# Musical attention span



## Philip (Mar 22, 2011)

What is your average musical attention span: How long can you listen to music while doing nothing else and without drifting off in your mind?


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## Praeludium (Oct 9, 2011)

I voted 30 minutes but that's when I haven't listened to music yet, when I'm not tired and when I like the music - so, optimal conditions. Otherwise my mind tend to wander quite quickly - it's not total de-concentration but it's not enough to truly appreciate the music.
It also depends whether or not I have the sheet on front of me. With the sheet it can be longer.


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## EricABQ (Jul 10, 2012)

Without my mind drifting off? Virtually no time at all. Some thought will always pop up.


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## Crudblud (Dec 29, 2011)

I don't usually listen to music for three hours straight, although I can make playlists of excessive length, the longest ever being seven hours but usually they round off to about 90 minutes. Generally I can sit through a full 80 minute single-artist CD without drifting, provided the music is interesting, and I have managed both Solti's and Böhm's Das Rheingolds in single sittings. Of course, all of this does not account for the fact that I drink a lot of water, coffee, juice and other beverages, and that regular toilet breaks are necessary*.

*not being able to pause the action is one of the reasons I do not attend concerts very often


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## Ramako (Apr 28, 2012)

Great question. No idea.


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## Huilunsoittaja (Apr 6, 2010)

It depends as always.

I prefer long programmatic though, so I can imagine what's going on in the music. I can listen to whole ballets, suites, operas etc. if I can have a program or libretto in front of me. It'll then go by like a snap, although I might just get tired period from such a long stress. Abstract things might be more difficult, but my attention span is still pretty high. I think being tired of a piece isn't the same as losing your attention with the piece.

But one thing I can boast of:
I've never fallen asleep to a piece of classical in my whole life (aside from infancy maybe). And I don't think it's gonna happen any time soon. Music is way too stimulating.


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## Manxfeeder (Oct 19, 2010)

If I really know and love the piece, I'm there all the way. If I have time to listen without distractions, I can keep up with only a couple side-thoughts. But a lot of the time I'm listening in the car, so in dealing with Nashville traffic, it's usually, "Da-da-da-dumm . . . da-da-da-dumm . . . AAUGH!" What's that, six seconds?


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## jalex (Aug 21, 2011)

This is so dependent on the instrumentation that I can't give an answer. 45 minutes is pretty long for a solo piano work, but 2 hours is not really a strain for a work for massed chorus and double orchestra.


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## Couchie (Dec 9, 2010)

Wagner: 180+ minutes

Other composers: 0-5 minutes before I lose interest, about 10 before I switch to Wagner.


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## ComposerOfAvantGarde (Dec 2, 2011)

I can listen to the same piece of music over and over for more than three hours with my full attention on the music provided that it's good music.


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## MaestroViolinist (May 22, 2012)

It depends really, but probably somewhere around 60 minutes, that's if I really like the piece/pieces. If I don't like it then about 10 minutes.


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## TrazomGangflow (Sep 9, 2011)

If I enjoy the music I could listen to it for hours. Sometimes I catch myself listening to the same piece over and over when I sincerely love it.


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## Philip (Mar 22, 2011)

I can only last about one Chaconne long if i try really hard..


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## aleazk (Sep 30, 2011)

Is really variable for me, because I have different levels of attention. When I'm on the computer-study desk (I have a L shaped desk, I study in the long part and the computer is in the short part ), which is a great part of my time, I'm always listening to something. Of course, not with 100% of attention. I can dedicate 100% of attention all the time in a piano concerto for example, so I chose 15-30 min. It can be more, however.


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## moody (Nov 5, 2011)

ComposerOfAvantGarde said:


> I can listen to the same piece of music over and over for more than three hours with my full attention on the music provided that it's good music.


So you don't listen to much Ligeti then!


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## ComposerOfAvantGarde (Dec 2, 2011)

moody said:


> So you don't listen to much Ligeti then!


I think you have the wrong definition of "good music"


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## moody (Nov 5, 2011)

It certainly does depend on what it is.
Also ,with a friend I've manged all nighters because you can discuss (argue) about the music and get badly smashed. When you fall into the records and can't get up---stop!!


