# How come some people listen to classical to relax?



## vertigo (Jan 9, 2013)

I've always heard people say they listen to classical when they want to relax.
I find this very strange and at odds with my own experience.
Nowadays, I listen to other types of music(pop, rock etc) in order to relax and rest my brain as I feel it doesn't require any kind of vigorous mental activity.
On the other hand, I usually listen to classical while being fully concentrated which, many times, leaves me emotionally and mentally drained afterwards.

Opinions?


----------



## BlazeGlory (Jan 16, 2013)

I would have to say that it would depend on which classical piece you listened to. For instance, Brahm's Lullaby would probably put a lot of listeners to sleep. I tend to think that some new age music is also relaxing.


----------



## Head_case (Feb 5, 2010)

What do you mean by vigorous mental activity lol

When I relax, I like to think; contemplate; reflect and put things in my head in order in case they fall out like badly arranged aircraft luggage when I'm on the hop. Thinking and relaxing are not opposites: for me they go hand and hand together. Otherwise, I would not be relaxing - I would be sleeping 

I can relax with pop and rock music which I like; other people's pop and rock music or unknown music can be rather annoying, unless it's at volume 0. I find relaxing with my taste of classical music relaxing; sometimes listening to unknown or new music is less relaxing. 

As for 'chillaxing', I don't get it at all. It's already 0 degrees here and any more chilled I'll be a snowman.


----------



## EricABQ (Jul 10, 2012)

I listen to classical music for a variety of reasons, and relaxing is certainly one of most common reasons for me. But, I tend to use music as a tool that serves a specific purpose to me. Often that is relaxing, sometimes it is to invigorate me (like while on the treadmill, for example.)


----------



## vertigo (Jan 9, 2013)

Head_case said:


> What do you mean by vigorous mental activity lol
> 
> When I relax, I like to think; contemplate; reflect and put things in my head in order in case they fall out like badly arranged aircraft luggage when I'm on the hop. Thinking and relaxing are not opposites: for me they go hand and hand together. Otherwise, I would not be relaxing - I would be sleeping
> 
> ...


In case you think lol means "?", it doesn't.
Vigorous mental activity as in what is required to detect, analyse and mentally organize structures, variations in pace, colouration and intensity in several pieces of classical music.
Re, the rest of your post, I assume you are retired, unemployed or a teenager. 
When you have a job with many responsibilities that requires constant mental alertness, I can assure you "relaxing" means "trying to pause your brain for a couple of minutes and think of nothing".


----------



## Flamme (Dec 30, 2012)

Like i said before on one topic here ''classical'' music even if its almost heavy metal like like Wagner or Dvorak is music of Order not chaos and confusion like many modern types of music thats why i listen to it in order to relax...


----------



## bukowski (Jan 12, 2013)

have to agree with Flamme. for me, "classical" is for relax. but then, when i'm doing something i love... i'm relaxing. even if it drains me off.


----------



## GGluek (Dec 11, 2011)

I listen to classical music because I like it. I also hate to be"only" listening. I read, cook, build, drive, converse, do other things often when I'm listening. My ear and mental function are good enough that I can attend to and absorb what's going on musically while I do other things. Sometimes, when I have put music on I have been tired enough to start to fall asleep, and sometimes as I have drifted off, some of the music has actually taken new shape in my preconscious mind and I've wound up understanding it better. All of which is dfferent from people who view music (or radio programmers who program it) as "background" music -- which leads to a whole different set of selection criteria -- and a lot of boring music being played.


----------



## Zauberberg (Feb 21, 2012)

vertigo said:


> I've always heard people say they listen to classical when they want to relax.
> I find this very strange and at odds with my own experience.


Classical doesn't have drums all the way and constant loudness. That equals to "relax" for most people.


----------



## millionrainbows (Jun 23, 2012)

vertigo said:


> I've always heard people say they listen to classical when they want to relax.
> I find this very strange and at odds with my own experience.
> Nowadays, I listen to other types of music(pop, rock etc) in order to relax and rest my brain as I feel it doesn't require any kind of vigorous mental activity.
> On the other hand, I usually listen to classical while being fully concentrated which, many times, leaves me emotionally and mentally drained afterwards.
> ...


I think you are overlooking a much simpler, overriding principle: Music with or without vocals. Much CM is instrumental; most pop/rock has words and vocals.

This is the main "distraction" for the mind/brain, because we are so tuned in to voices. Many people like to read with non-vocal music as well, for obvious reasons.

