you do, should you have nothing to comfort the silence of productivity?
It was almost as though something that made me excited to be productive, made me more worried than regular silence. Something as grounding as music should not lead to these overwhelming contemplations.
This dilemma that I faced led me to classical music.
It is not just a means of always entertaining ourselves; it encourages creativity.
I remember my mom encouraging me to play classical music while I worked when I was younger. And because I took 12 years of piano lessons, the thought of listening to one more bar of the genre of classical music lit something up in me that made me, if anything, determined not to listen to it.
This is definitely a common theme for many things in comparison from our younger lives to our lives now. As cliché as it is, I wish I had listened.
I find myself hitting the “Peaceful Piano” playlist, created by and found on Spotify, whenever I need to focus on productivity. This compliation of classical, calming piano works somehow turns my concerntration on.
I have found a new appreciation for the genre I was determined to hate.
I am not a neuroscientist, but I think that the unpredictability, because of the lack of words in this music, helps our brains to focus more on what we’re doing. Rather than the predictable words that coincide with the rhythms of the music on our everyday playlists.
I hope to learn more about this newfound method to instant focus and concerntration, but for now, when I need it, classical music is my go to.