Monday, October 7, 2013

Music Monday

This week my song choice reflects my activity. Reading. Forever reading and then reading more. School done right takes a lot of time to do.

What is the perfect reading song for you? Does it have to be a certain style? Can there be words? Does it have to be upbeat and energetic or calming and ambient?

For me it doesn't have to be any one thing but I have some pointers none of which, I am happy to say, has any empirical data to cite whatsoever.

1. It must be fluent.
           -Herky-jerky does not... worky. Any type of music works as long as it does not have a lot of staccato or sudden starts and stops.

2. Its all ambient.
            -Volume does wonders for different genres as well as activities. Reading is no exception. If you find lyrics distracting or drums too much try turning the volume down a little bit at a time. Some music that I never thought could be good reading music turns out to be with the volume down.

3. You know best what you need.
             -I find that I know intuitively what music to pick to reading that day. Sometimes I don't realize that I am tired and needed an energetic playlist or that I'm a bit frazzled and I need a calming ambiance for a learning backdrop until well into a study session. Sometimes I choose something and feel an unease about it which is usually confirmed a short while latter when I give the artist the hook.

I have found many music websites helpful for a variety of activities. My favorite right now is Songza.com which is where I found today's selection.

This is the Icelandic ambient composer Olafur Arnalds with his song Poland



Until next time keep your ambiance at the correct volume.

EO

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