music smooths the ravaged beets
music is important to me. music is art, it is a drug, it is a tangible filled with intangibles.
music and chess are quite linked. in addition to studies ( i LOVE throwing in the word “studies” without any qualifiers, like what studies or who performed them, to make things i say sound way more official than they are) showing relationships among higher brain functions between music, math, and chess, there is a butload of music about chess, not to mention the musical “chess.” Mark Taimanov was a concert pianist, started his amazing life with music.
music directly affects moods, it can calm, it can enrage, it can make you happy or sad. nothing new here, we all know that. the reason i bring it up here is because music seems kind of important and relevant to chess (i know i don’t speak for all).
at the tournament i saw more than one kid with an mp3 player, rocking out or whatever during a game. perhpas he was listening to an audio coaching session, but i like to think he was listning to the new linkin park cd.
i wonder how many chess players listen to music to study, or during play, and what type of music they listen to.
perhaps some vivaldi or beethoven to calm you so you can concentrate and calculate moves, perhaps some disturbed or bad religion to pump you up and get you into the violent “i’m gonna take every one of his pieces” mood. perhaps you listen to yes or jeff beck to get you back into the groove of the 70’s (i’m talking to the old guys on this one).
to me, music gets me in the frame of mind, pumps me up, makes me feel like i know what i’m doing. the sounds flip whatever switches in my brain to help “turn me on,” the music is also a great mood enducer during a game, makes it more fun, some pleasant background auditory scenery.
some people study with the music on, and then can use that same music as a means to help recall what they studied, put them back into the focused frame of mind.
what music do you listen to before or during a game. do you switch it up? does it help?
since this is about music, if you’re looking for something new, here is a link to some free new music by various bands. perhaps it’s something you like, perhaps not, but here it is…
http://www.adultswim.com/williams/music/warmandscratchy/
rock on chess players…
Rocky said,
May 31, 2007 at 8:59 am
While I work on tactics, I often listen to The Verve … it keeps me moving and calm at the same time.
Obviously I listen to Bill Conti’s original soundtrack to Rocky a lot. I usually listen to that album while working on tactics.
Last night I played dozens of blitz games while listening to the soundtrack to Les Miserables by Basil Poledouris.
Other times I listen to techno music or even Bach. I’m all over the musical spectrum.
Blunderprone said,
May 31, 2007 at 10:50 am
Nothing beats Elvis… Costello while I want to chill and calculate.
I used to bring a mix to OTB events and MP3 out to some DMB, Elvis and Van Morrison. I found I had to keep it low keyed… even some Coltraine or other Jazz. If I went too over the head rocking top…it was too distracting. Floyd, Yes and other “airy” bands of the 70s …I found would put me into a regressive flashback-like haze…. I just couldn’t do it during chess.
I no longer bring the MP3… as I found my concentration is better. The voices in my head are louder now that they don’t have to shout over the tunes. But over all I am learning to tune those guys out. I call them the committee of idiots. You know hte ones, they say things ” Oh look…you can check him” or ” You can put your knight there …its so COOL!”
-BP
Blue Devil Knight said,
May 31, 2007 at 10:58 am
Pantera’s Walk (click for video version) is perfect to get in a mood to kill Kings.
Pawn Shaman said,
May 31, 2007 at 12:30 pm
I listen to http://www.Somafm.com when playing online and sometimes when studying too. They have a lot of commercial free stations, Groove Salad and Boot Liquer are my favs. Groove Salad is cool and calm and doesnt have any distracting words. Its easy to habituate, which is nice when concentrating. It is linked on my site. Thanks for putting me on your blogroll I will add you to mine sometime tonight.
atomic patzer said,
May 31, 2007 at 3:18 pm
Congratulations on your first tournament!! There were lots of kids at the US Amateur East also. I notice that when i play in weekend quads there are more adults and few kids.I think they stick to scholastics tournies except for these national events. You’re absolutly right about the music. I pick something for each tournament and listen to get charged up. I listen to Rockabilly, Roots Rock, Blues, Punk, and Crime Jazz (recently). Go to http://www.garagepunk.com for some great podcasts (iTunes also). Your interview idea was great. Look forward to more.
Rise and Shine said,
May 31, 2007 at 4:34 pm
I listen to either Beethoven or Mozart. I also get my Yo-Yo Ma on from time to time. For whatever reason, any kind of music with lyrics distracts me from playing my best game.
n8ux said,
June 1, 2007 at 4:55 am
Mozart is the man. And ok, you’re talking to an old guy here, but Jeff Beck and the Jan Hammer group live CD (we used to call them albums) still holds up well with me.
But I’m not above and beyond a little 311. Check out archive.org for the live shows from California. Good stuff…Rich
n8ux said,
June 1, 2007 at 5:01 am
Here’s a link for yall -
http://www.archive.org/details/311-2004-02-29.sbd.flac16
Large in the margin - check it out….R
chessloser said,
June 1, 2007 at 7:53 am
rocky - it’s cool you have certain music for certain parts of the game…i’m all over the spectrum as well…
blunderprone - sadly, no music can drown out those voices in my head….
blue devil knight - right on!….
pawn shaman - thanks for the tip on somafm….good link….
atomic patzer - crime jazz???? that just sounds so cool….thanks for the link to garagepunk…nice….
rise and shine - i partied with yo yo ma once. seriously, at tanglewood in massachusettes, i drank beer with yo yo ma and seji ozawa….
n8ux - nice link!!! thanks for stopping in, i hope you stop in some more….
takchess said,
June 3, 2007 at 8:59 am
Ray Charles was crazy about Chess . I heard that Madonna plays as well. Smylov the ex world champion was almost in the Opera before deciding to play chess.
I am uncertain if chess is any more related to chess player as it is to any other groups . Music is loved by most groups for the most part.
I sometimes play to old school country:
Johnny Cash, Hank William and the new Pay the Devil which is Van Morrison doing country classics.
Older Rock,
Led Zep, The Band, highway 64 revisited,Creem
World Party,Waterboys
Recently I started playing to Rogues which is seashanties modernized very cool.
most of the time I play without music
chessloser said,
June 4, 2007 at 6:21 am
takchess - wow, madonna playing chess, go figure. rougues sounds pretty cool, perhaps i shall check them out….
Howard Goldowsky said,
June 4, 2007 at 1:40 pm
This is a great blog, man — keep it up! Who needs NIC or Chess Life?
I think the artist is Bonnie Tyler: “I need a hero! He’s got to be strong, he’s got to be… he’s got to be straight from the fight!”
Anything that rocks, that gets the serotonin and endorphins flowing….
Howard Goldowsky
chessloser said,
June 5, 2007 at 10:45 am
hey howard, welcome to the blog…glad you stopped by and noted, i hope to see you around some more…
Ricky Knees said,
May 14, 2008 at 2:37 pm
Oh I blogged off in the wrong direction here. check the Zen, biking blog thing. I love rock bass, Cream, Grand Funk, Faith no more, some old Funk stuff like Larry Graham. Trying to relate Chess to music, it can be beautiful, it can be brutal, it can be misunderstood but it can be boring and predictable and dull sometimes. Grinding out a draw with the French is such a contrast to the flamboyant and butt clenching heroics of the King’s Gambit….now that opening ROCKS, you need lots of pounding bass lines and swashbuckling, groin straining lead guitar breaks for that one. By the way this site is like coming across a really cool bar, with great music, half price beer and good company in the middle of a Saudi desert. Cheers
chessloser said,
May 15, 2008 at 11:55 am
Ricky Knees - cool, glad you like the blog, happy to have you around