Living stressed out. Can music help?

[Guest Miserable with Stress]

After bored to death during CB,  now stressed out to death back at work.  Can music therapy work?  Any suggestion?

[mate69]

no it won't help.

u need to shut off noise from your life.

 

[Steve5380]

On 8/28/2020 at 9:27 AM, Guest Miserable with Stress said:

After bored to death during CB,  now stressed out to death back at work.  Can music therapy work?  Any suggestion?

 

3 hours ago, mate69 said:

no it won't help.

u need to shut off noise from your life.

 

 

It seems that TS is asking about music, not noise.   For noise yes,  the less the better.

 

Here is a serious article about this:

 

https://www.health.harvard.edu/staying-healthy/music-and-health :

 

"Music and the mind

The most highly publicized mental influence of music is the "Mozart effect." Struck by the observation that many musicians have unusual mathematical ability, researchers at the University of California, Irvine, investigated how listening to music affects cognitive function in general, and spatial-temporal reasoning in particular. In their first study, they administered standard IQ test questions to three groups of college students, comparing those who had spent 10 minutes listening to a Mozart piano sonata with a group that had been listening to a relaxation tape and one that had been waiting in silence. Mozart was the winner, consistently boosting test scores. Next, the investigators checked to see if the effect was specific to classical music or if any form of music would enhance mental performance. They compared Mozart's music with repetitive music by Philip Glass; again, Mozart seemed to help, improving spatial reasoning as measured by complex paper cutting and folding tasks and short-term memory as measured by a 16-item test.

 

(The "Mozart effect"...  no wonder my plants grow so well,  I listen a lot to Mozart    )

....

The science of art

The ancient Greeks put one god, Apollo, in charge of both medicine and music. Today's doctors tell us that music can enhance the function of neural networks, slow the heart rate, lower blood pressure, reduce levels of stress hormones and inflammatory cytokines, and provide some relief to patients undergoing surgery, as well as heart attack and stroke victims. But these biological explanations and clinical observations may not do full justice to the effect music has on man and his world. Fortunately, poets and philosophers can fill in the gaps....   "

 

And here is a more serious article, to read if still in doubt that music helps:

 

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3734071/

 

Thanks to technology,  today music is the best value in art that ever existed:  completely free, high quality,  top artists.  And if it has health benefits, it is as smart to listen to it as it is to breathe clean air and drink clean water.  I think that Youtube is one of the best sources.  Music therapy will be good for you.

 

[Guest guest]

You should do things that can de-stress. Whether it is listen to music or anything that can help you.

[tic-toc]

Music certainly can help but you have to choose the type of music that soothes you.  For example, I get agitated with hard rock music and irritated by CNY songs. If I want a peaceful time, I will avoid these type of music. 

[wanton_mee]

go... pick up a musical instrument as a hobby😁

[wanton_mee]

1 hour ago, tic-toc said:

Music certainly can help but you have to choose the type of music that soothes you.  For example, I get agitated with hard rock music and irritated by CNY songs. If I want a peaceful time, I will avoid these type of music. 

I feel stress listening to CNY songs😬

[FattChoy]

On 8/28/2020 at 10:27 PM, Guest Miserable with Stress said:

After bored to death during CB,  now stressed out to death back at work.  Can music therapy work?  Any suggestion?

Music can even soothe the dead.  Look for Taoist music on YouTube.

[Guest Chora]

I usually listen to Ambience music.  Recently, I have also tuned in to Lofi while doing chores.

[Guest Chora]

2 hours ago, wanton_mee said:

I feel stress listening to CNY songs😬

CNY oldies song are OK to listen, those made in China or Taiwan one.   It brings back so much memory. 

 

I feel stress if CNY songs are sung by Mediacorp people.

[Kimochi]

Some musics / songs are inspirational or encouraging. Many nice songs here. 

 

 

 

This one for those who think it suits them. 