Myself? I always put on some symphonic, classical piano, surf, jazz, Eno, electronica, or other instrumental music when I want to relax.

------------------------------


----------



## Flamme (Dec 30, 2012)

Take this for example...This can soften the stone...


----------



## Manxfeeder (Oct 19, 2010)

vertigo said:


> I've always heard people say they listen to classical when they want to relax.
> I find this very strange and at odds with my own experience.


I'm like you; classical tends to set my neurons firing. Of course, after getting used to concentrated listening because of exposure to classical music, just about any music does that to me now; I tend to focus on whatever is happening, regardless of the genre. If music doesn't have anything to arrest my attention, it doesn't relax me; it makes me mad.

If I want to "relax," i.e., veg out, I turn on the television.


----------



## SiegendesLicht (Mar 4, 2012)

If relaxing means "think nothing, feel nothing", I guess I don't like to relax at all. My main requirement to music is to induce strong emotions, not leave me cold, like most modern music does. 
I guess, a lot of people who don't know much about classical music believe it is good only for relaxing, only because they have only heard gentler, quieter chamber or piano pieces. It would be kind of difficult to relax to something like Mahler's 8th or Bruckner's 1st, not to mention Wagner, of course.


----------



## neoshredder (Nov 7, 2011)

Debussy is relaxing.


----------



## Mahlerian (Nov 27, 2012)

neoshredder said:


> Debussy is relaxing.


----------



## Vaneyes (May 11, 2010)

I turn everything *off* when I want to relax.


----------



## KRoad (Jun 1, 2012)

I find listening to c. music all-absorbing, demanding maximum concentration if I am to follow the musical narrative. Yet, paradoxically, the levels of concentration required can often set me "drifting-off", especially after a demanding day at work - so it's kind of an exercise in aural dynamic tension or aural yoga if you prefer.


----------



## Head_case (Feb 5, 2010)

vertigo said:


> In case you think lol means "?", it doesn't.
> Vigorous mental activity as in what is required to detect, analyse and mentally organize structures, variations in pace, colouration and intensity in several pieces of classical music.
> Re, the rest of your post, I assume you are retired, unemployed or a teenager.
> When you have a job with many responsibilities that requires constant mental alertness, I can assure you "relaxing" means "trying to pause your brain for a couple of minutes and think of nothing".


Why would lol mean a question mark? 

For you it means 'Lots of love' :lol:

Actually, I'd love to be retired! Or unemployed (financially able to be that is) or a teenager (yo dude - what's cookin'?). Any of these could teach you how to relax and post a less highly strung 

Trying to think of nothing if you're so stressed out with constant mental alertness suggests you might be better off getting some sleep? Heidegger made it clear, and if you take his view that 'nothing nihilates itself' and therefore relaxation can ensue, nothing is the absence of everything: thus relaxation, which is something, does not follow from the nothing which you are endeavouring to follow. When you stop thinking, you are not thinking of nothing. You have stopped thinking.

To think of nothing, is more stressful than your job with many responsibilities that requires constant mental alertness. Perhaps if you were able to endeavour in such an existential human activity, you might understand what it is like to be unemployed, retired, or young with a little more respect.

Just sayin'


----------



## Arsakes (Feb 20, 2012)

I agree with Flamme, but consider Dvorak's music as a rock-country of classic music!

Also today pop music isn't as soft, sweet, and gentle as songs of Bing Crosby and Peggy Lee...


----------



## KenOC (Mar 7, 2011)

For the ultimate in relaxing to classical music, see Edward G. Robinson in Soylent Green...


----------



## BurningDesire (Jul 15, 2012)

I don't really listen to anything to relax... I dunno, I'm usually a very active listener, so even when it is "calm" or "relaxing" music, I don't feel... like I'm just relaxing, ya know?


----------



## PetrB (Feb 28, 2012)

Some people, no matter what music is playing, are _compelled_ to actively listen. But that is not everyone. I imagine most or all the members of TC are in the 'Those Compelled' category, i.e. it is almost involuntary that when music is heard, one is wholly attentive, actively listening, 'tracking' the note activity.

Then, from the _*Arabian nights*_, as apt as apt could be,
*"To some people music is like food; to others like medicines; to others like a fan.*


----------



## ArtMusic (Jan 5, 2013)

Because my favourite classical music pieces are uplifitng and makes me feel good and recharged.


----------



## EricABQ (Jul 10, 2012)

I find the active listening to be relaxing because in those times my mind is not thinking of things that stress me out.


