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…