 

Edited August 30, 2020 by Kimochi

[Steve5380]

18 hours ago, tic-toc said:

Music certainly can help but you have to choose the type of music that soothes you.  For example, I get agitated with hard rock music and irritated by CNY songs. If I want a peaceful time, I will avoid these type of music. 

 

Yes, not all music music is the same.  For the eyes not all the landscapes are the same.  Should we look at the details of an oil refinery,  or at a peaceful scene in the mountains with beautiful pastures and flowers without any human trace?  What soothes is also what inspires feelings of beauty and emotion. 

 

I may be biased, because I grew up with classical music. This music has survived the test of centuries and is alive without end in sight.  A likeness for it can be acquired at any time, it does not need to have happened in childhood. A good starting point is to listen and appreciate the earlier classical music, from composers like Bach, Haydn, Mozart, Handel,  and as the musical center in our brain starts to be stimulated by the beauty and emotion in its melodies and harmonies,  we get prepared to appreciate later music by Beethoven and all the Romantic composers.  Here is where emotion prevails, and we won't listen to this music just to relax but mostly to enjoy. 

 

Here is a video I found on Youtube, a "music for relaxation" that is a compilation of compositions by the old J.S. Bach, who many consider the greatest composer ever.  This is not a music to fall asleep to, but rather to clear the mind from clutter and instead concentrate on its smart constructs of melodies and harmonies. This is the relaxation effect.

 

 

 

The above video is just one I found randomly searching "Music for Relaxation".  It may not be the best,  and it is simply what somebody considers to be relaxing.   It is best to listen to a lot of music and decide by ourselves which is the most relaxing,  which coincidentally may be the one we like the best   

,

Edited August 31, 2020 by Steve5380

[bear67532]

I would recommend meditation.

[wanton_mee]

 

[wanton_mee]

 

[wanton_mee]

 

[Steve5380]

16 hours ago, wanton_mee said:

go... pick up a musical instrument as a hobby😁

 

This is an excellent idea.  The ability to make our own music is both satisfying and enhancing our brain.

 

Judging from the nice videos you posted with very soothing Chinese music,  you must be Chinese and so your instrument of choice could be the guqin, or perhaps a guzheng.

 

As an Ang Moh I am biased towards the occidental instruments, and I have a strong recommendation among these:  The Piano, king of the occidental instruments.

The piano is the most satisfying instrument from the start, with no long learning to produce an acceptable sound.  Its sound is right at the reach of our fingers.  It is easy to learn, even to be self-taught, although it is always better to have a teacher.  No other instrument has more literature (compositions) for it.  Even as a beginner we can make acceptable music with it.

 

Technology comes to the rescue to make a piano one of the most convenient instruments.  An electronic piano today can be nearly as good as a big acoustic one, and it is particularly well suited to a student.  For about US$ 500 one can get a full size piano (88 notes) with tactile and sound features of an acoustic, real piano with serious added advantages:  light weight and small size that allows to carry it around, no need to tune it regularly,  and no need to produce any sound with it.   In a small flat with many neighbors around,  one can play an electronic piano using headphones, without anybody knowing that a piano is there.  In a family home, one can play the electronic piano at midnight in one's room without disturbing anyone.

[Guest Best Nature Ambiene]

The most relaxing music, is the whisper of a moaning man about to cum.  I believe, you guys will agree.

[wilfgene]

16 hours ago, FattChoy said:

Music can even soothe the dead.  Look for Taoist music on YouTube.

茅山派😬

19 hours ago, tic-toc said:

Music certainly can help but you have to choose the type of music that soothes you.  For example, I get agitated with hard rock music and irritated by CNY songs. If I want a peaceful time, I will avoid these type of music. 

大地回春，春之晨

On 8/30/2020 at 6:58 AM, Steve5380 said:

 

(The "Mozart effect"...  no wonder my plants grow so well,  I listen a lot to Mozart    )

 

Next time, play the screaming by Queen of Night.

Edited August 31, 2020 by wilfgene

[wanton_mee]

58 minutes ago, Steve5380 said:

 

This is an excellent idea.  The ability to make our own music is both satisfying and enhancing our brain.