----------



## trazom (Apr 13, 2009)

Most of the time, I believe 'relaxing' is just a different way of saying 'boring.' I used to find music I didn't get as relaxing, until it clicked, then I'd be stirred/moved, actively listening, and eager to hear what comes next. Listening to my favorite classical music is an engaging and sometimes exhilarating experience, not a relaxing one.


----------



## Vaneyes (May 11, 2010)

Please take this opportunity to *relax* with Bernard Herrmann serenity. A brilliant transition at 3:30...and then....


----------



## Novelette (Dec 12, 2012)

Music doesn't make me relax. Having been trained in music theory, violin, and piano most of my life, listening has become a very analytic process--one that requires a great deal of attention and focus.

Likewise with counting numbers, I work with numbers all day; counting only makes me think of work.

I'm with Vaneyes, everything goes off when relaxation is the aim.

For most people, I imagine that it's largely a distraction, something in which to lose oneself. Calm music often has the effect of lowering blood pressure and slowing the heart rate, a state that approximates restfulness or even light sleep.


----------



## Novelette (Dec 12, 2012)

Try Beethoven's Grosse Fuge, and see if it brings relaxation.


----------



## clavichorder (May 2, 2011)

When I was a kid my parents found that the only way I would reliably sleep, was to have mixed tapes of classical music. The music was not dramatic, but melodic baroque and classical era classics. That stuff really can make you feel at peace; the effect is real.

It is annoying though when people can't seem to see classical for its other amazing qualities.


----------



## Weston (Jul 11, 2008)

There are many different levels of listening even within one person - me for example. Sometimes I use music as wallpaper or ambiance. Sometimes I give it my entire attention. Both might be relaxing or restorative depending on how you look at it. There are also many different levels of relaxing. Some people play video games and call it relaxing. Compared to the job I do when clients are expecting miracles from me I can barely deliver, having a root canal would be relaxing. 

I'd suggest if you are listening to rock and find it relaxing over classical, you are listening to the wrong rock. Try looking for obscure interesting stuff like Miriodor or Univers Zero on Youtube.


----------



## clavichorder (May 2, 2011)

I think being excessively active a listener is overrated. If you don't quite get something, it calls for more attention, but we should all acknowledge that our brain can operate in a variety of very interesting ways, and Alpha wave active is not always the ideal.


----------



## Stargazer (Nov 9, 2011)

I find classical, and music in general, to be very relaxing. After all, what's more relaxing than spending a few minutes doing something I truly enjoy after a long day of work? Now that doesn't mean I find all classical relaxing (I'm not exactly falling asleep to Wagner), but the stuff that is meant to be more mellow/relaxing, does its job well!


----------



## clavichorder (May 2, 2011)

I do go through phases where my mind is more searching and attentive in my listening process. But I most relish the times when I can really "feel" the music and that almost without exception requires several listens. The exception is when I'm at a concert, and the piece is a first for me, but because I am forced to remain seated and there is a social expectation as well as my own reverence of classical music, but I still find myself very moved even though I am not able to think specifically of the music that moved me until I've heard it again.


----------



## Ukko (Jun 4, 2010)

clavichorder said:


> I think being excessively active a listener is overrated. If you don't quite get something, it calls for more attention, but we should all acknowledge that our brain can operate in a variety of very interesting ways, and Alpha wave active is not always the ideal.


If I am to enjoy the experience of hearing the music, _thinking about it_ is not at all what I want to do. thinking interferes with absorption. Music is not text.


----------



## Novelette (Dec 12, 2012)

clavichorder said:


> I think being excessively active a listener is overrated. If you don't quite get something, it calls for more attention, but we should all acknowledge that our brain can operate in a variety of very interesting ways, and Alpha wave active is not always the ideal.


Absolutely, Clavichorder! I used to be a more "passive" listener, when I was a young child. I dare say that it's unfortunate that I've lost that ability to listen to the whole of the work instead of focusing on harmonic progression or voice leading, etc. Listening for details is good work, but it has become such a habit that I find that I am not affected by the music as I once was.


----------



## clavichorder (May 2, 2011)

Novelette said:


> Absolutely, Clavichorder! I used to be a more "passive" listener, when I was a young child. I dare say that it's unfortunate that I've lost that ability to listen to the whole of the work instead of focusing on harmonic progression or voice leading, etc. Listening for details is good work, but it has become such a habit that I find that I am not affected by the music as I once was.