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## moody (Nov 5, 2011)

ComposerOfAvantGarde said:


> I think you have the wrong definition of "good music"


You are quite right ,I only listen to bad stuff.


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## Ravndal (Jun 8, 2012)

It depends. Both thing is positive for me. Either i'm fully concentrated on the music, or i'm drifting around in a fantasy world.


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## NightHawk (Nov 3, 2011)

At home the 60-180 is fairly frequent, but when on road trips on the interstates I can listen with good concentration for 4-5 hours easily. My first complete traversal of The Ring Cycle was on a trip with another musician - we stopped only for rest breaks and to trade off the driving responsibility, so it was Wagner full-bore for approximately 13-14 hours, I'd guess.


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## Vesteralen (Jul 14, 2011)

Sadly, in my current circumstances, 10-15 minutes about does it. As a younger man, I could pace back and forth listening to a symphonic work of almost any length with complete attention. I think it's more circumstantial than age related, though. I listen a lot while working (so that doesn't count at all, since I never give it full attention), and while driving (but my mind gets preoccupied with daily events or traffic conditions a lot). If I listen at home, in the apartment, I can't crank it up unless I'm wearing headphones, and then my wife thinks I'm shutting her out, or I doze off. At moderate volumes, it's too easy for me to want to do other things (like read).

So, the 10-15 minutes really applies to listening while driving. That's about the max until I get distracted with something else.


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## moody (Nov 5, 2011)

Ravndal said:


> It depends. Both thing is positive for me. Either i'm fully concentrated on the music, or i'm drifting around in a fantasy world.


Some people spend their whole lives drifting around in a fantasy world. particularly on TC>


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## moody (Nov 5, 2011)

Vesteralen said:


> Sadly, in my current circumstances, 10-15 minutes about does it. As a younger man, I could pace back and forth listening to a symphonic work of almost any length with complete attention. I think it's more circumstantial than age related, though. I listen a lot while working (so that doesn't count at all, since I never give it full attention), and while driving (but my mind gets preoccupied with daily events or traffic conditions a lot). If I listen at home, in the apartment, I can't crank it up unless I'm wearing headphones, and then my wife thinks I'm shutting her out, or I doze off. At moderate volumes, it's too easy for me to want to do other things (like read).
> 
> So, the 10-15 minutes really applies to listening while driving. That's about the max until I get distracted with something else.


Divorce is the only answer.


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## Ondine (Aug 24, 2012)

My average is about an hour. 

I have the problem that emotions overwhelm me if the piece of music is good. 

Sometimes if I have the enough strength I can spent a peaceful midnight listening symphonic works or string ensemble from several composers but that is not frequent.


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## Sid James (Feb 7, 2009)

Philip said:


> What is your average musical attention span: How long can you listen to music while doing nothing else and without drifting off in your mind?


About an hour, more or less.

Depends on what the music is, though. I mean I can listen to light music type things for longer than that (eg. operetta). As for more complex but shorter things like a Bartok string quartet, I would only listen to one or two of those per day (or even in a week, repeated). I don't bite off more than I can chew, cos if I do that, then I stop absorbing, and what's the use of that?

Even opera isn't too bad, in most cases I can do it act by act, and most acts I've found are 1 hour or less. So its breaking things down, but with most things I listen to (eg. chamber, concertos, symphonies, film musics), I don't have to do that.


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## Philip (Mar 22, 2011)

You guys are impressive... Ok i can maybe do 30 min, but during a full recital i will doze off at least once.


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## opus55 (Nov 9, 2010)

As long as I don't fall asleep, wife yells at me or I yell at my son, I can listen to 2-3 symphonies with reasonable level of focus. Oh, reading/writing on forum is probably the most frequent distraction though :lol:


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## ComposerOfAvantGarde (Dec 2, 2011)

Philip said:


> You guys are impressive... Ok i can maybe do 30 min, but during a full recital i will doze off at least once.


Solo guitar recitals are probably the single most boring thing in classical music.


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## moody (Nov 5, 2011)

ComposerOfAvantGarde said:


> Solo guitar recitals are probably the single most boring thing in classical music.


Well, I've seen you do one and thought it was good.