 

Judging from the nice videos you posted with very soothing Chinese music,  you must be Chinese and so your instrument of choice could be the guqin, or perhaps a guzheng.

 

As an Ang Moh I am biased towards the occidental instruments, and I have a strong recommendation among these:  The Piano, king of the occidental instruments.

The piano is the most satisfying instrument from the start, with no long learning to produce an acceptable sound.  Its sound is right at the reach of our fingers.  It is easy to learn, even to be self-taught, although it is always better to have a teacher.  No other instrument has more literature (compositions) for it.  Even as a beginner we can make acceptable music with it.

 

Technology comes to the rescue to make a piano one of the most convenient instruments.  An electronic piano today can be nearly as good as a big acoustic one, and it is particularly well suited to a student.  For about US$ 500 one can get a full size piano (88 notes) with tactile and sound features of an acoustic, real piano with serious added advantages:  light weight and small size that allows to carry it around, no need to tune it regularly,  and no need to produce any sound with it.   In a small flat with many neighbors around,  one can play an electronic piano using headphones, without anybody knowing that a piano is there.  In a family home, one can play the electronic piano at midnight in one's room without disturbing anyone.

Doing both... guqin was just recently started.  😁

 

[wilfgene]

13 minutes ago, wanton_mee said:

Doing both... guqin was just recently started.  😁

 

Care to fill us in on 康生 and prossies' contributions to the art form?

[Steve5380]

20 minutes ago, wanton_mee said:

Doing both... guqin was just recently started.  😁

 

 

Interesting...  You play the guqin from some form of sheet music, like the occidental music,  or you have your own Chinese notation with logographic characters?

[Guest Guest]

i will be stressed out until PAP is voted out!

[wanton_mee]

Guys I am very new to guqin. 

[Guest btm]

On 8/30/2020 at 8:12 PM, Guest Chora said:

I usually listen to Ambience music.  Recently, I have also tuned in to Lofi while doing chores.

 

Lofi puts me in a melancholic mood tbh, which is better than being stressed out. But I'm still looking for something that would relaxed me. I guess I'll try Mozart. 

[Steve5380]

50 minutes ago, Guest btm said:

 

Lofi puts me in a melancholic mood tbh, which is better than being stressed out. But I'm still looking for something that would relaxed me. I guess I'll try Mozart. 

 

Mozart is an excellent choice.   Here is one of his compositions of impressive beauty, a heavenly music.  If you have the patience to listen it throughout,  maybe you get a feeling of why relaxation does not mean to be put to sleep,  but we can relax while being very awake and enjoying beautiful melodies and harmonies that bring joy:

 

 

 

 

Here is another piece of relaxing music, this one from Bach:

 

 

Edited September 1, 2020 by Steve5380

[Guest Avenida Temasek]

How about this one:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PCHBpkaqM1Y

[Kimochi]

 

 

[Steve5380]

6 hours ago, Kimochi said:

 

 

 

It's interesting how inside this plump man with the ridiculous wig,  could shine the musical flame of the Divine...

[InBangkok]

Lie back, try to empty your mind of all negative thoughts and just relax to this piece by Albinoni with views of Venice.

 

 

[Guest Lepak]

Yes sure can help, humans created music for a reason.

[Steve5380]

14 hours ago, InBangkok said:

Lie back, try to empty your mind of all negative thoughts and just relax to this piece by Albinoni with views of Venice.

 

 

Ah!  these nice views of Venice!  They were not taken during times of "acqua alta".

 

With the climate change, to the slow sinking of the city is added the not so slow raising of water levels in the world.   Hopefully their MOSE system will protect the city before it is too late.  There is so much valuable art that could be destroyed, and so many rodents and insects could perish in ever worse floods.

 

Beautiful Venice is so different from Houston.  But we have something in common:  ugly floods, caused by ever more frequent hurricanes in the Gulf of Mexico.