# Choosing music to help your mood



## Aurelian (Sep 9, 2011)

If you are angry, do you suggest listening to something dramatic like the Apposionata Sonata? If you are sad, does the first movement of Beethoven's 14th string quartet help?

Or, does something light like Rossini's overtures help you?


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## Kjetil Heggelund (Jan 4, 2016)

That's a good question! I've been wondering why I'm in a strange mood today, and surprisingly I haven't thought about listening to anything...


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## Jacck (Dec 24, 2017)

yes, but I do not limit mysel to classical. If I am angry, the best type of music is death metal. :devil:


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## MarkW (Feb 16, 2015)

Nope. I choose music based on what I want to hear -- which usually has nothing to do with my mood. Why would I want to intensify my mood?

i.e. -- I'm angry, so I listen to Bartok's Miraculous Manadrin, which heightens my mood, which . . . what? Makes me go out to an IHop and shoot people? That's not music's purpose.


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## ZJovicic (Feb 26, 2017)

This is a very good question! Though using music for any function is a bit utilitarian and perhaps undermines its dignity as art... well, we're real people of flesh and blood and we do what we do, and this includes using music for all sorts of purposes, including influencing our mood.

Recently I've been thinking about whose music has the best effect on me, and here are my observations:

Haydn and Mozart perhaps have the best overall effect on me in sense of bringing me closer to harmony, balancing my mood, while still providing some stimulation. But they can be slightly boring too sometimes. Haydn especially can be invigorating, while Mozart is more balancing.

For intellectual stimulation, I think Bach is the best... he provides so much complexity, yet complexity that is digestible and that I can understand.

For emotional discharge, I find Beethoven the best... He draws me into his music, and then provides so much tension and passion which I can viscerally feel. After the work is complete there is a sense of fulfillment perhaps even catharsis.

Regarding romantics... well it's a mixed bag. Some romantic works I find inspiring. There are some beautiful, moving melodies, interesting compositions. But then there is also a lot of confusing slow movements which are interspersed with sudden outbursts of passion, and this can be a bit irritating. I am not a big fan of using brass instruments in orchestral works, and I think romantics have a big penchant for doing just this. 

Regarding modern stuff... well, for me it's usually a sort of adventure, exploration of uncharted territories, and sometimes it can be very interesting, and sometimes just confusing. If I said that atonal music has a good effect on my mood I would lie. But it can still be an adventure. Regarding other movements... well minimalism does what it usually intends to do... putting me in a slightly meditative mood... so mission accomplished. I find it a bit harmonizing, similar to Mozart too. Regarding Shostakovitch, I have very similar reactions to him and to Beethoven.

Regarding some more approachable, yet, non-minimalist modern styles... well, I think they can be very interesting.
I find Xenakis interesting, if not really pleasant. Wolfgang Rihm is also quite interesting.


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## Guest (Apr 22, 2018)

I don't know about 'helping your mood', but I find I have to be in THE mood for much of the music I imbibe. For example, listening to a piece like this and following along with the score is about listening and viewing and learning about it's construction. For me, this is an intellectual exercise rather than a purely musical one - and one which I regard as part of the serious music paradigm. This Piano Sonata has been put on U-Tube with the score in separate movements:






My interest in Ives was first aroused when a read a biography of composer Bernard Herrmann - who was a friend and champion of Ives.


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## Bulldog (Nov 21, 2013)

When I'm feeling down, I often listen to Siegfried's Funeral March from Gotterdamerung. Once done, I feel like I could conquer the world!


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## eugeneonagain (May 14, 2017)

The only thing I can think of is my avoidance of adagios when I have music on (portable player) and I'm trying to get something physical done. I was clearing up the garden yesterday and the adagio from Ravel's string quartet came on; slowed me down to a snail's pace. A few clicks and Von Suppe's Light Cavalry Overture had me back working at a decent pace.


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## Boston Charlie (Dec 6, 2017)

I'm naturally a very creative person, and like a good many people who are creative I'm also a bit anxious and high-strung person. 

Classical music has always helped me to stay centered, to calm down and uplift my spirit so I'm not dwelling on the past or worrying about the future. When I'm listening to classical music I'm in the moment, or trying to be in the moment.

While psychology now tells us that music has a definite impact on the chemical processes that take place in the brain; classical music also reminds me that despite hard times in life; illness and death in the family, financial woes, problems at work, interpersonal conflicts, the threat of terrorism, nuclear war, human rights violations, global warming and so forth; that there is always some beauty in the world.


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## Pugg (Aug 8, 2014)

MarkW said:


> Nope. I choose music based on what I want to hear -- which usually has nothing to do with my mood. Why would I want to intensify my mood?
> 
> .


This adding up my feelings too, every now and then I spin Nimrod, remembering my late grandad with a little tear in my eye, then I remember him saying , do not let grieve eat you away in life, just take each day as it comes .
Love you still granddad .


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## Pat Fairlea (Dec 9, 2015)

Generally, I don't choose music to match or to complement my mood. However, if I sense that the Terminal Gloom is creeping in on me, a large dose of Tippett's Concerto for Double String Orchestra brings immediate relief with no side effects. The piece just exudes energy and joie de vivre. 
Another good one for lifting the spirits is Ibert's Divertissement for Chamber Orchestra. Though that may be too deliberately flippant for some people's tastes!


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## Antiquarian (Apr 29, 2014)

Whenever I become agitated, I tend to play something that ameliorates my condition. If I get angry, then I usually play something that calms me down, like the _Gymnopédies_ of Erik Satie, or Wagner's _Siegfried-Idyll_. I certainly don't play Death Metal music: It would only provoke me to actions that would probably lead to my incarceration. If I feel a bit low, then something sprightly seems to do the trick. I'm listening to Franz Danzi now, for instance. Particularly his _Wind Quintet in G minor, Op.56 No.2 _. (Berlin Philharmonic Wind Quintet, on BIS 5182083), per an inclination fostered by a current thread on this forum.


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