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## moody (Nov 5, 2011)

opus55 said:


> As long as I don't fall asleep, wife yells at me or I yell at my son, I can listen to 2-3 symphonies with reasonable level of focus. Oh, reading/writing on forum is probably the most frequent distraction though :lol:


Is this end-on-end ? If I had to listen to three following each other I think I would jump out of the window! The syatem must have variety !!


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## ComposerOfAvantGarde (Dec 2, 2011)

moody said:


> Well, I've seen you do one and thought it was good.


Thank you, but going to see two hours of all the most famous solo classical guitar music by Barrios, Villa-Lobos, transcriptions of Albeniz, Granados and a Bach Lute Suite mixed in between somewhere is not my idea of a good time. I'd much prefer to see the guitar in an ensemble setting or with an orchestra than a solo recital.


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## Bas (Jul 24, 2012)

Depends a little on what kind of music, off course. 180 mins for a Mattheus Passion, another oratorium, or a opera, for sure. 180 minutes chamber music without my mind drifting of: no.


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## Guest (Aug 25, 2012)

My attention span is so short, my mind is always -

Sorry? What did you-

Yes, please-

Only on Sundays....


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## MaestroViolinist (May 22, 2012)

MacLeod said:


> My attention span is so short, my mind is always -
> 
> Sorry? What did you-
> 
> ...


That is me when I'm doing school work.


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## presto (Jun 17, 2011)

It all depends on the nature of the music doesn’t it!
I get bored after 6 minutes of Bruckner, but 50 minutes of Shostakovich keeps me riveted!


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## Praeludium (Oct 9, 2011)

I think we need to define better what "musical attention span" is. Being fully concentrated for half an hour is already hard if you are behind the instrument (I guess that in an one hour long concert you must be quite easily concentrated all the time with the adrenaline boost). I can't believe that you can _listen_ to more than three hours of music while being really concentrated, eg. hearing everything, memorizing what's happening and being able to remember what happened before, etc.

It must also depends of how well you know the piece. I just listened to two late Nocturnes (n°12 and 13) by Fauré and I had a hard time to really be concentrated because the music was new to me. And it's a music I find fascinating. I guess that when you've analyzed a whole work and heard it twenty times, played it yourself and so on, it's much easier to be concentrated.


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## GGluek (Dec 11, 2011)

Maybe 15 minutes. I have always done other things while listening -- read, drive, make dinner (except at concerts, of course) -- but am good at multitasking. The music part of my mind is usually absorbing what it hears and making judgments about it that are verbalizable. I can be carrying on a conversation and be aware of interpretive nuances in a piece being played for me as we talk (assuming I "know" the piece to begin with). I'm really bad about being read to, because I'm always wanting to so something with my eyes other than staring at the ceiling.


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## EddieRUKiddingVarese (Jan 8, 2013)

less than that if its bad


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## Klassik (Mar 14, 2017)

EddieRUKiddingVarese said:


> less than that if its bad


There's nothing bad about that at all. In fact, you're now qualified to post in TC's "greatest thread," Current Listening.


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## Capeditiea (Feb 23, 2018)

it really depends on various factors for me... (it ranges.)


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## Bulldog (Nov 21, 2013)

I usually listen to Bach's WTC in one sitting, so I'd have to say 180+ on the condition that I really love the music. If it was the Carpenters or Howard Hanson, about 1 minute would be my max.


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## Totenfeier (Mar 11, 2016)

Mahler marathons battle-hardened me early and often.


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## Capeditiea (Feb 23, 2018)

Totenfeier said:


> Mahler marathons battle-hardened me early and often.


Yes. My first Mahler Marathon was an experience i will never forget. :3 
I was planning on playing a game that i recently got on the android and sit back listen to Mahler's symphonies while playing... about five minutes in... i was there, paying more attention to Mahler's Symphony 1, with phone screen off, and finger inches away from the screen. i then put my phone down and intently listened. only taking a break inbetween 3 and 4 for food, and smoke... although i would be listening during those times. But then, i finished the 10th and wanted to listen to everything again... but as it turned out it was well past midnight.


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## EdwardBast (Nov 25, 2013)

Good music? A long, long time. Bruckner (for example), five minutes.


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## Phil loves classical (Feb 8, 2017)

I had ADHD for the longest time. Still usually less than 5 minutes. A matter of willpower.


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