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I handle the importance of classical music from two angles one as an activity to develop listening skills and the other is for dispelling stress.
Listening skills:
Listening is a commodity today, ‘listen carefully’ would mean – be all ears to gather or assimilate what I tell you. Well this is a basic form of listening. As you progress in life, you need to be able to listen on a karmic level, which is to be able to process the target sound even without actually paying attention. And then be able let the information or thoughts get into your brain (cognitive areas) and toy it around the and then be able to link it, match it or interact with what you already have in store and create something new around it. And all this must be done simultaneously, without compromising on the listening process (sustained auditory attention)
A good listener is trained to be able to handle complicated sounds in quick succession effortlessly.
How is this possible? You ought to know that a word in itself is a combination of phonemes or sounds that are delivered to you in various tones, volume and frequencies. A good listener is trained to be able to handle complicated sounds in quick succession effortlessly. And embody the relevant thought or knowledge or instruction into ones system so that doing and functioning becomes a natural process or in other words it just happens. Which means you would be doing something because you can’t but do it. You are not programmed you have quickly wired yourself for that task. This is opposed to the stressful external ‘to do’ lists that kind of take charge of us and govern us.
Listening activity
Typically in a training session, I play beat loaded movie music and observe the body movements and the flutter in the group. Suddenly I switch to a classical tune; most of them will start displaying boredom in less than 30 seconds of playing. I would play it for not more that 2 minutes and then I shut it down (cannot bear to see the boredom in their faces). Now why do you like the movie music, the response will invariably be – “because it’s interesting” and why not the classical music? – ‘because its boring’.
I end the activity with a thought – so you walk into an elite hotel they play boring music right? And the music played on the road side is good fun, it’s interesting.
Its deconstruction time.
The word boring should actually be read as threatening or incapability.
What did the participants mean by interesting and boring?
Interesting in this context would mean: I am familiar to these sequence of sounds that are simple and are repetitive and hence I am able to process it easily so I can relate to it. Or it would mean that the sounds make me want to dance and it makes me want to dance or tap my feet in other words it makes me respond.
Classical Music is boring statement would actually mean. I am unable to process complicated sounds delivered in quick intervals, hence my brain is threatened and shuts off the sound. You need to realize the word boring should actually be read as threatening or incapability.
Threatening sounds
Whatever is given to brain it will either take it as a challenge or a threat. Challenge is brains feast; it gobbles it up, and threat it rejects. What happens in most cases is that, as individuals who have this inclination to pleasure and ease tend to indulge in trite and thereby brings down the ability to handle challenges. Over a period of time our brains threshold level of handling challenge diminishes and it gravitates towards banality and finds meaningful interactions as ‘boring’ and un-stimulating. This would mean that our mind has started deteriorating and that we are being reduced to a normal living organism.
How do you develop listening skills?
I hate to say this but in this context you need to bear with me. Classical music helps develop listening skills (western or eastern). To reduce Classical music to develop ones listening skill pains me, for it’s much more that that.
Classical music delivers complicated sound sequences in quick succession. Music like language is something what is inborn in us, we grow up the rhythm of the heart beat and start uttering sounds on birth and acquire language skills for survival. Human endeavour need not end with a need for survival with basic skills, in order to live a life to the fullest it’s important that we strive. And if there is anything one must to pay attention, invest energies and strive for let it be on acquiring language skills and music.
Why language and music?
Latest findings on neuroscience indicate that the under girding of the brain sounds and words. This would also mean that our brain responds and rewires only when it’s provided with a continuous feed of language. Music is language in that sense. When we apply our mind to these primary skills we, by default, develop a whole lot of other skills, like Memory, Processing, Attention, Sequencing etc. And these skills in turn will prove to be of help to acquire other skills or develop and strengthen existing skills there by making our challenges easy to handle, relieving us of stress.
In summation let’s say, good music can help you develop skills and help you live a stress free life.
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