I think its a common issue for experienced music junkies, especially when they study theory. So, I have dealt with it too. What has helped me is getting depressed about it and then accepting that I am not a child anymore, but I don't have to depend on my "learned" thought processes either. Sometimes I decide, I can afford to be undiscerning or even oblivious, and that takes the pressure off. Anyone can do this and skip the depression step as well, lol.

It can be cause you to lose a little heart and faith in yourself if you let it, especially when you feel you are missing something. That's totally happened to me. But somehow I regroup as a more "humble" and "feeling" listener and then things stagnate, I get bored, or I meet a smart person who's knowledge I want to compete with, so I regroup again and take the mental approach. Goes in cycles.


----------



## Novelette (Dec 12, 2012)

Yours is a far better approach.

Settling down is something I have to re-learn. Isn't it weird how sometimes we have to struggle to recapture those happy qualities of youth, in the especial frustration that we whiled away our youth in order to become what we are now? Convoluted reversal. =\


----------



## Guest (Jan 17, 2013)

GGluek said:


> I also hate to be"only" listening. I read, cook, build, drive, converse, do other things often when I'm listening.


Whilst 'hate' is too strong a word for me, I tend to agree.



Zauberberg said:


> for most people.


You won't know that until you've done a poll on Talk Drums!



Manxfeeder said:


> If I want to "relax," i.e., veg out, I turn on the television.


Me too.



SiegendesLicht said:


> If relaxing means "think nothing, feel nothing", I guess I don't like to relax at all.


Ditto.


----------



## Tristan (Jan 5, 2013)

I like to "only listen" to classical music a lot of the time because I find that if I do other things, minutes of music will go by and I'll barely remember what I just heard. 

I listen to classical music to relax, but it usually has to be slow or soft classical music. Epic or highly complex music is not going to help me relax. That said, I don't see relaxation as meditation--meditation is about emptying your mind; relaxation is just about a feeling of peace for me, and that doesn't mean I have to think nothing.

The other genre of music I listen to to relax is usually new age. Music with lyrics tends to be a distraction for relaxation or studying because I focus on the words.

Most people I know who listen to classical music as a secondary genre only listen to it because they find it "relaxing" or a good study aid. They tend to listen to solo piano music and the like. Most of these people would never, for example, listen to a Shostakovich symphony. I don't have a problem with that, but it does sort of remind me of those who dismiss all classical music as "boring".


----------



## BloomingFlower (Jan 17, 2013)

Novelette said:


> Absolutely, Clavichorder! I used to be a more "passive" listener, when I was a young child. I dare say that it's unfortunate that I've lost that ability to listen to the whole of the work instead of focusing on harmonic progression or voice leading, etc. Listening for details is good work, but it has become such a habit that I find that I am not affected by the music as I once was.


This suggestion might come out of left field, but you should try psychedelic drugs. It helps me to listen to music as if I was overwhelmed by it for the first time again.

On-topic, the general public understands classical music differently than classical music fans. I think they consider classical music more like a soundtrack and as such pick out pieces to listen to that have those characteristics. You can't expect them to randomly take up listening to difficult classical music for relaxing because they don't have the listening experience required.


----------



## science (Oct 14, 2010)

Some music is made for relaxing: New Age music is the best example of that. It's made for people who spend nine hours a day in a cubicle followed by three more in traffic, who can hardly remember the last time they held a baby, watched a camp fire burning under the stars, sat at the bedside of a dying person, or jumped in a lake. 

Most classical music doesn't do that for me, especially because of the extremes of dynamics. Baroque music is more constant, so maybe that would work.


----------



## LordBlackudder (Nov 13, 2010)

because it makes them relax.


----------



## sharik (Jan 23, 2013)

vertigo said:


> How come some people listen to classical to relax?


i've no idea... to me, classical is a violent music. Beethoven, for example.


----------



## violadude (May 2, 2011)

I don't listen to music to relax, I take drugs.


----------



## neoshredder (Nov 7, 2011)

violadude said:


> I don't listen to music to relax, I take drugs.


Which is your favorite?


----------



## violadude (May 2, 2011)

neoshredder said:


> Which is your favorite?


Oxycontin. I can't wait till I have another surgery so I can get some more.  I heard it causes hearing loss though which freaks me out but I don't take too much.


----------



## lorelei (Jan 14, 2013)

I mean, I guess some classical pieces like Chopin's Berceuse or Andante Spianato are relaxing. I just couldn't see anyone relaxing to, say, the Dies Irae of Verdi's Requiem or Rachmaninoff's piano concertos.


----------

